Good Food

Sea levels are rising. The amount of sea ice is shrinking. Record-breaking temperatures are scorching countries that are woefully unprepared for the heat. In California, drought has become a semi-permanent feature of daily life. And fires, which were once a seasonal menace, are now a year-round threat. People like to say "Save the Earth," but the truth is, climate change isn't destroying our planet. The Earth will go on turning, give or take 8 billion humans. Climate change is destroying us… or if not us, then our way of life.

Then there's society itself. Wages in the United States haven't kept up with the cost of housing, education, or healthcare. The wealth gap has grown so wide it's a canyon. Corporations and governments want to use technology to spy on our every move.

This week's episode of Good Food leans into the current state of the world without sugarcoating. Oliver Milman paints a picture of a world without insects. Investigative journalists Douglas Frantz and Catherine Collins dive into the unappetizing world of salmon farming. Kevin Loria reports on the “forever chemicals” found in food packaging. Elena Conis shares the rise of the toxic compound DDT. Nick Romeo examines why things cost so much, and shares the concept of true pricing. Finally, Dr. Anita Oberholster is working to prevent smoke produced by wildfires from permeating into grapes.

Food scholar Darra Goldstein describes the evolution of Russian cuisine despite scarcity and isolation. Environmentalist and author Paul Greenberg recalls fishing with his father but says the time has come to eliminate the “trophy catch.” Andy Baraghani takes lessons he learned working the line around the country and applies them to the home kitchen in a new cookbook. Growing up in Gabon, Anto Cocagne had aspirations outside of homemaking and left Africa for France, touting the cuisine of the Sub-Sahara. Melvin Blanco, an oncology nurse, opened Juan & Nita’s Bagnet-Silog during the pandemic to feed frontline workers. Finally, it’s summer and that means mangoes at the farmers market.

Journalist Jori Lewis weaves together the history of the peanut from its beginnings in Bolivia, to cultivation in Senegal, and its ties to slavery. Horticulturist Yvonne Savio shares secrets to watering the garden during high temperatures. Michael Martinez works to return food waste back to the soil at LA Compost and has an update on new composting regulations in California. Hevelynn Nealy maintains a community composting site in South Pomona. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison revisits Kato in its new location. Summer means melon season at the farmers’ market.

Historian and professor Natalia Molina reveals how her grandmother’s restaurant, Nayarit, brought the immigrant community together in 1960s Echo Park. In the new FX series “The Bear,” actor Jeremy Allen White plays Carmen “Carmy” Berzatto, a chef with struggles both in and out of the kitchen. A creamy base like sour cream, dried aromatics and a bit of acid, cooking columnist Ben Mims levels up homemade dips. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison heads to South Central for a Oaxacan specialty. When Gacia Tachejian couldn’t find coffee she liked in the Valley, she began roasting her own before opening Laidrey in Tarzana. Christine Tran of the Los Angeles Food Policy Council explains the findings of a recent report that examines why 600,000 residents eligible for SNAP benefits have not accessed resources.

Good Food revisits conversations with newly-minted James Beard Award winners and the podcast that took home the medal for Audio Programming. Alexis Nikole Nelson, aka The Black Forager, found her audience on TikTok but has grown her following as she forages for wild vegetation and her cultural roots. Ruth Tam and Patrick Fort explore American Chinese food delivery and how it shaped the takeaway model of dining. Adrian Miller chronicles how Black barbecuers, pitmasters, and restaurateurs developed American foodways. Kristina Cho shares recipes for sweet and savory pastries popular in Chinese bakeries. In his film "Gather," Sanjay Rawal documents the growing movement of Native Americans reclaiming their identity through food sovereignty.

Vicky Bennison adapted her popular YouTube series “Pasta Grannies” into a cookbook that shares the secret’s of Italy’s best home cooks. Benedetta Jasmine Guetta gives a lesson in the history of Jewish cooking in Italy. Tour guide and author Sophie Minchilli embraces the art of “dolce far niente,” or the sweetness of doing nothing. Talia Baiocchi and Leslie Pariseau take a trip down the spritz trail and explain the daily ritual of the aperitivo in Italy. LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison gets his fill of pasta at Mother Wolf in Hollywood. Finally, Zen Ong is making ice cream using heritage grain corn tortillas.

Food writer and master home cook Nicole Taylor lays out a spread of ribs, red drinks, and potato salad in the first cookbook devoted entirely to a Juneteenth celebration. Tyler Boudreaux encountered a cherry variety with a name that sent her down a rabbit hole to discover the history and roots of the Black Republican. Kevin Bludso describes some tough love from his grandmother and catering on rap videos in Compton in his new cookbook. When Dr. Howard Conyers isn’t designing rocket ships for NASA, he mans the barbecue pit. Wafts of smoke from Texas barbecue fill the air at Heritage Barbecue, directly across the street from the San Juan Capistrano mission.

Each week on Good Food, host Evan Kleiman speaks to experts in their field of food, interjecting with personal anecdotes. Francis Lam turns the tables and invites Kleiman to share her experiences — from her considerable shyness, hearing men talking about food other than barbecue for the first time on a train in Italy, and her beloved restaurant, Angeli Caffe, on Melrose. Evan Kleiman is Lam’s guest on “The Splendid Table.” Also, market correspondent Ben Mims catches up with Francesco Lucatorto of Ceci’s Gastronomia as he shops for Swiss chard.

Chef Kwame Onwuachi follows up his memoir with his first cookbook, offering a different culinary vantage point for growing up in America. Janette Villafana reports on the displacement of street vendors from the El Salvador Corridor in Koreatown. Professor Karen Tongson discusses the expansion of the Filipino fried chicken chain, Jollibee. Sana Javeri Kadri is raising money through spice sales to support the political and economic crisis in Sri Lanka. Food and travel writer Eleanor Ford researched the significance of nutmeg in the global spice trade. Finally, Ben Mims visits an urban farm in Silver Lake in search of rose geranium.