Missing Point of Origin? Continue discovering powerful food.stories with Whetstone's new podcasts

Point of Origin friends this is our last episode of the season and a very special one to capstone the season. Today we’re talking about justice in food systems, its absence within those systems and the circumstances that lead to lacking. Now, maybe you've heard heard of the term “food desert” as a means of describing these circumstances, but food apartheid is more forceful, more succinct and frankly, more accurate language.  To discuss the importance of language specificity when discussing...

What does it mean to eat meat in 2020? What it means to consuming it, to abstain from it and how, as always on matters of so called morality are murky, and impossible to detangle from the influence of culture, society, and privilege. To lead the conversation we're joined with writer Alicia Kennedy, one of the clearest and most compelling voices in food media today on, among other things, veganism, and more broadly the politics of eating. We then travel to India where we’re Dr. Yamini...

So often in “specialty” food and coffee, those are being marketed to and those on the ground who is a commentary on who gets to indulge and who must labor. Reclaiming stories of origin helps erode the idea that those who labor are helpless, and ideally, should push us to ask, why those with the history, knowledge and craft are relying on consumers — who rarely share any of these attributes — are the ones who ultimately uphold these systems. Who it's for becomes a question that is open for...

When you think of whole wheat or whole grains, what do you taste? Is it pleasant and flavorful or grainy, tough and repulsive? And why is there a collective perception that whole wheat or ancient grains are less enjoyable to eat? Bread is the most widely consumed food in the world. In many ways it represents the center of culinary and communal life. But overtime the contents of the breads we eat have become wildly disconnected to the wheat and grains of our ancestors. Today on Point of Origin...

What do we mean when we say anthropology? And specifically food anthropology? We're talking about a word we use often and a word embedded in Whetstone lexicon and ideology. But it's also a word we have never defined. While it is a generous term that at its core is about the relationship between human beings and the world, we recognize the problematic history of the genre, one historically comprised of white male academics who brought their biases with them into the field.  To help us properly...

You're familiar with those "Got Milk" commercials. You've seen the billboards a hundred times. Those milk mustaches seemed innocuous enough. What you may not have considered is how Americans have been coerced into believing milk is an essential part of our healthy diet. We discuss how milk is the perfect microcosm for the many maladies plaguing our corporate food system. Currently, in the US an estimated 2.7 million - 3.7 million gallons of US milk is dumped every day as a result of the...

The Hass avocado boom has driven significant change, both positive and negative, in the communities of those growing and harvesting the fruit. While the revenue created by this cash crop has led to improvement in living conditions for many, its popularity is threatening avocado's biodiversity and the business has become deeply entwined with political corruption and violent crime. We're learning about the history of the avocado farming in Morelos, Mexico, government intervention, and the...

Whetstone contributor Monica Goya takes us to La Palma, part of the Spanish archipelago of the Canary Islands, to meet winemaker Victoria Torres Pecis. Pecis owns and runs the oldest winery on the island and is one of the few women winemakers in La Palma using a vinification process that relies on spontaneous fermentation and natural yeasts to produce “free” wine. Join us as we learn about colonial expansion and its effect on wine, and how Spain’s female winemakers are playing a critical role...

Host Stephen Satterfield connects with Chef Binta, an ambassador for the ancient grain fonio and self described modern nomadic chef. Her Fulani roots, classical training from the Kenyan Culinary Institute and love for rural life and nature inspire her dishes and pop up “Dine on a Mat” events, resulting in a modern, and environmentally engaged experience. Chef Binta helps us answer: What is Fulani food?  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Most people have heard of ouzo from Greece, pastis from France or Italian sambuca but few know that they're all derived from the mother spirit, arak - the oldest spirit in the world. Nader Muaddi, a Philadelphia-born Palestinian, is working to change that while restoring arak to it's former glory. Join us as we launch season 3 of Point of Origin, in conversation with journalist Lyric Lewin as she travels to Muaddi's distillery and learn what makes this milky distillate unique. Learn more...

Food is, and always has been, political. If that wasn’t clear before, the events of 2020 have revealed this truth in spectacular fashion. So this season, we’re diving deeper, learning about the nomadic roots of the Fulani people and the cultural significance of the mat, we travel to Palestine to taste the milky distillate, arak. And then to La Palma in the Canary Islands to drink local wine froma woman winemaker, while considering the industry’s male dominance. We’re questioning the morality...

Soleil Ho said it best, “It seems odd to think that dinner could be tasty enough to help the bitter pill of colonial fantasy go down easier.” Recent media attention surrounding native indigenous foodways has brought to light to what a decolonized diet means. This is in part thanks to individuals like Sean Sherman, the Sioux Chef, places like the Ohlone Cafe run by in Berkeley, Ca and Tacobe (Osage nation in Colorado) food truck that offers dinners a meal that explores the diet of local...

