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!
info_outline
164: Embracing Seasonality in Edomae-Style Sushi with Chef Cheng Lin
12/16/2025
164: Embracing Seasonality in Edomae-Style Sushi with Chef Cheng Lin
Edomae sushi is an Edo style of sushi making that underscores marinating, curing, and aging techniques. Within that, there is one chef, Cheng Lin, standing out for his attention not only to these techniques, but bringing an emphasis on seasonality and sourcing of ingredients. Born and raised in Fujian, China, chef Cheng Lin began his culinary career in 1997 when he moved to New York City and worked in restaurants such as Hatsuhana, Sushi Seki, and Blue Ribbon. Continuously looking to refine his skills at trailblazing culinary concepts, he eventually joined Chef Masa Ito and Kevin Kim at ITO Tribeca. Chef Cheng Lin was captivated by the comic "Shota No Sushi," a tale of a boy whose passion for sushi mirrored his own, and dreamt of creating a haven for sushi enthusiasts that he would call Shōta. Now, over two decades later, Chef Cheng Lin helms Shōta Omakase in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and it is the culmination of his near 30-year commitment to perfecting the art of sushi making. Combining traditional Edomae-style sushi with modern flair, and a painstaking dedication to sourcing the highest quality ingredients, Chef Cheng Lin shares his love through attention to detail, refined technique, and unmatched flavor. In today’s conversation, we explore his commitment to sourcing ingredients that honour the traditional techniques used in Edomae-style sushi, considerations of seasonality when selecting which fish to incorporate on the menu, and how Cheng and his staff have adjusted to their dining services in the wake of receiving a Michelin star within one year of opening. Resources: Instagram: Chef Cheng’s Instagram:
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/39401735
info_outline
163: How Community Supported Fisheries Promote Sustainable Seafood with Sonia Strobel
12/09/2025
163: How Community Supported Fisheries Promote Sustainable Seafood with Sonia Strobel
My guest today, Sonia Strobel, is here to explore the idea of community-supported fisheries. Sonia is co-founder and CEO of Skipper Otto, a Community Supported Fishery based in Vancouver, BC, Canada. Through her innovative, sustainable seafood subscription model, members pre-purchase a share in the catch before the fishing season. This unique partnership between fishers and consumers guarantees harvesters a fair price for their catch, protects a traditional way of life in BC’s coastal and Indigenous fishing communities, and disrupts a seafood system fraught with social and environmental injustice. Skipper Otto is a certified B Corp and certified Living Wage employer. They educate consumers about important issues in fisheries and the value of eating with the ecosystem while advocating for just policy reform. Today, we discuss these vital themes, and Sonia shares stories from her own family’s fishery as well as the additional challenges faced by Indigenous-owned fisheries in Canada. We speak about some of the main challenges facing the seafood industry in Canada amidst climate change and American tariffs, how Skipper Otto is navigating these challenges to support their fishing families, the proactive measures they are taking to increase transparency and build more sustainable fishery management, and considerations that the public should bring with them the next time they’re seeking out fish foods for dinner. Resources: Instagram:
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/39307900
info_outline
162: Behind the Rise of Non-Alcoholic Drinks with Ren Navarro
12/02/2025
162: Behind the Rise of Non-Alcoholic Drinks with Ren Navarro
Why are we seeing such a boom in non-alcoholic drink options, and how do they stand out from wellness beverages as their own specific category? I invited my dear friend Ren Navarro back to AnthroDish to explore these trends in the beverage industry. Ren is a culture consultant, drinks expert, and founder of B. Diversity Group. With over 20 years of experience in corporate management and over a dozen years in the beer industry, she’s helped everyone from family-run breweries to multinational brands build spaces people want to be a part of. What started as honest conversations over pints has evolved into company-wide transformations: policy audits, inclusive hiring systems, value statement creations, and real community engagement across industries. Whether she’s teaching, advising, or helping revamp policies, her mission stays the same—build cultures that reflect the values people say they believe in. She loves tattoos, goats, and gives pretty good hugs. Today, Ren and I explore some of the experiences, tastes, and forms that non-alcoholic beverages are taking, what hop water is, and why these non-alcoholic options offer much more inclusive and diverse experiences than their wellness counterparts. Resources: Website: Instagram: Previous episodes:
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/39210970
info_outline
161: Are Our Fridges Designed for Food Waste? with Emma Atkins
11/25/2025
161: Are Our Fridges Designed for Food Waste? with Emma Atkins
My guest this week, Emma Atkins, is here to explore the role that refrigeration has played in our food waste. Emma is a PhD researcher at the University of Bristol in the UK. Her research looks at how fridges influence food waste, whether through design or its place in a food system geared towards overconsumption. She has a background in policy and advocacy, and recently wrote two reports tackling policy solutions for food waste and quality of food donations with Foodrise, which is a UK and EU-based NGO. Her website Food Waste Stories features articles about food waste in art, culture, policy, and academia, and advocates for a sustainable food system. In today’s conversation, I speak with Emma about how fridges have evolved from earliest 1920s designs to become embedded in our modern food culture, the relationship between fridges and Costco hauls, the extreme fridge organization trends on TikTok, and the possibilities of more sustainably-minded fridge designs to reduce food waste in the future. Resources: Instagram: Policy Document: Used By - Policy Document:
