Explore every episode of the podcast AnthroDish
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| 158: Honouring Asian Ingredients in Cookie Baking with Kat Lieu | 04 Nov 2025 | 00:26:38 | |
My guest today, Kat Lieu, is a Vietnamese-Chinese cookbook author, and here to share more about how she's challenging this through her new cookbook, 108 Asian Cookies: Not-too-Sweet Treats from a Third Culture Kitchen. Kat is the founder of the popular online community, Subtle Asian Baking, and is the author of best-selling cookbook, Modern Asian Baking at Home as well as two others. Kat brings a third culture approach to Asian baking, baking and cooking by blending Asian ingredients with Western techniques. She also is an activist, donating her cakes and cookies to various events in Seatle, and raising thousands of dollars for charities and causes important to her. This year alone, she raised $10k for charity selling cookies through Instagram stories. In today's episode, Kat shares how she approached 108 Asian Cookies as a cookbook that breaks down barriers being the first Asian-themed cookie cookbook. The cookbook incorporates savory ingredients and playful, incorporating matcha, black sesame cookies, pandan, ube, as well as more savoury and spicy cookies that feature fish sauce, MSG, miso, soy sauce, and Gochujang. Our conversation looks at how Kat has found healing through baking during challenging life moments, how her third culture identity infuses creativity into her kitchen experience, and the importance of challenging misrepresentation of Asian ingredients through a celebration of their culinary adaptations in cookies and the global community this shapes. Resources:
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| 157: Preserving Palestinian Cuisine During Genocide with Lama Obeid | 28 Oct 2025 | 00:44:31 | |
As this episode airs, it has been just over two years of Israel's ongoing genocide in Gaza. Tens of thousands of Palestinian people have been killed, and entire cities have been reduced to rubble. And with this, there is a slow and brutal erasure of the rich histories of Palestinian gastronomy. My guest today, Lama Obeid, is here to explore the state of Palestinian food culture and the impact of the genocide on how people eat and break bread. Lama is a Palestinian writer residing in Palestine, with her writing focused on gastronomy, politics, culture, and travel. Lama's food writing before the genocide speaks to the vibrancy and communal nature of Palestinian cooking and hospitality, though she has since shifted to document the impact of the genocide, and speak to other Palestinian chefs, activists, and cookbook authors through her podcast and newsletter I Come From There. In today's conversation, we talk about the role that hospitality has played in Palestinian cooking and eating, the ways that preservation of food and recipes is maintained as resistance by Palestinians at home and in the diaspora, andhow the genocide has affected traditions around bread baking and eating, and how to look out for Palestinian food being appropriated by Zionist and Western attempts to make it vague and just Middle Eastern. Resources:
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| 148: Masala, Maíz, and Movement - Ingredients for Decolonizing Plates with Norma Listman and Saqib Keval | 01 Apr 2025 | 00:38:16 | |
On the show today are Norma Listman and Saqib Keval, looking at the solutions and communities that can be built when activism and ethical values are at the forefront of food creation. Norma and Saqib are the chefs and restauranteurs behind Masala y Maíz, which TIME Magazine named as one of the top destinations to visit worldwide, and its slightly more casual Indian-Mexican sister restaurant, Mari Gold. Norma and Saqib were also just featured in the most recent season of Chef's Table on Netflix. Masala y Maíz seamlessly blends Indian, East African, and Mexican flavours inspired by the cultures of the husband-wife team. In addition to being renowned globally for its genre-bending and deeply personal cuisine, Masala y Maíz champions a movement of social justice through food, prioritizing quality of life for their staff and farmers and serving as a testament to the idea that a values-based workplace can also be a thriving workplace. In today's conversation, Norma and Saqib share how they moved the idea of Masala y Maíz from a research concept into a full restaurant, even after not being so sure about staying in the industry for all its shortcomings), how experiences with local flavours on a menu can fuck with your brain and decolonize how you think about ingredients, and the importance of corn in cultural, social, and decolonial approaches to food. Resources:
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| 58: Empowering Youth in the Kitchen with FoodWorks Ottawa | 12 Nov 2019 | 00:49:00 | |
Sometimes the stories we want to share through AnthroDish are bigger that just one person's perspective. We've been working to create more thematically based narrative-style episodes, using multiple interviews to explore how different folks look at the same topic. In this way, we're able to get a bigger picture story about the ways in which food can be used as a tool for powerful social moments and conversations. Today we are sharing the story of FoodWorks, and what this program is doing to empower youth in the kitchen. FoodWorks is a social enterprise launched by Operation Come Home in 2016, in cooperation with Causeway Work Centre in Ottawa, Canada. The goal of FoodWorks is to provide meaningful work opportunities to youth while offering healthy meals to those who may need it. It began as a way to bridge the gap between youth and seniors in Ottawa through a meal delivery service, but the program has grown exponentially to better suit Ottawa's food culture and needs through meal delivery programs that are open to all residents, while also providing catering services for events and restaurants. The program hires youth who are recruited from Operation Come Home, and helps them develop their culinary skills with a world-class chef, Bruce Wood. All proceeds go to supporting Operation come Home's mission of preventing homeless youth from becoming homeless adults.
