E293: From Truffles to Trash – Lessons on Food Waste Prevention

March 19, 2026

Over the last several years, I have been thinking about food waste and food loss a lot. It’s been a topic that we’ve seen in many spaces in the US and around the world. And it’s interesting to compare how the US handles food waste with other countries. To that end, we will learn more about how Belgium addresses food waste in a conversation with an anthropologist and journalist, Dr. Kelly Alexander from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Her book, Truffles and Trash: Recirculating Food in a Social Welfare State, explores community driven solutions and policy around food waste. And Belgium’s capital city of Brussells.

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E292: The downstream effects of disasters on food supply chains

March 6, 2026

It seems like the frequency of weather-related disasters is increasing. Across the US we’re seeing wildfires, tropical storms and hurricanes, extreme heat, extreme cold with snow or ice. And torrential rain leading to a loss of property, life, and livelihoods. What’s more, similar extreme events are happening across the globe. These disasters all can have an impact on our food supply and the ability of people to access food. Today, we’re speaking with environmental sustainability management expert, Betsy Albright, who is an associate professor of the practice at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment. Betsy’s research centers on how policies and decisions are made in response to weather related disasters.

Related podcasts: Climate Change, Environment & Food | Equity, Race & Food Justice |

 

E291: Pathway to Market is Complicated for Cell-Cultivated Protein

February 24, 2026

How can we meet the demand for meat as the global population grows? Today we are discussing cell-cultivated protein, a new meat production option that could compliment conventional livestock husbandry and seafood harvesting. Cell-cultivated protein is a real meat that is grown from animal cells. The production process involves taking cells from an animal, multiplying them in a nutrient rich medium, and forming muscle and fat tissues. Like any other food, cell-cultivated proteins are subject to US and state level regulations before they are made available to US consumers for purchase and consumption. Proponents of cell-cultivated proteins say it offers a slaughter free option for protein that may also reduce land use, produce fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and reduce the harvesting impact on marine fisheries compared to traditional approaches. Food science for cell-cultivated protein is still evolving and the sector faces challenges such as scaling the technology for large scale production and achieving an affordable product for consumers. Questions remain around what to call these manufactured meats and how to accurately – and yet enticingly – label them for consumers.
Our guests today are Kate Consavage Stanley from Duke University and Katariina Koivusaari from North Carolina State University, both post-doctoral researchers with the Bezos Center for Sustainable Proteins at North Carolina State University. Kate and Katariina, together with our research team recently published an article examining policy activity across the United States titled Exploring the US Regulatory and Legislative Landscapes for Cell-cultivated Meat and Seafood in the journal Trends in Food Science and Technology.

Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | Alternative Proteins | Climate Change, Environment & Food | Fisheries & Food Policy |

 

E286: How ‘least cost diet’ models fuel food security policy

October 31, 2025

Governments use something called a ‘least cost diet’ to monitor food access, inform policy discussions, and target interventions to improve food security and nutrition. So, what is the least cost diet? Well, it’s a minimum amount of money needed to purchase a nutritionally adequate diet. Today we are lucky to have two researchers who share an interest in working with least cost diets, understanding their efficacy and thinking about that both domestically in the US and internationally. Our guests today are food and nutrition policy economists Will Masters and Parke Wilde from Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition, science and Policy.

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E282: Are healthy, environmentally sustainable diets economically achievable for everyone?

September 17, 2025

In today’s episode, we’re discussing the complex and urgent topic of global food demand. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, ask countries to make measurable progress in reducing poverty, achieving zero hunger, and supporting every individual in realizing good health. While also mitigating climate change, sustaining the environment and responsible consumption and production habits. Researchers have recommended sustainable diets – planetary health diets. For example, the Eat Lancet Planetary Health Diet. However, others have criticized some of these diets for not addressing the economic and social impacts of transitioning to such diets. Is it possible to balance changing diets, rising incomes, and economic growth with economic feasibility, environmental impact, and long-term sustainability? Well, that’s what our goals are today. Our guests today are Andrew Muhammad of the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, and Emiliano Lopez Barrera from Texas A&M. They are my co-authors on a new paper in the Annual Review of Resource Economics entitled Global Food Demand: overcoming Challenges to Healthy and Sustainable Diets.

Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | Climate Change, Environment & Food | Community & Economic Development | Economics of the food system | International Food & Ag Policy |

 

E279: Feed Us With Trees – the surprising importance of nuts

July 31, 2025

Every day, with few exceptions, I eat a handful of nuts. Usually a combination of almonds, walnuts, pecans, cashews, and pistachios. And they taste good for sure. But I’m responding mainly to research showing that consumption of nuts is related to less chronic disease. In particular, eating nuts lowers levels of inflammation related to heart disease and diabetes, and may improve cholesterol levels among other benefits. So, I saw it as welcome news that someone has just published a book about nuts, all aspects of nuts, actually. Today we’re joined by NPR, food Writer Elspeth Hay author of a new book called Feed Us with Trees- nuts, and The Future of Food. And I had no idea. Nuts were so interesting until I dove in a little bit. Elspeth has gathered stories from dozens of nut growers, scientists, indigenous knowledge keepers, researchers and food professionals. She writes that humans once grew their staple crops in forest gardens of perennial nuts, such as oaks, chestnuts, and hazelnuts in these species. Particularly important to the environment as well as to human wellbeing.

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E276: Climate Change – A little less beef is part of the solution

June 20, 2025

Interest and grave concern have been mounting over the impact of agriculture and the food choices we all make on the environment, particularly on climate change. With natural weather disasters occurring much more frequently and serious threats from warming of the atmosphere in general, it’s natural to look for places to make change. One person who has thought a lot about this is our guest today, Dr. William Dietz of George Washington University. He’s been a prominent voice in this space. Bill, you’re one of the people in the field I respect most because our relationship goes back many years. Bill is professor and director of research and policy at the Global Food Institute at George Washington University. But especially pertinent to our discussion today is that Dr. Dietz was co-chair of the Lancet Commission on the global syndemic of obesity, under nutrition and climate change. Today, we’ll focus on part of that discussion on beef in particular.

Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | Alternative Proteins | Climate Change, Environment & Food | Regenerative Agriculture |

 

E275: Against the Grain – A Plea for Regenerative Ag

June 16, 2025

I was at a professional meeting recently and I heard an inspiring and insightful and forward-looking talk by journalist and author Roger Thurow. Roger was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal for 30 years, 20 of them as a foreign correspondent based in Europe and Africa. Roger has written a number of books including one on world hunger and another what I thought was a particularly important book entitled The First 1000 Days, A Crucial Time for Mothers and Children and the World. Now comes a new book on farmers around the world and how they are coping with the unprecedented changes they face. It was hearing about his book that inspired me to invite Mr. Thurow to this podcast and thankfully he accepted. His new book is entitled Against the Grain: How Farmers Around the Globe are transforming Agriculture to Nourish the World and Heal the Planet.

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E273: Feeding innovation by taste testing alternative proteins

May 29, 2025

As someone who’s been mostly vegetarian for a number of years, I have tried a lot of plant-based foods and there’s a variety of them. And so how do they really taste, not just from my perspective? Well, it’s really important to do really careful analysis, and this is going to be the subject of our conversation today. Plant-based foods are becoming increasingly healthier and cheaper. But one large question really remains for consumers. How do they taste. NECTAR, a nonprofit initiative on a mission to accelerate the alternative protein transition sets out to answer this question. Through large scale blind taste tests with thousands of consumers. NECTAR is amassing the largest publicly available sensory database on alternative protein products. In its latest report, Taste of the Industry 2025, NECTAR conducted blind sensory panels of 122 products across 14 categories and uncovered which products have achieved the taste that’s on par with their animal-based counterparts. Today we talk with NECTAR’s Director, Caroline Cotto, about which products are meeting and exceeding consumer taste expectations and what the alternative protein industry needs to do to get more products to this level. And how NECTAR’s novel dataset can be used to get there faster.

Related podcasts: Agriculture & Tech | Alternative Proteins | Climate Change, Environment & Food |

 

E272: Why getting food date labeling right is so darn tough

May 22, 2025

Do you pay attention to information printed on food labels? From eye-catching designs companies use to entice you to buy a product to nutrition facts panels to the tiny dates printed on packages. There’s a lot going on to be sure. For policymakers, they hope that refining date labels on food packaging will help reduce the amount of uneaten food ending up in landfills. Food Waste is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. The Food and Drug Administration and the Food Safety and Inspection Service recently asked for public input on food date labels. So, we decided to gather some experts together to talk about this important policy tool. Roni Neff is a professor in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Senior Advisor at the School’s Center for a Livable Future. Her research looks at the intersection of food waste policy, climate change, and food system resilience. Brian Roe is a professor at the Ohio State University Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Developmental Economics. His work focuses on issues including agricultural marketing, information policy, behavioral economics, and product quality. Ruiqing Miao is an associate professor of agricultural economics and rural sociology at Auburn University’s College of Agriculture. His research emphasizes sustainability, innovation, and decision making.

Related podcasts: Climate Change, Environment & Food | Food Industry Behavior & Marketing | Food Waste & Implications |