Earth Eats: Real Food, Green Living

Bonus episode: Interview with Nickole Keith and Kevin Harris of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi

Tue, 14 Oct 2025 16:00:00 -0000

In the fall of 2024 Kayte had the chance to talk with Nicole Keith, Food Sovereignty Coordinator of the Nottawasepi Huron Band of the Potawatomi (also known as NHBP) and Kevin Harris, Culture Specialist with the NHBP.

They visited Bloomington in the fall of 2024 to share a film about wild river rice with The First Nations Educational and Cultural Center on the IU campus, in partnership with the IU Media School. The film is called Mnomen | Wild Rice "From the River Banks to the Table.”

The interview that appeared in the last episode of our Eats Wild series was cut for time, here is an extended version.

Eats Wild Episode 9: Traditional, wild-foraged foodways

Fri, 03 Oct 2025 12:00:00 -0000

“Wild rice camp started a long time ago. It actually started thousands of years ago, with our ancestors having a real-time lifeway.”

We have a jam-packed show for you today featuring traditional foodways from the original inhabitants of this land, foods from lands far away–Anatolia and Mongolia, as well as right here in our own back yard. Wild rice harvested in a canoe, sumac by the side of the road, and for dessert? Pawpaw ice cream.

The right tools for the job

Mon, 29 Sep 2025 20:00:00 -0000

This week on the show, we focus on tools of the trade. Muddy Fork Bakery upgraded their mixer and it turned out to be a game changer. Hot sauce production is made easier with a hand crank food mill. And if you ever accidentally purchase the wrong kind of rice in Tokyo, never fear, they have coin operated kiosks to help you out.

Eats Wild Episode 8: Nuts, beans, berries and orange globes–the trees share their bounty in the fall

Fri, 19 Sep 2025 12:00:00 -0000

“Sniff it! If they’re smelly, I mean stinky, then it’s not persimmon…”

This week on Earth Eats Eats Wild, we explore the fruits of fall…and the nuts and even beans!

Forager Chef Alan Bergo fancies the Kentucky coffee been in its GREEN state, Liz Barnhart crafts a deep purple elderberry syrup, Keako Liff takes a (ahem) aromatic walk down memory lane with ginkgo nuts, and we talk persimmons with a researcher in folklore and library science.

Eats Wild Episode 7: Acorns are not just for squirrels

Fri, 12 Sep 2025 12:00:00 -0000

”Acorns are, I mean, they're everywhere. They are incredibly abundant and they've been a really important food source for humans in essentially every region of the planet that had oak trees–which is almost every temperate zone on the entire globe.

"But we don't do much of acorn eating anymore as people and in communities in most places.”

Graphic Novelist Mel Gilman made an instructional zine about eating acorns, and this week on Earth Eats Eats Wild, they talk with us about this abundant food source, and why comics can be a great medium for learning about foraging.

And, we process some acorns of our own into flour for baking projects.

High school gardens offer a tangible way to make positive change

Fri, 05 Sep 2025 12:00:00 -0000

“For me it feels like we live in an age where you look on the news and it just feels like everything is going wrong. And so gardening feels like a small way we can have an actual, tangible, positive impact on the world around us. In a world where it’s easy to feel like everything is just falling apart, it’s a small way to actually see progress.”

This week on the show, it’s back to school part two. We talk with high school students and educators about what their school gardens mean to them.

Art, food and figs

Fri, 29 Aug 2025 17:30:00 -0000

“And a man on his way to work hops twice to reach, at last, his fig which he smiles at and calls ‘baby.’

‘c’mere baby,’ he says, and blows a kiss to the tree.”

This week on the show, in honor of WFIU’s 75th anniversary, we revisit favorite stories from the Earth Eats archive. We share two pieces celebrating fig trees, including a poem by Ross Gay. We explore connections between food, fine art and memory with artist Mollie Douthit. Plus, a recipe for making pita bread using spelt flour.

Small scale dairy farming is a labor of love

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 12:00:00 -0000

“I remember in Covid, Sara, she went to the grocery on her way home, on a Friday, to get milk and some other things--basically when Covid was shuttin’ everything down–and there was chocolate almond milk. And that was it.

I’m a pretty big fan of food independence and food sovereignty and having control over your food system and choice over the food that you want. And seeing it not available because of supply chain issues was part of it. There’s gotta be a local option for milk. I just think there needs to be as long as we’re consuming milk and it’s part of our culture, we need to have a local option.”

This week on the show we visit Twin Springs Creamery. We meet some of the people and the cows bringing local milk to Southern Indiana.

Food, weight, wellness and race–Jessica Wilson rewrites the story

Thu, 21 Aug 2025 20:45:00 -0000

“Speaking directly to Black women and wanting Black women to know that their bodies are not the problem. The way that our bodies are treated and problematized and pathologized, we’re often taught that it’s our fault, that it’s our problem to fix or we just need to love our bodies out of societal oppression.”

This week on the show a conversation with dietitian and author Jessica Wilson about her book, It’s Always Been Ours: Rewriting the Story of Black Women’s Bodies

She’s challenging us to rethink the politics of body positivity by centering the bodies of Black women in our discussions about food, weight, health and wellness.

Are we all made of palm oil?

Fri, 08 Aug 2025 12:00:00 -0000

“When you begin to zoom out, you realize that in fact palm oil is all around us, and the world, in a strange way, is made of palm oil; and we’re all, in a certain way, made of palm oil–in the sense that we use it to reproduce our bodies and to clean our skin and to live the lives that we live in a globalized world.”

This week on the show, a conversation with Max Haiven, author of the book Palm Oil:The Grease of Empire. He traces the history of palm oil production globally, examining its damaging effect on the environment, the labor abuses in the industry and the ill-effects of this cheap fat on the health of people who consume it. An exploration of what palm can tell us about our global economy, climate change and who we areas a species.

A chef for a fly

Fri, 01 Aug 2025 12:00:00 -0000

“Bloomington is known in the science world--if you say Bloomington, people think fruit flies.”

This week on our show, we tap into the Earth Eats archive, for one of my very favorite stories. It’s about our visit to the kitchen of a science building on the campus of Indiana University, where they prepare food for a tiny organism that supports genetic research around the globe. This one is from 2020, so you’ll hear some mention of the global pandemic. This is a strange one–but fascinating.

Home is where the sheep are

Fri, 25 Jul 2025 12:00:00 -0000

This week on our show we listen back to a favorite episode featuring the story of a young farming family with a flock of sheep, on a quest for farmland of their own. We’ll learn about their dreams for Three Flock Farm and the opportunities and obstacles along the way.

And we share stories from Harvest Public media, including one about how uncertainty in trade agreements with China is affecting US ginseng producers.

Conversations on leaving a land legacy

Fri, 18 Jul 2025 12:00:00 -0000

“I think our approach is: making it better–improving the land every time we have a chance.

We are benefited by the sweetness of the maple, right? So, that’s a source of sweetness for us and for the people to come after us. And hopefully the pawpaws will be. One of these days, somebody can enjoy that fruit. Yeah.”

This week on the show we explore what it can look like to have a vision for your land that extends beyond yourself and even your family. We speak with Larry Gillen and Helen Vasquez about their decision to gift their farm to a tribal college.

And producer Josephine McRobbie visits with a Regenerative Farmer building soil in the sandhills of North Carolina with the help of some four-legged(and winged) “teammates.”

Art.Sushi.Cake

Fri, 11 Jul 2025 12:00:00 -0000

"We get into a question based on life experience, based on the thoughts that have surfaced for everybody, what if anything are you wondering. What questions come to mind?"

On this week’s show we talk with Laura Shepper and Kalie Dance about pairing food with art for socially distanced cultural events. We visit a teaching kitchen featuring Japanese food and talk with the chef and owner, Mori Willhite.

And we have the story behind a chocolate cake recipe that some people are willing to share, and some aren’t.

Eats Wild Episode 6: Building relationships with plants

Fri, 04 Jul 2025 12:00:00 -0000

“Throughout industrial history, the idea behind weeds is very political and it's very constructed. They are only weeds because they get in the way of ideas of how you think that a well kept clean, pristine area would look or like you're trying to reach a certain idea of class.”

This week on the third SUMMER episode of our Eats Wild series, we harvest and cook edible weeds (also known as Quelites or wild greens) with Anthropologist Keitlyn Alcantara, and we talk about Indigenous foodways and how to think differently about our relationships with plants.

Plus, how to make simple floral syrups from linden and elder flowers.

Eats Wild Episode 5: Foraging for flavor and for mental health

Fri, 27 Jun 2025 12:00:00 -0000

“I am a human who yearns to remember that she is part of nature, in a way that I think our culture is trying to make me forget.”

This week on the second SUMMER episode of our Eats Wild series, we head out into the woods with two amateur mushroom hunters.

Ileana Haberman shares her story of seeking solace gathering chanterelles in the woods during the worst of the pandemic, and Carl Pearson walks us through the basics for positive identification of edible fungi–in this case, a bi-color bolete.

Then chef Nick Detrich whips up an elegant salt-baked beet dish featuring wild purslane and wood sorrel from my backyard.

What can yerba mate tell us about ourselves and the world around us? [replay]

Fri, 20 Jun 2025 12:00:00 -0000

“Studying food is a way to study how we are connected to the world of life around us. Whatever we think about humans being so cerebral, so intellectual–it really breaks down because we are a part of everything else around us.”

This week on the show we talk with the author of The Book of Yerba Mate, Christina Folch about how one plant can tell us so much about ourselves, and the world around us.

Christine Folch is the Bacca Foundation Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology, Environmental Sciences & Policy at Duke University.

She spoke with Kayte Young about The Book of Yerba Mate: a stimulating history, released in 2024 with Princeton University Press.

And, Earth Eats producer Leo Paes brought his Yerba Mate kit into the WFIU studios for a tasting session.

Geography of taste [replay]

Fri, 13 Jun 2025 12:00:00 -0000

“There is a beautiful Hindustani saying, ‘Kosa kosa per pani badle, chare kosa per vani,’ which means "Every two miles the water changes, and every four the language." So that, in fact, is the geography of taste and terroir in India.”

This week on the show, we talk with sociologist Krishnendu Ray about place and food and caste in India and how identity can be defined as much by what you DON'T eat, as by what you DO eat.

And we share a recipe for a home grown hot sauce that cannot be prepared indoors.

Farmer and Academic Ike Leslie on “queering” the food system

Fri, 06 Jun 2025 12:00:00 -0000

This week on the show we’re questioning the traditions and assumptions around the role of family in farming.

“When something goes wrong in the family relationship, it can really affect the farm business, and when something goes wrong in the farm business, it can really affect the family relationship–which has big implications for things like food security–although we often don’t look at it that way.”

My guest is sociologist Dr. Ike Leslie, of the University of New Hampshire. Join us for a conversation about Queering the Food System.

From Diet for a Small Planet, to the future of our Democracy

Fri, 30 May 2025 12:00:00 -0000

“I often say that the only choice we don’t have in such a connected world, the only choice we don’t have is whether to change the world--because every act we take and don’t take is sending out ripples and we’ll never know the impact of our choices.”

This week on Earth Eats, a conversation with Frances Moore Lappé. She’s the acclaimed author of the groundbreaking book, Diet for a Small Planet, which turned 50 years old in 2021. She’s co-founder (with her daughter Anna Lappé) of the Small Planet Institute: living democracy, feeding hope. Lappe has continued the work she began a half-century ago, of bringing analysis and insight to the study of our food systems and how they need to change for our own health and for the health of the planet.

Growing community with New Farms for New Americans

Fri, 23 May 2025 12:00:00 -0000

“Many of the farmers talked about the ability to be out in nature with other members of their family and other members of their community and several of them also talked about the benefits of being able to interact with people from other communities.”

