"They say once you grow crops somewhere, you have officially colonized it. So technically, I colonized Mars. In your face , Neil Armstrong!"

As Mark Watney's line from the book and film The Martian suggests, fruits and vegetables have long played a starring role in our visions of space. Sometimes they’re subtle symbols of home; other times, they’re humanity’s only hope for survival.

But how realistic are these space gardens?

Could these crops truly grow beyond Earth - and if they could, would they be enough to sustain life?

And what lessons can we draw from history, when explorers relied on produce to survive their own journeys into the unknown?

Join John and Patrick on this month's livestream as they pull out the popcorn to talk space films, produce and history!

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What does a thorny Mediterranean thistle have to do with the American Mafia? How did a humble vegetable — adored by Romans, cultivated by Renaissance queens, and grown lovingly by Italian immigrants — become the centerpiece of one of the strangest criminal rackets in U.S. history? And why did a fiery New York mayor decide that the only way to defeat organized crime… was to ban artichokes altogether?

Join John and Patrick as they trace the extraordinary saga of the Artichoke King — Ciro Terranova — the East Harlem mobster who turned produce into power. From the early Italian farmers of California’s coast, to the violent “Artichoke Wars” of the 1930s, to Fiorello La Guardia’s theatrical crusade against racketeering, this is the bizarre and gripping story of how food, identity, and crime became entangled in the markets of New York.

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Ever see a shirt that you could just eat it? Well, this New Jersey family-run business may just be it!

Visit EatShirts here to order your favorite fruit or veggies shirt!

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What if the most valuable substance on Earth wasn’t gold, or oil, or diamonds… but bird droppings?

In the mid-19th century, guano—yes, seabird excrement—fueled an agricultural and geopolitical revolution. From the sacred islands of the Inca Empire to the docks of Victorian London and the halls of the U.S. Congress, this strange, smelly fertilizer transformed farming, powered economies, and even sparked wars. Nations fought for it, empires expanded because of it, and fortunes were made (and lost) in the race for what Victorians called “white gold.”

Join John and Patrick as they dig into the astonishing history of guano: how it sustained the Inca Empire, drove the birth of American imperialism, and even set the stage for modern synthetic fertilizers. It’s a tale of science, empire, and excrement — one that changed the world, quite literally, from the ground up.

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Ever see a shirt that you could just eat it? Well, this New Jersey family-run business may just be it!

Visit EatShirts here to order your favorite fruit or veggies shirt!

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Join the History of Fresh Produce Club for ad-free listening, bonus episodes, book discounts and access to an exclusive chatroom community.

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What happens when humanity takes its most basic need - food - beyond Earth’s atmosphere? From John Glenn’s applesauce tubes to the first lettuce grown aboard the International Space Station, the story of fresh produce in space is one of science, innovation, and survival.

In this episode, John and Patrick are joined by Vickie Kloeris, former NASA Food Scientist and manager of the Space Food Systems Laboratory, to explore the fascinating evolution of eating in orbit. How did scientists first overcome the fear that astronauts might not even be able to swallow in zero gravity? Why is fresh produce so rare on space missions? And how did international cooperation - and culinary compromise - shape mealtimes aboard the ISS?

From the psychological power of comfort food to the groundbreaking Veggie experiment that saw astronauts harvest their own lettuce, this is the extraordinary story of how fresh produce became part of life among the stars. And as we look toward Mars, could farming on other worlds become the next great agricultural revolution?

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Order Vickie Kloeris' book: Space Bites: Reflections of a NASA Food Scientist

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In Sponsorship with J&K Fresh.

The customs broker who is your fruit and veggies’ personal bodyguard. Learn more here!

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What is the legacy of Japanese American farmers in shaping California’s agricultural landscape? How did a community once barred from owning land become pioneers in strawberry and vegetable farming? And how did families like the Tanakas endure displacement, incarceration, and prejudice to rebuild—and ultimately thrive?

John and Patrick are joined by special guest Glenn Tanaka, whose family has been farming in California for generations. Together, they trace the journey of Japanese Americans who transformed the agricultural landscape of the West Coast — from small tenant plots to thriving family enterprises — and the immense challenges they faced along the way.

How did these farmers turn discrimination into determination? What became of their farms during internment? And how has Glen Tanaka and his family continued this legacy through innovation, education, and agritourism today?

In this episode, John and Patrick explore the remarkable story of Japanese American farmers — a story of endurance, identity, and the deep cultural roots that continue to nourish American agriculture.

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In Sponsorship with Cornell University: Dyson Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

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Step into history - literally! Now is your chance to own a pair of The History of Fresh Produce sneakers. Fill out the form here and get ready to walk through the past in style.

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Join John and Patrick for a special bonus episode recorded live from Anaheim, California, at the International Fresh Produce Association’s Global Produce & Floral Show!

Surrounded by the sights, sounds, and scents of the world’s freshest innovations, they sit down with four bright Cornell University students to hear their impressions of the show - and to ask a question close to their hearts: who are their favorite figures and moments in fresh produce history?

