With the holidays comes many social gatherings that are often centred around food. For some this may be filled with joy, but for others, this may cause a lot of stress and anxiety around eating or body image. That's why this week, I'm speaking with Dr. Andrea LaMarre on eating disorder recovery and health ay any size. Based out of Guelph, Ontario, Andrea is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Propel Centre for Population Health Impact at the University of Waterloo. She recently earned her PhD at the University of Guelph, where she studied eating disorder recovery from the perspectives of people in recovery and their supporters.

In this episode we speak about experiences of eating disorders and recovery, and Andrea breaks down some of the common assumptions surrounding these experiences – about what an eating disorder looks like conventionally, what bodies and experiences are legitimized and which are often left out, and ways in which researchers like her are challenging the social, cultural, and psychological barriers to accessing recovery. She's doing incredibly important work with thoughtful and engaging approaches for communities, and I think it's important to speak more to the diverse ways disordered eating can manifest in our lives and bodies - particularly during times of the year where we have less control or agency over what we eat.

Listen to the episode in the player above, or download on any major platform!

Get Social with Andrea:

Twitter: @andrealala

Instagram: @andrealamarre

Website: www.andrealamarre.com

Some of the many folks whose work has inspired Andrea:

People who do work on dismantling body oppression:

Deb Burgard: http://www.bodypositive.com/

Desirée Adaway: http://desireeadaway.com/

Sonya Renée Taylor: https://www.sonyareneetaylor.com/

Virgie Tovar: https://www.virgietovar.com/

Be Nourished: https://benourished.org/

Nalgona Positivity Pride: https://www.nalgonapositivitypride.com/

Marcella Raimondo: http://www.marcellaedtraining.com/

Carmen Cool: http://www.carmencool.com/

Karin Hitselberger: https://themighty.com/u/karin-hitselberger/

Corbett O'Toole: https://www.corbettotoole.com/

Kaley Roosen: https://twitter.com/kaleyroosen?lang=en

Carla Rice: http://www.carlarice.ca/

Cocimientos: http://nedic.ca/provider/9895-cocimientos

Some eating disorder scholars who inspire me:

Rebecca Lester: https://artsci.wustl.edu/faculty-staff/rebecca-lester

Helen Malson: https://people.uwe.ac.uk/Person/HelenMalson

Karin Eli: https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/people/540

Paula Saukko: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/socialsciences/staff/paula-saukko/

As someone who researches water quality and health outside of this podcast, I've been wanting to explore the connections between water and food on AnthroDish for quite some time. This week we're finally diving into this theme (heh…sorry) with Andrew Lewin, a marine ecologist and the founder of the website and podcast Speak Up For Blue. A self proclaimed oceanpreneur, Andrew helps people become more aware of issues facing the ocean and helps guide them to make more environmentally and ocean-conscious choices. As the CEO of Speak up for Blue media and communications, he is building a network of podcasts on marine science and conservation.

In this interview, we explore the ways that climate change and ocean health interact with human fishing economies and vice versa. We break down what exactly a seafood tax deficit is and what it means for local marine systems, the impact of the Trump administration on marine system health in America, and explore the important emerging issue of seafood fraud and what that means for fish consumers. Andrew is great at breaking down the complex ways that politics and biology interact in fishing economies - this is certainly something I found daunting at first, but he does a wonderful job explaining these ideas in engaging ways.

Resources:

Documentaries (Available on Netflix!):

• End of the Line
• Blackfish
• The Cove
• Mission Blue

News:

• Deep Sea News: http://www.deepseanews.com/
• Southern Fried Science: http://www.southernfriedscience.com

Get Social with Andrew!

Twitter: https://twitter.com/speakupforblue Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/speakupforblue/ SUFB Podcast: http://www.speakupforblue.com/podcast Email: [email protected]

Whether you like the holidays or not, there's no denying the comfort that winter baking brings. There's a tremendous amount of art and chemistry that's involved, but we often don't think about the business side of bakeries as well. This week we're exploring the business of baking with one of my all-time favourite bakers, Olivia Yetter!

