We have a soft spot for food systems that challenge the modern convention: food systems like forest gardens or sea gardens that don’t at all look like vast rows of monocultures, but instead blend into the landscape — to the point of being invisible — at least until you’ve learned how to see them.

It just so happens that, not far from us (in the Cowichan Estuary), there’s another kind of ancient food system being revived, and we were looking forward to visiting it as part of our upcoming season 7. But when one of the all-time greatest shows on Canadian radio beat us to the scoop, we thought we may as well save ourselves the effort and bring you the story that much sooner.

From CBC Ideas and producer Pauline Holdsworth, this is “What the River Wants to Be”

This is just Part 1 of a 2-part series. Listen to Part 2 here (or find CBC Ideas wherever you get podcasts)