AnthroDish
AnthroDish explores the intersections between our foods, cultures, and identities. Host Dr. Sarah Duignan sits down one-on-one with people in academia, hospitality, farming and agriculture, and more to learn about their food knowledge and experiences. If you're interested in the unique lives of everyday people who have been shaped by their relationship with food, this show is for you!
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153: Setting a Place for Recipes of Displacement & Community with Hawa Hassan
05/20/2025
153: Setting a Place for Recipes of Displacement & Community with Hawa Hassan
As season 9 of the podcast draws to a close, it’s feeling like a full circle moment thematically. The conversations began this season around what it means to value labour, specifically whose labour is and isn’t valued to power a global food supply, and an exposé of the cruel treatment of migrant workers coming to the U.S. But the process of migrating, and the experiences that come with it, are incredibly important stories. What does it mean to carry culture through food when you’ve been displaced, and how can food serve as the foundation to continue resilience and pass along important cultural heritage through recipes? I spoke with Hawa Hassan today to explore these questions. Hawa is a James Beard Award winner and culinary triple threat: dynamic chef, TV personality, and entrepreneur. She's the founder of Basbaas, a line of sauce and condiments inspired by her home country of Somalia, a fast-growing brand that has been featured in Forbes, the New York Times, Eater, and more. Her first cookbook-meets-travelogue, In Bibi's Kitchen, shares recipes and stories from grandmothers—or bibis—in eight African countries bordering the Indian Ocean. In our conversation, Hawa talks about her latest cookbook, Setting a Place for Us, and how she built this stunning series of recipes from eight countries impacted by war and conflict. Hawa explores how she structured the recipes for the pantry, working with photographers and local experts to shape the stories conveyed through the recipes, and the importance of challenging single-origin stories about conflict and its impact on culture, food, and identity. Learn More from Hawa: Buy Instagram: @
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152: Documenting the Undocumented through Food with Jill Damatac
05/06/2025
152: Documenting the Undocumented through Food with Jill Damatac
The idea of a pristine kitchen with clean countertops feels distinctively American, or an all-American idealist. However, the concept of the American ideal, or the American dream, desperately needs to be challenged. How better to do that than through food? My guest this week, author and filmmaker Jill Damatac, does just that in her new memoir, Dirty Kitchen: A Memoir of Food and Family. Jill was born in the Philippines, raised in the US, and is now a UK citizen living in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her film and photography work has been featured on the BBC and in Time, and at film festivals worldwide; her short documentary film Blood and Ink (Dugo at Tinta), about the Indigenous Filipino tattooist Apo Whang Od, was an official selection at the Academy Award–qualifying DOC NYC and won Best Documentary at Ireland’s Kerry Film Festival. Jill holds an MSt in Creative Writing from the University of Cambridge and an MA in Documentary Film from the University of the Arts London. Her new book, Dirty Kitchen, is a food memoir of 22 years undocumented in the United States. In today’s episode, we explore her memoir as a unique narrative that combines recipes, Filipino histories and mythologies, American immigration experiences, food writing, and personal narratives. Jill describes how she structured the book, how Filipino diasporic recipes relate to diasporic and migrant experiences, and the relationship between American foods and rebuilding a sense of self through Filipino foods after living undocumented for many years. Resources: Buy Website: https://www.jilldamatac.com/ Instagram:
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151: What Can Local and Seasonal Food Networks Look Like? with Colin Fontaine
04/29/2025
151: What Can Local and Seasonal Food Networks Look Like? with Colin Fontaine
Perhaps now more than ever, there’s renewed appreciation for the intricacies of our food systems' deep dependence on a global supply chain. However, that also raises challenges around our relationships with producers and understanding of food value. My guest today, Colin Fontaine, is here to discuss how to reorient American concepts of food and culture to be grounded in seasonal and local approaches. Colin examines food production solutions to achieve more local and seasonal foods, arguing that this issue is more of a cultural problem in need of cultural solutions. Colin has worked in produce procurement, including wholesale distribution, and as an East Coast local produce category manager for Sprouts Farmers Market. Colin is based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and has an undergraduate degree in anthropology from Bridgewater State University. Through his newsletter Northeast Cuisine, Colin writes about how to localize the food system in the northeastern US, considering past, present, and future lessons about the region and its climate, producers, cultures, and produce availability to build a better and more equitable food system. Learn More About Colin: Newsletter: Instagram:
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150: Italian Pasta Nights with an American Accent with Renato Poliafito