Olivia is a Toronto-born cook at a vegan restaurant called Fresh. In her spare time, she owns and operates OY'S Joys, an artisanal custom made bakery based out of her home in Kensington Market. OY's Joys focuses on hand crafted, homemade, flavour forward ingredients in their treats and plated desserts.

Olivia prioritizes using ingredients that have been grown or crafted locally, such as freshly milled organic flours, cold pressed oils, free range eggs, fresh fruits, and more. Sustainability is at the heart of OY's cooking and baking. Though she's not creating healthy treats, Olivia's desserts are made with real food and have been carefully flavour profiled for an elevated taste experience. Olivia is quite experimental with her baking and always interested in trying to new flavours and experiences. We explore all of these ideas in this episode and break down what it means to be in the baking business, both for creativity and experience!

Get social with Olivia:

Website: oysjoys.ca

Instagram: @oysjoys

Pregnancy is a fascinating time for many reasons, but key among them is the intensity of food taboos and perspectives on what is or isn't good for neonatal health. My guest this week, Anu Lotay, is an anthropology PhD candidate at the University of Victoria and research director at VPIRG. She explores the unique and challenging field of pregnancy loss for women and their families in the Indian diaspora. She seeks to understand the roles of cultural, transnational family networks, gender differences, and experiences with Canadian healthcare systems to manage infant loss.

In this episode, we explore how the role of food taboos and beliefs impact pregnancy within Indo-Canadian women, and how pregnancy loss is understood or experienced in relation to food. Anu discusses how food is seen as not only physically nourishing or harmful during pregnancy for Indian women, but also how food prep and sharing is used to symbolize different experiences and shape relationships between pregnant women and their mothers or grandmothers. Indo-Canadian women engage with multiple and often competing guidelines for pregnancy and loss in Canada, and Anu expertly navigates this complex issue throughout the episode.

Listen in the player above, or find on any major podcast platform!

Resources:

• Khiara Bridges book: https://www.amazon.ca/Reproducing-Race-Ethnography-Pregnancy-Racialization/dp/0520268954

• AAA Meetings: http://www.americananthro.org/AttendEvents/landing.aspx?ItemNumber=14722&navItemNumber=566

Get Social with Anu

• Twitter and Instagram: @anulotay

• Website: www.anulotay.com

I'm doing something a bit different this week - I had two incredible women whose identities intertwined with their vegan lifestyles, so I thought it would be cool to release BOTH episodes this week for a dual-perspective look at veganism! (And will continue to do this from time to time when similar topics keep popping up.) What I think is especially cool about the interviews this week is that these two women grew up in completely different worlds, and have some similarities and some striking differences in their plant-based lifestyles and mindfulness.

So my second guest this week is Melissa Melottey! Melissa is an actor based out of Toronto, ON, who is the host of the Qriket Live gameshow and the NamaSLAY podcast. We met at the Rose of Tralee, which is an Irish beauty pageant (yes, you read that right), and since then I've constantly been inspired by her uplifting attitude and her drive to make it in the acting business.

In this episode, we explore our Irish heritage and the ways in which these bland Irish palates started her lifelong journey and exploration of food. We also speak about how her relationship with food has been impacted by the physical and mental demands of being an actor, along with some of the interesting connections between mindfulness and food.

Check out her full episode in the player above, or download on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, Stitcher, or iHeartRadio!

Want to keep up with Melissa? Check her out here:

• Just Love by Melissa: http://justlovebymelissa.com

• NamaSLAY Podcast (I'm on episode 12 of her show, we talk all about anthropology and cults):https://soundcloud.com/justlovebymelissa

• Instagram: @melissamelottey or @justlovebymelissa

Get social with AnthroDish! to keep up with Melissa? Check her out here:

• Facebook: @AnthroDishpodcast

• Instagram: @anthrodishpodcast

• Twitter: @anthrodishpod

• And if you love what you're hearing, please give us a rating and review on iTunes!

