Should food systems be more natural?

hat influences the meals we enjoy today? Meal historian and cultural researcher Richard Tellström from Stockholm University suggests that the surrounding natural environments and ecosystems only play a minimal role. Instead, he argues that our choices are primarily shaped by cultural, political and economic forces. This episode dives into the dramatic shifts in Swedish diets over the past century, highlighting how changes such as new food preservation methods in the 1970s, Sweden's entry into the European Union in the 1990s, and shifting cultural trends throughout have redefined what's fashionable, and therefore possible, to eat. This is the second installment of a two-part series, following our first episode with archaeological chemist Amy Styring who investigates what our ancestors ate during periods of significant societal transitions. Listen to Part 1.For more info and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode60GuestsRichard Tellström, Associate Professor at Stockholm UniversityEpisode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Around 6000 years ago in Northwest Europe, our ancestors transitioned from hunter-gatherer societies to sedentary farming. How did their diets change during this time? The field of archaeological sciences and chemistry teamed up to shed new light on this question. In this episode, we ask Amy Styring, archaeological chemist at the University of Oxford, what's her take on a natural diet, whether we overestimate the role of meat in our past diets, and what lessons can we learn today if we have a better understanding of how people produced and ate food in the past?This is the first of a two-part series. Next week we hear from a meal historian on the role culture plays in informing what we eat.For more info and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode59GuestsAmy Styring, Associate Professor at the University of OxfordEpisode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Is it possible to eat enough white-tailed deer to keep their populations low enough to restore ecosystems? We posed this question to Bernd Blossey, professor at Cornell University who specializes in the management of invasive species and the restoration of disrupted ecological relationships.In this episode, we look at the history of white-tailed deer in the eastern forests of the United States, how many we would need to harvest to keep the population in check, and whether the concept of ecosystem balance is scientific or a fantasy.This is the third and final part of our series exploring whether we can eat our way out of the problems we’ve created. Let us know what you think by sending us an email or a voice memo to [email protected] more info and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode58GuestsBernd Blossey, Professor at Cornell UniversityEpisode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Are invasive species natural? If we introduced them, do we have some responsibility to manage them? What if we could reduce their numbers through the natural process of eating?In this episode, Jackie Turner (TABLE) joins crayfish trapper Bob Ring to see if we can eat our way out of one of the environmental problems we’ve created - the spread of invasive American Signal Crayfish into the river Thames. We ask if these invasive crayfish are ‘natural’, how they ended up in London’s iconic river in the first place, whether they offer a promising sustainable food source, and why it is so difficult to earn a living doing what Bob Ring sees as an environmentally and ethically beneficial act.This is the second of a three part series exploring if we can eat our way out of the problems we’ve caused. The last episode featured grasshoppers in Mexico and the next will be on white-tailed deer in forests of the eastern United States.For more info and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode57GuestsBob Ring, Crayfish Trapper in LondonEpisode edited and produced by Jackie Turner. Music by William King and Blue dot sessions.

What if we shifted our perspective from seeing some animal species as a problem to seeing them as an abundant and tasty source of food? Over the next few episodes, we’ll hear three "problems" in three regions: grasshoppers as pests in Mexico, invasive crayfish in London and overpopulated white-tailed deer in the United States. With a rising trend for traditional foods, demand for grasshoppers has exploded in Mexico in the last decade--but is it sustainable? We ask sociologist-biologist Elena Lazos Chavero about the environmental, political, cultural, and health consequences of Mexico's appetite for grasshoppers.For more info and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode56GuestsElena Lazos Chavero, professor-researcher at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico.Episode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

“Is a microbe less natural than a cow?” This season we ask scientists, farmers, technologists and philosophers about how natural our food systems should be. In this age where industrial technology has profoundly transformed our eating habits and the landscapes around us, we explore whether we should let nature be our ultimate guide or fully lean into the technological innovations reshaping our world. From the traditional milpa systems of Mexico to the cutting edge laboratories of food scientists, we bring together voices across the spectrum: an economist, an indigenous leader, a food technologist and an agroecologist. Each presents their perspective on the benefits—or drawbacks—of 'natural' food systems for both human health and the planet's well-being.For more info and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode55GuestsAnna Lappé, Executive Director of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food Jayson Lusk, Dean and Vice President of Agriculture at Oklahoma State UniversityTania Eulalia Martinez Cruz, Director of the Food Sovereignty and Agroecology program at Land is LifeJohan Jorgensen, Founder Partner at Sweden Food TechEpisode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Sofia Wilhelmsson researches a very specific and stressful time for farmed pigs: the loading and transport of pigs on their way to slaughter.  She not only considers the welfare of the animals, but also the well-being of the pig transport drivers. In our conversation we chat about the relationships that humans have with animals; what food systems actors have the most power in the pig production system; and whether we can add incentives for animal welfare and human well-being in our food systems.For more info, please visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode54Interested in more podcasts about the future of meat and human-animal relations, Meat the four futures (Table, 2023)Barbecue Earth (Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2024) 

Imagine a world where nature reclaims its place in the landscape.  What would that mean for food systems? Walter Fraanje joins Feed co-hosts to talk about his new publication, "Rewilding and its implications for agriculture" co-authored with Tara Garnett. The explainer introduces the concept of rewilding, compares different rewilding strategies across the globe, explores their relationship with agriculture and unpacks some of the related controversies. We ask Walter how does rewilding differ from conservation, why might a farmer or fisher support or be against rewilding, and what does it mean to rewild your imagination?Read the full explainerFor more info, please visit: 

People across the world are consuming more ultra-processed foods (UPFs). Will Latin American countries and elsewhere follow the path of the US and the UK, where over half of calories consumed now come from UPFs?  Dr Neena Prasad, director of Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Food Policy Program, joins us to talk about the power of and the power behind UPFs. We talk about the utility and harms of processing foods, the links between the tobacco industry and UPFs, and the public health measures advocated by the Food Policy Program. These include taxing UPFs, putting restrictions on marketing  (especially to children), advancing public sector health promoting policies, and front-of-package nutrition labeling.For more info and transcript, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode52More info on Bloomberg Philanthropies' Food Policy Program Read TABLE explainer on UPFsMusic by Blue dot sessions

Food systems are finally getting more attention at global climate conversations. But who is at the table shaping our food futures?  We caught up with Jessica Duncan, Associate Professor on the Politics of Food Systems Transformations at Wageningen University, to hear her thoughts and concerns about COP 28.Then we re-air our conversation with Jessica Duncan from May 2021, where we talk about dialogue and participation in food policy, why we shouldn’t always be seeking consensus, and the importance of bringing local actors into global policy conversations. We unpack Jessica and Priscilla Claeys' 2020 report Covid19, Gender and Food systems and discuss what is gained by "viewing the crisis from below".For more info and transcript, visit here.