04/22/2025
150: Italian Pasta Nights with an American Accent with Renato Poliafito
Throughout this season, we’ve been exploring immigrant narratives around food: roles in food systems, labour, and diasporic food stories. Part of this is making sense of the “ish” elements to identities through food, which my guest this week, Renato Poliafito, does beautifully. Renato is a James Beard-nominated restaurateur, pastry chef, cookbook author, designer, and entrepreneur based in Brooklyn, NY. After a graphic design and advertising career, Renato pivoted to food, training as a barista to learn more about the industry, eventually opening Baked in 2005. This kicked off a culinary renaissance in the waterfront neighbourhood, resulting in several cookbooks, a line of mixes, granola, bakeware, a location in Tokyo, and multiple James Beard nominations. After over a decade at Baked, Renato embarked on a new project. He opened Ciao, Gloria in Prospect Heights in 2019, a daytime café and neighbourhood bakery steeped in his Italian-American upbringing and heritage. Inspired by the monthly pasta events he did briefly at Ciao, Gloria, pre-pandemic, Renato opened a sister concept on Vanderbilt Avenue called Pasta Night, a casual pasta concept, in October 2024. He is also the author of Dolci!: American Baking with an Italian Accent, his first solo cookbook featuring Italian and “Italian American-ish” cakes, cookies, pies, and pastries for any occasion. In this conversation, Renato explores how he infused his culture and background into Ciao, Gloria, and Pasta Nights, how he switches between his Italian and American heritages to build their menus, and his perspectives on creating community in Brooklyn and Italian-American eating experiences that speak to American-style dining. Learn More About Renato: Instagram: and
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149: Unbottling the Problems of Bottled Water with Daniel Jaffee
04/15/2025
149: Unbottling the Problems of Bottled Water with Daniel Jaffee
A plastic bottle of water powerfully represents the state of our current environmental and health priorities. That water can become commodified while being an essential public service means that who gets access to water can be deeply challenged. How is water justice reached when plastic water privatization has become so embedded in our systems? My guest today, Dr. Daniel Jaffee, is here to explore the depths of these two important parts of the water spectrum. Dan is an environmental and rural sociologist, and a professor of Sociology at Portland State University. His research examines conflicts over water privatization and commodification, the social, economic, and environmental impacts of bottled and packaged water, and the social movements that form around bottled water and water justice in the global North and South. He is also the author of Unbottled: The Fight Against Plastic Water and for Water Justice, and Brewing Justice: Fair Trade Coffee, Sustainability, and Survival. In today’s episode, we’re talking about how cultural and economic shifts shaped the success of bottled water, what its commodification means for the municipal water systems that serve us, and how the global water crisis becomes socially produced. Resources:
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148: Masala, Maíz, and Movement - Ingredients for Decolonizing Plates with Norma Listman and Saqib Keval
04/01/2025
148: Masala, Maíz, and Movement - Ingredients for Decolonizing Plates with Norma Listman and Saqib Keval
On the show today are Norma Listman and Saqib Keval, looking at the solutions and communities that can be built when activism and ethical values are at the forefront of food creation. Norma and Saqib are the chefs and restauranteurs behind Masala y Maíz, which TIME Magazine named as one of the top destinations to visit worldwide, and its slightly more casual Indian-Mexican sister restaurant, Mari Gold. Norma and Saqib were also just featured in the most recent season of Chef’s Table on Netflix. Masala y Maíz seamlessly blends Indian, East African, and Mexican flavours inspired by the cultures of the husband-wife team. In addition to being renowned globally for its genre-bending and deeply personal cuisine, Masala y Maíz champions a movement of social justice through food, prioritizing quality of life for their staff and farmers and serving as a testament to the idea that a values-based workplace can also be a thriving workplace. In today’s conversation, Norma and Saqib share how they moved the idea of Masala y Maíz from a research concept into a full restaurant, even after not being so sure about staying in the industry for all its shortcomings), how experiences with local flavours on a menu can fuck with your brain and decolonize how you think about ingredients, and the importance of corn in cultural, social, and decolonial approaches to food. Resources: Social Media: Website for Book mentioned: by Enrique Ochoa
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147: What Canada Ate - The Role of Cookbooks in Culinary History with Dr. Rebecca Beausaert
03/18/2025
147: What Canada Ate - The Role of Cookbooks in Culinary History with Dr. Rebecca Beausaert