I spoke with four people who all work with FoodWorks or Operation Come Home in varied ways: Chef Bruce Wood, Eric Bollman, Mandi Lunan, and Katie Sanders. After learning about the program from Eric, I knew that it would be important to get different perspectives and voices on the show, given that their enterprise is so rooted in creating strong communities and empowering youth -- an individual interview just wouldn't cut it! I am excited to share the final product today with you, complete with some fun soundscape play woven throughout the narrative. Learn More about FoodWorks
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| 57: Why Are Gassy Foods and Farting So Taboo in Anthropology? with Danielle Gendron | 05 Nov 2019 | 00:30:36 | |
You're probably wondering what the heck we're about to explore today… and indeed, it's going to be all about farts and gassy foods. My guest this week is Danielle Gendron, a PhD candidate at the University of British Columbia. Danielle and I work together on some research projects, and have been friends for a while through that. She first pitched this idea to me back in the spring, and I laughed at it, almost dismissively. But then I started thinking more about what she had to say, and realized we absolutely had to explore this on the show. Danielle's Master's research topic was about food sovereignty, where she explored the significance of territory-based food systems to Gitxaala First Nation culture and their ways of knowing. Through her work, she traced one particular food, seaweed, through the Gitxaala food system from harvest to processing to consumption. During her experiences there, she soon found out that eating a lot of seaweed can make you very… gassy. It's something that feels silly but is, as Danielle says, a legitimate thing to explore. So we're exploring this more today with a bit of fun – while Danielle does share some really important lessons and experiences she had working with Gitxaala First Nation, we're focusing more on the idea of farting itself – what makes it such a taboo subject, why do we always giggle when it comes up, and why isn't it being studied at all in anthropology? Why do we have internal dilemmas about sharing our stories and research about gassy foods and the farts they produce? Tune in to hear more! Resources
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| 56: Coastal Diets of Past Peoples with Dr. Michael Rivera | 29 Oct 2019 | 00:49:22 | |
The past week or so has been a bit of a whirlwind for me personally, and I'm sure anyone who's in academia and in the full swing of the fall semester can attest to! So what a perfect time to have my guest this week, Dr. Michael B.C. Rivera on the show. Michael is also an anthropology podcaster and the host of the incredible Arch and Anth podcast, a three-a-week show featuring interviews with experts on human history, biology, and cultures. We're doing a special guest swap this week – so we did a double header interview. Michael interviewed me over on his show, and I've linked that interview if you'd like to learn more about some of my PhD work, and then we took a quick break and switched hats, so I could ask him about his research. Michael is a biological anthropologist and specializes in studying coastal human archaeology. He has previously worked at the Universities of Kent, Copenhagen, and Cambridge. He completed his PhD research in 2018 exploring life and human health in prehistoric Estonia and Latvia. His other activities involve teaching students, engaging with inclusion and equity issues in academia, and climate justice. Today, you'll hear from him on how we can interpret the diets of prehistoric coastal peoples – did coastal resources mean different bodies, or different health trajectories? Tune in to find out the answers! Learn More About Michael
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| 55: Orthorexia and Branding Your Body with Kaila Tova | 22 Oct 2019 | 00:55:27 | |
If you've been listening to AnthroDish for a while, you know I get really critical when it comes to the idea of what we define "health" as or how we define and understand "diets" – and this week's guest, Kaila Tova, explores the depths of how healthism and fitness can blend into harmful disordered eating behaviours, like orthorexia. After recovering from orthorexia, anorexia, and an exercise addiction, Kaila began a career in marketing while moonlighting as a body image coach for women recovering from eating disorders and disordered eating. She is also the creator and host of the brilliant podcast, Your Body, Your Brand. The 15-episode podcast documentary focuses on marketing literacy, neoliberal feminism, and identity economics in the context health and fitness entrepreneurship. This fall, she also joined the University of Wisconsin-Madison's Communication Arts Department to pursue a PhD in Rhetoric, Politics, and Culture. Orthorexia is a complicated term, as Kaila explains, because it's not an officially recognized eating disorder, but it's impacting a lot of folks who are engaging in fitness and nutrition communities. And how do these deep connections we make with our need to control our food and exercise impact our identities? What about our brands? We explore all these questions and more in our chat, which I think we both agreed could have lasted for HOURS. Connect with Kaila! Instagram: @bodybrandpod or @performingwoman Twitter: @bodybrandpod Website: kailatovaprins.com or https://www.bodybrandpod.com/ Podcast: Your Body, Your Brand