This week on the show, we talk with geographer Pablo Bose about innovative resettlement projects that help refugees connect with familiar foods from home, through gardening in community with others.

Eats Wild Episode 4: Beloved berries

Fri, 16 May 2025 12:00:00 -0000

“There's a different time…what I would say–like a lifely, real time, and to be able to have, at least moments, periodically, in our lives, where we're attuned to that. And the attunement sometimes is also really pleasurable. It's like a deeply pleasurable attunement to ourselves--as not apart from, but in fact, in fact, life…as life.”

This week on the show, we pick serviceberries with Ross Gay and contemplate abundance, time and connection with loved ones through foraging.

Tracy Branam shows off his expansive wild strawberry patch on the banks of a pond. We talk about following a calendar of wild foods, and looking forward to the delights each season brings.

Sometimes home is a house—and other times, it's a soup

Fri, 09 May 2025 12:00:00 -0000

“You gotta take the phyllo dough, put it down on your station. One person takes the butter, garlic, lemon juice mixture, wipes it down. And then someone else spoons on the filling, and then they fold it. And then the butter person butters the outside, puts it in the baking tin. And then you gotta immediately start the next dough...”

This week on the show, Kayte Young hands the mic to producer Daniella Richardson for one special episode. As host, Daniella talks with friends about the foundational foods that have shaped their lives and their perspectives on human connection.

Adventures in hot peppers

Fri, 02 May 2025 12:00:00 -0000

“I knew that this was gonna be a little bit of an adventure, because I’ve never done this before. And so, I’m sure I’m gonna make some stupid mistake that your listeners are gonna be laughing at me while I’m doing this.”

From WFIU in Bloomington Indiana, this is earth eats and I’m your host Kayte Young

This week on the show, just in time for the hot pepper harvest, we revisit a story from 2019 about a novice hot sauce maker and one from 2020 about tasting the hottest of the hot peppers. Plus, a piece about lab studying home sourdough starters and a new story from Harvest about. All that just ahead stay with us.

Farming for seeds

Thu, 01 May 2025 19:30:00 -0000

“We have about a four acre parcel of land here that’s subdivided into a whole bunch of micro-plots, basically, where we can isolate, you know, the Black Strawberry Tomato, or the Chinese Wool Flower or a gourd or whatever it happens to be. And we can make sure that those seeds stay pure. Purity is one of the biggest things that we do here. We do a lot of purity trials, so we maintain that the seed we’re selling [to] somebody–we wanna make sure that that seed is 100% true to type.”

This week on the show we visit Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company to learn the particulars of growing for plants for seed.

And Violet Baron talks with the owners of Lost Farm Meal Service about growing a business during a pandemic.

Italian savory pie connects family across the miles

Fri, 18 Apr 2025 12:00:00 -0000

“Cooking came to me a little bit later in life. Holidays in my family were always a really big deal, especially around the meals. The meals were the most important part of the holiday gathering. And I was pretty much the least useful person in the kitchen. It wasn’t until–even into my mid twenties, at Thanksgiving time, my mom would be like, ‘Mark, you can take the premade Parkerhouse rolls out of the freezer and put them in the oven. That’s all we trust you to do’”

This week on the show we join a mother and son in a family tradition that has kept them connected across the miles. Mark Chilla and his mother, Gae, tell the story and share the recipe for an Italian, stuffed, savory pie to celebrate the end of lent in the Catholic Faith.

Learn all about it in this week's episode, and try the recipe (below).

Music on this Episode

The Earth Eats theme music is composed by Erin Tobey and performed by Erin and Matt Tobey.

Additional music on this episode from Universal Production Music.

Credits:

The Earth Eats’ team includes: Eoban Binder, Alexis Carvajal, Alex Chambers, Toby Foster, Luann Johnson, Leo Paes, Daniella Richardson, Samantha Shemenaur, Payton Whaley and Harvest Public Media.

Earth Eats is produced, engineered and edited by Kayte Young. Our executive producer is Eric Bolstridge.

Eats Wild Episode 3: Treasure hunting in the woods

Fri, 11 Apr 2025 12:00:00 -0000

“I’ve been mushroom hunting before and you'll kind of squat down and look in between all of the low plants, and then you move to the other side and you look on the other side and all of a sudden you see like four, and they’re right there.”

This week it’s the third installment of our special series, Earth Eats Eats Wild– a nine-part seasonal special all about foraging for wild food. We couldn’t wrap up our spring season without a morel hunt–where we share secrets that might help YOU spot a few this year.

And we talk with The Forager Chef, Alan Bergo, about what it’s like to eat a pine tree, and we walk through the steps of making spruce tip ice cream.

Eats Wild Episode 2: Wild food is all around us

Fri, 04 Apr 2025 12:00:00 -0000

“She introduced me to Susan Weed’s books, and chickweed is in one of the herbal healing books. And it’s talked about as this star-shaped plant that kind of dances–that that’s it’s energy [laughs].”

This week on our special series, Earth Eats Eats Wild, we’ll be talking chickweed with Stephanie Solomon, preparing purple deadnettle deviled eggs, harvesting spicebush and ramps in the woods with Jill Vance, and frying up crunchy fritters made with dandelion flowers.

Eats Wild Episode 1: Stalking the wild food experience

Fri, 28 Mar 2025 12:00:00 -0000

“And you’re stepping into–sinking really–into this clay that’s surrounding your feet, and there’s also some sticks in there, and you know, there’s bugs and spiders on the water…”

This week on the show we kick off the Eats Wild special series, all about foraging and edible wild plants. Monique Philpot, founder of the forest and folk school Soulcraft Bloomington, takes us out to discover wild food in unexpected places, and shares stories of growing up in two places with different food cultures. We sample treats from feasts prepared by children and by college students, and we talk about what love’s got to do with it…with foraging, that is.

Flexibility and improvisation make community meals delicious

Fri, 21 Mar 2025 12:00:00 -0000

“I had six different people’s donations of basil in my dish yesterday, and that’s what made it work.”

This week on the show, we talk with Heather Craig of the Community Kitchen of Monroe County about cooking for a crowd everyday, improvising in the face of uncertainty, and sourcing ingredients from the community.

Plus, stories from Harvest Public Media about rural grocery stores and the effects of the Trump administration USDA cuts on farmers and rural residents.

Seven mega-companies have an out-sized role in our food system

Fri, 14 Mar 2025 12:00:00 -0000

“At least a hundred years ago, the last robber barons, we got nice libraries out of it. This one, it’s like ‘oh, what is the family using its money for? To gut public education via charter school networks?’ It’s kind of Machiavellian–it’s Machiavellian in a really sad way”

This week on the show, I’m talking with Austin Frerick, the author of Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America’s Food Industry. Frerick uncovers the sometimes shocking facts about seven large companies who play an outsized role in our nation’s food system. From hog barons to coffee barons, to Indiana’s own dairy barons, Fair Oaks farm.

How to feed a giraffe–and other lessons from a zoo nutritionist

Fri, 07 Mar 2025 13:00:00 -0000

“So if you were a giraffe or an elephant you would go along in your world and you would consume things off of trees. And so we try to mimic, as best we can, what we call browse, which is edible tree material.”

This week on the show, Toby Foster talks with Barbara Henry at the Cincinnati Zoo. She’s the one who figures out what each of the animals need to eat, where to source their food and the best ways to feed the animals to ensure that they thrive.

What's the status of the people who grow our food?

Fri, 28 Feb 2025 13:00:00 -0000

“In the first Trump administration, about 350 thousand people from Central America or Mexico were given these H2A visas to come in temporarily with labor contractors. And many of them seem to have overstayed their visas because their labor is needed. We can’t pick the crops in this country without them.”

This week on the show, we welcome back geographer Elizabeth Cullen Dunn. She is the director of the Center for Refugee Studies at Indiana University and we’ll talk with her about how changes in federal policy, especially around immigration affect our food system, including prices at the grocery store.

History and tradition sweeten the maple harvest at Groundhog Road Farms

Fri, 21 Feb 2025 13:00:00 -0000

“Our younger generation, and mainly the girls, have got hearing, and they can hear that high frequency squeals that the vacuum puts off, and man they can just go in the woods and start finding ‘em and you just cut that out put a connector in, put another one in and they can just run through the woods fixin’ holes. Older guys that can’t hear, you’re a strugglin’ trying to find ‘em [laughs].”

This week on the show we head out to Groundhog Road Maple Farm in Bedford to learn all about the family business that dates back to the 1880s. Ed Miller and his friends and family have modernized the operation in recent years. We’ll learn how the syrup gets from the maple tree in the forest to the pancakes on your plate.

Taking time to smell the coffee, with Korie Griggs

Fri, 14 Feb 2025 13:00:00 -0000

“The goal with the collective is to bridge that gap–so then there is a lot more equity and a lot more opportunity. Because these coffees are incredible and most of the time when they’re coming from people of marginalized identities, those people are ensuring that they’re honoring the farmers as well–and so the farmers are then getting equitable pay. And so it’s creating that throughout the supply chain.”

This week on the show we’re talking coffee with Korie Griggs about the Color of Coffee Collective. They’re working to support equitable access in the world of specialty coffee. She also has a message about slowing down and taking time to smell the coffee. And we have stories from Harvest Public Media about growing a new super fruit in the Midwest, and returning buffalo to Native tribes.

Biodiversity saves the coffee crop

Fri, 07 Feb 2025 13:00:00 -0000

“When the phorid arrive, the ants release a pheromone that tells their nest mates, all the other ants that are in the vicinity, their sisters that are in the vicinity, tells them ‘Careful! The phorid are here! You better go back to your nest or get paralyzed.’”

This week on the show, we get to nerd out on insects with Ivette Perfecto who studies biodiversity and agroecology. She’s got some wild stories to tell about bugs on coffee plants and the importance of understanding the delicate balance between species.

Planting trees for community resilience

Fri, 31 Jan 2025 13:00:00 -0000

“A community is not resilient unless those benefits that we have from natural resources, like urban trees, are distributed in a way that all people are benefiting from them. And we do know that we have areas of the city that have lower canopy cover and some of those are associated also with lower income communities and marginalized communities. And arguably those are the people [who] would be most benefited by ecosystem services and the benefits of trees.”

This week on the show, a conversation with Sarah Mincey and Hannah Gregory of Canopy Bloomington, an organization dedicated to community engagement with the urban forest.

You are what you eat…what about what you drink?

Fri, 24 Jan 2025 13:00:00 -0000

This week on the show we talk with the author of The Book of Yerba Mate, Christine Folch about how one plant can tell us so much about ourselves, and the world around us.

Harm reduction for eating disorders

Fri, 17 Jan 2025 13:00:00 -0000

“[It’s] the same old narrative that we hear, that it only happens to white folks and white women. And I argue that eating disorders not only don’t discriminate, but they target marginalized communities such as women of color.”

This week on the show, a conversation with Gloria Lucas, the founder of Nalgona Positivity Pride We’ll be talking about her organization’s social justice approach to eating disorders that centers the specific needs of Black Indigenous and communities of color and she’ll share details about her new eating disorders harm reduction program.

Filipino food makes a splash in Bloomington

Fri, 10 Jan 2025 13:00:00 -0000

“Filipino food is not really known like that, especially in Indiana, so we wanted to bring something new.”

This week on the show, we visit with the owners of Pinoy Garden Cafe. They talk about what it means to them to bring authentic Filipino cuisine to Bloomington, Indiana and they share a recipe for vegetarian lumpia, a Filipino style spring roll that locals can’t seem to get enough of. Plus a story from Harvest Public Media about complications for farmers interested in growing hemp.

Corn as medicine?

