Advertise on podcast: Feed: a food systems podcast

Why can reasonable people look at the same evidence on meat—and still eat very differently? Matthew Kessler shares a personal essay reflecting on his time working on livestock farms, conversations with experts across all sides of the issue, and on his own on-and-off relationship with eating animals. For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/ episode95 Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected] Episode edited and hosted by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions. Tangle Essay: What we disagree about when we talk about meat TABLE Podcast: Meat: the four futures  TABLE Report: Meat, Metrics and Mindsets 

What does “sustainable agriculture” actually mean, and why do scientists disagree about it? This episode explores how two influential scientific discourses - Agroecology and Sustainable Intensification - start from different values, ask different questions, and often talk past each other. Drawing on an interdisciplinary study at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, ecologist Riccardo Bommarco and ethicist Helena Rocklinsberg examine how those different approaches shape research, priorities, and solutions. The conversation turns to what might change when scientists begin to listen to each other across divides. For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/ episode94 Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected] Episode edited and hosted by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Most industries have a clear roadmap for transformation. The power sector goes renewable. Cars go electric. But food and agriculture? The world’s most impactful—and most damaging—industry still has no shared path to transformation. Food sustainability consultant and retail expert Mike Barry argues that the future of food hinges on one counterintuitive idea: simplification. And he explains how AI, smarter data, and design can potentially speed up change. For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/ episode93 Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected] Episode edited and hosted by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Instead of tell people what to eat, what if we changed what food costs? With Jörgen Larsson (researcher from Chalmers University), we explore a cost-neutral tax reform, one that makes healthier and climate-friendly food cheaper without raising the overall grocery bill. We break down how it works, why it matters, and how to frame it in ways that avoid predictable backlash. For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/ episode92 Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected] Episode edited and hosted by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

We invite you to a three course meal in 2050, where climate breakdown has reshaped what and how we eat. Each of the courses is designed to provoke questions about the future of food through taste, visuals, and a bit of discomfort. It’s a story about eating possible futures — and noticing which ones feel delicious, or unsettling. In this episode, we take you behind the scenes of how the meal came together. Bon appétit. For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/ episode91 Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected] Guests Annie Faye Cheng, Cook, butcher and writerBryant Simon, History prof Temple UniversityLily Consuelo Saporta Tagiuri, Ecosystemic Designer and Eco-futuristEpisode hosted by Jack Thompson. Produced by Jack Thompson and Matthew Kessler. Edited and mixed by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Hunger on our Doorstep is a two part podcast about food poverty in the UK. It explores the issues and potential solutions through the eyes of three food campaigners with firsthand experience of food poverty in urban communities, as well as others working to tackle the problem. The often bleak picture of poverty, inequality and exclusion painted in episode one contrasts with inspiring stories of the solutions being put into practice across the country in episode two.  This podcast is produced by TABLE with the support and contribution of the Food Foundation, a charity focused on changing food policy and business practice to ensure everyone, across the UK nations, can afford and access a healthy and sustainable diet.  For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/ episode90 Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected] Guests Ryan McShane, Food campaignerGlory Omoaka, Food activistDominic Watters, Estate2Plate founderJonathan Pauling, former CEO of Alexandra Rose CharityDr Effie Papargyropoulou, Researcher at Leeds UniversityAna María Narváez, Coordinator of 2025 The Broken Plate reportHost Richard Kipling, TABLERuth Mattock, TABLEEpisode edited and produced by Richard Kipling, Ruth Mattock and Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

What if changing what we eat wasn’t about persuasion, but about reshaping everyday food choices? With Sarah Lake, CEO of Tilt Collective, we explore how meat and ultra-processed foods came to dominate U.S. diets – and how Tilt Collective is building a future where healthy and sustainable foods compete on convenience, price, and accessibility. For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/ episode89 Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected] Guest Sarah Lake, CEO of Tilt CollectiveEpisode hosted, edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

What do Yorkshire beaches, Sierra Leone’s new food strategy, and New York City school lunches have in common? For Corinna Hawkes, they all shaped her journey toward understanding how systems shape food. In this episode, we trace her path from a childhood fascination with shifting sands to her current role at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization. Along the way, we ask: what does it actually mean to ‘take a systems approach’ to food? What type of leadership skills are needed to fix food systems today? And why do the best solutions sometimes require slowing down, not speeding up? For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/ episode88 Read the report: Transforming food and agriculture through a systems approach (FAO, 2025) Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected] Guest Corinna Hawkes, Director of Agrifood Systems and Food Safety at FAOEpisode hosted, edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

