All Podcasts
E76: Food Fights - A Civil Conversation About Contemporary Food Debates
February 2020Understanding our current food system, where it came from and especially where it might go is much easier if one understands history. Our field needs historians, thoughtful scholars who can do deep exploration of what has preceded the snapshot in time that represents what we're experiencing today. This is why an exciting development was the recent publication of a book entitled Food Fights edited by two historians at North Carolina State University, Charles Ludington and Matthew Booker. We're joined today by both of the editors. Listen to Podcast/Read Transcript about E76: Food Fights - A Civil Conversation About Contemporary Food Debates »
E75: Land Grant University Gold for North Carolina
February 2020Agriculture is a remarkably complex, fascinating, and important topic. We all eat of course, but often we don't know much about the story of our food, how it gets produced, where it comes from, how technology, for example, can help provide wholesome, healthy, and safe food, and more. There are some remarkable people out there who see the big picture and who understand both the past and future of agriculture. One such person is our guest, Richard Linton. Listen to Podcast/Read Transcript about E75: Land Grant University Gold for North Carolina »
E73: Weight Stigma 101 with Rebecca Pearl
February 2020People who experience weight discrimination are more likely to gain more weight over time than people with obesity who don't describe these kinds of experiences. Weight bias, stigma and discrimination have received more and more attention among researchers, but also in the public. Think, for example, of the term "fat shaming." Among the researchers doing path-breaking work in this area is Dr. Rebecca Pearl at the Perlman School of Medicine. Her research focuses on weight bias and its associated outcomes in patients with obesity. Listen to Podcast/Read Transcript about E73: Weight Stigma 101 with Rebecca Pearl »
E67: Weight Bullying Backfires and Causes Harm
January 2020Stigmatizing people based on factors such as race and sexual identity is being tolerated less and less. But what about stigmatizing people with issues that some believed are under personal control, such as use of drugs and alcohol or obesity? Can negative attitudes encourage people to change? Dr. Janet Tomiyama explains. Listen to Podcast/Read Transcript about E67: Weight Bullying Backfires and Causes Harm »
E71: Louise Metz on Weight Inclusive Medical Care
January 2020Weight stigma, bias and discrimination can have very profound impacts on individuals. Medical settings are a place where there are real opportunities to make change and today's guest, Dr. Louise Metz is a change maker. She is passionate about providing weight-inclusive medical care, and committed to helping to change the paradigm surrounding the way we address weight and health. Listen to Podcast/Read Transcript about E71: Louise Metz on Weight Inclusive Medical Care »
E74: How Eating Mindfully Can Change Your World
January 2020Do you eat mindfully? Could an approach to eating derived from one religious tradition be helpful to us all? Today's guest, Dr. Lilian Cheung is an expert on just these questions. Listen to Podcast/Read Transcript about E74: How Eating Mindfully Can Change Your World »
E72: Will Harris on White Oak Pastures Success with Regenerative Ag
January 2020Imagine being a fourth-generation owner of a business and deciding to completely change things to upend tried-and-traditional ways of doing things in favor of something brand new, untraditional, and potentially pretty risky. Such is the story of our guest today, farmer Will Harris. Listen to Podcast/Read Transcript about E72: Will Harris on White Oak Pastures Success with Regenerative Ag »
E69: Gabe Brown on the Desperate Need for Regenerative Agriculture
January 2020Imagine a farm doing such creative work that more than 2,000 people come to visit each year from all 50 states and more than 20 countries outside the US. What do you think such a farm might be doing? Our guest Gabe Brown can explain. Listen to Podcast/Read Transcript about E69: Gabe Brown on the Desperate Need for Regenerative Agriculture »
E70: Myths and Misperceptions about the Pork Industry
December 2019Have you ever wondered whether they are antibiotics or hormones in your grocery store pork chops? Or what swine farmers do with their pig waste? Or maybe you're interested in buying locally grown foods, but you're not sure what that really means when you're in the grocery store. In this podcast, Marlowe Vaughn and Bob Ivey of Razorback farms in Goldsboro, North Carolina, tackle myths and misperceptions about the pork industry. Listen to Podcast/Read Transcript about E70: Myths and Misperceptions about the Pork Industry »
E64: Technology, Transition and Family at Triple B Farms
November 2019Today I'm talking with Brandon Batten of Triple B Farms, a sixth generation farmer in Johnston County, North Carolina. Brandon's passion for agriculture comes from growing up on the farm and learning the ropes from his late grandfather. A graduate in biological and agricultural engineering from North Carolina State University. He advocates for using farm level research to make sure that the latest technology and advancements in all aspects of agriculture to reach the farmers that need them. Listen to Podcast/Read Transcript about E64: Technology, Transition and Family at Triple B Farms »
E61: Awilo Ochieng Pernet on the Global Complexity of Food Safety
November 2019Food safety is a very important international issue and few people have been as engaged on this topic as our guest today, Awilo Ochieng Pernet, a senior advisor on international matters related to food safety, nutrition, water and veterinary issues at the Swiss Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office. Listen to Podcast/Read Transcript about E61: Awilo Ochieng Pernet on the Global Complexity of Food Safety »
E66: Jeremy Everett: Ending Hunger Takes Coordinated Action
November 2019Faith-based efforts can be powerful and compelling ways to address a number of social issues, including food insecurity. Listen to Podcast/Read Transcript about E66: Jeremy Everett: Ending Hunger Takes Coordinated Action »
