Episodes
Host Jenna Liut is joined by Amanda Weeks, CEO & Co-Founder of Ambrosia, a closed-loop manufacturing company that uses food waste as a catalyst to re-imagine common resource intensive and water-based products. They discuss how Ambrosia is the next frontier of the circular economy, why their very first product to market, Veles, is an all-purpose household cleaner derived from food waste (of all things), and why it doesn't matter how you pronounce it.
Published 02/17/20
Brooklyn Borough President – and 2021 Mayoral Candidate – Eric Adams joins host Jenna Liut to discuss how he’s put food issues and public health at the forefront of his political agenda and what he is doing to create a better food system for all New Yorkers.
Published 02/10/20
Author Bettina Elias Siegel joins host Jenna Liut to talk about her first book, "Kid Food: The Challenge of Feeding Children," which was recently published this past November.
Published 01/12/20
There's so much to consider when shopping for meat. Not only do you need some basic knowledge about what cuts you want to purchase, but you also have to navigate decisions around ethics, sustainability, animal welfare, cost, and more. On today's special live recording of Eating Matters, Jenna has an all-encompassing conversation about meat with guest John Ratliff of Ends Meat. The holiday season is all about food and community. There’s no better time to show your support for food radio by...
Published 12/26/19
Packaging trash - including what is used for food and beverages - now accounts for nearly half of all plastic waste generated globally. And most of it never gets recycled or incinerated. National Geographic writer, Laura Parker, joins host Jenna Liut to discuss how we got to this point with plastic pollution, its recycling challenges, the connection to climate change, the status of regulating its use and disposal worldwide, and the hard truth about bioplastics.
Published 12/15/19
Host Jenna Liut discusses the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition's recently released position paper, “Agriculture and Climate Change: Policy Imperatives and Opportunities to Help Producers Meet the Challenges,” with Ferd Hoefner, a Senior Strategic Advisor at NSAC, and Mark Schonbeck, a principal author of the report. Together, they review how climate change and agriculture impact each other, explore how the agricultural sector can mitigate its collective effect, and highlight their...
Published 12/08/19
Host Jenna Liut sits down with Foodshed.io's Co-founder and Managing Director, Daniel Beckman, to learn more about how this startup is leveraging blockchain to create an efficient, reliable and transparent marketplace that connects urban markets to local farmers and strengthens regional food systems.
Published 11/17/19
Paul Willis, farmer and founder of Niman Ranch Pork Company, joins host Jenna Liut in the studio to talk about how he got his start, the impact of the Purdue acquisition, and two of the most urgent agricultural policy fixes he would like to see happen now.
Published 11/17/19
Lab-grown, or "cultured," meat is a new kind of protein produced by growing animal cells into muscle fibers. Ben Wurgaft joins host Jenna Liut to talk about his new book, "Meat Planet: Artificial Flesh and the Future of Food," where he considers the cultural and philosphical questions about what we as humans eat and how innovations like lab-grown meat will effect the fututre of food.
Published 10/20/19
Veteran nutrition director Betti Wiggins has been working for almost 30 years to improve school food for urban children. She has been credited with making enormous changes to the quality of school meals served at Detroit Public Schools and is now leading the Houston Independent School District’s nutrition services department, responsible for feeding over 200,000 students every day with ~ $1.00 to spend on food per meal. Through her conversation with host Jenna Liut, you will quickly learn...
Published 10/13/19
Acclaimed author and food systems expert, Mark Winne joins host Jenna Liut to discuss his new book, “Food Town, USA: Seven Unlikely Cities That Are Changing the Way We Eat,” where he features the inspiring work people across the country are doing to leverage the power of healthy and sustainable food to revitalize communities ravaged by disappearing industries and histories of inequity. Through their discussion, Winne describes the elements of an impactful food movement and how all of us can...