"Hunger on our Doorstep" is a two part podcast about food poverty in the UK. It explores the issues and potential solutions through the eyes of three food campaigners with firsthand experience of food poverty in urban communities, as well as others working to tackle the problem. The often bleak picture of poverty, inequality and exclusion painted in episode one contrasts with inspiring stories of the solutions being put into practice across the country in episode two. This podcast is produced by TABLE  with the support and contribution of the Food Foundation, a charity focused on changing food policy and business practice to ensure everyone, across the UK nations, can afford and access a healthy and sustainable diet.  For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/ episode87 Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected] Guests Ryan McShane, Food campaignerGlory Omoaka, Food activistDominic Watters, Estate2Plate founderJonathan Pauling, CEO of Alexandra Rose CharityDr Effie Papargyropoulou, Researcher at Leeds UniversityAna María Narváez, Coordinator of 2025 The Broken Plate reportHost Richard Kipling, TABLERuth Mattock, TABLEEpisode edited and produced by Richard Kipling, Ruth Mattock and Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions and Pixabay.

Why are we drawn to simple fixes for the complex challenge of feeding the world sustainably? Researchers Colin Sage (formerly Cork University) and Garrett Broad (Rowan University) unpack what we're calling "food solutionism"—the tendency to promote single, sweeping solutions, whether high-tech or agroecological, while ignoring context and complexity. They argue for "complicating the narrative early and often", so we can move beyond binary thinking and better understand the trade-offs, limits, and realities behind competing visions for the future of food. For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/ episode86 Read the The Blue Sky Thread that prompted this episode Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected] Guests Garrett Broad, Rowan UniversityColin Sage, Cork UniversityHost Jack Thompson, TABLEEpisode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler and Jack Thompson. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Why does Myanmar, often called the "rice bowl of Southeast Asia," continue to struggle with high rates of malnutrition? In this episode, journalist Thin Lei Win helps us unpack how political decisions, land ownership, and regional power dynamics shape food systems in Myanmar and beyond. We explore how issues like palm oil expansion and rice production connect to wider challenges around climate and biodiversity—and why lasting change remains difficult without addressing structural inequalities. Still, there are reasons for cautious optimism. Thin shares why she’s inspired by a new generation of journalists and activists working toward more just and sustainable food futures across Southeast Asia. For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/ episode85 Check out and subcribe to Thin Ink Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected] Guest Thin Lei Win, Food and Climate JournalistHost Jack Thompson, TABLEEpisode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler and Jack Thompson. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Can humanity feed nearly 10 billion people without frying the planet? That question is at the heart of journalist Michael Grunwald’s provocative argument in Sorry, This Is the Future of Food, his recent New York Times essay and the basis of his forthcoming book, We Are Eating the Earth. He warns that we’re clearing an acre of rainforest every six seconds to grow more food — and even if we quit fossil fuels, we won’t avert climate chaos unless we fix how we use land. In this episode, Grunwald makes the case that high-yield industrial agriculture, for all its flaws, might be our best chance to grow more food on less land.  For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/ episode84 Pre-order We Are Eating the Earth by Michael Grunwald. Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected] Guest Michael Grunwald, Journalist and authorHost Jack Thompson, TABLEEpisode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler and Jack Thompson. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Can we have more honest conversations about the future of food and agriculture? That’s the plea from Ken Giller, recently retired professor at Wageningen University, after four decades of witnessing both progress and setbacks in supporting farmers worldwide. We discuss the dangers of populist narratives that oversimplify agricultural challenges, how to reshape research incentives to embrace complexity and nuance, why he opposes carbon credit schemes for farmers, and more. For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/ episode83 Guests Ken Giller, Wageningen UniversityHost Matthew Kessler, TABLEEpisode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

What else should we consider when shifting to natural, whole foods—beyond just their health benefits? Feminist Food Journal co-founders Isabela Bonnevera and Zoë Johnson explore the deeper questions: whose labor makes these diets possible, who can afford them, and how culture and experience shape our food choices. We dive into these issues and uncover how a simple "natural foods" search on TikTok exposes striking gender dynamics. For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/ episode82 Guests Isabela Bonnevera, FFJ + ICTA-UABZoë Johnson, FFJ + GPPiHost Jackie Turner, TABLEEpisode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Is the battle over who controls and owns agricultural data one of the most important—and least discussed—fights in 21st-century farming? In this conversation, Jennifer Clapp (prof at the University of Waterloo and member of IPES-Food) explores the deep ties between fossil fuels and our food system, tracing their influence from fertilizers and pesticides to farm mechanization and digital agriculture. She unpacks how fossil-fueled inputs have shaped—and continue to shape—modern farming.  For more info and resources, please visit our episode webpage. Guests Jennifer Clapp, IPES-Food Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions. Fuel to Fork is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and the Global Alliance for the Future of Food.