As most historians will tell you, the past can help make sense of a lot of the present, but maybe in unexpected or novel ways—like through cookbooks! We’re living in an intense period (I probably always say this, but it feels particularly challenging right now). With the new Trump presidency, shifts to Canada’s economic stability and food security are top of mind for many—how are we going to afford eating, how can we support Canadian-focused food systems, and who is at the centre of these domestic pursuits? My guest today is Dr. Rebecca Beausaert, here to explore how historical food cookbooks can provide valuable insights into how we make sense of food as a country. Rebecca is an adjunct professor in the history department at the University of Guelph. She is also the co-founder and co-director of the increased website, which is an online repository of digitized historical cookbooks. She is also the author of . In today’s conversation, we explore the history of Canadian cookbooks from the first Canadian cookbook published in 1825 to today. She looks at how different agricultural, technological, social, and economic shifts impacted what recipes and ingredients appeared on cookbook pages, the untold stories of domestic handbooks and the women that fed farmers, and how cookbooks can paint the story of the ever-complex question around defining Canadian cuisine. Learn More from Rebecca: cookbook repository Rebecca Beausaert on
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146: Flavour's Role in Food System Fixes with Franco Fubini
03/12/2025
146: Flavour's Role in Food System Fixes with Franco Fubini
The idea of industrial food systems is flat, heavy, and feels complex to access. It brings up connotations of very bland, hyper-processed foods made to reach a large number of people at a low cost. There are important consequences to these food systems choices, though some are louder ones than others. My guest today, Franco Fubini, tackles an often under-appreciated one: flavours of ingredients. Franco Fubini is the founder and CEO of Natoora, and takes a unique approach to seasonality and sourcing for chefs and consumers across London, Paris, Milan, Copenhagen, Malmo, New York, LA, Miami, and Melbourne. He is also a professor of Sustainability Management at Columbia University in NYC. Franco is driven by his belief that engaging people with the real flavour of fruits and vegetables, arguing that we can collectively transform how food is being farmed and supplied if we focus more on a supply chain rooted in flavour, transparency, and direct relationships. He is also the author of In Search of the Perfect Peach: Why Flavour Holds the Answer to Fixing Our Food System. In today’s episode, we look at the role that flavour plays in our food systems, and how flavour’s decline has been connected to wartime economies and contemporary agricultural systems. Franco speaks to the work he’s doing through Natoora, and how both old and new strategies are needed to model more sustainable, resilient, and locally-grounded food systems for the future. Learn More About Franco Instagram: and
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145: Exploring the Biodiversity of Climate-Smart Crops with Shreema Mehta
03/04/2025
145: Exploring the Biodiversity of Climate-Smart Crops with Shreema Mehta
Industrial food systems tend to use mono-crop and unilinear approaches to supplying the Global North with food. But what happens when we consider more diverse crops? My guest today, Shreema Mehta, will discuss the traditional, climate-smart crops that are overlooked by the industrial food system. She started Climate Cookery selling tamarind hot sauce and has since expanded it to a newsletter that explores increasing biodiversity and supporting knowledge of underutilized crops. Resources: Instagram:
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144: The Rich History of Georgian Wines with Sarah May Grunwald
02/25/2025
144: The Rich History of Georgian Wines with Sarah May Grunwald
When it comes to wine, I have a tendency to retreat and panic: I don’t know anything, and I certainly don’t feel like I have the means to access the knowledge. I often wonder if that’s a common experience for people, based on the connotations that come with its consumption. My guest this week, Sarah May Grunwald, is someone I find quite admirable for the barriers she breaks down in communication about wine and winemaking practices. Sarah May Grunwald is a wine, food, and travel writer originally from California. She is a certified sommelier, WSET level 3 certificate holder, and former professor of wine. Sarah practices permaculture and keeps bees in the Roman countryside, where she produces olive oil and has seven rescue dogs and five cats. She leads wine and food tours in Rome and the country of Georgia and co-owns a Tbilisi-based food and wine tour company called Taste Georgia. She has been working in Georgia since 2014. Today, she’s on the show to discuss Georgian wines' rich, deep, and fascinating history. Despite more attention being given to Italian or French traditions of wine, Sarah May taught me that wine’s birthplace is long considered to be in Georgia during the Neolithic. What makes us skip over this key piece of wine history? We explore the role of the qvervi vessel in the specific practices of winemaking in Georgia. These sociopolitical and geographic influences have informed how and where Georgian wine is made, and delve into the future of winemaking with climate change. Learn More About Sarah May Grunwald:
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143: Unpacking the Absent Food Citizen in Policy with Isabela Bonnevera
02/18/2025
143: Unpacking the Absent Food Citizen in Policy with Isabela Bonnevera