Fri, 03 Jan 2025 13:00:00 -0000

Have you ever had a hunch about something, tested it out and been shocked by the results? That’s what happened to pharmaceutical microbiologist Funmi Ayeni.

She took a traditional Nigerian home remedy and applied the rigors of scientific research to test its efficacy. The results were nothing short of jaw dropping.

This week on Earth Eats, food research that could end up saving lives.

You don’t need a pizza oven to make a perfect pie…but it helps

Fri, 27 Dec 2024 13:00:00 -0000

A man obsessed with making pizza at home shares his secrets and a local home cook shares Clara Kinsey’s persimmon pudding recipe.

Get cozy with winter treats

Fri, 20 Dec 2024 13:00:00 -0000

“I love cookies. They’re hands-on, there’s a lot of technique involved in them, they’re really fun and easy to do with kids, they bake quickly,they’re perfect for gift giving any time of year, and they’re great.

Holidays and baking go hand in hand. Join us for a collection of favorite wintery stories for the holiday season with Earth Eats. We drop in on a cookie baking workshop with kids at a food pantry, we enjoy a hot cup of coffee on a chilly bike ride, and we toast up a batch of maple granola for holiday gift giving.

All that, plus CHESTNUTS on this special episode of Earth Eats.

A Professor with a Passion for Popcorn

Fri, 13 Dec 2024 13:00:00 -0000

“Now, I love food! Let the people know–let the people in the back know, I–hey, I love food. I plan vacations around the top food spots. So, I love food. But I just don’t enjoy cooking”

This week on the show we hear the story about a local business, Popcorn Kernels With a Twist. We speak with the owner, Virginia Githiri about what motivates her to run her own food business, since she doesn’t really like to cook.

Food sovereignty can mean political sovereignty

Fri, 06 Dec 2024 13:00:00 -0000

“It’s not about simply that protectionism and nationalism–that we only want to make sure that we eat Lithuanian food. It is a much deeper sense of urgency that as a state–and its political sovereignty–depends on the ability to produce food and feed its population for a long time.”

This week on the show a conversation with sociologist Diana Mincyte who studies food systems in post socialist Eastern European states like Lithuania.

Delights from the Forest

Fri, 29 Nov 2024 13:00:00 -0000

“To know there is an invisible line between the index finger and that barely discernible trio of fruit swaying up in the canopy..”

We’re honoring the fruits of the forests today, with a pawpaw piece from poet, Ross Gay. Plus, some favorite stories and recipes featuring persimmons.

We also hear from Chef Freddie Bitsoie about creating pathways for Native cuisines.

Thanksgiving recipes keep families connected

Fri, 22 Nov 2024 13:00:00 -0000

“Apple cake is a very family specific recipe–I’ve never heard of it anywhere else, seen it anywhere else. My gramma started it–for as long as I can remember we had it on Thanksgiving. It was served in a very specific bowl and as a child, for Thanksgiving everyone would look forward to the apple cake. And when that blue bowl came out on the table it was just like –gasp!-- there’s the apple cake. And you knew that Thanksgiving had arrived.”

This week on the show, a Thanksgiving special featuring a dessert that’s served with the meal, a side dish that MUST be made correctly, and a daughter attempting to make her mother’s flan for the first time.

The bees are not alone in their hive

Fri, 15 Nov 2024 13:00:00 -0000

“So, I like to say that bees are just like us. So, bees have a society, and they live in a built environment, [they have a] little house, just like we have a little house, and they communicate through dance. I don’t know if we communicate through dance, but I think dance is also a thing that humans do…”

This week on the show we’re talking with microbiologist Irene Garcia Newton about the beloved honeybee. We learn about the various roles within a hive, and how the diet of a bee determines…well, EVERYTHING.

The night bakery–Derya Doğan shares delicious memories from home

Fri, 08 Nov 2024 13:00:00 -0000

“Imagine, we have dinner at 7, 8 pm–my baba would take all of the çörek to the bakery and have it baked and he’s back home at 10pm–doesn’t matter! Fresh tea, hot tea, feta cheese, olives, breakfast–that’s like your night breakfast the day before Eid.”

This week on the show, we spend time in the kitchen with Derya Dogan. She is a PhD candidate in Education Policy Studies in Middle Eastern Languages and Cultures at Indiana University.

She walks us through the steps of making her version of Poğaça–a Turkish hand pie filled with cheese and herbs. She shares treasured childhood memories of communal baking in her home town in Southeast Turkey.

Wherever there is a dialect there is a cuisine

Fri, 01 Nov 2024 12:00:00 -0000

This week on the show, we talk with sociologist Krishnendu Ray about place and food and caste in India and how identity can be defined as much by what you DON'T eat, as by what you DO eat.

And we share a recipe for a home grown hot sauce that cannot be prepared indoors.

Something stinks in rural America

Fri, 25 Oct 2024 12:00:00 -0000

"It really revolves around the environmental justice issues. These operations are popping up in communities of color, where they don't really have a lot of political clout. But these people have fought back."

This week on the show a conversation with Sherri Dugger and Craig Watts with Socially Responsible Agriculture Project. We talk about the work they’re doing to support people living in rural communities dealing with the consequences of factory farming operations located in their neighborhoods.

Growing familiar foods helps refugees feel at home

Fri, 18 Oct 2024 12:00:00 -0000

Many of the farmers talked about the ability to be out in nature with other members of their family and other members of their community and several of them also talked about the benefits of being able to interact with people from other communities.

This week on the show, we talk with geographer Pablo Bose about innovative resettlement projects that help refugees connect with familiar foods from home, through gardening in community with others.

Local shop with a history serves home cooks and professionals, alike

Fri, 11 Oct 2024 12:00:00 -0000

“As you walk through the doors, whether you like to cook or you don’t like to cook, you feel welcome, and things are accessible…”

“What our vision is, is to make it a better world through breaking bread at the kitchen table, if you will.”

This week on the show, we talk with co-owners of Bloomington’s independent, locally-owned kitchen supply store, Goods for Cooks. We hear some of the shop’s nearly 50 year history, as it has changed hands, updated, and maintained a commitment to quality goods and face-to-face customer service.

Plus a story from Harvest Public Media about a native midwestern fruit that should be way more popular than it currently is.

Greek cuisine today sparks memory and nostalgia

Fri, 04 Oct 2024 12:00:00 -0000

“As Greeks, we don't really shop from supermarkets. Everyone knows someone who knows someone who comes from a village and has access to olive trees and olive oil.”

On today’s show, a conversation with Greek chef and anthropologist Nafsika Papacharalampous. She shares a recipe for Greek comfort food, and talks with me and Ogla Kalentzidou about the role of memory and nostalgia in contemporary Greek cuisine.

Plus a story from Harvest Public Media about how prairies might be making a comeback in farm country.

Exploring the role of Burmese refugees in the US food system

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 12:00:00 -0000

“We know that there are all sorts of good chemicals that come out of the dirt and working with land–working with plants–that are beneficial to our mood and our health. For refugee populations that have had to be on the run or had to live in refugee camps for decades, having a little piece of land that you can tend to that you can take care of and then see the results and not feel like you’re gonna be bombed out the next day–it brings a kind of peace of mind and a little bit of healing.”

This week on the show, Tammy Ho, Professor of Gender and Sexuality studies at University of California-Riverside, shares her research about refugees from Burma and their participation in the United States food system. We’ll learn about a supermarket sushi mogul, Burmese meatpackers as essential workers, and how a group of refugees saved a failing church by starting a community garden.

Who are the modern day robber barons of our food system?

Fri, 20 Sep 2024 12:00:00 -0000

“At least 100 years ago, the last robber barons, we got nice libraries out of it. This one, it’s like ‘oh, what is the family using its money for? To gut public education via charter school networks?’ It’s kind of Machiavellian–it’s Machiavellian in a really sad way”

New Growth cultivates a sustainable local food system

Fri, 13 Sep 2024 12:00:00 -0000

“And that’s why we call it a food value chain.You know, it’s a supply chain but it’s based on the values that you have as far as how the land is treated, how people are treated, what kind of nutrition contents in your food–all those things [that] people up and down–from the farmer to the consumer have an interest in. And so, this system that we’re developing is about addressing those values and making sure they happen.”

This week on the show, an uplifting conversation about organizations and coalitions working together for stronger rural economies and robust local food systems. We talk about micro lending, food hubs, farm-to-school programs and more.

For owners and for labor, restaurants are difficult

Fri, 06 Sep 2024 12:00:00 -0000

“When you have to make those decisions do you buy the nicest ingredients to make your food, since that’s why people are there? Or do you pay your employees two dollars more an hour? Or do you rent the building that’s gonna put you in the location that gives you the highest chance of success? I think that in many ways restaurant owners have one of the most complicated business owning ventures that you can think of. They are balancing so many different goals in one space.”

Today we’re talking with geographer Jennifer Watkins about restaurants–about owners, workers, customers and how precarious the whole industry appears to be in this moment.

Rotational grazing and perennial pastures

Fri, 30 Aug 2024 12:00:00 -0000

"...one of which is sorghum sudan grass, and if you don't mow that, it gets to be like ten feet tall. And so we had pigs that were running through there, that reminded us of the velociraptors in Jurassic Park–you know, you can't see the animal, you just see the top of the plant waving back and forth. And so we were always on safari when we had to go out and do pig chores."

This week on the show, we visit Nightfall Farm, a livestock farm in Southern Indiana focused on sustainable agriculture.

We talk about perennial pastures, rotational grazing and what farmers can learn when they listen to their animals.

Planted Bloomington is a food truck with a vision

Fri, 23 Aug 2024 12:00:00 -0000

“Animal agriculture creates more greenhouse gas emissions than all transportation combined. Yet, as individuals we’re often told ‘you should take public transportation and ride bikes,’ all of which are good things but not very frequently are we told, ‘let’s reduce our consumption of animal products, and that will have a tremendous impact on the environment.’

This week on the show, Toby Foster talks with the creators of Planted, a local plant-based food truck and catering operation in Bloomington, Indiana. We learn about their inventive, plant-based menu and their commitment to sustainable practices.

We have an interview with Julie Guthman about the troubled strawberry industry and we wrap up the show with a recipe for pickled carrots.

What does diet culture have to do with racism? [replay]

Fri, 16 Aug 2024 12:00:00 -0000

This week on the show a conversation with dietitian and author Jessica Wilson about her book, It’s Always Been Ours: Rewriting the Story of Black Women’s Bodies

She’s challenging us to rethink the politics of body positivity by centering the bodies of Black women in our discussions about food, weight, health and wellness.

Problem solving you can eat

Fri, 09 Aug 2024 16:00:00 -0000

“I grow tomatoes at my house. My mom’s such a good shot, she was shooting cherry tomatoes off their stems”

This week on the show it's back to school and into the garden.

We meet kids in an after school garden club at Benjamin Franklin Elementary in Terre Haute, Indiana. Next we drop into a multi-age classroom in Bloomington where kids work with a chef to craft a garden-to-table snack for their whole classroom.

Insect drama in the coffee field

Fri, 02 Aug 2024 12:00:00 -0000

“When the phorids arrive, the ants release a pheromone that tells their nest mates, all the other ants that are in the vicinity, their sisters that are in the vicinity, tells them ‘Careful! The phorids are here! You better go back to your nest or get paralyzed.’”

Connecting through food at the public library

Fri, 26 Jul 2024 12:00:00 -0000

that are learning-through-play, learning-through-doing-it, in a teaching kitchen. That’s the reason why we call it a teaching kitchen. It really is about learning literacy as well as some skills that are very specific to cooking.”

This week on the show, conversations with an architect, a library director and the head of a food pantry about how a teaching kitchen found its way into a public library and what it means for the community.

