Meat + Three

The desire for sweetness is biologically hardwired in humans, according to Dr. Gary Beauchamp, longtime former director and president of the Monell Chemical Senses Center. It is an evolutionary response that developed way back when sweet things were hard to find in the natural environment. Now, we can find sweets just about anywhere.  

Part of our global trade mini-series, this episode focuses on all things sweet! Ironically, the history of sugar comes with some bitter truths. Stories include the problematic journey of the cocoa bean from West Africa to chocolate products in the U.S., farmers pushing back against “Big Sugar,” cultural appropriation at the National Date Festival, and the intertwined history of Silk Road merchants and the first domesticated apples.

Next week, we continue our exploration of food and trade with stories about spice.

Further Reading:

Get your own copy of “Fruit from the Sands: The Silk Road Origins of the Foods We Eat” by Robert Spengler here

Read more about Dr. Leissle’s work here

Read Professor Nestle’s comments on the federal government’s controversial new dietary guidelines. You can follow her critiques of the food industry on her blog, Food Politics, and in some of her recent books, like Unsavory Truth, published in 2018.

Learn more about Gilliard Farms on their website. And check out Jupiter’s Almanac, Matthew Raiford’s show on Heritage Radio Network.

Learn more about Dandelion Chocolate’s single-origin chocolate here 

Follow Dr. Sarah (McCormick) Seekatz on Twitter and check out her book, Images of America: Indio’s Date Festival to learn more about the history of California’s date industry.

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Trade is innately human. Whether it’s baseball cards, lunchbox items or recipes, people have been exchanging goods, services, practices, and ideas since prehistoric times. Driven by curiosity and power, or most commonly money, trade has created the modern, globalized world we know today. To better understand the past, present, and future of trade’s huge web of interconnectivity, we’re traveling back in time with Meat and Three’s first ever 4-part mini-series. 

We first look at history's most significant trade route: The Silk Road. We explore how the expansive caravan and maritime routes marked the first period of vast global interchange with Najmieh Batmanglij. We then dig into economics with Don Boudreaux to explain the implications of free trade and some central characteristics of our current globalized model. 

And don’t forget to stick around for the next three episodes as we take a deeper dive into the ingredients that make these routes so delicious. Subscribe to Meat and Three on your favorite podcast app.

Further Reading:

Get your own copy of “Silk Road Cooking: A Vegetarian Journey” by Najmieh Batmanglij here

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This week we're presenting the first episode of Back Bar, a rollicking deep dive into the events, phenomenon, relationships and human foibles that shaped the world’s most iconic drinks. Hosted by food and beverage writer Greg Benson and featuring guest appearances from industry luminaries like Derek Brown, Robert Simonson and Sother Teague, Back Bar’s vaudevillian approach to storytelling is a refreshing cocktail of history and humor.

In this first episode, Greg tells the story of the Sazerac, how it changed, adapted, evolved and kept pace with the rest of the cocktail world. 

Subscribe now to get the episodes as they launch! (Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS). New episodes will be released the 1st and 15th of every month. 

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What policies and movements will shape food production in 2021 and beyond? In our year in review, we feature two conversations with Lisa Held – one with Jenna Liut on Eating Matters about the environmental and agricultural implications of four years under the Trump administration, and another with Katy Keiffer on What Doesn't Kill You, about what to expect from the Biden administration on climate and agricultural policy.

Dylan Heuer speaks with Colby Duren, the director of policy for the Intertribal Agriculture Council, which aims to advance legislation in the 2023 Farm Bill focused on food sovereignty for Tribal nations. Matan Dubnikov reports on the state of regenerative agriculture and its potential for restoring soil and fighting climate change. 

Further Reading and Listening:

Learn more about the effects of the Trump administration on environmental and agricultural policy by listening to “4 Years of Trump” on Eating Matters here and by reading Lisa Held’s article “How Four Years of Trump Reshaped Food and Farming” here.

To learn more about Biden’s potential plans for agriculture policy listen to episode 323 of HRN’s What Doesn’t Kill You here. You can also read Lisa Held’s article “In a Year of Climate Reckoning, Where Does Joe Biden Stand on Climate and Agriculture?” here.

To learn more about the Intertribal Agriculture Council, visit indianag.org.

To learn more about regenerative agriculture, investing in black farmers and changing the food narrative, check out Kiss the Ground here and the Black Farmer Fund here.

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Inspired by the passage of Measure 109 in Oregon and Initiative 81 in Washington D.C., this week we're exploring the state of drugs – particularly the agricultural, scientific and culinary aspects of them. Tash Kimmel explores the science behind cannabis and cravings. Ryder Bell ponders the rise and fall of coca, and how the global war on cocaine shrouded the medicinal crop in infamy. Kat Johnson holds a cosmic conversation with the CEO of Dr. Bronner's Magic Soaps to learn how his company is advocating for psychedelic medicine to heal the soul. Emily Kunkel digs into some psilocybin gastronomy with a magic mushroom maven. 

Further Reading:

Check out Dr. Bronner’s line of soaps and their Heal Soul campaign here

Learn more about Dr. K Mandrake’s confections and check out his book, The Psilocybin Chef Cookbook, available for order online here.

