nutrition

Haile Thomas (Ep. 39, 2021)

On this week’s edition of In Black America, producer and host John L. Hanson, Jr. speaks with Haile Thomas, author of Living Lively: 80 Plant-Based Recipes to Activate Your Power and Feed Your Potential, about her work as a health, nutrition and self-improvement activist and author.

Nutritionism: Aya Kimura (Ep. 25)

James Baldwin said, “the purpose of art is to lay bare the questions that have been hidden by the answers.” When considering this sentiment in relationship to “nutritionism” one might look at Aya Kimura‘s book, Hidden Hunger: Gender and the Politics of Smarter Foods, as a work of “art” as she explores the questions that remain after the “experts” answer problems of micronutrient deficiencies with the science of fortification and biofortification.

In the latest edition of The Secret Ingredient, Raj Patel, Tom Philpott and Rebecca McInroy talk with Kimura about food and culture, market forces, and what is lost when the “western savior comes in to rescue the global south.”

Nutrition: Joan Gussow (Ep. 24)

Once in a while, I thin I’ve had an original thought, then I look and read around and realize Joan said it first.” -Michael Pollan

We take for granted now that part of being healthy is eating a variety of whole foods, but not so long ago talking about food was taboo in the field of nutrition.

In this episode of The Secret Ingredient Raj Patel, Tom Philpott and Rebecca McInroy talk to Dr. Joan Gussow. Gussow is the author of many books including The Feeding Web, The Nutrition Debate and Growing, Older: A Chronicle of Death, Life, and Vegetables. The New York Times has called her, “The matriarch of the eat-locally-think-globally food movement.

Texas Standard: June 8, 2016

An historic night for women in American politics, but the landscape for Texas women: cause for celebration or concern? We’ll explore. Also with hurricanes on the horizon, evacuation should be a simple decision…but literal obstacles along inland routes may cause thousands to stay put. We’ll explain. And does the US still need a back up gas tank?…rethinking the 40 year old strategic petroleum reserves. And just how bad could it get for Baylor…amidst a football sex abuse scandal, a call for the death penalty. Those stories and lots more today on the Texas Standard:

Golden Rice: Glenn Davis Stone (Ep. 11)

What is Golden Rice? If you know the answer to that question chances are you have a strong opinion on it. That is because a lot of the rhetoric swirling around Golden Rice is heated, but many times ill informed.

Golden Rice is a technology that was developed in the 1990s to try to make the endosperm of rice contain beta-carotene. It’s been hailed as having nutritional possibilities that could, “save a million kids a year,” according to Time Magazine.

Yet, as Tom Philpott asks in his article for Mother Jones, “If golden rice is such a panacea, why does it flourish only in headlines, far from the farm fields where it’s intended to grow?”

In this edition of The Secret Ingredient we talk with Dr. Glenn Davis Stone. His research on environmental anthropology, political ecology, food studies, and science & technology studies, takes a deep look into the world of GMOs and the science behind them.

About the hosts:

Raj Patel is an award winning food writer, activist and academic. The author of Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System, and his latest, The Value of Nothing, is a New York Times best-seller.

Tom Philpott is an award winning food writer for Mother Jones, who’s ground-breaking work on almonds exposed a myriad of environmental and ethical issues around almond production in California.

Rebecca McInroy is an executive producer and host for KUT Radio in Austin, Texas. She is the co-creator, producer and host of various podcasts and shows including, Views and Brews, Two Guys on Your Head, Liner Notes, The Write Up, and The Secret Ingredient.

In each episode we chose one food to investigate, and talk with the people who’s life’s work has been to understand the complex systems of production, distribution, marketing and impact, these foods have on our lives.