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/episode57

Guests

• Bob Ring, Crayfish Trapper in London

Episode 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/episode56

Guests

• Elena 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/episode55

Guests

• Anna Lappé, Executive Director of the Global Alliance for the Future of Food 
• Jayson Lusk, Dean and Vice President of Agriculture at Oklahoma State University
• Tania Eulalia Martinez Cruz, Director of the Food Sovereignty and Agroecology program at Land is Life
• Johan Jorgensen, Founder Partner at Sweden Food Tech

Episode 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/episode54

Interested 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 explainer

For 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/episode52

More info on Bloomberg Philanthropies' Food Policy Program

Read TABLE explainer on UPFs

Music 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. 

Is CRISPR the solution to controlling the pest plaguing California’s wine industry? In this episode of A CRISPR Bite, we take you to a lab where researchers are using CRISPR technology to genetically modify a frightening insect called the Glassy-winged sharpshooter responsible for spreading a bacteria and killing vines.

CRISPR bites is five-part podcast series hosted by food anthropologist Dr Lauren Crossland-Marr. We're excited to share one episode from the series with you today.

Listen to A CRISPR Bite, check out show notes, transcripts and more information on the podcast's website here. 

For more info and episode transcript, visit here.

There are over 2,000 types of insects that people eat across the world. Some of these species could have the potential to be cultivated at scale using less land, less water, and fewer greenhouse gas emissions while supplying a nutritious protein source to many. But what does scaling insect production look like, and will people actually eat them?

In this bonus episode, we dive deep into the world of insects as a potential food source. We visit a Swedish mealworm factory to understand the production process, and speak to researchers in Ethiopia and the Netherlands about the environmental benefits, ethical considerations, and likelihood of Europeans eating insects in the future.

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For more info and transcript, please visit: https://tabledebates.org/meat/episode9

Meat: the four Futures project webpage: https://tabledebates.org/meat

Take the values-based quiz: https://tabledebates.org/meat/quiz

Subscribe to: TABLE’s newsletter Fodder

Music by Blue dot Sessions.

The yield gap refers to the difference between the potential agricultural yield that could be achieved under ideal conditions and the actual yield that farmers harvest. In sub-Saharan Africa, the yield gap is in some cases 80% meaning that farmers have the potential to double, triple or even quadruple their harvests.

The causes of the yield gap are debated and so are the solutions to narrow it. In this conversation with Martin van Ittersum, a professor at Wageningen University, and Klara Fischer, an associate professor and senior lecturer at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, we discuss if increasing yield is the right entry point for reducing hunger in the region; if bottom-up or top-down interventions lead to a more resilient food system; and at what time-scale (short- or long-term) should we be focusing food systems solutions?

More info, resources and transcript found at: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/episode48