It’s All About Food

For the 17th anniversary of IT'S ALL ABOUT FOOD, we're doing something different: taking a clear-eyed look at where the vegan food movement has been — and where it still needs to go. In this episode: the explosive growth of veganism, the staggering lobbying gap between plant-based and animal agriculture, the ag-gag laws still being passed in 2025, and the moving story of Angel Moreno — a 76-year-old mystic who has kept New York's Caravan of Dreams alive for 35 years with faith and a beautiful vision.

In this episode Caryn Hartglass and Gary De Mattei share their thoughts about the current times filled with war and violence and offer ways to cope and enjoy peaceful moments with food. They offer practical tips and useful tools to make food preparation easier and fun.

“Move people to the lentils,” says Lianna Levine Reisner, cofounder of Plant Powered Metro New York.  Learn more about Lianna and Plant Powered Metro New York and why you should join us at their 7th Anniversary Gala on March 19, called Woven Together.

This week on IT’S ALL ABOUT FOOD, Caryn Hartglass takes a deep investigative dive into glyphosate, corporate deregulation, and the future of our food system. From the courtroom battles that exposed Monsanto’s internal strategies to the science behind pesticide formulations and climate impacts, this episode connects the dots between public health, soil health, and political power. Caryn also examines shifting political narratives around glyphosate, explores what really happens to these chemicals in the environment, and highlights hopeful solutions — including organic, regenerative, and veganic agriculture. 

Hanna Garth is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Princeton University, author of Food in Cuba: The Pursuit of a Decent Meal, and coeditor of Black Food Matters: Racial Justice in the Wake of Food Justice. Food justice activists have worked to increase access to healthy food in low-income communities of color across the United States. Yet despite their best intentions, they often perpetuate food access inequalities and racial stereotypes. Hanna Garth shows how the movement has been affected by misconceptions and assumptions about residents, as well as by unclear definitions of justice and what it means to be healthy. Focusing on broad structures and microlevel processes, Garth reveals how power dynamics shape social justice movements in particular ways. Drawing on twelve years of ethnographic research, Garth examines what motivates people from more affluent, majority-white areas of the city to intervene in South Central Los Angeles. She argues that the concepts of "food justice" and "healthy food" operate as racially coded language, reinforcing the idea that health problems in low-income Black and Brown communities can be solved through individual behavior rather than structural change. Food Justice Undone explores the stakes of social justice and the possibility of multiracial coalitions working toward a better future.

Caryn Hartglass and Gary De Mattei cover the impact on our culture and how it can be used to help us lead healthier, more compassionate lives – or the opposite, creating habits that are addicting and damaging to all life on earth. They stress the importance of community (shared meals, potlucks, eating in restaurants), especially in these highly politicized times that are trying to divide us.

Lianna Levine Reisner, MSOD, is building a multicultural movement for health as President and Network Director of Plant Powered Metro New York, an organization she co-founded in 2019 to empower local communities to prevent and reverse chronic disease through evidence-based, plant-based nutrition. To address her family’s health challenges, Lianna had been searching for clear, evidence-based nutritional guidelines that made sense for her family. The writings of T. Colin Campbell, PhD, and his colleagues made a compelling case for whole food, plant-based nutrition, helping her to lose 20% of her body weight, reverse endometriosis and hormonal imbalances, and heavily reduce her allergies and skin issues, among many other benefits. Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center honored Lianna as a 40 Under 40 Rising Star in Food Policy in 2022. Lianna holds a certificate in Plant-Based Nutrition from the T. Colin Campbell Center for Nutrition Studies and eCornell, and she is a certified Vegan Lifestyle Coach and Educator through Main Street Vegan Academy. She is also a member of the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. With a Master’s from Case Western Reserve University’s Weatherhead School of Management, Lianna previously worked as an independent coach and consultant serving UJA-Federation of New York, providing organizational change support to Jewish nonprofit organizations in the New York metropolitan area. She lives in the Upper West Side of Manhattan with her husband and three children.