The Future of Food
This list of podcasts was curated and written by: Heritage Radio Network.
Photo by Kindel Media on Pexels.
Food & Podcasts
The future of food is something that can capture anyone's imagination — whether you are an avid home cook, find yourself fascinated by developing technologies of all kinds, or feel invested in the future of our climate. Whether or not food podcasts are typically in your queue, these episodes will surprise and delight, in addition to offering valuable commentary about borders in the 21st century, how astronauts are growing vegetables in space, and under what circumstances we may need to open the gates to a safely guarded seed vault.
This list was curated by Heritage Radio Network (HRN), a nonprofit food podcast network with 35+ weekly shows and a mission to make the world more equitable, sustainable, and delicious.
Podcast Recommendations:
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Podcast: Meat and Three
Episode: The Future of Food: The Metaverse, Space Farming, and NFTs
Description: Take a look at cutting-edge technology, the power and pace of globalization, and breakthrough accomplishments and discoveries in this mini-series about the future of food. This episode explores technology and the budding metaverse. While the “metaverse” today is not the full-fledged virtual reality that sci-fi portrays, we already see how data, a digital economy, and virtual experiences are gradually taking their places in the food industry. What does it look like and feel like to dine in mixed reality? How are NASA scientists working to grow plants on the final frontier? How are food brands embracing NFTs? Grab your cryptocurrency, hop in a spaceship, and stick with us as we explore the evolving landscape of food in the digital world.
Podcast: Speaking Broadly
Episode: Food Without Borders: Yasmin Khan
Description: Yasmin Khan, a long-time human rights activist, is the author of Ripe Figs, a book focusing on the Eastern Mediterranean — part travelogue, part cookbook, part meditation on the notion of borders in the 21st century. She joins host Dana Cowin to discuss the refugee crisis, what we can do as individuals and as a society to address the issues, and reasons for hope. "I've really grown to understand that there isn't some kind of (new) refugee crisis anywhere. People throughout all of history have migrated as a species when it's been necessary for our survival. It's just an intrinsic pattern of how we exist," Yasmin says. She also describes the spectacular recipes of the region and how they bring a sense of comfort, safety and a shared humanity. Tune in for a comprehensive take on how food crosses borders and bridges, rather than segregates, experiences.
Podcast: The Sporkful
Episode: Mission: ImPASTAble 1 | Spaghetti Sucks
Description: Spaghetti doesn’t hold sauce. Angel hair goes from zero to mush. Wagon wheels are gimmicks. These are just a few of Dan Pashman’s many frustrations with classic pasta shapes. Three years ago, he set out to do better when he embarked on a quest to invent a new pasta shape, actually get it made, and actually sell it. And things have not gone as planned. The Sporkful tells the story of Dan’s quest in a multi-part series beginning with this episode. Spoiler alert: It has been a massive hit, with Time Magazine naming it one of the 100 Best Inventions of 2021 and chefs like Kenji López-Alt, Dorie Greenspan, and Christopher Kimball raving about it.
Podcast: Climate Cuisine
Episode: How Cactus is Used for Fashion, Fuel, and Food
Description: Cactus isn't just a pretty backdrop in Western movies. It can be used for food, fashion, and biofuel. In fact, some varieties of cacti use 80% less water than traditional crops. Host Clarissa Wei chats with experts on the different uses of cactus: chefs Fadi Kattan, a Franco-Palestinian chef who is a proponent of Palestinian cuisine, and Alan Bergo, a chef and forager who has written a book series on wild plants. John Cushman, biochemistry professor and author, weighs in on the possibilities of prickly pear cactus as a sustainable biofuel and Adrián López Velarde, the founder of Mexican biomaterial company Desserto, explains how he uses cactus to make sustainable vegan leather.
Podcast: 99% Invisible
Episode: The Vault
Description: Svalbard is a remote Norwegian archipelago with reindeer, Arctic foxes, and only around 2,500 humans — but it is also home to a vault containing seeds for virtually every edible plant one can imagine. The Crop Trust facility built directly into a mountain has thousands of varieties of corn, rice, and more, serving as a seed backup for humanity. Cary Fowler, the founder of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, points out that when it comes to our food supply, the risk of not having a good backup is really high. “[I]n the future you can imagine that drought- and heat-tolerant varieties of wheat, barley … lentils … chickpeas and such are going to be in high demand.”
Thank you to Heritage Radio Network for curating this mid-week list for us at EarBuds Podcast Collective.
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