The Food Fix

Crayfish? Crawfish? Crawdads?

Regardless, they're terrorizing the state of Minnesota with their tiny claws and big appetites. The rusty crayfish is invasive in Minnesota, and they've become a massive problem. But Garrett Lima and Yusef Orest came up with a clever solution, and an even more clever catch phrase (in Cassidy's opinion).

"If ya can't beat 'em, eat 'em!"

Words to live by. 

Tune in as Cassidy chats with Garrett Lima, co-owner of Northern Waters Crayfish LLC. It's a hoot!

Super Special Guest:

Garrett Lima

Co-founder and owner of Northern Waters Crayfish LLC

(no website at this time)

Super Special Music:

The Freezer Bees

Want to learn about something we haven't covered? Shoot us an email about it at [email protected]!

You sleep in a storage container. You poop in a bucket. You pick weeds under the hot sun for six hours a day. You live on a mountain and wait for food to be delivered every week, and when it gets there, you hide all the chocolate from your roommates. And you're not paid. BUT... you're in Hawaii. How long could you last?

Workaway programs like WWOOF have a long list of benefits, but they've got their downfalls too. How can we improve them so folks will keep working-away far into the future? This week we talk to a real-life WWOOFer about a real-life WWOOFing disaster to get an insider's perspective on the matter. But it's not all bad, because it changed Helen's life for the better. 

Get ready to chuckle as we hear about Helen Josephson's whacky WWOOFing experience.

Super Special Guest:

Helen Josephson

Get her book of poem's below:

https://a.co/d/iEtK2CX

Super Special Music:

The Freezer Bee's

https://open.spotify.com/artist/1q31dwXas9055bylUCkEMp?si=ONEF34g0Q_asWt-NmhhbdQ

Thanks for reading this far! Hey while you're here, why don't you shoot Cassidy an email at [email protected]. If you've got anything you want to learn about, we can make it happen.

Picture this: a world where you're surrounded by free food. The only catch is if you eat the wrong thing you'll drop dead... or at least, get really sick.

Well that world is Earth- you just probably don't see it that way. But Gabrielle sure does. In warm months, 80 percent of her diet is made up of food she just finds outside. And no, she's not raiding your garden.

It's called foraging, and it's getting people to go outside, eat healthy and care about the environment. This week we talk to Gabrielle Cerberville about why you should take up foraging and how not to die in the process.

BUT WAIT, there's more.

Sick of Cassidy's voice? So is she. Gets real boring in that studio all alone, too. This week Cassidy is joined by fellow Knight Center reporter Nico Bradford! Come listen and pretend like you're hanging out with us.

Super Special Guest:

Gabrielle Serberville

Link in Bio – Chaotic Forager

Find them on TikTok @chaoticforager or at the link below

https://www.tiktok.com/@chaoticforager?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc

Super Special Music:

The Freezer Bees

This week I switched it up and used their song "Someone." It's been stuck in my head ever since editing. Check them out wherever you get your music.

https://open.spotify.com/artist/1q31dwXas9055bylUCkEMp?si=yLENCSOJSbCv4hK3NEnpfQ

Email episode ideas at [email protected]!

Want a taste of farming without committing to a career of it? Want to hear Cassidy reminisce on her farm days? Want to learn about abandoned reindeer? Well, we don't really cover that last question, but the words "abandoned reindeer" are actually spoken in this episode and that should be enough to get you hooked.

Here's the deal:

 - Farmers are old

 - Farmers are cool

 - Farmers can teach you important stuff

 - Farmers will let you crash at their place

Kapeesh? Any further questions will be answered by Tori Fetrow, superstar/Outreach and Marketing Manager of WWOOF USA. Including the definition of the crazy acronym WWOOF.

Superstar Guest:

Tori Fetrow

Live and Learn on Organic Farms - WWOOF USA

Rockstar Music:

The Freezer Bees

Email me episode ideas please. Or maybe you could just say hi? Let's be friends.

PERENNIAL GRAINS BABY!

What if our crops grew back every year like your lawn does every spring?

I know what you're thinking. "Cassidy, you're off your rocker. Everyone knows that almost all food plants are grown as annuals, and that's why we need farmers to replant them every year. It's genetically impossible to create perennial crops in our lifetime."

I know, naive of me to even pose the question. But... what if I told you... it were possible?

Hope you're ready to learn, because this week Cassidy is walking you through the past, present and future of agriculture all in an action packed 14 minutes! But mostly, Michael Palmgren talks to us about the very exciting future of sustainable agriculture. Spoiler alert: it involves gene editing. BUT DO NOT FEAR! Cassidy breaks down the fancy stuff for you. That's right, today might finally be the day you learn what CRISPR is all about.