Over last 20 years, there is perhaps no name more important in the world of contemporary dining culture than Chef René Redzepi and his restaurant, Noma. After two decades, many of the same people who helped create the phenomenon are asking: Does the movement need to live to continue or die? On this episode of Point of Origin from Whetstone Magazine, we speak with Jeff Gordinier, author of "HUNGRY: Eating, Road-Tripping, and Risking It All with the Greatest Chef in the World."  Learn more...

Did you know that the coconut is one of the only seafaring, self-propagating crops? Or that most of the world’s olive oils are produced in Spain, but end up blended, imported then exported, far from their country of origin? How about the fact that organized crime infiltrated the Italian food system for decades? Climate, locality and even human welfare by way of Fairtrade have all seeped into the consciousness of many well informed and capable shoppers. But, when it comes to the complexities...

Diasporic foodways looks at the ways identity and food evolve in new home countries. Join Whetstone Magazine’s Point of Origin podcast as we speak with Asleigh Shanti, Aarohi Narai, and the team from Third Culture Bakery on the power of diasporic foodways.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

Just days before her second restaurant was set to open, we spoke to Bay Area-based chef and restaurateur Reem Assil. We discussed her feelings on the precipice of opening, but also, about the industry at large. Her answers about the state of the restaurant industry would prove painfully ominous. What they revealed are some of the pitfalls of the industry prior to its COVID-19-related collapse and underscores some of the challenges it now faces in rebuilding.  Learn more about your ad-choices...

In part 2 of our series on natural wine we delve deeper into the what makes the term natural wine controversial, why the qualifier alludes us and if natural wine is trend or here to stay. In part episode of Point of Origin from Whetstone Magazine, we’re joined by New York based sommelier Amanda Smeltz, who currently works as a wine director at both ESTELA and Cafe Altro Paradiso, who breaks down the cultural significance of natural wine. Learn more about your ad-choices at...

Natural wine is farmed organically biodynamically, using permaculture, and made without adding or removing anything in the cellar. No additives or processing aids are used, and the naturally occurring fermentation process is kept to a minimum. Neither fining nor filtration are used. The result is a wine that’s truly “alive”, full of naturally occurring microbiology. In this two part episode of Point of Origin from Whetstone Magazine, we’re joined by the owners and wine makers from Donkey...

Guided by the stories of Sonja Swanson, Seoyung Chung of Bburi Kitchen and Ji Hye Kim of Ms Kim restaurant, this episode explores ancient Korean recipes and how they are taking on modern adaptations. Swanson came to Korea to learn about her cultural heritage, and a one-year stay became a seven-year journey. Together, Swanson and Seoyung are using food to tell a story about the culinary history of Korea, through adaptations of ancient recipes. Learn more about your ad-choices at...

Travel with us to the rolling hills of Sri Lanka and the high mountains of Taiwan to sample teas and learn about their origins. We explore how decisions like harvesting, processing and fermentation impart flavor, and how its consumption is deeply ingrained in Asian cultures. Meet our guests Elena Liao from Te Company a premium tearoom in New York City, as she discusses Oolong tea is and how Taiwan’s history plays a role in its taste, and Waris Ahluwalia, a designer and actor whose newly...

Point of Origin Season 2 kicks off by honoring Black History Month. We’re exploring Nigerian foodways, what Naija is and how it’s expressed through food.  Chefs Tunde Wey, Yewande Komolafe, and Michael Ade Elebede join us to discuss the origin of Nigerian dishes, and how they champion their food to interrogate systems of power. See more. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://news.iheart.com/podcast-advertisers

iHeartRadio and Whetstone Magazine's Point of Origin is back. On February 26, join host Whetstone co-founder Stephen Satterfield as he connects with the people most immersed in defining and preserving global foodways. Along the way we’re drinking natural wine in Australia, sipping tea — Taiwanese Oolong and Sri Lankan Ceylon — and eating frejon, a Nigerian staple with Brazilian origins.  The power of food is that it has a story to tell. Each week, Point of Origin will enthusiastically uplift...

Over nearly the last 20 years, there is perhaps no name more important over in the world of contemporary dining culture than Chef Rene Redzepi. The same can be said for the chef’s restaurant, Noma, whose kitchen has produced a generation of stars, and whose food a generation of imitators and disciples of their principles and aesthetic. Jeff Gordinier, author of HUNGRY: Eating, Road-Tripping, and Risking It All with the Greatest Chef in the World, profiles Redzepi and many of his colleagues...