Fossil fuels are woven into nearly every aspect of modern agriculture - from powering farm machinery to creating plastics and supporting data-driven tech like precision agriculture. But what would it take to reduce or even eliminate their use on farms? We dive into both replacement technologies and transformative food production methods like agroecology, exploring the obstacles and limitations of scaling different solutions.

Visit the episode webpage for more resources.

This series is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and Global Alliance for the Future of Food.

Guests

• Darrin Qualman, National Farmers Union Canada
• Pat Mooney, IPES Food
• Jennifer Clapp, IPES Food
• Swati Renduchintala, CIFOR-ICRAF

Produced by Matthew Kessler, Anna Paskal and Nicole Pita. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Since 2020, over 120 million tonnes of nitrogen fertilizer have been produced annually—a number set to rise by 50% by 2050. It’s easy to assume this is non-negotiable, that without it, we’d face a food crisis. But do we really need all this fossil-based input? As it turns out, there are many ways we can reverse this trend - from curbing overuse and adopting alternative technologies to rethinking our diets and transforming farming practices. We explore a range of options to ease our dependency on fossil fueled agrochemicals.

Register for our webinar: Fossil Fuels and Food Systems: A Policy Discussion for COP29

Visit the episode webpage for more resources.

This series is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and Global Alliance for the Future of Food.

Guests

• Lisa Tostado, CIEL
• Joanna Larson, Prairie Gates Farm
• Christine Delivanis, SytemIQ
• Georgina Catacora-Vargas, IPES Food
• Mamadou Goïta, IPES 
• Swati Renduchintala, CIFOR-ICRAF
• Jennifer Clapp, IPES Food

Produced by Matthew Kessler, Anna Paskal and Nicole Pita. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.

How did fossil fuels become so embedded in our food systems? We trace this journey from the industrial extraction of guano, through the game-changing Haber-Bosch process, to today’s globalized food system. Along the way, we uncover the hidden impacts on biodiversity, farmworkers, and our oceans—revealing the true cost of this reliance on fossil fuels.       

In Fuel to Fork, a new podcast series powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, we expose and explore the fossil fuels in our food, speaking to farmers, chefs, food industry experts, scientists and campaigners. Each episode delves deep into a different step of the food supply chain.         

Guests

• Jennifer Clapp, IPES-Food
• Darrin Qualman, National Farmers Union Canada
• Pat Mooney, IPES-Food and Etc Group
• Navina Khanna, HEAL Alliance
• Rashid Sumaila, University of British Columbia

Produced by Matthew Kessler, Anna Paskal and Nicole Pita. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.

“For many of us, how fossil fuels are integrated across the food chain is highly invisible.”   
When we bite into a juicy apple, barrels of crude oil and natural gas cylinders might not spring to mind. But fossil fuels are the hidden ingredient behind all of our food. For every calorie that ends up on our plates, around 10 calories of fossil fuels are used. From the diesel powering the tractors to the fertilizer in the field and plastic packaging, fossil fuels are the lifeblood of the food industry.     

In Fuel to Fork, a new podcast series powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, we expose and explore the fossil fuels in our food, speaking to farmers, chefs, food industry experts, scientists and campaigners. Each episode delves deep into a different step of the food supply chain.         

Guests

• Anna Lappé, Global Alliance for the Future of Food
• Raj Patel, IPES-Food
• Errol Schweizer, IPES-Food
• Nnimmo Bassey, Health of Mother Earth Foundation
• Christine Delivanis, SystemIQ

Produced by Matthew Kessler, Anna Paskal and Nicole Pita. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.

When we bite into a juicy apple, barrels of crude oil and natural gas cylinders might not spring to mind. But fossil fuels are the hidden ingredient behind all of our food. For every calorie that ends up on our plates, around 10 calories of fossil fuels are used. From the diesel powering the tractors to the fertilizer in the field and plastic packaging, fossil fuels are the lifeblood of the food industry.