The inclusive vision of The National Young Farmers Coalition

Fri, 19 Jul 2024 16:00:00 -0000

“We’ve been presented with problems today that we’ve never dealt with before as an agriculture industry–like climate change. And I don’t think that the approach we’ve taken, historically, is going to work here…As long as I’ve heard the words ‘climate change,’ I have heard that Indigenous practice is the solution.”

This week on the show, a conversation with Michelle Hughes of the National Young Farmers Coalition. In 2019, the organization made a decision to put racial equity at the center of their strategic planning work. Michelle Hughes shares the story of their transformation. This story first aired in 2022, Michelle Hughes is now the co-director of the National Young Farmers Coalition

And Josephine McRobbie brings us a story about a new web tool that might help oyster farmers better prepare for the rainy season.

[Note: This story first aired in 2022, Michelle Hughes is now co-director of the National Young Farmers Coalition.]

Can traditional foods help manage disease?

Fri, 12 Jul 2024 12:00:00 -0000

Have you ever had a hunch about something, tested it out and been shocked by the results? That’s what happened to public health scholar Funmi Ayeni. She took a traditional Nigerian home remedy and applied the rigors of scientific research to test its efficacy. The results were nothing short of jaw dropping. This week on Earth Eats, food research that could end up saving lives.

Indigenous foodways as tools of empowerment

Fri, 05 Jul 2024 16:00:00 -0000

“As I started to think more about theories around food, and it’s a thing that we do every day without fail, and it really shapes the way that we interact with one another, it shapes the way we interact with our environments, the ways that we create networks of relationships–being able to name it has given it a power to be able to use it to tap into ways to think about social relationships in the present and propose alternatives.”

This week we’re devoting the full show to my conversation with Dr. Kaitlyn Alcantara an anthropological bioarcheologist, at Indiana University-Bloomington, who studies foodways as tools of empowerment.

Learn about specialty brewing with local fruits at Upland’s Woodshop

Fri, 28 Jun 2024 16:00:00 -0000

“We use wood so that we give the various microorganisms sort of a place to colonize and live from batch to batch. And over time those colonies and those species that have taken hold will change, they’ll drift and so, you’ll develop a unique character to each tank that’s really interesting.”

This week on the show we dive head first into a giant oak barrel full of aging beer.

Okay, well, not literally.

Producer Toby Foster pays a visit to The Woodshop, that’s Upland Brewing Company’s sour beer facility. Now’s your chance to learn what’s special about this type of beer and why they needed to construct a separate building to craft it.

Historian Rebecca Spang on the strange origins of the restaurant

Fri, 21 Jun 2024 12:00:00 -0000

“The dominant vocabulary for talking about restaurants is ‘what food do they serve,
what are the good dishes?’ People think that’s the only thing that’s important about restaurants.”

Today on the show we talk with Historian Rebecca Spang, about the origins of restaurants, and what they mean to us today.

“The experience just of knowing that there are other people and knowing that they have their own lives, they’re talking about their own things, but that you’re not completely alone.”

Exploring the experience of dining out-- in this episode of Earth Eats.

Palm oil is everywhere–Max Haiven talks about why that matters

Fri, 14 Jun 2024 12:00:00 -0000

Beth Hoffman speaks frankly on the financial challenges of farming [replay]

Fri, 07 Jun 2024 12:00:00 -0000

“It’s a great thing to be outside, to have birds chirping, to be around green grass, and animals. But the problem has become, that you can’t really be a business unless you are a financially viable business.”

This week on the show we explore the economics of small scale farming, and debunk some of the myths of the agrarian lifestyle. We talk with Beth Hoffman, author of Bet the Farm: The Dollars and Sense of Farming in America, and we hear from farmers across Indiana about how they’re “making it pay.”

This week on the show we debunk some of the myths of the agrarian lifestyle. We talk with Beth Hoffman, author of Bet the Farm and we hear from farmers across Indiana about how they’re “making it pay.”

Tacotarian’s plant-based tacos aren’t just for vegetarians [replay]

Fri, 31 May 2024 12:00:00 -0000

“There are a lot of people, they like the faux meats and they want to eat a Carne Asada that reminds of the actual, like, Beef Carne Asada. There are a lot of people who try to steer clear from the faux meats, so we wanted to have plenty of veggie items on the menu for them as well. We really wanted to represent different ingredients and different flavors that anybody can come and enjoy.”

This week on the show, producer, Toby Foster visits with one of the owners of Tacotarian in Las Vegas, Nevada. Plus, East Coast style bagels come to Indiana, and a story from Harvest Public Media about too many trees in all the wrong places.

Food sovereignty in times of transition

Fri, 24 May 2024 12:00:00 -0000

This week on the show a conversation with sociologist Diana Mincyte who studies food systems in post socialist Eastern European states like Lithuania.

And Muddy Fork Bakery’s Eric Schedler guides us through the steps for a traditional yeasted bread–including tips on braiding dough.

Can chefs shape our food system?

Fri, 17 May 2024 12:00:00 -0000

“There’s a restaurant on almost every street in our various cities–they are woven into the fabrics of our communities, and they are deeply embedded in our lives. Restaurants are the places we go to celebrate marriages, to mourn divorces, the places we go to gossip with friends to celebrate after church and they become these places to hear the stories of their community. They’re talking to the farmers everyday, they’re talking to the fisherpeople everyday, they’re talking to the other producers, they’re also getting a sense of what’s challenging about their lives or what’s opportunities within their lives and they hear the everyday concerns of their customers. So they become these great collectors of stories.”

This week on the show, a conversation with Katherine Miller. She’s the author of At the Table:The Chef’s Guide to Advocacy. She encourages chefs to harness the power of their unique position in the community and raise their voices for change in the food system.

Taking on Monsanto: journalist Carey Gillam tells the story of Lee Johnson vs. Big Ag [replay]

Fri, 10 May 2024 16:00:00 -0000

“We all need to eat to survive and the quality of the food, the access to the food--the type of food that we eat is central to our health and to the health of the planet.“

This week on the show, a conversation with Carey Gillam, the author of The Monsanto Papers--Deadly Secrets, Corporate Corruption, and One Man’s Search for Justice.

And we have a story from Harvest Public Media about how farmers are turning to bio-char for carbon sequestration.

Turkish hand pies spark childhood memories for Derya Dogan

Fri, 03 May 2024 16:14:16 -0000

“Imagine, we have dinner like at 7, 8 pm–my baba would take all of the çörek to the bakery and have it baked and he’s back home at 10pm–doesn’t matter! Fresh tea, hot tea, feta cheese, olives–breakfast. That’s like your night breakfast the day before Eid.”

This week on the show, we spend time in the kitchen with Derya Dogan . She walks us through the steps of making her version of Poğaça–a Turkish hand pie filled with cheese and herbs. She shares treasured childhood memories of communal baking in her home town.

In celebration of Earth Day: a conversation on the deep roots of regenerative farming

Fri, 26 Apr 2024 16:00:00 -0000

“When I try to understand–why on earth would agriculture be practiced that way? The answer is colonization. The answer really is, this wasn’t about managing land for everyone’s mutual benefit. This was a process of extraction.”

In honor of Earth Day earlier this week, we are revisiting an important conversation about regenerative agriculture with Liz Carlisle, author of Healing Grounds:Climate, Justice and the Deep Roots of Regenerative Farming. And learn about restoring native prairies and bringing buffalo back to the land with Latrice Tatsey of the Blackfeet Nation in northwestern Montana.Tatsey is one of the researchers featured in Carlisle’s book.

What a garden can mean–when you need it most

Fri, 19 Apr 2024 16:00:00 -0000

“And she brought two jars of lilacs, like [a] drink made of lilacs. She brought also cups and everybody could try it. It was really something like a miracle for me because I have never thought that it could be drunk in this way.”

This week on the show, a story about a community garden in Tallinn, Estonia. We talk with Jerry Mercury, a political immigrant from Russia whose encounter with the garden was transformative.

And later in the show we have a recipe for quick, garden-fresh pickles, plus stories from Harvest public media about composting efforts in Midwestern cities and Federal investments in farm-to-school programs.

Get ready for food truck season, and ice cream with the Chocolate Moose and Pinoy Garden Cafe

Fri, 12 Apr 2024 16:00:00 -0000

“And as the blade rotates and the interior cylinder freezes, it begins to churn the ice cream into a wonderful fluffy content that will be established shortly thereafter.”

This week on the show, let’s kick off the summer season with a story about ice cream.

Toby Foster talks with Jordan Davis and Elijah Lawson of the Chocolate Moose, Bloomington's classic ice cream stand, and so much more. And we go into the kitchen with Chris Manansala and Maria St. Claire of Pinoy Garden Cafe to learn how to make their vegetarian lumpia.

Three generations collaborate to cook a favorite Cuban dish

Fri, 05 Apr 2024 16:00:00 -0000

“You know, you’d wake up the day before, in the morning, and there was Grandma, already in the kitchen. You’d just get the smells, the aromas of the garlic and the citrus from the mojo, and you know it was just kind of ingrained in the memory of sitting there with my grandma while she was preparing it and just talking…”

This week on the show, we dive into a family recipe from Cuba with producer Alexis Carvajal.

producer Daniella Richardson review the critically acclaimed show all about kitchen culture, The Bear.

Plus, are you wondering what to bring to your eclipse viewing picnic? We’ve got ideas and an original recipe for some special eclipse cookies.

Youth in Indianapolis build personal and community resilience in the garden–with Groundwork Indy

Fri, 29 Mar 2024 12:00:00 -0000

“We’re not shooting for perfection, we’re shooting for richness of experience.”

This week on the show, we revisit a conversation at Groundwork Indy with then Executive Director, Phyllis Boyd. She gives us a tour of their on-site garden tended by teams of young people in their youth development program. Then we take a drive around Northwest Indianapolis to see more inspiring projects, including a community orchard.

Plus, from Harvest Public Media, we have reports on an increase in honey production, drought in the midwest, PFAS in crop fertilizer and a story about the forest floor as agricultural land.

Present and future foodways in Ukraine–a conversation with Elizabeth Dunn

Fri, 22 Mar 2024 16:00:00 -0000

“After the peace, whenever that comes, we will have land that will have to stay out of production for years because it is so heavily mined or full of cluster bomblets.”

This week on the show we talk with geographer Elizabeth Cullen Dunn about the current food landscape in Ukraine. We discuss what the future may hold for farmers and food producers in the region as the war with Russia drags on and as land policy shifts in Ukraine at the start of the new year.

We also talk about ice cream! We look at current shipping challenges in Ukraine, and the meaning of an ice cream cone in former Soviet Bloc countries

Sushi rolling, meatpacking and community gardening

Fri, 15 Mar 2024 16:00:00 -0000

The future of food according to Alicia Kennedy

Fri, 08 Mar 2024 13:00:00 -0000

“I just wanted to provide context for folks because I do think that the conversation around plant-based food for the last eight years or so has been pushed toward a more corporate, vertical, lab meat, impossible burgers, beyond burgers, meat substitutes that act like meat and look like meat and has gotten really far away from whole foods and vegetables and legumes and how nice it is to just eat some beans sometimes.”

This week on the show we talk with food writer Alicia Kennedy about her new book, No Meat Required: the cultural history and culinary future of plant based eating.

This new food truck makes top-notch, plant-based food to-go

Fri, 01 Mar 2024 13:00:00 -0000

We have an interview with Julie Guthman about the troubled strawberry industry and we wrap up the show with a recipe for pickled carrots.

Meet the guy who cooks for flies–and for science

Fri, 23 Feb 2024 13:00:00 -0000

“Bloomington is known in the science world--if you say Bloomington, people think fruit flies.”