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Today we’re spotlighting Episode 1 of the new HRN series, Cooking in Mexican from A to Z.  They’re mother and son, but also award-winning celebrity chefs, restaurateurs, and cookbook authors. Aarón Sánchez and Zarela Martinez will take you on a culinary journey featuring regional ingredients that are the soul of Mexican cuisine. From chilis to chocolate and everything in between, Aarón, Zarela and special guests will share stories, tips, techniques, and quintessential recipes in spirited kitchen table conversations.

Subscribe to Cooking in Mexican from A to Z wherever you get your podcasts (Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS). 

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With Thanksgiving right around the corner, we’ve been thinking about the many ways this holiday bolsters colonial narratives, as well as opportunities to push back on them. This episode spotlights individual people, dishes and ingredients that are decolonizing our food system. We’re looking at our Thanksgiving plates and beyond to explore efforts to reclaim food sovereignty in Native American culture, the African diaspora, and Puerto Rico. 

We start by revisiting the Thanksgiving myth and investigating the forces that continue to shape Native Americans’ food access and culinary legacy. Then we’ll share a recipe that brings Geechee culture to the Thanksgiving table. We track the history of a West African rice strain that is reintroducing a rich heritage as well as environmental resilience to American soil. And finally we learn about how one food justice collective is working to bring power and healing to Puerto Rico. 

Further Reading and Listening:

Check out Sean Sherman and his platform,  The Sioux Chef – Revitalizing Native American Cuisine / Re-Identifying North American Cuisine

Subscribe to Jupiter’s Almanac wherever you get your podcasts. (Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS). 

Find Matthew Raiford’s Thanksgiving recipe for oyster dressing here.

Learn more about Dr. Anna McClung and the Dale Bumpers National Rice Research Center here. 

Find out more about Glenn Roberts and Anson Mills here. 

Check out Luz Cruz and Cuir Kitchen Brigade here. Here’s an NPR article on the history of Puerto Rican debt, and here’s a 2019 study on the effects of the Jones Act

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This entire year has been one huge change after another, forcing us all to take a deeper look at how we used to live and wonder what the future holds. Our stories this week explore how society is rapidly changing before our eyes.

Dylan Heuer looks at how Covid-19 is affecting the way mothers balance work and life. An excerpt from HRN’s Queer the Table featuring Soleil Ho shows how assumptions about the audience for food writing and restaurant reviews are being upended. Alicia Qian ponders pumpkin spice and the implications that come with such “basic” trends. Armen Spendjian brings us a report on how UT Austin’s campus dining program has changed for the Fall semester. 

Further Listening/Reading:

Listen to episode 15 of The Big Food Question: How can Growing Your Own Food Address Issues of Food Sovereignty and Access?

Read more from Katherine Goldstein about bailing out American mothers here and anti-mom bias in the workplace here, plus listen to The Double Shift wherever you get your podcasts. 

Listen to episode 15 of Queer The Table - A New Kind of Restaurant Critic: Soleil Ho

Preorder Jaya Saxena’s new book, Crystal Clear: Reflections on Extraordinary Talismans for Everyday Life here.

Listen to episode 87 of Meat and Three - School Lunch in the Age of Social Distancing

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We are living through uncertain and unprecedented times. What better way to find a bit of escape and solace than through food? Comfort food is a broad concept that means different things to different people around the world. This week’s episode starts with a look at the history and meaning of comfort food. We learn about a Danish concept revolving around sharing quality time with loved ones over a meal. We take a look at how the world does chicken soup from Turkey to Scandinavia. Finally, we discover the many forms that Japanese donburi can take, and why it's sure to hit the spot every time. There’s no need for an excuse - take a load off and enjoy your favorite meal, whatever it may be!

Further Reading:

A Taste of the Past: This episode featured “Episode 350: Comfort Food.” Subscribe to A Taste of the Past wherever you get your podcasts (Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS). 

Eat Your Words: This episode featured “Episode 294: Scaandinavian Comfort Food.” Subscribe to Eat Your Words wherever you get your podcasts (Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS). 

Feast Yr Ears: This episode featured “Episode 189: Chicken Soup Now and Forever.” Subscribe to Feast Yr Ears wherever you get your podcasts (Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS). 

You can purchase a copy of “The Chicken Soup Manifesto” here.

Japan Eats!: This episode featured “Episode 200: Donburi: A Japanese Food as Comforting as Ramen.” Subscribe to Japan Eats! wherever you get your podcasts (Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS). 

You can check out Elizabeth Andoh’s Japanese culinary arts program, “A Taste of Culture”, here. Also, Elizabeth hosts a Facebook group called TSUDOI Project where members from around the world can share ideas and kitchen projects, which you can find here. 

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This week on Meat and Three we’re embracing the spooky spirit of Halloween. From zombies to witches, we’re exploring the odd… the occult… and the taboo in the world of food. First, we’ll delve head-first into real-life brain eating with organ meat expert, and cookbook co-author Michael Harlen Turkell. Then, we’ll learn about the New York rat infestations spurred by Covid-19 with rodentologist Dr. Bobby Corrigan. Ryder Bell takes us into the mysterious world of ghost kitchens and we travel back in time with Tash Kimmell  to uncover what might have been the real culprit behind the Salem Witch Trials. 

Further Reading:

Check out Linda Caporeal’s Ergot theory  here 

Keep Meat and Three on the air: become an HRN Member today! Go to heritageradionetwork.org/donate. 

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