This week, we’re exploring the idea of the food citizen, or perhaps more accurately, the absent food citizen, with Isabela Bonnevera. Isabela is a doctoral researcher at ICTA-UAB, and engages with participatory methods to explore how immigrants are shaping sustainable food transitions in cities. She also examines how sustainable food policies impact food justice outcomes for immigrant communities. I met Isabela through her work as the co-founder of Feminist Food Journal, which is an award-winning magazine and podcast. Additionally, she is an editor of Urban Agriculture and Forced Displacement, a forthcoming volume for the Springer Urban Agriculture Series. In today’s episode, Isabela unpacks the idea of food citizenship: who is involved in defining it, how immigrants are often framed or defined in food policies, the power of language to shape meanings of “healthy” and “cultural” foods, and the consequences of exclusion in food policy writing. I could quite honestly speak with Isabela forever on this topic, as she has really illuminated some under-considered elements to these issues. Resources:
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142: What Role Does Food Play in Fiction Writing? with Margaux Vialleron
11/26/2024
142: What Role Does Food Play in Fiction Writing? with Margaux Vialleron
One of the most frustrating parts of watching Gossip Girl growing up was witnessing the elaborate breakfast spreads that the families had each morning, only for the main characters to grab a piece of toast and run away with anguish. When we think about fiction, food isn’t always central to how a story is told. But what happens when it is? My guest this week is Margaux Vialleron, a French-born and Glasgow-based interdisciplinary writer and cook. She is the author of two novels: Breaststrokes (May 2024) and The Yellow Kitchen (July 2022). Her story, Fernanda’s Fish Soup, was runner-up in the 2022 Harper’s Bazaar short story competition. She also writes The Onion Papers, a hybrid newsletter about storytelling in the kitchen. Margaux’s work explores the landscapes of remembrance, the links between inner spaces and wild outer spaces, and food and seasonality as communal experiences. In today’s episode, Margaux unpacks the power of food as a storytelling device in fiction, the consequences of character development relating to appetite and economics, and the power of the kitchen in writing and real life. Margaux is a beautiful writer, and I know a lot of the warmth in her work comes from the time she dedicates to food and eating in her character development, so it is a special treat to hear her perspectives on incorporating this into fictional worlds. Learn More About Margaux: Website: The Onion Papers Newsletter: Instagram:
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141: Uncovering Medieval Pictish Foodways through Paleobotany with Dr. Shalen Prado
11/19/2024
141: Uncovering Medieval Pictish Foodways through Paleobotany with Dr. Shalen Prado
Oftentimes, when we think about plant-human relationships, we’re thinking about our contemporary lives and how plants factor into it – be it North American plant-based diets or what we’re growing in our apartments. But our relationship with plants goes back for millennia, and accessing this historical and prehistoric knowledge is a glimpse into what life looked like for ancient humans. My guest this week is Dr. Shalen Prado, who is here to explore what we know about plant-based eating during the medieval period of Scotland. Shalen is a settler-archaeologist living in Saskatoon and originally from the East Coast (Mi’kma’ki or Prince Edward Island). She researches ancient human-plant relationships and foodways. Shalen currently works as a Living Skies Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Saskatchewan and collaborates with the Bridge To Land Water Sky Living Lab. In today’s episode, Shalen shares some of her research on the elusive Picts of Scotland and how she uses phytoliths and ceramic sherds to uncover what plant-based eating looked like for this group of people during the medieval period of Great Britain. Learn More from Shalen: Instagram: @spradoplants Recent open-access article: Microbotanical research database:
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140: Recovering from Restrictive Online Diet Myths with Dr. Sarah Ballantyne
11/12/2024
140: Recovering from Restrictive Online Diet Myths with Dr. Sarah Ballantyne
Diet culture on the internet is excellent at sensationalizing our food to the point of panic. I’m sure many of you have seen the videos across TikTok and Instagram where someone positions themselves as an expert and demonizes strawberries, bread, or my beloved potatoes. But what happens when we take a more proactive and less restrictive approach to looking at food? My guest today is the delightful Dr. Sarah Ballantyne, the founder of Nutrivore.com and the New York Times bestselling author of Nutrivore: The Radical New Science for Getting the Nutrients You Need from the Food You Eat. She creates educational resources to help people improve their diet and lifestyle choices, empowered and informed by the most current evidence-based scientific research. With Nutrivore, Dr. Sarah has created a positive and inclusive approach to dietary guidance, based on science and devoid of dogma, using nutrient density and sufficiency as its basic principles: Nourishment, not judgment. On today’s show, we’re breaking down why diet-centric approaches don’t work, busting myths around food fears, and Dr. Sarah explains her Nutrivore mindset. It is an immense pleasure to have a conversation with someone with such nutritional knowledge and an approach to eating that is sustainable and realistic, so I am very excited to share this with you all. Learn More from Dr. Sarah! Book: Website: Instagram: Threads: TikTok: YouTube: Get one of five free Nutrivore Guides Here!