This week on our show, we tap into the 15 years deep Earth Eats archive, for one of my very favorite stories. It’s about our visit to the kitchen of a science building on the campus of Indiana University, where they prepare food for a tiny organism that supports genetic research around the globe. This one is from 2020, so you’ll hear some mention of the global pandemic. This is a strange one–but fascinating.

Author Jori Lewis on the natural and human history of the peanut

Fri, 16 Feb 2024 13:00:00 -0000

"Peanuts had become popular because of this movement of new American pastimes that were accessible to like the common man, or the common person. So, baseball and theater halls and circuses--all of those places became places where people were interested in buying peanuts."

This week on the show Kayte Young talks with Jori Lewis. She’s an award winning journalist and the author of, Slaves For Peanuts: A Story of Conquest, Liberation and a Crop That Changed History. It’s a book about the natural and human history of the peanut and the role it played in West Africa as the transatlantic slave trade was ending.

When the apocalypse comes, what will we eat?

Fri, 09 Feb 2024 13:00:00 -0000

“There’s a feeling to it that’s kind of satisfying in that way. It doesn’t feel so much like we could survive on it, as we’re able to provide some of our sort of staple foods.”

On today’s show we’re continuing to celebrate our 15th anniversary with a favorite story from 2020 about my visit to a farm East of Bloomington Indiana, to speak with Denise and Sean Breeden Ost.

We talked about growing food, preserving food and eating food. We check out their dry bean threshing techniques and reflect on the notion of food self-sufficiency.

Plus, food news from Harvest Public Media.

“We don’t own the land, we’re taking care of it”--conversations on leaving a land legacy

Fri, 02 Feb 2024 13:00:00 -0000

“I think our approach is: making it better–improving the land every time we have a chance.

And Josephine McRobbie visits with a Regenerative Farmer building soil in the sandhills of North Carolina with the help of some four-legged(and winged) “teammates.”

Celebrating 15 years of food stories with chocolate, pupusas and urban farming

Fri, 26 Jan 2024 18:00:00 -0000

“...Call them tamale pancakes, stuffed
masa frita, the humble lovechild

of a quesadilla y calzone…”

This week on the show, we’re celebrating 15 years of Earth Eats with favorite stories reaching back to 2018. We visit a midwest chocolate factory crafting world-class chocolate and a poet making pupusas in his kitchen. We talk with Suzanne Babb, an urban farmer with La Finca del Sur in South Bronx and hear about how home canning is making a comeback (that last one is from Harvest Public Media, and it’s new!)

High school students learn about plants (and life) in their school garden

Fri, 19 Jan 2024 13:00:00 -0000

“For me it feels like we live in an age where you look on the news and it just feels like everything is going wrong. And so gardening feels like a small way we can have an actual, tangible, positive impact on the world around us. In a world where it’s easy to feel like everything is just falling apart, it’s a small way to actually see progress.”

This week on the show, it’s back to school part two. We talk with high school students and educators about what their school gardens mean to them.

Farm-to-fork education for elementary students

Fri, 12 Jan 2024 13:00:00 -0000

“Society has gotten so far disconnected from where their food comes from, that if we can begin with the students, start with children, teaching them how to grow food, they will be much more interested in where their food comes from as they get older. I think that’s a very important part of the process”

This week on the show, we talk with Kendall Slaughter, he’s the farm-to-school coordinator for Springfield Public Schools in Southern Missouri. We’ll tour an elementary school designed as a sundial, meet the bunnies and the chickens and hear about how the school system is building a sustainable school garden program and moving towards local food sourcing in school lunches.

When a library includes a teaching kitchen, community connections multiply

Fri, 05 Jan 2024 17:00:01 -0000

“When you think of literacy and you think of what does that mean and what are all the parts of it– think about reading a recipe. Think about measuring the ingredients. Think about learning how to cook. Think about planning a meal, or budgeting for that meal.There are so many things that are learning-through-play, learning-through-doing-it, in a teaching kitchen. That’s the reason why we call it a teaching kitchen. It really is about learning literacy as well as some skills that are very specific to cooking.”

Make pizza like a pro–at home

Fri, 29 Dec 2023 13:00:00 -0000

“Double zero refers to the fineness of the grind–so it’s super fine because of that designation, which also helps make it be as smooth and glutenous as possible in the final dough. I buy it in these 55 pound bags through a restaurant store and I just have it shipped to me.”

This week on the show we talk with Pete Giordano about what it takes to make the perfect, Neapolitan-style pizza at home.

And we learn how to make persimmon pudding using a recipe from Clara Kinsey.

Winter holiday foods

Fri, 22 Dec 2023 13:00:00 -0000

Holidays and baking go hand in hand. Join us for a collection of favorite wintery stories for the holiday season with Earth Eats.

We drop in on a cookie baking workshop with kids at a food pantry, we enjoy a hot cup of coffee on a chilly bike ride, and we toast up a batch of maple granola for holiday gift giving.

All that, plus CHESTNUTS on the Earth Eats Holiday Special.

Making a local food system that works for everyone

Fri, 15 Dec 2023 13:00:00 -0000

Nostalgic or innovative–Tacotarian has plant-based tacos for everyone

Fri, 08 Dec 2023 13:00:00 -0000

This week on the show, producer Toby Foster visits with one of the owners of Tacotarian in Los Vegas. They talk about the vision behind this vegan taco spot and explore the possibilities of both fake meats and vegetable-forward options.

Plus, East Coast style bagels come to Indiana, and a story from Harvest Public Media about a new farm to food bank program.

BIPOC farmers connect through a fellowship

Fri, 01 Dec 2023 13:00:00 -0000

“And so I really love to be able to see how other BIPOC farmers in the community are doing good with the land.”

This week on the show, we talk with recipients of a fellowship that brings BIPOC farmers together to build community in Monroe County, Indiana. The farmers also receive funding for farm projects. We talk about what the fellowship has meant for the three farmers and how they will put the funds to use enhancing the local food system

Raising seeds

Fri, 24 Nov 2023 13:00:00 -0000

This week on the show we visit Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company to learn the particulars of growing for plants for seed.

And Violet Baron talks with the owners of Lost Farm Meal Service about growing a business during a pandemic.

Thanksgiving food traditions connect families across generations

Fri, 17 Nov 2023 20:32:09 -0000

“Apple cake is a very family-specific recipe–I’ve never heard of it anywhere else, seen it anywhere else. My gramma started it–for as long as I can remember we had it on Thanksgiving. It was served in a very specific bowl and as a child, for Thanksgiving everyone would look forward to the apple cake. And when that blue bowl came out on the table it was just like –gasp!-- there’s the apple cake. And you knew that Thanksgiving had arrived.”

Katherine Miller on how chefs can help shape our food system

Fri, 10 Nov 2023 13:00:00 -0000

Who sets the menu for the animals at the zoo? [replay]

Fri, 03 Nov 2023 12:00:00 -0000

And, Daniella Richardson talks with the founder of the Indiana Black Loam Conference about obstacles and opportunities for Black farmers in Indiana.

Piccoli Dolci brings Italian treats to The Heartland [replay]

Fri, 27 Oct 2023 12:00:00 -0000

“I’m passionate about the idea that food should not just nurture our body, but should connect us with the land where the ingredients are from. Food should respect and value the techniques of the farmers that are growing those ingredients and the food should also highlight the creativity and the skills of the cooks that are transforming these ingredients. In this little country, we have so many examples of everything that actually makes sense about food.”

This week on the show, Maria Carlassare of Piccoli Dolci, sharing her passion for regional Italian cuisine. And, she’s sharing a recipe for Italian pastry cream.

A forest for the future [replay]

Fri, 20 Oct 2023 12:00:00 -0000

This week on the show, a conversation with Sarah Mincey and Hannah Gregory of Canopy Bloomington, an organization dedicated to community engagement with the urban forest.

Is food your love language? Kashika Singh builds community through food [replay]

Fri, 13 Oct 2023 12:00:00 -0000

“Food connects to…for me personally, it’s something that I connect with in ways that are hard to describe at times. Perhaps because I’ve been away from my family, from India, and America has become my home. But, when a place becomes your home, I think we still keep the things that mean a lot. And I think food is one of the ways–you know? It’s beautiful memories, nostalgia…”

This week on the show, we’re in the kitchen with Kashika Singh. She teaches Hindi and Urdu languages at Indiana University, and shares another aspect of Indian culture –namely, food. I dropped in on one of her cooking sessions at the IU Food Institute, and sat down with her in the studio to learn more about her work.

Ice cream and cluster bombs: present and future foodways in Ukraine

Fri, 06 Oct 2023 12:00:00 -0000

“After the peace, whenever that comes, we will have land that will have to stay out of production for years because it is so heavily mined or full of cluster bomblets.”

We also talk about ice cream! We look at current shipping challenges in Ukraine, and the meaning of an ice cream cone in former Soviet Bloc countries

A political immigrant from Russia finds comfort in an Estonian garden

Fri, 29 Sep 2023 12:00:00 -0000

“ And she brought two jars of lilacs, like [a] drink made of lilacs. She brought also cups and everybody could try it. It was really something like a miracle for me because I have never thought that it could be drunk in this way.”

This week on the show, a story about a community garden in Tallinn, Estonia. We talk with Jerry Mercury, a political immigrant from Russia whose encounter with the garden was transformative.

Jessica Wilson talks about what we get wrong when we focus on weight [replay]

Fri, 22 Sep 2023 12:00:00 -0000

This week on the show a conversation with dietitian and author Jessica Wilson about her book, It’s Always Been Ours: Rewriting the Story of Black Women’s Bodies

She’s challenging us to rethink the politics of body positivity by centering the bodies of Black women in our discussions about food, weight, health and wellness.

Alicia Kennedy considers the cultural history of vegetarian cuisine

Fri, 15 Sep 2023 12:00:00 -0000

This week on the show we talk with food writer Alicia Kennedy about her new book, No Meat Required: the cultural history and culinary future of plant based eating.

The farm bill isn’t just about farming [replay]

Fri, 08 Sep 2023 04:00:00 -0000

“In terms of what is being discussed right now, I would say the $1.2 trillion dollar elephant in the room is SNAP. And so, the 2023 Farm Bill is estimated to be the most expensive farm bill in US history, over the course of 10 years worth of outlays.”

This week on the show we’re talking about the importance of the upcoming Farm Bill. Our guest is Shellye Suttles, agriculture economist at the O’Neill School for Public and Environmental Affairs at Indiana University.

Make time for coffee

Fri, 01 Sep 2023 12:10:40 -0000

This week on the show we’re talking coffee with Korie Griggs. She’s with the Color of Coffee Collective, working to support equitable access in the world of specialty coffee. She also has a message about slowing down and taking time to smell the coffee.

And stories about elderberries and peaches from Harvest Public Media.

A beehive contains multitudes

Fri, 25 Aug 2023 12:07:09 -0000

“So, I like to say that bees are just like us. So bees have a society, and they live in a built environment, [they have a] little house, just like we have a little house, and they communicate through dance. I don’t know if we communicate through dance, but I think dance is also a thing that humans do…”

Cakes by Yenni: turning a passion into a business [replay]

Fri, 18 Aug 2023 04:00:00 -0000

“She looked at my husband and she was like, ‘Jennifer, translate what I’m about to say’ (she doesn’t speak English). She’s like, ‘Tell Derek that I said to please start a website for you and help you spread the word about your cake business.’ And I was like, ‘Grandma, I don’t really know who’s gonna buy a cake from me.’”

This week we’re talking with Jennifer Whitely, owner of Cakes by Yenni. She walks us through the assembly and decoration of her strawberry cake with strawberry buttercream icing, and shares the origin story of her new home-based business.

Take them outside

Fri, 11 Aug 2023 04:00:00 -0000

This week on the show, it’s back to school part two. We talk with high school students and educators about what their school gardens mean to them.