Special Guest:

Michael Palmgren

University of Copenhagen Denmark

Perennials as Future Grain Crops: Opportunities and Challenges - PMC (nih.gov)

Music:

The Freezer Bees

https://open.spotify.com/artist/1q31dwXas9055bylUCkEMp?si=k1EmnfwWTP-kaFCji0wyzg

Email Cassidy episode ideas! Seriously! Help. SOS.

Why are the hippies always screaming about "saving the bees?" Well because the hippies are smart. Don't disrespect the hippies.

Bees make the world go round! Bees make plants grow and plants make food grow.  And now that urban agriculture is gaining traction, we need bees in the city. 

This week Cassidy interviews Brian Peterson-Roest, one of the founders of Bees in the D, a non-profit that's working to bring bees to the city of Detroit. And in case you're skeptical, in the six years Bees in the D has been around, they've helped increase production on urban farms by tenfold. 

Yeah, bees are that good.

Tune in so you too can start yelling at people to "save the bees!"

Super Special Guest:

Brian Peterson-Roest

Founder of Bees in the D

Bees in the D

Super Special Music: (save The Freezer Bees!)

The Freezer Bees

https://open.spotify.com/artist/1q31dwXas9055bylUCkEMp?si=CbJ6E1A1Qwm6UEtQ-yy32A

If you've got a story idea, email us at [email protected].

Remember at the peak of COVID when there was a meat shortage across the Unites States? Long story short, that issue stemmed back to our heavy reliance on a few major meat packaging factories. If we had more ways of obtaining out meat, that probably wouldn't have happened.

This was the example Greg Shweser gave when talking about the goal of deep winter greenhouses.

Imagine if places like Alaska, Canada and the Midwest could grow food through the snow all winter long. If cold places could provide food for themselves year-round, they could avoid a potential food shortage if tragedy disrupts the food system elsewhere. It's called localizing the food system baby.

In this episode, Cassidy talks to Greg Schweser from the University of Minnesota about the new ways in which he's making winter farming possible. But it comes at a price... tag... of like $40,000. Stay tuned for this extra creative episode of the podcast.

Special Guest:

Greg Schweser

University of Minnesota Extension

More information about deep winter greenhouses:

Deep Winter Greenhouses | UMN Extension

Got a story? Shoot us an email:

In this episode, Cassidy finally reveals that she's vegan, and then spends a few minutes yelling about it. But if you can get past her tone, you'll learn that meat consumption is huge source of fossil fuel emissions in the western world. Plant-based meats have become a valuable tool in addressing this issue, but that didn't sound like nearly as fun of an episode. People all across the world eat bugs, so why don't we? Listen as Cassidy interviews Laura Shine about the introduction of insects to western plates.

Super Special Guest: 

Laura Shine

Laura Shine – Concordia University Food Studies

Read more about this topic:

Perspective: Eating Insects – Food Studies: Matter, Meaning, Movement (pressbooks.pub)

Super Special Music:

The Freezer Bees- Still Alive

Give them a listen!

Got a story idea? Shoot us an email:

Not so fun fact about the Earth- our population is growing and our land is not. We've got a lot of people to feed and not a lot of space to do it. But what if there were a way to grow more food on less land? Oh wait, there is! This week host Cassidy Hough interviews Connor Culbertson, a real-life permaculture farmer from Piedmont, Virginia. Take a listen to learn about how frontloading farm labor could result in a self-sustaining ecosystem.

Special Guest: Connor Culbertson

Permaculture Farmer

PIEDMONT PERMACULTURE – Sustainable local agriculture

Instagram: @piedmontpermaculture

Fabulous Music: 

The Freezer Bees- Still Alive

https://open.spotify.com/artist/1q31dwXas9055bylUCkEMp?si=SewcqIysQ--sZXn0AI9Fpg

Email us to talk food systems stories!

The Netherlands is the second largest exporter of agriculture products in the world- behind the United States. To decrease the environmental toll that standard fertilizers have on the planet, the Dutch are toying with the idea of using human waste instead. But is it effective? Would people buy that food? Dr. Marijn Poortvliet surveyed around to find out.

And oh yeah, did we mention we had a new host? And a new style? And new music? Strap in for this season with Cassidy Hough.

Follow us and join the conversation @msufoodfix on Facebook and Twitter.

 

Featured guest:

Dr. Marijn Poortvliet

Associate Professor Risk Communication

Wageningen University

For more information:

531274 (wur.nl)

 

Music: The Freezer Bees! Check them out wherever you get your music. The song used in this episode is "Still Alive" from their new album "Self Titled."