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139: What Makes for Good Food Policy? with Chef Joshna Maharaj
11/05/2024
139: What Makes for Good Food Policy? with Chef Joshna Maharaj
One downside I find when I spend too much time on the internet is that there’s an overwhelming viewpoint that the system is broken and there’s not much we can do to change that – or that food, in general, is disconnected from all other components of our lives. But I think these attitudes forget that a lot of empowerment comes through advocating for better policies across the board. My guest today is absolutely LEGENDARY when it comes to just that: Joshna Maharaj. Joshna sees food as our common denominator as humans and understands it holds the power to solve many problems we’re facing. As she sees it, good food policy automatically means good health, agriculture, labour, and environmental relationships. Joshna Maharaj is a chef, speaker, author & activist who wants to help everyone have a better relationship with their food. She believes strongly in the power of chefs & social gastronomy to bring values of hospitality, sustainability, & social justice to the table. Joshna works with institutions in Canada to build new models for food service. Her first book, entitled Take Back the Tray (May 2020), captures the lessons & experience from her work in changing institutional food systems around the globe. She is an enthusiastic instructor of both culinary and academic students, constantly finding ways to make food stories come alive. Joshna has just started a Master’s in Gastronomy in Dublin, Ireland and is enjoying the delights of being a student once again. In our conversation today, we talk about how to tackle the prickliness of food policy and what happens when we break down the silos of industry, government, and hospitality to build better values and relationships with food. Learn More from Joshna: Instagram: Book:
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138: Fish, Wine, and Letting Go of Ego in Southern France with Steve Hoffman
10/29/2024
138: Fish, Wine, and Letting Go of Ego in Southern France with Steve Hoffman
In the daily grind of work under capitalism, I’m sure I’m not alone for dreaming of something more to life. Usually, this takes the shape of going somewhere new in the world on vacation or picking up a new language and imagining what life would look like if you lived in that country and spoke that language with ease. For my guest today, this dream became a concrete and humbling reality. Tax preparer and food writer Steve Hoffman details his journey with his family in his beautiful new memoir, . Steve is a French speaker and shameless Francophile who tirelessly works in his memoir to unearth the reality of his family’s gradual acceptance into a tiny winemaking village in the Languedoc region of southern France. His writing has won multiple awards, including the 2019 James Beard MFK Fisher Distinguished Writing Award. He has been published in Food & Wine, The Washington Post, The Minneapolis Star Tribune, and Artful Living magazine. In our conversation today, Steve shares some of the lessons he picked up about the unique winemaking and culinary traditions he experienced in Languedoc-Rousillon region, the role that food and ingredients played in helping his family become accepted in the village, the values of home cooking versus French cooking, and what it took as a food writer to get to a point with his memoir where he could approach his family’s story with an honesty and earnestness I’ve not seen the likes of in other food memoirs. Learn More About Steve: Steve's Book: Instagram: Facebook: Website:
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137: Transformations through Fermentation and Oracle Decks with Julia Skinner
10/22/2024
137: Transformations through Fermentation and Oracle Decks with Julia Skinner
As far as public conversations around fermenting, we’ve come a long way as a society in our understanding of what that is in 2024. So with that, deeper explorations into the practice of fermentation and its role in building communities get a lot more interesting. Dr. Julia Skinner is returning to AnthroDish today to discuss the magic and art of fermentation, a central theme in her latest work, The Fermentation Oracle. This book is an oracle deck, recipe guide, and meditative practice that combines the understanding of magic, metaphors, and transformation in the small moments of our day-to-day life. Learn More About Julia: Instagram: Substack:
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136: Beer (and Everyone) Still Has a Diversity Problem with Ren Navarro
10/15/2024
136: Beer (and Everyone) Still Has a Diversity Problem with Ren Navarro
If you’ve listened to AnthroDish regularly over the last few years, you’ll know that Ren Navarro is a champion of diversity and inclusion within the beer industry and beyond. When I first interviewed Ren back in 2020, we looked at her Canadian consulting services through B.Diversity, and the diversity problem within craft beer in Ontario. We’ve lived truly a lifetime of unprecedented times since then: we saw the proliferation of Black Lives Matter movements and heavy pressure for more equitable change, and DEI initiatives take stronger footing through many industries reckoning with their own complicity. Yet… we’re also living in a period where affirmative action has been struck down in America, and DEI is making headlines because CEOs have decided they’re done with it. So what does this mean for people like Ren who have built their businesses through this necessary and ongoing work? Who helps the activists pushing for safer and more supportive communities? What do the follow-up sessions look like for breweries that had DEI consults? Ren’s here to explore these questions, as well as the very real challenges that come with this work for her: burnout in a landscape where her job is good when things are bad in the world. Learn More From Ren: BDiversity Group Website: Ren Instagram: Resources Ren Shared in Episode: Book - Book -
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135: Growing Olive Trees in Texan Heat with Dr. Vikram Baliga
10/08/2024
135: Growing Olive Trees in Texan Heat with Dr. Vikram Baliga