I'll admit, I had a hard time capturing the conversation I had with this week's guest in one simple title - I'd argue none could do this justice! I'm speaking with Ashley Wood on today's show, the host of Manifest This! podcast and international Akashic Records reader. Ashley Wood is a healer, spiritual teacher, intuitive guide, and mother dedicated to empowering women to live their best life. She is passionate about vegan living, yoga, animals, and the outdoors. She lives in Winnipeg, Canada, with her husband Ben and daughter Ivy, and cats Bose and Feesh. Together, they create and produce Manifest This! and own Lot 49 Dairy Free Foods.

I first came across Ashley online when a friend recommend checking out her vegan food blog, and I instantly fell in love with the joy and peaceful nature within each recipe post - she provided a lot of inspiration during the two very snowy Winnipeg winters I made it through! Since then, Ashley has gone on to become an amazing mother and an internationally-recognized podcast host and Akashic Records reader. This gradual shift made so much sense, given that Ashley radiates a kindness and wisdom that comes through even during an inter-province Skype call!

We speak in this episode about her journey through life and the ways that her vegan lifestyle has influenced and interacted with different periods of growth from her: from the reasons she became a vegan and longtime connection to nature, to her early food blogging days to the creation of her podcast and shift in focus to something that aligned more with her own spiritual goals and passions. This interview paints a beautiful audio-portrait of a woman who's honesty and grounded nature has inspired thousands of women internationally to explore their spiritual side a bit more, and it was such an honour to speak with her on topics we both feel so passionately about!

Learn More About Ashley!

• Manifest This! podcast: https://manifestthisshow.com/

• Akashic Records Readings: https://ashleywood.life/

• Instagram: @_ashleywood

• Email: [email protected]

Books Ashley Mentioned:

• Eat, Feel Fresh by Sahara Rose

• Veganomincon by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

Get Social with AnthroDish:

Instagram, Facebook: @anthrodishpodcast

Twitter: @anthrodishpod

Website: anthrodish.com

For many, the years spent at university can be a challenging time due to academic stressors as well as personal and emotional difficulties. During this important and liminal period, food security is crucial for health and psychological wellness, as well as academic performance and success. This week's guest, Tara Hattangadi, is a recently defended Masters student who's work explores the impact of food insecurity on mental health and wellness of university students.

Tara's research sheds light on the importance of food security and demands that sufficient support during this key period be made widely available to all students – which includes university wide programs to facilitate equitable access to healthy foods.

In this episode, we talk about her masters research and the exploratory route she took to engage in this very massive, under-researched problem of food insecurity amongst university students in Canada. She outlines what food insecurity looks like for students and why it's important that we look at university students as an at-risk group. Poor diet has both short and long-term implications on mental health, student success, and social wellbeing, and Tara seeks to highlight how to improve access for students struggling to find healthy and affordable food.

Resources:

• The Meal Exchange Cross-Campus Study: https://www.mealexchange.com/hungry-for-knowledge/

• Tara's Three Minute Thesis (3MT): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gj5SPFfMRwA

• An article, published in CBC News early this year, about food insecurity among students at the University of Saskatchewan: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/40-of-u-of-s-students-face-issues-around-food-insecurity-study-shows-1.4470573

• Another really great read, published in Medium, about student food insecurity: https://medium.com/@saragoldrickrab/whos-hungry-making-sense-of-campus-food-insecurity-estimates-4b65cd1ecf2c

Social:

Instagram: @tahrannosaurus or @sustainabindi

For those of you who know me, you know I am a big time lover of coffee – in that I both have a severe dependency on it, but I'm also fascinated by the process and art that goes into creating coffee. Needless to say, I am really excited to share this week's guest, Monica Mustelier! Together with her husband, Joshua, she owns Little Havana Cafe, which is a Cuban coffee trailer in Toronto, ON.

On the roots of their business, Joshua has said "we didn't want Little Havana Café to be just another food truck where you can get a regular cup of coffee. We made a very conscious choice to be as authentic as possible while sneaking in sustainable and organic ingredients where we can, right down the the build of the trailer and all of its repurposed materials."