Back-to-school with farm-to-fork

Fri, 04 Aug 2023 04:00:00 -0000

Pies, novels, poetry and a podcast [replay]

Thu, 27 Jul 2023 15:13:08 -0000

“Preserved they don’t burn, the bitterness softens.

California has been burning for years. When I lived

in LA, I drank water pumped from Colorado. Lemons

from my grandmother’s tree—two orbs, turning in my hands

under the faucet—clear, cold, unfiltered…”

This week on the show we’ve got poetry and pie. We talk with the authors of How to Write a Novel in 20 Pies, and we hear from a poet who incorporates food imagery into her work.

Plus, Daniella Richardson reviews a podcast that turns a critical eye towards the wellness and weight loss industry.

How to build a better local food system

Fri, 21 Jul 2023 15:05:07 -0000

This week on the show, an uplifting conversation with Katie Nixon and Patty Cantrell with West Central Missouri Community Action Agency and New Growth Community Development Corporation.

We talk about organizations and coalitions working together for stronger rural economies and robust local food value chains. We talk about micro lending, food hubs, farm-to-school programs and more.

Raising rare seeds and growing a small business

Fri, 14 Jul 2023 15:14:00 -0000

Conversations with a farmer at Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company and the owners of Lost Farm Meal Service.

From restaurant to research [replay]

Fri, 07 Jul 2023 17:27:00 -0000

A conversation with geographer Jen Watkins on her experience as a server and her research on the industry.

Upland’s Woodshop brews specialty beers with local fruits

Fri, 30 Jun 2023 14:12:00 -0000

Huge wooden foeders, wild yeast, and hundreds of pounds of fruit make Upland’s sour beer program one of a kind.

Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition helps BIPOC farmers connect

Fri, 23 Jun 2023 17:00:00 -0000

A recent fellowship for young farmers focuses on Black, Indigenous and People of Color in Monroe County, Indiana.

Learn how to raise figs in the midwest

Fri, 16 Jun 2023 12:28:00 -0000

A how-to episode for growing your own figs and for preserving your tomato harvest.

Canopy Bloomington nurtures the urban forest

Fri, 09 Jun 2023 15:12:00 -0000

A conversation about a non-profit organization working to build a resilient and equitably green city for all.

Memory, nostalgia and comfort food in contemporary Greek cuisine

Fri, 02 Jun 2023 17:10:00 -0000

A conversation with chef and anthropologist, Nafsika Papacharalampous about changes in high-end dining in Greece, sparked by the financial crisis.

Gloria Lucas of Nalgona Positivity Pride celebrates all body types

Fri, 26 May 2023 17:57:00 -0000

Treatment for eating disorders is often inaccessible and ineffective, especially in communities of color. The founder of Nalgona Positivity Pride has a program that aims to meet people where they are.

The Chocolate Moose is more than ice cream

Fri, 19 May 2023 18:41:00 -0000

Local ice cream shop puts the focus on community with Food Truck Fridays.

Kashika Singh brings comfort food to students who are far from home

Fri, 12 May 2023 20:09:00 -0000

A visit to a cooking session at the IU Food Institute where an IU language professor shares traditional Indian foods.

"Why are we together creating a world that as individuals none of us would choose?" [replay]

Fri, 05 May 2023 04:00:00 -0000

Frances Moore Lappé continues the work she began more than 50 years ago with Diet for a Small Planet. Now she’s challenging us to save our Democracy.

How to feed a six-banded armadillo

Fri, 28 Apr 2023 17:32:00 -0000

Everybody eats, including animals at the zoo. Producer Toby Foster talks with the curator of nutrition at the Cincinnati Zoo.

The CAFO next door [replay]

Fri, 21 Apr 2023 10:31:00 -0000

A conversation about the The Smell of Money–a documentary film about environmental justice in rural communities

“Our bodies aren’t the problem,” rethinking the stories we tell about weight and health

Thu, 13 Apr 2023 20:13:00 -0000

A conversation with dietician Jessica Wilson about what we get wrong when we focus on weight.

Take a bite of the big apple at Gables Bagels

Fri, 07 Apr 2023 18:07:00 -0000

A new little bagel shop with a big personality brings an East Coast vibe to Bloomington.

“Local man likes pizza”

Thu, 30 Mar 2023 18:33:00 -0000

Producer Toby Foster gets in the weeds about home pizza making with Pete Giordano.

Small Favors features local ingredients [replay]

Fri, 24 Mar 2023 11:01:00 -0000

Listen to our conversation with the owner and chef of Small Favors, and his recipe for rich and savory cream puffs.

If you care about food, pay attention to The Farm Bill

Fri, 17 Mar 2023 20:35:00 -0000

The farm bill isn’t just about farming. It’s about food security for households across the nation.

Jori Lewis on the complex story of the peanut [replay]

Fri, 10 Mar 2023 12:49:00 -0000

While peanut butter is one of my favorite foods, I can’t say that I have given much thought to the peanut as a crop, or paid any attention to its role in history.

Raise your hand if you want to work in a meatpacking plant [replay]

Thu, 02 Mar 2023 21:00:00 -0000

A conversation with Elizabeth Cullen Dunn about our food system’s dependence on the labor of forced migrants.

Writing a novel is easy as pie (if only pie were easy)

Fri, 24 Feb 2023 18:22:00 -0000

The creators of How to Write a Novel in 20 Pies talk with Earth Eats about their book.

Who lives in a beehive?

Fri, 17 Feb 2023 15:52:00 -0000

Microbiologist Irene Garcia Newton shares her knowledge about the many organisms involved in keeping a colony of honeybees healthy.

Wake up and slow down–with coffee

Fri, 10 Feb 2023 13:53:00 -0000

A conversation with Korie Griggs of the Color of Coffee Collective.

Rethinking the restaurant industry

Fri, 03 Feb 2023 18:27:00 -0000

A conversation with geographer Jen Watkins on her experience as a server and her research on the industry.

What does it mean to “queer” the food system? [replay]

Fri, 27 Jan 2023 18:00:00 -0000

A conversation with Dr. Ike Leslie, questioning the traditions and assumptions around the role of family in farming.

Max Haiven explains palm oil [replay]

Fri, 20 Jan 2023 18:00:00 -0000

What can one commodity reveal about our food systems, about health, about labor and capitalism and about the environmental costs of so-called cheap food production?

Art and science in the kitchen, with Cakes by Yenni

Fri, 13 Jan 2023 12:13:00 -0000

When your grandmother tells you it’s time to open a cake business, maybe you should listen.

Old-school customer service meets the latest kitchen trends [replay]

Fri, 06 Jan 2023 13:00:00 -0000

Goods for Cooks owners Sam Eibling and George Huntington are siblings who make a good team. Hear the story of their independent store–filled with cooking equipment, tableware and specialty food items.

Building a bridge for community food security [replay]

Fri, 30 Dec 2022 16:27:00 -0000

Heather Craig crafts nourishing menus at the Community Kitchen.

Toasty winter treats

Fri, 23 Dec 2022 15:41:00 -0000

A winter holiday special with chestnuts roasting, cookies baking and coffee outside.

Pinoy Garden Cafe brings a new taste to town

Sat, 17 Dec 2022 03:35:00 -0000

The owners of a new pop-up talk about Filipino cuisine and their plans for the future.

“Profound acts of care” at the Ukrainian-Polish border [replay]

Fri, 09 Dec 2022 17:59:00 -0000

Stories of ordinary people assisting those fleeing Ukraine at the start of the war earlier this year.

Crisis leads to transformation in Greek cuisine

Sat, 03 Dec 2022 03:10:00 -0000

A conversation with chef and anthropologist, Nafsika Papacharalampous about changes in high-end dining in Greece, sparked by the financial crisis.

The National Young Farmers Coalition centers racial equity

Thu, 24 Nov 2022 17:05:00 -0000

The future of farming must be inclusive, and the NYFC is intentionally moving agriculture towards racial diversity.

A love for cooking isn’t the only reason to start a food business [replay]

Fri, 18 Nov 2022 14:43:00 -0000

Hear the story of a public health professor with a passion for popcorn.

A glimpse at local history through the lens of restaurants and pudding

Fri, 11 Nov 2022 18:40:00 -0000

The Monroe County History Center shares the stories of bygone diners and dives.

Little sweets, from Italy to Indiana

Fri, 04 Nov 2022 14:51:00 -0000

Maria Carlassare’s business is called Piccoli Dolci, which is Italian for little sweets. These days she’s making plenty of savory Italian specialties too, from distinct regions in Italy.

When CAFOs come to your neighborhood

Fri, 28 Oct 2022 15:31:00 -0000

A conversation about the The Smell of Money–a documentary film about environmental justice in rural communities

When CAFOs come to your neighborhood

Fri, 28 Oct 2022 15:31:00 -0000

A conversation about the The Smell of Money–a documentary film about environmental justice in rural communities

Gloria Lucas offers a harm reduction approach to eating disorders

Fri, 21 Oct 2022 21:57:00 -0000

It’s time to listen to Indigenous farmers and farmers of color [replay]

Thu, 13 Oct 2022 16:35:00 -0000

Liz Carlisle’s new book explores the origins of the farming practices we need today–in order to reduce the devastating effects of agriculture on our planet’s climate.

This neighborhood restaurant sources ingredients from neighboring farms

Fri, 07 Oct 2022 03:01:00 -0000

Listen to our conversation with the owner and chef of Small Favors, and his recipe for rich and savory cream puffs.

As the weather cools, summer’s heat is captured in a hot pepper

Fri, 30 Sep 2022 18:16:00 -0000

What is the world's hottest pepper and what does it feel like in your mouth? Two public radio hosts are about to find out.

A conversation with Jori Lewis, author of Slaves for Peanuts

Fri, 23 Sep 2022 19:49:00 -0000

While peanut butter is one of my favorite foods, I can’t say that I have given much thought to the peanut as a crop, or paid any attention to its role in history.

Bread, beer and persimmons

Fri, 16 Sep 2022 12:59:00 -0000

An Earth Eats anniversary show featuring the farm-to-tap journey of a special beer, baking challah for Rosh Hashanah, and a favorite story from Annie Corrigan about a community gathering around a generous tree.

Preserve the flavor of summer in a jar

Fri, 09 Sep 2022 21:14:00 -0000

If you love the taste of homegrown midwest tomatoes, now is your chance to learn how to capture that goodness to enjoy all winter long.

Caring for your land when it’s not really your land [replay]

Fri, 02 Sep 2022 13:07:00 -0000

Planting trees and building soil doesn’t always reap instant rewards–and maybe that’s the point.

Meet the guy who cooks for 31 million–luckily his guests don’t eat much [replay]

Fri, 26 Aug 2022 15:21:00 -0000

Take a peek inside the fruit fly kitchen on the Indiana University campus.

Making the invisible visible: our food system’s dependence on the labor of forced migrants

Sat, 20 Aug 2022 00:40:00 -0000

A conversation with Elizebeth Cullen Dunn on the elements of our food system that most of us prefer to keep hidden from view.

The agrarian dream may be calling–but is it practical?

Thu, 11 Aug 2022 15:08:00 -0000

Farm life still manages to attract young people, but they often come to the land with unrealistic expectations.

Black farmers in the Midwest look to history for inspiration moving forward

Fri, 05 Aug 2022 12:08:00 -0000

Hear stories about Black farmers in Ohio, and Indigenous wild rice cultivation in Minnesota lakes.

Crafting menus at the Community Kitchen

Fri, 29 Jul 2022 12:53:00 -0000

Heather Craig sees the community kitchen as a bridge rather than a net.

Crafting menus at the Community Kitchen

Fri, 29 Jul 2022 12:53:00 -0000

Heather Craig sees the community kitchen as a bridge rather than a net.