Climate change is a daunting reality for many of us – there’s a lot of anxiety around understanding what’s happening and how it affects our communities and the foods we grow. While there’s no magic bullet, there is a lot of great scientific researchers working hard to share what they know about this. For example – you may not immediately think of Texas when you think of olive oil production, but this is one of few American landscapes suitable for growing olive oil trees! My guest today is Dr. Vikram Baliga, a horticulture professor in Texas. He studies conservation and has spent most of his career studying food systems, urban water use, and olive tree crops. Vikram also owns a peach orchard and tells a lot of dad jokes – most notably on his fun science podcast, Planthropology. Vikram joins me today to talk more about his research on olive tree growth in Texas – what about the climate makes it a suitable space for their growth, how olive trees respond to weather changes and stressors, and considerations around water use as climates continue to change. He’s also an expert scientific communicator, so you’re in for a really engaging conversation today! Learn More About Vikram: Planthropology Podcast: Tiktok: Instagram:
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134: The Art of the Plant-Based Table with Chloé Crane-Leroux and Trudy Crane
10/01/2024
134: The Art of the Plant-Based Table with Chloé Crane-Leroux and Trudy Crane
Eating is so central to our ways of connecting as people and communities, but how we show up and make space around food is a practice of care and art. My guests today, Trudy Crane and Chloé Crane-Leroux are a mother-daughter duo best known for their individual foods, fashion, and lifestyle content. Montreal natives, these two are bursting with creativity and a deep appreciation for romanticizing the little moments in life. They’re here today to talk about their stunning new cookbook, a collection of recipes inspired by their European travels and the lessons around fresh, local ingredients they learn and shaped into delicious plant-based meals. We speak today about how they can pull inspiration from the beauty of the world around them – architecture, landscapes, a moment making pancakes together – and turn it into an artful experience of the table through their photography, ceramic-making, and recipe crafting. Learn More About Chloé & Trudy: Buy their Cookbook: Chloé Crane-Leroux Instagram: Trudy Crane Instagram: and
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133: How to Break Down Diet Culture and Live Nourished with Shana Minei Spence
09/24/2024
133: How to Break Down Diet Culture and Live Nourished with Shana Minei Spence
Spend too much time on the internet these days and you can walk away with a lingering sense of body shame, dietary uncertainty, and overall not-great-vibes. To me, this means it’s all the more important to reflect on our relationships with food and re-assess how we think about them. My guest today, Shana Spence, is one of the central people that I take a lot of inspiration from when it comes to healing relationships with food. Shana is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist based in Brooklyn, New York. Her debut book came out this past August 2024, titled . She currently works in public health for the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, doing community nutrition lessons, and also owns her own company, The Nutrition Tea ®. She describes herself as an "all foods fit" dietitian and creates a platform for open discussion on nutrition and wellness topics that are inclusive, non-diet, and weight-neutral, all with an intersectionality of social justice. Today, Shana joins me to discuss some of the key themes and crafting of Live Nourished, touching on how diet culture persists in post-secondary educational spheres, the funny but persistent and weird ways that wellness permeates our eating choices, and how to break away from the idea of food as a moral choice, to think about nourishment in a more individual and cultural way. Learn More From Shana: Instagram: Website: Newsletter: TikTok:
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132: What Makes Food Hearty? with andrea bennett
09/17/2024
132: What Makes Food Hearty? with andrea bennett
Our relationship with food in North America is such a deeply fascinating, contrasting, nuanced and complicated one. There’s so much to consider – both in the sheer population size and geographic scale of our food systems, but also in how we make sense of the foods we do and do not have access to. My guest this week, andrea bennett, tackles these big questions in latest new book, and is here to discuss some of the central ideas around it. Andrea is a National Magazine Award-winning writer and senior editor at the Tyee, and has recently released a collection of essays called through ECW Press. The essays in Hearty offer a snapshot of the North American cultural relationship to food and eating, deep diving into specific foods and tracing them through time, such as chutney, carrots, and ice cream, but also explores appetite and desire in food media, the art of substitution, seed saving and the triumphs and trials of being a home gardener, how the food system works (and doesn’t), and complex societal narratives around health and pleasure. In today’s discussion, we look at the relationship between vegetables, imagination, and food media, trace the labour that goes into food through different North American geographies, and how poverty, scarcity, and restaurant work informed their art of substitutions in recipes that translated into a nourishing sense of local community through time. Learn More From andrea: Instagram:
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131: Season 9 Launch [Solo Episode]
09/10/2024
131: Season 9 Launch [Solo Episode]
As we start up season 9 of the podcast, I wanted to share some life and technological updates, as well as what you can expect of this season. Food feels very different from when I started this show in 2018, the "foodie" culture isn't proliferating, which isn't a shock given the challenges of food and living costs in North America. This season we're going in with a clear eye for analysis on some of the major factors informing our food systems: the treatment of immigrants working in food, how climate change and drought stress impacts food growing, talking back to diet culture in the era of Ozempic, and finding ways to connect back to nourishment that feel more joyful. We've got a new look, a powerful line up of guests, and a really fruitful series of conversations for you! Follow Sarah/AnthroDish: Substack: Instagram: TikTok:
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130: Invisible Labour Behind Chicken Nuggets: The Immigrants Taking on America's Largest Meatpacking Industry with Alice Driver
09/03/2024
130: Invisible Labour Behind Chicken Nuggets: The Immigrants Taking on America's Largest Meatpacking Industry with Alice Driver
We’ve heard stories about how chicken nuggets are riddled with questionable ingredients, but what gets missed when looking at industrial meat production is those who process a nation’s worth of meat and poultry, the immigrants working at Tyson meatpacking companies throughout Arkansas. My guest today is Alice Driver, who has written a haunting exposé on the toxic labour practices experienced at Tyson, the largest meatpacking company in America. Alice is a J. Anthony Lukas and James Beard Award-winning writer from the Ozark Mountains in Arkansas. She is here today to discuss some of the central themes in her new book, , which is out officially as of today through Simon and Schuster. She is also the author of , and the translator of . In our conversation, Alice details the story of the immigrant workers who had the courage to fight back after decades of deadly chemical accidents, hyper-surveillance, and unsafe working conditions throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. She unveils how the landscape and politics of Arkansas are marked by the poultry industry, and the exploitation models that went into creating such difficult and hazardous working conditions for those who are often subjected to invisible labour. She recounts how workers fought back in a lawsuit against Tyson Foods despite the potential consequences, and what is needed to truly change meatpacking industry standards. Learn More From Alice: Website: Instagram:
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129: Third Culture Cooking, TikTok Foods, and Kung Food Cookbook with Jon Kung
05/28/2024
129: Third Culture Cooking, TikTok Foods, and Kung Food Cookbook with Jon Kung
For our last episode this season, we’re exploring what it means to cook from a third culture kitchen. There’s been growing discussions online of what it means to be a third culture kid or a third culture individual. My guest today, Jon Kung, is one of the best people to speak to how third culture experiences can play out through food, cooking, and kitchen spaces. Jon is a popular Chinese American chef, content creator, and podcast host of with legendary drag queen Kim Chi. Jon has amassed a following of over 2 million people for their unique style of third culture cooking, which blends cultural traditions, flavours, and ingredients that hold personal meaning to them. After graduating from Eastern Michigan University with a bachelor’s degree in theatre arts and creative writing, and then earning a law degree from University of Detroit Mercy, Jon changed career paths to focus on cooking. They worked in some of the top Detroit kitchens before launching their successful Kung Food Market Studio pop-up. As the pandemic forced the pop-up to shut down, Jon turned to social media to create instructional and entertaining cooking videos that explore the vast Chinese diaspora, and apply culinary techniques of traditional Chinese cooking onto global flavours and ingredients. Jon is on the show today to discuss their debut cookbook, . We explore what it means to cook through third culture lenses, the 2010s rebrand of American fusion cooking and its impact on the idea of authenticity and third culture expressions in food, TikTok food landscapes, how Jon translated their dishes and videos into a cookbook format, and Toronto’s early 2000s obsession pizza obsession. Learn More About Jon: TikTok: Instagram: YouTube: Threads: Website:
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128: Heydays at the June Motel - Translating a Lakeside Summer Cuisine into a Cookbook with Katie Laliberté
05/14/2024
128: Heydays at the June Motel - Translating a Lakeside Summer Cuisine into a Cookbook with Katie Laliberté
Here in Ontario, we’re just hitting the warmer spring weather after a grey and cloudy winter, and anyone living up north can attest to the amount of daydreaming we do about our future and past summer plans. During that daydreaming, memory and nostalgia can play a significant role in establishing an ideal summer, with tastes, scents and flavour playing powerful roles in thinking about what foods were prepared and shared. During the summer, the simple and mouth-watering foods tend to satisfy better than during a blustery snowstorm — but how can one capture the ritual and ceremony of joy and make it last throughout the year? My guest today is Katie Laliberté, who is here to share the nostalgic and delicious experience that informed the forthcoming Heydays at the June Motel: Beach Town Classics, which is co-authored by Freddy Laliberte, Evan Baulch, and Emma Bulch. Katie helped to open Heydays Restaurant in Sauble Beach in 2020, after many years of supporting restaurants in Toronto. She is a writer and sometimes book-seller and is currently working on a restaurant romance novel as well. Today, Katie explores the pandemic landscape origins of Heydays Restaurant through its ongoing partnership with The June Motel, how her Connecticut roots informed the unique coastal comfort food cuisine within the cookbook, and how the restaurant and book serve as an invitation to take the beach home with you, to create summer memories to last a lifetime. Learn More about Katie! Instagram: Website:
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127: How Local Journalism Explores the Foods of the American South with Hanna Raskin of The Food Section
04/09/2024
127: How Local Journalism Explores the Foods of the American South with Hanna Raskin of The Food Section