In this episode, we talk all about Monica's early life along with some important cultural identities she connects with, and how that's shaped her passion and desire to run the café. We explore the roles that coffee has played for Cubans in Miami, break down what organic foods means to Cubans, and the ways in which she's brought the some of the magic from her summers in Miami up north to Toronto through her coffee. So curl up with a good cafecito and check out the episode here in the player above, or on any major listening platform of your choice!

Get social with Little Havana Cafe!

Instagram: @littlehavanacafe

Facebook: Little Havana Cafe

Website: littlehavanacafe.ca

Resources Mentioned:

Afro-Latina Dance at the Junction: http://afrolatinodance.com/

Facebook Group Cuba in Toronto: https://www.facebook.com/Cuba-in-Toronto-374587655386/

Lula Lounge Toronto: https://www.lula.ca/

For some, the idea of fermentation is relatively new and topical. For others, it's a deeply engrained part of their cultural background. I'm relatively new to learning about the process of fermenting foods, and a lot of my appreciation comes from this week's guest, Alexis Goertz! Alexis is a fermentation coach and expert, as well as the co-founder of Edible Alchemy CoLaboratory.

Edible Alchemy was founded in Winnipeg in January 2013 by Alexis and her friend and business partner Natalie Elizabeth, where they hosted workshops about the possibilities and inevitabilities of the microbial world. This led to a spread of exciting ventures, including the Probiotic Bacteria Bar, talks, discussions, tours, workshops, and more. Alexis moved to Berlin in 2014 and brought the first Bacteria Bar with her to see if there was any interest. Undoubtedly it brought a large following, and Alexis began to expand the Edible Alchemy CoLaboratory across two continents.

In our interview, Alexis shares her wealth of knowledge surrounding fermented foods and microbiome health. She explores the history and reasons that cultures ferment their foods worldwide, the importance of fermentation for gut health, and the ways in which fermentation scenes compare and differ between North America and Europe. We also talk all about how she's helping to change the perspective on "scary" or "gross" words like bacteria, yeast and mould – so if those may you a bit squeamish, stay tuned, because she does an amazing job normalizing the idea of bacterias and moulds. She taught me SO much in our interview and has a natural passion and ease translating the science of fermentation in a fun, edu-taining way!

Listen to the episode in the player above, or download on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, or Google Music!

Resources:

Main website: http://ediblealchemy.co

Online courses: https://ediblealchemyacademy.com/courses

Sandor Katz's Art of Fermentation: https://we.riseup.net/assets/378662/ArtFermentation.pdf

Social:

Instagram: @ediblealchemydotco

Facebook: @EdibleAlchemyColaboratory

As both a mother and anthropology student, I've been so fascinated by how food and pregnancy connect - and stoked to finally share a discussion on this topic! This week I'm speaking with Lindsay Grenier, a research assistant at McMaster University.

Lindsay did her Masters research as part of the Mothers2Babies study, which is a long term maternal nutritional health study through McMaster University. She currently works as a research assistant at McMaster, where she focuses on maternal health and nutrition. Her research interests revolve around women's health and social issues, particularly during pregnancy, along with health literacy, knowledge translation, and social determinants of health.

In this interview, we discuss food guidelines and taboos for pregnant people in Canada, and explore the ways in which social and biological factors shape access to nutritional knowledge during pregnancy. Knowledge translation is a big priority for a lot of academics in recent years, so we break down what this term means for prenatal health and nutrition research, and how cultural belief systems impact the attitudes and behaviours surrounding food consumption and avoidance during pregnancy.

Resources:

Mothers To Babies Study info:

• http://m2bstudy.wix.com/study

• https://www.facebook.com/M2BStudy/

Canada Food Guide/Pregnancy nutrition resources:

• https://www.facebook.com/HealthyFamiliesHamilton/

• https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-nutrition/healthy-eating/prenatal-nutrition.html

• https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-nutrition/canada-food-guide/choosing-foods/advice-different-ages-stages/pregnancy-breastfeeding.html

• https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/food-nutrition/healthy-eating/prenatal-nutrition/healthy-weight-gain-pregnancy.html