What are the options to phase out fossil fuels in food and what are the powerful forces standing in the way? To find out, subscribe to Fuel to Fork.

This series is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and Global Alliance for the Future of Food.

Learn more at https://fueltofork.com/

Are food systems allies or enemies in the fight to save biodiversity? With our planet facing a biodiversity crisis, the answer depends on who you ask and what forms of life we prioritize. We speak with farmers, biophysical modelers, and biologists to explore whether producing food and conserving biodiversity can be achieved at the same time. We also discuss how our diets impact biodiversity, whether farming without soil can be better for biodiversity at large, and what it would take to effectively "shrink" the food system.

For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/
episode71

Guests

• Anna Lappé, Global Alliance for the Future of Food
• Els Hegger, Aardigh
• Silvia Quarta, La Junquera Farm
• Bernd Blossey, Assoc Prof at Cornell University
• Adrian Müller, Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL) 

Episode edited by Ylva Carlqvist Warnborg and Matthew Kessler. Produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

How do philosophers, animal welfare scientists, and farmers differ in their understanding of what a good future for farmed animals looks like? TABLE researcher Tamsin Blaxter discusses the complex relationships between humans and non-human animals and how these connections shape our food choices. We talk about who gets to speak with authority on these topics, the connections between scientific research and animal welfare regulations, and our own experiences with eating and not eating meat. 

Read TABLE explainer: Animal welfare and ethics in food and agriculture (2024)

Register/watch TABLE event Rethinking animals in agriculture: welfare, rights and the future of food (10 September 2024)

For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode70


Guests

• Tamsin Blaxter, Writer and researcher at TABLE, University of Oxford

Episode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Environmental economist Adan L. Martinez-Cruz (Senior Lecturer at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences), argues that markets are a fundamental aspect of human society. He suggests that assigning a monetary value to natural resources can provide environmental benefits and create economic incentives to achieve them. In this episode, we discuss concept of non-market valuation, consider whether nature has inherent value, and examine whether markets are the best way to ensure fairness in the cost of food for both consumers and producers.

For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode69

Guests

• Adan L. Martinez-Cruz, Environmental Economist at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences

Episode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler and Ylva Carlqvist Warnborg. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Philosopher and environmental researcher Ville Lähde (with the Finnish BIOS Research Unit) argues that we need to understand biodiversity differently at a fundamental level in order to preserve it. Biodiversity loss is much more than the list of extinct and endangered species. In our conversation, we talk about the myriad food systems and their different relationships with biodiversity, what are the hidden costs of simplifying biodiversity, and why Ville feels closest to biodiversity when working with his compost pile.

Read the Life Matters Everywhere essay

For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode68

Guests

• Ville Lähde, Philosopher and environmental researcher at BIOS

Episode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler and Ylva Carlqvist Warnborg. Music by Blue dot sessions.

The idea that more natural food – food which hasn’t been transformed by human and industrial intervention – is best for us is a powerful one. Psychologists have found a strong preference for that which is “natural”, even when people differ in what they understand that term to mean. But naturalness is a muddle – we are often signalled by advertising to see heavily manufactured foods as “natural”; the pioneers of cereal manufacturing were the greatest advocates of “natural” food in the early 20th century; and it’s rare that crops, which have been manipulated by human breeding over millennia, are seen as “unnatural”.
 
If naturalness is a slippery idea, though, it is still undeniably compelling. At the moment, nowhere is the preference for naturalness when it comes to the food we eat more prevalent than in concerns expressed over ultra-processed foods (UPFs). But does the idea that naturalness is inherently best set up a misleading dichotomy between nature and technology that doesn’t serve the interests of a more sustainable and equitable food future? Does a narrow focus on processing itself misplace bigger questions of power and agency on the one hand, and unhelpfully dismiss scientific techniques on the other?

TABLE writer and researcher Hester van Hensbergen explores these questions in our latest explainer, Nature Knows Best? Naturalness in the Ultra-Processed Foods Debate. She reads it out loud for you on the podcast.

You can find the written explainer here.