E62: Bert Pitt on Today’s Farming Challenges
November 2019At the age of 68, Bert Pitt is lean and tan, with Robert Redford blue eyes and a working man's hands. He's a seventh generation farmer, raising cotton and sweet potatoes now, and lives in his family's ancestral home in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. Farming is both his job and his heritage, and he passionately believes in the value of small family farms. Listen to Podcast/Read Transcript about E62: Bert Pitt on Today’s Farming Challenges »
E57: How FoodCorps and Walmart are Driving Food Security in the US
November 2019Imagine you would like to address food, and food insecurity in particular, and could start with a blank slate. What kind of programs and practices would make sense given the incredible array of possibilities? Our guests today, Curt Ellis and Karrie Denniston have addressed this issue in their own work. Welcome to The Leading Voices in Food. Listen to Podcast/Read Transcript about E57: How FoodCorps and Walmart are Driving Food Security in the US »
E60: A Visit to Middlecreek Farms in the Blacklands of North Carolina
November 2019Driving along the North Carolina coastline protected by the Outer Banks barrier islands, I pass swamps, canals and fields. I'm visiting an agricultural region called the Blacklands. The soil is black and fertile and the Blacklands range across eight counties. I'm visiting Middlecreek Farms, a family operation in Engelhard, North Carolina, now run by Dawson and Bethany Pugh. The day's plan to begin harvesting corn has been scrapped in the aftermath of a heavy rain and the farm crew works in the shop making repairs and doing equipment maintenance. Listen to Podcast/Read Transcript about E60: A Visit to Middlecreek Farms in the Blacklands of North Carolina »
E68: Tobacco, Hemp & Trade Wars
October 2019Some farmers see industrial hemp as an opportunity to transition away from tobacco. Hemp is widely grown worldwide as a source of both fiber and oil seed. Harvesting equipment and dryers used for tobacco can also be used to harvest and cure hemp, allowing farmers to repurpose equipment they already own. North Carolina legalized hemp production in 2014 as part of a pilot program. Brandon Batten is one of the farmers producing industrial hemp as part of this program. Listen to Podcast/Read Transcript about E68: Tobacco, Hemp & Trade Wars »
E58: Pig Farming Family Style at Razorback Farms
October 2019It's August in North Carolina and I'm here with Marlowe Vaughan and her father Bob Ivey at Razorback Farm, a family-owned pig farm in Goldsboro. Listen to Podcast/Read Transcript about E58: Pig Farming Family Style at Razorback Farms »
E57: Tom Bollyky on How Food Drives International Instability
October 2019When Americans hear the term national security, I suspect few people would think about food in this context. Our guest, Thomas Bollyky is an ideal person to explain why this may be a glaring oversight. Listen to Podcast/Read Transcript about E57: Tom Bollyky on How Food Drives International Instability »
E56: Gwen Pitt on the Changing Roles of Women in Farming
October 2019According to the US Department of Agriculture's census of agriculture, women now make up 36% of farmers and 56% of farms have at least one woman farmer. But this isn't a surprise to today's guest, Gwen Pitt of Pitt Family Farms in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. Listen to Podcast/Read Transcript about E56: Gwen Pitt on the Changing Roles of Women in Farming »
E59: Hunt Allcott on the Optimum Soda Tax
October 2019Today's guest, Dr. Hunt Allcott, had two recent papers with colleagues Benjamin Lockwood and Dmitry Taubinsky, on whether soda taxes are effective, and how an optimal soda tax might be established. The papers were published by the National Bureau of Economic Research. These are important papers and an important time, given all the activity around the world on soda taxes. Listen to Podcast/Read Transcript about E59: Hunt Allcott on the Optimum Soda Tax »
E55: Allan Savory on Regenerative Agriculture
October 2019Regenerative agriculture is a highly visible, interesting and promising approach to raising animals. The person credited for conceiving this approach, testing it and helping it spread around the world is our guest today, Allan Savory. Listen to Podcast/Read Transcript about E55: Allan Savory on Regenerative Agriculture »
E54: Farming with Hurricanes in the Blacklands of North Carolina
October 2019At Middlecreek Farms, hurricanes shape the way Dawson Pugh farms his land. His property lies just two feet above sea level, and managing water is his biggest challenge. Listen to Podcast/Read Transcript about E54: Farming with Hurricanes in the Blacklands of North Carolina »
E53: Michael Osterholm on Food Safety and Killer Germs
October 2019With our daily food now coming from around the world, keeping food safe needs to be a practice of prevention--at home and in commercial factories. Food safety and infectious disease expert Michael Osterholm helps to explain. Listen to Podcast/Read Transcript about E53: Michael Osterholm on Food Safety and Killer Germs »
E52: Hogs and Hurricanes in North Carolina
October 2019We're talking today with Bob Ivey and his daughter, Marlowe Vaughan, owners of Razorback Farms in Goldsboro where they raise pigs as a contractor for Maxwell Farms. Ivey and Vaughan closely follow the news, debates, and lawsuits over pig manure lagoons, odors, and water safety concerns, and they welcomed the opportunity to talk about their own farm operations, and they believe in the value of open communications. Listen to Podcast/Read Transcript about E52: Hogs and Hurricanes in North Carolina »
E50: Gwen's Cotton
October 2019Today we're talking with Gwen Pitt at the Pitt Family Farm located in Macclesfield, North Carolina, a rural city in Edgecombe County with a population of just 477 people. Gwen is the scout at the Pitt Farm. She scours cotton and sweet potato fields on the 1100 acres she farms with Burt Pitt, her husband of 40 years, looking for insects and testing the soil. Listen to Podcast/Read Transcript about E50: Gwen's Cotton »