News media at large is in a challenging position this year: we’ve seen mass layoffs across digital media, local news, TV, print, even podcasts and documentaries. There’s shifts in audiences, loss of journalist jobs, and shaky foundations of social media platforms like Twitter and Substack that make even the strongest bylines at risk of being swallowed up. As a public, that means how we consume and analyze media changes too. Here on AnthroDish and across food media platforms, food is a jumping off tool that can offer alternative avenues to navigate complex sociocultural and political issues. My guest today is Hanna Raskin, founder of The Food Section, who is here to explore how her newsletter is creating a nuanced space for food media coverage across the American South. One of the leading voices for high-quality local food journalism, Hanna has received widespread recognition for her writing and reporting. She previously worked as a food editor and chief critic for The Post and Courier newspaper in Charleston, South Carolina, which earned her the James Beard Foundation’s inaugural Local Impact Journalism Award. Since then, she founded The Food Section in 2021 as a twice-weekly Substack newsletter, and subsequently moved it onto its own independent platform in 2024. The Food Section has been named one of the best newsletters in the country by several prestigious industry organizations. Hanna sits down with me today to share her experiences building The Food Section after transitioning away from newspaper reporting, what the dimensions of local food journalism can offer that other beats cannot, and how to navigate the concept of rigour in a food media world that can otherwise easily swing from buzzy big media to surface level content creator coverage. Learn More About Hannah: Threads: Instagram: Facebook:
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126: The Ikaria Way: How Mostly Plant-Based Foods Maintain a Greek Island's Longevity with Diane Kochilas
04/03/2024
126: The Ikaria Way: How Mostly Plant-Based Foods Maintain a Greek Island's Longevity with Diane Kochilas
You may be familiar with the Greek island of Ikaria through the popularity of “Blue Zones” and the idea that these regions of the world can provide insights into living longer, healthier lives. Yet as with most trends around diet and health, there is so much unspoken about the nuances of what an Ikarian lifestyle and diet entails, and the cultural relationships that Ikarians have with their food and communities. My guest today is Diane Kochilas, who is here to share her insights on these relationships with food through her new cookbook, . Diane has been at the forefront of bringing healthy, delicious Greek and Mediterranean cuisine to a wide international audience for over 25 years. She is the host and co-executive producer of the award-winning PBS show, My Greek Table, and she runs the Glorious Greek Cooking school on her native island Ikaria. She’s released 18 cookbooks on Greek cuisine, and has consulted with American universties to bring healthy Greek foods to their dining programs. Today, Diane unpacks what it means to live and eat in the spirit of the Ikarians, discusses the differences between food preparation and preservation in Greece compared to other Mediterranean cultures, and unpacks how the anxiety and disconnection between North Americans and their food has shaped how we think about cooking and eating, and how she navigates these perspectives through her recipes. Learn More About Diane: Cookbook: Website:
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125: Sesame, Soy, Spice: Using Plant-Based Recipes to Honour Heritage and Healing with Remy Morimoto Park
03/26/2024
125: Sesame, Soy, Spice: Using Plant-Based Recipes to Honour Heritage and Healing with Remy Morimoto Park
Thinking about “typical” types of veganism can reveal a lot of fascinating Western stereotypes or biases around what it does and doesn’t entail. And yet so many cultural cuisines from around the world are rooted in plant-based meals that have been passed down through generations to shape contemporary ethnic cuisines. So what happens when someone adopts a vegan diet and lifestyle, in terms of navigating heritage, identity, and family connection? My guest this week is popular recipe developer and creator Remy Park from Veggiekins, who is here to explore these themes and discuss her beautiful debut cookbook, . Originally from New York/New Jersey area with an international upbringing, she shares vibrant plant-based recipes that take inspiration from her three cultures: Korean, Japanese, and Taiwanese, and all the countries she’s lived in. Remy is also a certified yoga and meditation teacher as well as a holistic nutritionist. Her work has been featured in a variety of publications, including Shape Magazine, British Vogue, BuzzFeed, Elle Vietnam, CBS News, and ABC News. Within the cookbook, Remy’s personal wellness journey is woven throughout her accessible plant-based takes on international and Asian-ish dishes. In our conversation today, we explore the traditional flavours and diets of her Asian cultures, and how the book formed a love letter to Remy’s family heritage, how she navigates food as communication across American and Asian understandings of snacks and salads, and the power of language in recipe development when healing from eating disorder experiences. Learn More About Remy: Veggiekins Website: Instagram: TikTok:
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124: How Microgreens Weave Indigenous Knowledge and Western Science for Food Futures with Natalie Paterson
03/19/2024
124: How Microgreens Weave Indigenous Knowledge and Western Science for Food Futures with Natalie Paterson
One of the pitfalls in sustainability movements is this assumption that we’re all working from an equal playing field, when the reality is that oftentimes we don’t have the home space or the time to grow our own food. What we don’t always ask is whether we can make the comproimses that allow us to meet those desires to grow our own food without the high demands often required of it conventionally. My guest this week is Natalie Paterson, who has brought together her Indigenous cultural background and her scientific training to explore what we can do with microgreens. Growing up in New Zealand, Natalie was inspired by her Māori upbringing to explore the value of growing your own food. Natalie completed a BSci in nutritional biochemistry and an MS in food science at Chapman University in Orange County, California. Natalie pursued food science (the study of food from farm to fork), as she recognizes that food is intrinsic within every facet of life, thereby holding the power to promote health while preventing and curing disease. Natalie speaks on her previous experience bringing scientific expertise to the market, identifying through her move to London, England, that there is often no connection between food, people, and nutrition. With the demand for at-home fresh vegetables persisting regardless of one’s location, Natalie speaks today on the ways that indoor hydroponic smart gardens can help make people’s cooking more simple, nutritious, and sustainable. Learn more about Natalie: Instagram:
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