Published 10/06/19
In a July report, the USDA found that crop insurance payouts are likely to increase due to the expected increase in climate volatility. But is the program that is designed to protect farmers against the hardships caused by these climate events just making the problem worse? Journalist Jessica McKenzie joins host Jenna Liut to talk about the current structure of the Federal Crop Insurance Program and why conservatives and environmental advocates alike think it needs to change if we want to...
Published 09/29/19
Host Jenna Liut interviews author Jennifer E. Gaddis about her forthcoming book "The Labor of Lunch: Why We Need Real Food and Real Jobs in American Public Schools." Gaddis’ book exposes the labor crisis in school cafeterias and why we can’t keep ignoring these workers if we want healthier school lunches. Listen to this episode to learn more about the feminist history of the National School Lunch Program and how organizing together and empowering those responsible for serving 5 BILLION...
Published 09/22/19
Daisy Freund, Director of Farm Animal Welfare at the ASPCA, joins host Jenna Liut to discuss the exciting work the organization is doing to help consumers navigate food labels, elevate meaningful farm animal welfare certifications, and support small farmers, large producers, independent businesses and large corporations in building a more humane, transparent and accountable food system.
Published 08/04/19
Kim Kessler, the Assistant Commissioner of the Bureau of Chronic Disease Prevention and Tobacco Control at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene - and Eating Matters creator! - joins host Jenna Liut to discuss the agency's innovative and impactful work in promoting and protecting the health of all New Yorkers.
Published 07/31/19
Host Jenna Liut welcomes Dr. Marlene Schwartz, Director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity at the University of Connecticut, back on the show to discuss the article she co-authored with Dr. Kelly Brownell and Dr. Lee Miller that was recently published in the American Journal of Public Health. The article, “Primer on US Food and Nutrition Policy and Public Health,” explores the critical and inextricable link between agriculture and public health and demonstrates the need for...
Published 07/14/19
Alexander Gillet, CEO and Co-Founder of HowGood – which specializes in rating companies and products based on their environmental, social and labor practices – joins host Jenna Liut to discuss how they have amassed the largest database on food and personal care product sustainability in the world.
Published 06/30/19
Naama Tamir, co-owner of Lighthouse and Lighthouse Outpost, was recently named as Slow Food NYC's 2019 "Snailblazer," a designation granted to changemakers committed to creating a better food system.
Published 06/09/19
Host Jenna Liut is joined by Robyn Metcalfe, author of the newly published book, “Food Routes: Growing Bananas in Iceland and Other Tales from the Logistics of Eating”.
Published 06/02/19
Roundup, a common glyphosate-based herbicide made by Monsanto, is back in the news as a California jury recently ordered the company to pay $2 billion in damages to a married couple who both developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma, which they say was caused by many years of using this product. Carey Gillam, investigative journalist and author of Whitewash: The Story of a Weed Killer, Cancer, and the Corruption of Science, joins host Jenna Liut to discuss the science behind glyphosate, how it became...
Published 05/19/19
This week, a landmark new report from the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) was released stating that nature is declining globally at unprecedented rates and the rate of species extinction is accelerating. Joining the show to help explain why and the extent to which the decline in biodiversity is happening, the consequences of the decline and how we need to move forward is Susan Casey – Lefkowitz, Chief Program Officer for the Natural...
Published 05/12/19
This season of Eating Matters has focused a lot on how to feed a growing world’s population without completely destroying the planet and policies and programs – past, present and future – aimed at helping us get there.
Published 04/14/19
Host Jenna Liut sits down with Organic Valley’s Mission Executive, Leslie Kruempel, to discuss their unique co-op model and brand strategy.
Published 04/07/19
Host Jenna Liut talks with Representative Earl Blumenauer (D-OR) about why he gives the 2018 Farm Bill a "D+," his work on the New Green Deal, and how every politician - regardless of their committee assignments - must prioritize food and agriculture systems reform.
Published 03/31/19
Host Jenna Liut continues her conversation with Greg Jaffe, Director of the Project on Biotechnology at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, on everything you need to know about genetic engineering.
Published 03/24/19