A gardener, a baker and a brewer walk into a bar…

Fri, 22 Jul 2022 15:29:00 -0000

Hear the story of gardener-turned-bread-baker, Candace Minster who sells her bread to a kombucha bar in Twelve Points.

Keitlyn Alcantara on Indigenous foodways of the past and the present

Wed, 13 Jul 2022 19:33:00 -0000

Anthropological bio-archeologist Keitlyn Alcantara studies pre colonial burial sites to understand indigenous foodways.

Goods for Cooks is a “mom and pop” kitchen supply shop run by a brother and sister

Fri, 08 Jul 2022 21:00:00 -0000

Siblings Sam Eibling and George Huntington keep up with the latest trends, while maintaining that old-school personal touch in their independent store–filled with cooking equipment, tableware and specialty food items.

Earth Eats Presents: The Hoosier Young Farmers Podcast, Part II

Fri, 01 Jul 2022 15:13:00 -0000

What is the role of community in the life of a farm? How do farmers strike a work/life balance? Explore these questions and more on this special episode.

An Indiana bakery with a history, looks to the future

Fri, 24 Jun 2022 15:56:00 -0000

When Brittany Kiel took over the family bakery, she wanted to make changes to reflect her own passions. Honoring tradition is also important to her, so she’s striking a delicate balance.

The future of farming must be inclusive

Fri, 17 Jun 2022 16:05:00 -0000

The National Young Farmers Coalition centers racial equity and is no longer a white-led organization. Catch our conversation with Michelle Hughes, about the organization's transformation, on this episode of Earth Eats.

When you’re craving Indonesian food, you might have to make it yourself

Thu, 09 Jun 2022 18:34:00 -0000

A conversation and kitchen session with Melati Citrawireja of Three Salted Fish.

The Hoosier Young Farmers Podcast–a special presentation on Earth Eats

Fri, 03 Jun 2022 19:12:00 -0000

Hear the voices of farmers across the state talking about their farming lives and the challenges they face.

“It all started with soup,” Polish volunteers nourish Ukrainians fleeing war

Fri, 27 May 2022 17:28:00 -0000

A conversation with Elizabeth Dunn about volunteers at the Polish-Ukrainian border who were the first to provide aid to refugees.

Queering the food system with Ike Leslie

Fri, 20 May 2022 19:37:00 -0000

To queer something is to ask questions about what gender and sexuality have to do with the topic at hand. Here, we are looking at food and farming.

Earth Eats presents: Hot Farm--a podcast with Eve Abrams

Thu, 12 May 2022 17:53:00 -0000

A special presentation from the Food & Environment Reporting Network (FERN) of a podcast on farming and climate change.

Palm oil is everywhere–what can it tell us?

Fri, 06 May 2022 19:00:00 -0000

What can one commodity reveal about our food systems, about health, about labor and capitalism and about the environmental costs of so-called cheap food production?

Brick Kyle has fun with his food, and Katie Martin works for justice in the charitable food system

Fri, 29 Apr 2022 21:00:00 -0000

A local artist and baker takes up a new hobby, and a food bank director brings new tools to address hunger.

One chef, two authors, an anti-racist toolkit and a flower fritter recipe

Sat, 23 Apr 2022 01:00:00 -0000

This week on Earth Eats learn how to make delicate (and decadent) fritters from the flowers of the Black Locust tree. Plus, interesting conversations with authors, chefs, foragers and more.

Understanding the past and considering the future of the restaurant

Sat, 16 Apr 2022 01:50:00 -0000

Historian Rebecca Spang has just been awarded the John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship for 2022. We give a second listen to an Earth Eats interview from 2021.

The deep roots of regenerative farming are found in communities of color

Sat, 09 Apr 2022 00:50:00 -0000

Liz Carlisle’s new book explores the origins of the farming practices we need today–-in order to reduce the devastating effects of agriculture on our planet’s climate.

Campus dining in a pickle--plus artichoke pickle poetry, a pickled carrot recipe & more

Fri, 01 Apr 2022 20:06:00 -0000

Lower midwestern states are producing more maple syrup, Black farmers are finding their way into the hemp industry–these stories and more on Earth Eats this week.

Ask Frances Moore Lappé what’s changed since her 1971 groundbreaking book

Fri, 25 Mar 2022 04:00:00 -0000

It started as a one-page handout and grew into a multi-million copy best seller. Lappé shares the origin story of Diet for a Small Planet, and where the work has taken her.

Celebrate the Persian New Year with this special dish

Fri, 18 Mar 2022 20:00:00 -0000

Ash-e Reshteh features bright green herbs and greens, making it a suitable dish for celebrating Navruz.

Emily Broad Leib has an expansive view of food safety

Fri, 11 Mar 2022 21:31:00 -0000

Emily Broad Leib of the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic argues that narrowly focused food safety regulations in the US are failing to address the most important factors in our food system.

A conversation on the importance of food traditions in times of war and dislocation

Sat, 05 Mar 2022 03:20:00 -0000

The 2008 Russian war with Georgia holds some striking similarities with today’s conflict in Ukraine.

These farmers are restoring biodiversity on their patch of Southern Indiana land

Fri, 25 Feb 2022 22:00:00 -0000

A conversation with two livestock farmers focused on treating the animals well, and nourishing the land.

Mushrooms are trending and so is gardening

Sat, 19 Feb 2022 12:00:00 -0000

Solful Gardens in Indianapolis makes home gardening more accessible--and foragers, farmers and chefs are excited about edible mushrooms.

Myths about farming attract new growers; making a profit is a challenge

Fri, 11 Feb 2022 21:09:00 -0000

Farm life still manages to attract young people, but they often come to the land with unrealistic expectations.

This geography professor teaches about food and place

Sat, 05 Feb 2022 06:00:00 -0000

A conversation with Olga Kalentzidou on the complexity of food geographies.

Stewarding the land for the next generation

Fri, 28 Jan 2022 23:16:00 -0000

Planting trees and building soil don’t always reap instant rewards–and maybe that’s the point.

Groundwork Indy helps to build personal and community resilience through garden and conservation work

Fri, 21 Jan 2022 19:16:00 -0000

Join us for a community garden tour and conversation with Phyllis Boyd, former director of Groundwork Indy

Keitlyn Alcantara studies foodways as tools of empowerment

Fri, 14 Jan 2022 17:48:00 -0000

An anthropologiical bioarcheologist studies precolonial burial sites to understand Indigenous foodways of the past and present.

Terre Haute is hot–-with two new food startups featuring fermentation

Fri, 07 Jan 2022 21:55:00 -0000

Hear the story of gardener-turned-bread-baker, Candace Minster, plus a new kombucha bar in Twelve Points.

Carey Gillam tells the story of an ordinary citizen taking on Monsanto

Fri, 31 Dec 2021 18:10:00 -0000

A conversation with award winning journalist Carey Gilliam who covered the case of Lee Johnson vs. Monsanto.

Earth Eats presents Part II of the Hoosier Young Farmer Podcast

Sat, 25 Dec 2021 16:02:00 -0000

What is the role of community in the life of a farm? How do farmers strike a work/life balance? Explore these questions and more on this special episode.

Hear the story of a public health professor with a passion for popcorn

Sat, 18 Dec 2021 23:43:00 -0000

A love for cooking isn’t the only reason to start a food business.

Now is the time for chestnuts

Thu, 09 Dec 2021 21:19:00 -0000

What would it look like for midwestern farmers to convert row crops into tree crops?

A decorative bento box sparks Japanese food sharing in an art museum’s virtual event

Fri, 03 Dec 2021 15:08:00 -0000

When art museum programming goes virtual, finding ways to engage the public with the collection can be a challenge.

Earth Eats presents The Hoosier Young Farmers Podcast

Fri, 26 Nov 2021 13:10:00 -0000

Hear the voices of farmers across the state talking about their farming lives and the challenges they face.

Cooking lessons can come from the strangest places

Fri, 19 Nov 2021 21:18:00 -0000

When was the last time your congressman sent you a cookbook in the mail?

Frances Moore Lappé reflects on fifty years since her groundbreaking book

Fri, 12 Nov 2021 19:23:00 -0000

It started as a one-page handout and grew into a multi-million copy best seller. Lappé shares the origins of Diet for a Small Planet, and where the work has taken her.

A second-generation baker takes the family business to the next level

Fri, 05 Nov 2021 16:06:00 -0000

When Brittany Kiel took over the family bakery, she wanted to make changes to reflect her own passions. Honoring tradition is also important to her, so she’s striking a delicate balance.

Jamel Velji explores the Islamic origins of coffee

Fri, 29 Oct 2021 18:00:00 -0000

The story of Kaldi the goat herder discovering coffee by accident is a common tale. Religious studies scholar Jamel Velji explores a few more origin stories for one of the world’s favorite sources of caffeine.

Historian Rebecca Spang considers the past and possible futures of the restaurant

Fri, 22 Oct 2021 16:24:00 -0000

The restaurant industry is in the midst of a dramatic transformation. We talk about how restaurants came to be, and speculate on where they’re headed.

We head to the forest for Indiana delights this fall

Sat, 16 Oct 2021 10:42:00 -0000

Enjoy recipes and stories on persimmon, pawpaw and Indiana ginseng plus, a visit with a chef exploring Native cuisines.

‘Food safety’ could include long-term health and environmental concerns

Fri, 08 Oct 2021 17:02:00 -0000

Emily Broad Leib of the Harvard Food Law and Policy Clinic argues that narrowly focused food safety regulations in the US are failing to address the most important aspects of our food system.

Falling For Frostfall Baked Goods And A Plant-Based Update Of A Classic Recipe

Fri, 01 Oct 2021 23:57:00 -0000

Function Brewing develops recipes for vegan diners, and a young baker takes advantage of Indiana’s Home Based Vendor Laws.

A Conversation With Ashanté Reese On “Racial Justice In The Wake Of Food Justice”

Fri, 24 Sep 2021 12:00:00 -0000

What is possible when we listen to Black people’s food stories beyond an all encompassing narrative of lack?

A Kitchen For The Community, And Wisdom Found In The Garden

Sat, 18 Sep 2021 02:09:00 -0000

If your jam or hot sauce idea is ready for market, it might be time to rent some kitchen space.

Vegan Food, Venezuelan Music, Radical Farming

Fri, 10 Sep 2021 17:21:00 -0000

Young farmers at Outlier Farmstead say you can’t avoid politics on the farm, and band member Dani Dubuto cooks vegan food on the road.

Exploring Indonesian Cuisine

Sat, 04 Sep 2021 02:19:00 -0000

A conversation and kitchen session with Melati Citrawireja of Three Salted Fish.

Special Presentation--A Documentary From Nebraska Public Media

Fri, 27 Aug 2021 23:54:00 -0000

They made fuel from the pesticide-coated seeds farmers plant. Soon, something was rotten.

Less Meat, More Plants

Sat, 21 Aug 2021 00:43:00 -0000

Thoughts on sustainable eating for a warming planet.

Much More Than Good Food

Sat, 14 Aug 2021 12:12:00 -0000

Dr. Jarrod Dortch of Solful Gardens talks about what growing food has brought to his life, beyond the food itself, and how he’s sharing those discoveries with his community.

Cooking Good Food--In The Cab Of A Truck

Fri, 06 Aug 2021 18:28:00 -0000

Learn how one participant in a nutrition prescription program adapts his new diet to fit his job as a truck driver.

Farm-To-Table Fraud, Midwest Lavender, Indiana Wine And More

Fri, 30 Jul 2021 16:33:00 -0000

A Tampa Bay Times Food Critic talks with Earth Eats about her groundbreaking work exposing fraudulent claims in the world of farm-to-table dining. Plus a story about Midwest lavender, Indiana wine and an apricot salad recipe.