From Van Gogh’s humble potato paintings to the landmark establishment of USDA organic standards, a Supreme Court showdown over the tomato, and the revolutionary invention of freeze-drying foods - these students reveal their favorite moments in produce history and why they still matter today.

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In Sponsorship with Cornell University: Dyson Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

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Step into history - literally! Now is your chance to own a pair of The History of Fresh Produce sneakers. Fill out the form here and get ready to walk through the past in style.

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What do garlic, blackberries, cucumbers, eggplants, mushrooms, and pumpkins have in common? More than you might think. Across history and folklore, fruits and vegetables have not only nourished humanity but terrified it - linked with madness, curses, demons, vampires, and even the Devil himself. From garlic garlands that warded off the undead, to blackberries spoiled by Satan’s spit, to Japanese river demons with a fondness for cucumbers, and the pumpkin lanterns that still haunt our porches every Halloween - produce has carried meanings far darker than the dinner table.

Join John and Patrick as they explore the eerie world of cursed crops and sinister superstitions: a journey from medieval England to haunted Japanese rivers, from Bedouin tales of madness-inducing eggplants to the psychedelic mushrooms of Siberian shamans. This is the story of fruits and vegetables not as symbols of life and vitality, but as omens of death, disease, and the supernatural…

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In Sponsorship with J&K Fresh.

The customs broker who is your fruit and veggies’ personal bodyguard. Learn more here!

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From myth and legend to cider-fuelled revolutions, from Johnny Appleseed’s frontier orchards to the Victorians’ quest for the perfect pippin, the story of the apple has been anything but ordinary. In the final part of this five-part series, John and Patrick follow the fruit onto the world stage - when refrigeration, global shipping, and empire transformed it into an international commodity. From Tasmania’s “Apple Isle” and Cecil Rhodes’s Cape orchards, to Japan’s remarkable embrace of the fruit that would one day give us the Fuji, the apple became both a tool of empire and a symbol of modernization.

But world war would shake that story, stripping Britain of its imported fruit and forcing farmers to dig for victory. The apple rallied in service of king and country - only to face a peacetime collapse that saw Britain’s orchards vanish in the shadow of supermarket shelves and European imports. Yet the apple endures, still shaping landscapes, economies, and everyday diets around the globe.

Join John and Patrick as they conclude the saga of the world’s most storied fruit - a tale of empire, war, decline, and resilience - that leaves us with the apple we know today.

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In Sponsorship with Cornell University: Dyson Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

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Join the History of Fresh Produce Club for ad-free listening, bonus episodes, book discounts and access to an exclusive chatroom community.

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Step into history - literally! Now is your chance to own a pair of The History of Fresh Produce sneakers. Fill out the form here and get ready to walk through the past in style.

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From the barefoot wanderings of Johnny Appleseed to the fiery kick of applejack on Civil War battlefields, the apple’s story in America takes a dramatic turn in this fourth episode of our series.

John and Patrick trace how John Chapman’s seed-planting helped shape frontier life, fueled the nation’s cider culture, and - ironically - set the stage for America’s drinking frontier. But the apple’s journey doesn’t stop there.

Across the Atlantic, the fruit was taking root in Victorian Britain, where royal tastebuds, scientific curiosity, and household culture transformed it into a symbol of both domesticity and national pride. Yet under the gloss of toffee apples and orchard competitions lurked darker tales of poisonings, poverty, and fierce competition with American imports.

Join John and Patrick as they uncover how the apple became at once a folk hero’s legacy, a soldier’s solace, and the centerpiece of Victorian life - setting the stage for its leap into the modern global age.

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In Sponsorship with J&K Fresh.

The customs broker who is your fruit and veggies’ personal bodyguard. Learn more here!

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John and Patrick journey into the seventeenth century, when cider wasn’t just a drink - it was a matter of national survival. From John Evelyn’s bold call for apple orchards to secure England’s navy and replace French wine, to the early experiments that nearly made England the home of “apple champagne,” the apple takes centre stage in politics, science, and patriotism.

But apples weren’t only about orchards and fizz. This was also the age when John Milton transformed them into the forbidden fruit of Eden, when physicians and quacks alike prescribed them as medicine and beauty aids, and when settlers carried them across the Atlantic to the New World. There, apples and cider became woven into the fabric of colonial life - fueling households, politics, and survival itself.

From Restoration England to early America, discover how the apple evolved into both symbol and staple, preparing the stage for one of history’s most legendary figures: Johnny Appleseed.

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In Sponsorship with Cornell University: Dyson Cornell SC Johnson College of Business

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Join the History of Fresh Produce Club for ad-free listening, bonus episodes, book discounts and access to an exclusive chatroom community.

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Step into history - literally! Now is your chance to own a pair of The History of Fresh Produce sneakers. Fill out the form here and get ready to walk through the past in style.

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@historyoffreshproduce

Email: [email protected]