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/39138165
info_outline
160: Exploring Nigerian Culinary Histories through Recipes with Ozoz Sokoh
11/18/2025
160: Exploring Nigerian Culinary Histories through Recipes with Ozoz Sokoh
In Nigeria, the word chop is used for food and feasting, and to say “come chop” is an invitation into sharing and community. This is precisely how Ozoz Sokoh’s debut cookbook, begins. It is warm, inviting, and open to all those who are interested in learning about Nigerian cuisine, and the role of home cooks in creating the most beloved classic Nigerian dishes. Ozoz herself is a food explorer, educator, and traveler by plate. She is a professor of Food and Tourism Studies at Centennial College, and makes her home with her three teenage children in Mississauga, part of the Treaty Lands and Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation in Ontario, Canada. Her work documents and celebrates Nigerian and West African cuisine, and she is particularly fascinated by all the ways we’re similar. Be it through dishes, drinks, material culture or more, Ozoz explores these across geographies, cultures, and histories, in spite of our apparent differences. In today’s conversation, we explore a wide range of the history and future of Nigerian cuisine, including the stories of how ingredients came to be in Nigerian dishes, the homegrown love of protein (and why it’s not the relationship to protein you’d expect in a Western lens), and how Ozoz approaches exploring the histories of recipes and cuisine across Nigeria. Resources: Instagram: TikTok:
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/39055130
info_outline
159: What Could a Just Food System Really Look Like? with Dr. Bryan Dale
11/11/2025
159: What Could a Just Food System Really Look Like? with Dr. Bryan Dale
My guest today, Dr. Bryan Dale, is here to explore these nuances. Bryan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Environment, Agriculture, and Geography at Bishop’s University. His research interests include food sovereignty, agroecology, climate change, environmental justice, social movements, and alternative economic initiatives (especially in food and farming). He completed a postdoctoral fellowship with the Culinaria Research Centre at the University of Toronto Scarborough, and a PhD and MA in Human Geography with a specialization in Environmental Studies at the University of Toronto’s Department of Geography & Planning. He has a new paper out in Canadian Food Studies on consumers’ roles in a just food system transition, going beyond individualistic or household behaviours to explore the broader frameworks required to achieve these goals in post-capitalistic food systems. These observations are based on his research and interviews with farmers and alternative food organizations in Ontario and Québec. Today, we explore these ideas, the tensions between farmers and consumers, and the role of state interventions in these food system potentials. Resources: Bryan's
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/38955575
info_outline
158: Honouring Asian Ingredients in Cookie Baking with Kat Lieu
11/04/2025
158: Honouring Asian Ingredients in Cookie Baking with Kat Lieu
My guest today, Kat Lieu, is a Vietnamese-Chinese cookbook author, and here to share more about how she’s challenging this through her new cookbook, Kat is the founder of the popular online community, Subtle Asian Baking, and is the author of best-selling cookbook, Modern Asian Baking at Home as well as two others. Kat brings a third culture approach to Asian baking, baking and cooking by blending Asian ingredients with Western techniques. She also is an activist, donating her cakes and cookies to various events in Seatle, and raising thousands of dollars for charities and causes important to her. This year alone, she raised $10k for charity selling cookies through Instagram stories. In today’s episode, Kat shares how she approached 108 Asian Cookies as a cookbook that breaks down barriers being the first Asian-themed cookie cookbook. The cookbook incorporates savory ingredients and playful, incorporating matcha, black sesame cookies, pandan, ube, as well as more savoury and spicy cookies that feature fish sauce, MSG, miso, soy sauce, and Gochujang. Our conversation looks at how Kat has found healing through baking during challenging life moments, how her third culture identity infuses creativity into her kitchen experience, and the importance of challenging misrepresentation of Asian ingredients through a celebration of their culinary adaptations in cookies and the global community this shapes. Resources: Buy Kat’s Website: Private Facebook Group: Substack: Threads: Instagram:
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/38865165
info_outline
157: Preserving Palestinian Cuisine During Genocide with Lama Obeid
10/28/2025
157: Preserving Palestinian Cuisine During Genocide with Lama Obeid
As this episode airs, it has been just over two years of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza. Tens of thousands of Palestinian people have been killed, and entire cities have been reduced to rubble. And with this, there is a slow and brutal erasure of the rich histories of Palestinian gastronomy. My guest today, Lama Obeid, is here to explore the state of Palestinian food culture and the impact of the genocide on how people eat and break bread. Lama is a Palestinian writer residing in Palestine, with her writing focused on gastronomy, politics, culture, and travel. Lama’s food writing before the genocide speaks to the vibrancy and communal nature of Palestinian cooking and hospitality, though she has since shifted to document the impact of the genocide, and speak to other Palestinian chefs, activists, and cookbook authors through her podcast and newsletter I Come From There. In today’s conversation, we talk about the role that hospitality has played in Palestinian cooking and eating, the ways that preservation of food and recipes is maintained as resistance by Palestinians at home and in the diaspora, andhow the genocide has affected traditions around bread baking and eating, and how to look out for Palestinian food being appropriated by Zionist and Western attempts to make it vague and just Middle Eastern. Resources: newsletter by Lama Other writing by Lama:
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/38772920
info_outline
156: Cooking through the Silk Roads with Anna Ansari
10/21/2025
156: Cooking through the Silk Roads with Anna Ansari
If you grew up in the Western world, it’s entirely possible you’ve heard of a singular Silk Road used for trade between two major entities, Europe and China. And maaaybe Marco Polo. But the reality is so much more deeply textured and layered with transitions of food, spices, ideas, and cultures along along a wide array of travel and trading routes across Asia. My guest this week, Anna Ansari, speaks to this through her new cookbook-cum-memoir . In this thoughtful and rich cookbook, Anna celebrates her Iranian-American heritage with the world’s most storied trade routes through 90 recipes and essays. Anna is an Iranian-American writer, cook, and former international trade lawyer whose work explores the intersections of food, family, and history. Her work as appeared in Pit Magazine, Eaten, and Fillerzine. She lives in London with her husband, son, and cat. In today’s conversation, Anna talks about her own journey into writing Silk Roads and researching culinary narratives across Asian trade routes, the expansive history of food and ideas travelling along the Silk Roads, and why the apple isn’t so quintessentially American as people would think. Learn More From Anna! Buy her book, Instagram: Substack Newsletter:
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/38633255
info_outline
155: Queers at the Table with Dr. Alex Ketchum and Dr. Megan Elias
10/14/2025
155: Queers at the Table with Dr. Alex Ketchum and Dr. Megan Elias
What makes food queer? Is it possible to name and list it out as simple, clearcut elements? In their new co-edited volume, Drs. Alex Ketchum and Megan Elias explore this question with a community of writers, illustrators, and recipe creators. As an anthology of essays, comics, and recipes, the book reveals the dynamic and transformative ways that queerness informs food production and restaurant culture, and how food empowers, transforms, and unites queer and trans folk. Alex is an Associate Professor at McGill University’s Institute for Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies, and the co-organizer of the Queer Food Conference. Since she was last on the show to discuss her DIY zine, How to Start a Feminist Restaurant, she’s also written Ingredients for a Revolution: A History of American Feminist Restaurants, Cafes, and Coffeehouses, and Engage in Public Scholarship! A Guide to Feminist and Accessible Community. Megan is the director of Food Studies Programs at Boston University, and a historian of American foodways. They are the author of five books about food history, with the most recent being Food on the Page: Cookbooks and American Culture. She teaches courses in food history, food and gender, and food memories, and the Introduction to Gastronomy. Together, they share behind-the-scenes about how Queers at the Table came to be after the Queer Food Conference, the intersections of queer identity and food culture, including the important of community in queer food work, challenging traditional culinary and gastronomic norms and binaries through cooking and sharing food, safety in cooking and kitchen spaces, and expansive considerations for queering food spaces in the future. Resources: Instagram
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/38543595
info_outline
154: Episode 10 Launch! [SOLO Episode]
10/07/2025
154: Episode 10 Launch! [SOLO Episode]
A solo episode to kickstart season 10 of AnthroDish - exploring diverse themes of community this year relating to food, culture, and identity. Website: Newsletter: Instagram: YouTube:
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/38447545
info_outline
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: @
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/36628120
info_outline
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:
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/36439860
info_outline
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:
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/36349450
info_outline
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
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/36215550
info_outline
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:
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/36071060
info_outline
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
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/35889505
info_outline
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
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/35733525
info_outline
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
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/35653755
info_outline
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:
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/35518650
info_outline
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:
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/35423080
info_outline
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:
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/35320610
info_outline
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:
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/34150180
info_outline
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:
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/33987617
info_outline
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!
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/33895507
info_outline
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:
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/33775732
info_outline
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:
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/33624482
info_outline
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:
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/33561597
info_outline
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 -
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/33435212
info_outline
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:
/episode/index/show/anthrodish/id/33369607