Groundwork Indy: Tending Gardens, Nurturing Youth

Fri, 23 Jul 2021 17:33:00 -0000

A youth work program in Indianapolis helps to build personal and community resilience through garden and conservation work.

“Good Life, Good Death, Good Butcher, Good Chef”

Sat, 17 Jul 2021 01:21:00 -0000

A conversation with two livestock farmers focused on the “good life” aspect of this ethical animal farming mantra.

Travelling Again? Road Trip Food, Carbon Offsets For Air Travel And More

Fri, 09 Jul 2021 16:15:00 -0000

Rick Steves’ self imposed carbon tax benefits coffee farmers. Black farmers get funding--too little too late. And vegetarian chile verde makes great enchiladas.

Food Photography That Pops, And New Tools To End Hunger

Fri, 02 Jul 2021 20:05:00 -0000

A local artist and baker takes up a new hobby, and a food bank director works to reinvent the charitable food system.

Feel The Heat--From Farm To Table To Tastebuds

Fri, 25 Jun 2021 19:18:00 -0000

What is the world's hottest pepper and what does it feel like in your mouth? Two public radio hosts are about to find out.

Cicada Mania--In The Kitchen

Fri, 18 Jun 2021 18:37:00 -0000

It’s a pop-up restaurant, featuring Brood X.

Summer Youth Farm Camp, French Sorrel Recipe And More

Fri, 11 Jun 2021 13:53:00 -0000

Hands-on learning in an East Indianapolis community garden builds skills for life.

A Journalist, A Cancer Patient, A Team Of Lawyers And A Corporate Giant

Fri, 04 Jun 2021 15:50:00 -0000

A conversation with award winning journalist Carey Gillam who covered the case of Lee Johnson vs. Monsanto.

Strawberries, Bakeries And Pie

Fri, 28 May 2021 17:32:00 -0000

It’s strawberry season in the Midwest, but on the coast of California, it’s always strawberry season. And when we’re talking about berries, naturally, we’re gonna talk about pie.

Food And Place

Fri, 21 May 2021 19:42:00 -0000

A conversation with Olga Kalentzidou on the complexity of food geographies.

Growing Staple Foods And What It Means To Grow Enough

Fri, 14 May 2021 17:01:00 -0000

This week on earth eats, beans and corn and cornbread and bean poetry and planning for your own apocalypse.

Cooking For Science--Inside The Fly Food Kitchen

Fri, 07 May 2021 17:00:00 -0000

Most of us, when we encounter a fruit fly, are focused on keeping it out of our food. But what if it was your job to feed fruit flies?

When Food Meets Art

Sat, 01 May 2021 02:45:00 -0000

With art museum programming going remote during a pandemic, finding ways to engage the public with the collection can be a challenge.

Sourdough: In The Backyard, The Home Kitchen And The Science Lab

Fri, 23 Apr 2021 15:25:00 -0000

Years in the making, a baker’s wood-fired bread oven dream finally comes true.

Cooking For The Persian New Year

Fri, 16 Apr 2021 15:04:00 -0000

Ash-e Reshteh features bright green herbs and greens, making it a suitable dish for celebrating Navruz.

A Young Family’s Search For A Farm Of Their Own

Sat, 10 Apr 2021 00:16:00 -0000

From walking a horse 6 miles on a rail trail, to transporting 24 sheep in the back of a Chrysler minivan, these young farmers will find a way to get their animals, and themselves, to the farmland of their dreams.

A Mountain Goat, A Sufi Sheikh And A Christian Monk: Origin Stories Of Coffee

Fri, 02 Apr 2021 18:24:00 -0000

Celebrating Women Entrepreneurs With Top Shotta Jerk Chicken

Fri, 26 Mar 2021 15:50:00 -0000

Owner and Chef Taneisha Henline shares the story behind her flavorful chicken and why she wanted to share it with the Bloomington community.

Essential Workers And Fig Tree Fans

Fri, 19 Mar 2021 15:28:00 -0000

A grocery store butcher shares his story, migrant farm workers get vaccinated and we celebrate the fig tree.

Black Food Matters--A Conversation With Ashanté Reese

Fri, 12 Mar 2021 20:13:00 -0000

What is possible when we listen to Black people’s food stories beyond an all encompassing narrative of lack?

Food Comics, Flavor Maps, Poetry, Popcorn And Slaw

Sat, 06 Mar 2021 01:32:00 -0000

Insect cuisine is a part of many cultural traditions throughout history and across the globe. So why does everybody talk about it as a future food?

Hoosier Young Farmers, Detroit Growers And Food Justice

Sat, 27 Feb 2021 00:44:00 -0000

The cofounder of the Hoosier Young Farmers Coalition tells us what it means to be a young farmer today and grower Shane Bernardo talks about organizing around food justice in Detroit.

Fannie Lou Hamer, Heritage Grains And Cooking In A Blackout

Sat, 20 Feb 2021 00:24:00 -0000

Priscilla McCutcheon talks about her research on Fannie Lou Hamer’s Freedom Farm, and we learn how to eat well when the power is out.

Herbal Wellness And Oven Treats

Fri, 12 Feb 2021 22:50:00 -0000

The owner of Wild Mint Apothecary shares what it means for her to make medicine from plants, and the owners of Two Sticks Bakery talk about turning a passion for baking into a thriving business.

Farming And Racial Politics; Music And Vegan Cooking

Fri, 05 Feb 2021 15:03:00 -0000

Young farmers at Outlier Farmstead say you can’t avoid politics on the farm, and band member Dani Dubuto cooks vegan food on the road.

Honey Slingers, Cucumber Grafters And Sour Beers

Fri, 29 Jan 2021 19:35:00 -0000

What does it take to get honey from a honeycomb--and why would you ever want to graft a cucumber stem?

Anthropologists Discuss Gluten’s Complications And A Baker Teaches Pita Bread

Fri, 22 Jan 2021 18:04:00 -0000

Learn how easy it is to make your own pita pockets, and how to make falafel without a box mix.

Food As Medicine, Even On The Open Road

Sat, 16 Jan 2021 02:06:00 -0000

Learn how one participant in a nutrition prescription program adapts his new diet to fit his job as a truck driver.

Make Your Own Soft Pretzels And Learn About Federal Food Policy

Fri, 08 Jan 2021 20:01:00 -0000

IU Food Researcher Angela Babb talks about the USDA’s glaring conflict of interest.

Problem Solving You Can Eat

Fri, 01 Jan 2021 20:10:00 -0000

If you have a new year’s resolution to improve the way you eat, it might be nice to think about adding to your diet, rather than restricting.

A Campus Farm And A Campus Emergency Meal Program

Sun, 20 Dec 2020 01:16:00 -0000

The IU Dining services has access to fresh produce grown right on campus. That comes in handy, especially during a pandemic.

Food Desert Or Food Apartheid?

Sat, 19 Dec 2020 03:00:00 -0000

The term food desert implies that it’s naturally occurring--but is it?

The Store Is The Garden: Reflections On Growing Enough

Fri, 11 Dec 2020 18:01:00 -0000

This week on earth eats, beans and corn and cornbread and bean poetry and planning for your own apocalypse.

The Surprising Role Of Fast Food Franchises In The Black Community

Fri, 04 Dec 2020 14:35:00 -0000

A new book by Marcia Chatelain complicates the relationship between McDonald’s and the Black community.

Edible Outdoor Education, Two Soups And Coffee Outside

Fri, 27 Nov 2020 20:15:00 -0000

Revisit a spicebush tea and acorn pancake tasting, and a bicycle ride with a self-sufficient coffee stop.

How Do You Learn To Cook?

Sat, 21 Nov 2020 03:38:00 -0000

Hear our conversation with Lawrence County resident Michelle Porter--about learning to cook from a government-issue wedding present.

Reimagining Our Food Systems

Fri, 13 Nov 2020 22:00:00 -0000

Dominant narratives do more than describe a situation or circumstance. The stories we tell can shape our world.

Agroecology, Midwestern Black Farmers, And A Kimchi Startup

Sat, 07 Nov 2020 02:05:00 -0000

Join us for conversations with farmers working with nature to grow food in Puerto Rico and here in the Midwest, plus Black farming challenges and traditions in Iowa and Oklahoma and a kimchi startup In North Carolina.

Food Fit For A Fly

Fri, 30 Oct 2020 22:04:00 -0000

Most of us, when we encounter a fruit fly, are focused on keeping it out of our food. But what if it was your job to feed fruit flies?

Food Fit For A Fly

Fri, 30 Oct 2020 22:04:00 -0000

Most of us, when we encounter a fruit fly, are focused on keeping it out of our food. But what if it was your job to feed fruit flies?

All About Grain--A Small Scale Mill, Ancient Wheat And Sourdough Bread

Fri, 23 Oct 2020 20:54:00 -0000

The pandemic has revealed the wisdom of short supply chains. Hear how one small-scale grain farm and mill adapted to pandemic conditions.

Adventures In Hot Peppers--From Pique Making To Reaper Tasting

Fri, 16 Oct 2020 14:55:00 -0000

What is the world's hottest pepper and what does it feel like in your mouth? Two public radio hosts are about to find out.

Have Sheep, Will Farm: One Family’s Search For A Farm Of Their Own

Fri, 09 Oct 2020 20:49:00 -0000

From walking a horse 6 miles on a rail trail to transporting 24 sheep in the back of a Chrysler minivan, these young farmers will find a way to get their animals, and themselves, to the farmland of their dreams.

Top Shotta Jerk Chicken--A Food Truck With A History

Fri, 02 Oct 2020 20:20:00 -0000

Owner and Chef Taneisha Henline shares the story behind her flavorful chicken and why she wanted to share it with the Bloomington community.

Growing Food, Raising Alpacas And Baking Scones

Fri, 25 Sep 2020 00:36:00 -0000

Take a dive into the Earth Eats archives to celebrate WFIU’s 70th anniversary.

The Pandemic Reveals The Fragility Of Our Food Systems: An Interview With Elizabeth Dunn

Fri, 18 Sep 2020 16:30:00 -0000

A decentralized food system could mean a more resilient food system. Immigration reforms could make a big difference, as well.

A Neighborhood Pop-Up Bakery With A Backyard Brick Oven

Fri, 04 Sep 2020 17:00:00 -0000

Years in the making, a baker’s wood-fired bread oven dream finally comes true.

Research, Food Production, Regenerative Agriculture--A Visit To The IU Campus Farm

Fri, 21 Aug 2020 16:47:00 -0000

College campuses are opening up, or going virtual, or something in between, all across the country this month. We thought it might be a good time to visit the IU Campus Farm.

From The Global Pandemic To The National Racial Reckoning--Food Is Central

Fri, 14 Aug 2020 16:48:00 -0000

Food Justice Organizer and Urban Farmer Suzanne Babb talks with Earth Eats about what the pandemic is bringing to light about our emergency food systems and how we might choose a different path forward.

Food Photography And Ghanian Cuisine

Fri, 07 Aug 2020 18:48:00 -0000

In the age of Instagram, it seems like everybody’s taking pictures of their meals. But what’s it doing to our experiences with food--and with each other?

Chicken And Vegetables With Next Generation Farmers

Fri, 17 Jul 2020 16:57:00 -0000

The Next Generation Farmers Youth Program at Lawrence Community Gardens in Indianapolis, takes farm-to-table learning to the next level--with a chicken processing workshop.

Food, Freedom, Fannie Lou Hamer

Fri, 28 Feb 2020 15:30:00 -0000

What role did civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer play in building community food security?

Foraging For Springtime Treasure: Ramps (Wild Leeks)

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 17:08:00 -0000

Spring is an exciting season for foodies, and especially foragers. If you're lucky, you might come across wild leeks - also known as ramps - popping up.