The future of food retail, made simple

Most industries have a clear roadmap for transformation. The power sector goes renewable. Cars go electric. But food and agriculture? The world’s most impactful—and most damaging—industry still has no shared path to transformation. Food sustainability consultant and retail expert Mike Barry argues that the future of food hinges on one counterintuitive idea: simplification. And he explains how AI, smarter data, and design can potentially speed up change.For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode93Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected] edited and hosted by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Instead of tell people what to eat, what if we changed what food costs? With Jörgen Larsson (researcher from Chalmers University), we explore a cost-neutral tax reform, one that makes healthier and climate-friendly food cheaper without raising the overall grocery bill. We break down how it works, why it matters, and how to frame it in ways that avoid predictable backlash.For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode92Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected] edited and hosted by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

We invite you to a three course meal in 2050, where climate breakdown has reshaped what and how we eat. Each of the courses is designed to provoke questions about the future of food through taste, visuals, and a bit of discomfort. It’s a story about eating possible futures — and noticing which ones feel delicious, or unsettling. In this episode, we take you behind the scenes of how the meal came together. Bon appétit.For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode91Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected] Faye Cheng, Cook, butcher and writerBryant Simon, History prof Temple UniversityLily Consuelo Saporta Tagiuri, Ecosystemic Designer and Eco-futuristEpisode hosted by Jack Thompson. Produced by Jack Thompson and Matthew Kessler. Edited and mixed by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Hunger on our Doorstep is a two part podcast about food poverty in the UK. It explores the issues and potential solutions through the eyes of three food campaigners with firsthand experience of food poverty in urban communities, as well as others working to tackle the problem. The often bleak picture of poverty, inequality and exclusion painted in episode one contrasts with inspiring stories of the solutions being put into practice across the country in episode two. This podcast is produced by TABLE with the support and contribution of the Food Foundation, a charity focused on changing food policy and business practice to ensure everyone, across the UK nations, can afford and access a healthy and sustainable diet. For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode90Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected] McShane, Food campaignerGlory Omoaka, Food activistDominic Watters, Estate2Plate founderJonathan Pauling, former CEO of Alexandra Rose CharityDr Effie Papargyropoulou, Researcher at Leeds UniversityAna María Narváez, Coordinator of 2025 The Broken Plate reportHostRichard Kipling, TABLERuth Mattock, TABLEEpisode edited and produced by Richard Kipling, Ruth Mattock and Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

What if changing what we eat wasn’t about persuasion, but about reshaping everyday food choices? With Sarah Lake, CEO of Tilt Collective, we explore how meat and ultra-processed foods came to dominate U.S. diets – and how Tilt Collective is building a future where healthy and sustainable foods compete on convenience, price, and accessibility.For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode89Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected] Lake, CEO of Tilt CollectiveEpisode hosted, edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

What do Yorkshire beaches, Sierra Leone’s new food strategy, and New York City school lunches have in common? For Corinna Hawkes, they all shaped her journey toward understanding how systems shape food. In this episode, we trace her path from a childhood fascination with shifting sands to her current role at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization. Along the way, we ask: what does it actually mean to ‘take a systems approach’ to food? What type of leadership skills are needed to fix food systems today? And why do the best solutions sometimes require slowing down, not speeding up?For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode88Read the report: Transforming food and agriculture through a systems approach (FAO, 2025)Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected] Hawkes, Director of Agrifood Systems and Food Safety at FAOEpisode hosted, edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

"Hunger on our Doorstep" is a two part podcast about food poverty in the UK. It explores the issues and potential solutions through the eyes of three food campaigners with firsthand experience of food poverty in urban communities, as well as others working to tackle the problem. The often bleak picture of poverty, inequality and exclusion painted in episode one contrasts with inspiring stories of the solutions being put into practice across the country in episode two. This podcast is produced by TABLE  with the support and contribution of the Food Foundation, a charity focused on changing food policy and business practice to ensure everyone, across the UK nations, can afford and access a healthy and sustainable diet. For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode87Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected] McShane, Food campaignerGlory Omoaka, Food activistDominic Watters, Estate2Plate founderJonathan Pauling, CEO of Alexandra Rose CharityDr Effie Papargyropoulou, Researcher at Leeds UniversityAna María Narváez, Coordinator of 2025 The Broken Plate reportHostRichard Kipling, TABLERuth Mattock, TABLEEpisode edited and produced by Richard Kipling, Ruth Mattock and Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions and Pixabay.

Why are we drawn to simple fixes for the complex challenge of feeding the world sustainably? Researchers Colin Sage (formerly Cork University) and Garrett Broad (Rowan University) unpack what we're calling "food solutionism"—the tendency to promote single, sweeping solutions, whether high-tech or agroecological, while ignoring context and complexity. They argue for "complicating the narrative early and often", so we can move beyond binary thinking and better understand the trade-offs, limits, and realities behind competing visions for the future of food.For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode86Read the The Blue Sky Thread that prompted this episodeWant to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected] Broad, Rowan UniversityColin Sage, Cork UniversityHostJack Thompson, TABLEEpisode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler and Jack Thompson. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Why does Myanmar, often called the "rice bowl of Southeast Asia," continue to struggle with high rates of malnutrition? In this episode, journalist Thin Lei Win helps us unpack how political decisions, land ownership, and regional power dynamics shape food systems in Myanmar and beyond. We explore how issues like palm oil expansion and rice production connect to wider challenges around climate and biodiversity—and why lasting change remains difficult without addressing structural inequalities. Still, there are reasons for cautious optimism. Thin shares why she’s inspired by a new generation of journalists and activists working toward more just and sustainable food futures across Southeast Asia.For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode85Check out and subcribe to Thin InkWant to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected] Lei Win, Food and Climate JournalistHostJack Thompson, TABLEEpisode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler and Jack Thompson. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Can humanity feed nearly 10 billion people without frying the planet? That question is at the heart of journalist Michael Grunwald’s provocative argument in Sorry, This Is the Future of Food, his recent New York Times essay and the basis of his forthcoming book, We Are Eating the Earth. He warns that we’re clearing an acre of rainforest every six seconds to grow more food — and even if we quit fossil fuels, we won’t avert climate chaos unless we fix how we use land. In this episode, Grunwald makes the case that high-yield industrial agriculture, for all its flaws, might be our best chance to grow more food on less land. For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode84Pre-order We Are Eating the Earth by Michael Grunwald.Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected] Grunwald, Journalist and authorHostJack Thompson, TABLEEpisode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler and Jack Thompson. Music by Blue dot sessions.