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| 54: Unpacking the Global Impact of Superfood Trends with Ann Shin | 15 Oct 2019 | 00:28:40 | |
We're all at this point used to food terms being thrown around in the grocery store – organic, GMO-free, natural, superfoods… but what do these really mean? Superfoods is a term that I'm also fascinated by. My guest this week is award winning producer, director, filmmaker, and writer, Ann Shin, who explores this in her documentary, The Superfood Chain. In addition to this, she is well known for directing the documentaries The Defector: Escape from North Korea and My Enemy, My Brother about the true story of 2 enemies from the Iran-Iraq War. She asks these questions we tend to take for granted – are superfoods really great for you? How does the global demand for superfoods impact indigenous cultures who grow these foods and depend on them as staples? The SuperFood chain is a beautiful cinematic documentary that investigates how the superfood industry affects the lives of farming families in Bolivia, Ethiopia, the Phillipines, and Haida Gwaii. We explore these questions around what makes a superfood super, and how these demands for superfoods in Western cultures impact global communities, along with some tools and examples of how governments and food producers respond or adapt to shifts in food demands, and the process of making the film itself for her and her family. Learn More About Ann Shin!
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| 53: How Can We Create Win-Win Systems for Food Systems & the Environment? with Dr. Phil Loring | 08 Oct 2019 | 00:35:45 | |
As the conversations and concern about the climate crisis continue to grow on a global scale, can be overwhelming on a personal level thinking about solutions. Sometimes we feel an individual burden around our choices when it comes to food, waste, or consumerism. My guest this week, Dr. Philip Loring, is someone I always look to when I need a mental reset about how to approach climate and human wellbeing in meaningful ways. Phil is the Arrell Chair in Food, Policy, and Society with the Arrell Food Institute, and an associate professor in the department of Geography at the University of Guelph. Phil's research focuses on the intersection of ecosystem health, human well-being, and sustainability. His research has taken him to such locales as Alaska, Mexico, the Canadian Prairies, Ireland, and Thailand, which we'll hear a bit more about today. Additionally, he has a forthcoming book called "Finding Our Niche" that explores the potential for win-win scenarios in our food systems, out in fall 2020. Today we're exploring the idea of sustainability and what that really means within food systems, the ways in which reconciliation movements connect with food systems and research partnerships, and what he calls "win-win" scenarios for sustainable ecosystems. His approaches to human and ecosystem wellbeing are always really inspirational to me, and I'm very excited to share this conversation with Phil! Learn more about Dr. Loring!
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| 52: Terroir - Building Community through Food and Place with Arlene Stein | 01 Oct 2019 | 00:36:59 | |
There are certain people in this world that I could just listen to forever, they're an absolute wealth of knowledge and experiences and my first guest of season 4, Arlene Stein, is one of those people. Arlene is the founder and executive director of the Terroir Symposium, a catalyst for creative collaboration and social and environmental responsibility in the hospitality industry. Since 2006, Terroir has convened international and Canadian industry leaders annually at a two-day symposium in Toronto – and since 2014 at off-shoot events across Europe and North America, for education, networking, and inspiration. From her current home base in Berlin, Arlene travels globally to research responsible food systems and gastronomic innovations. Arlene has that magical ability to build community and knowledge around food and root it to place, to land, to context in a way that is truly inspiring. But what makes her even more incredible is the ease that she brought to this conversation. At the core of what Arlene does is foster a sense of community for local and international networks that relate around food: she breaks down the silos for restauranteurs, chefs, artisans, producers, academics, and so many more through Terroir events and workshops to foster conversations and collaborations. In today's episode we explore what exactly the word terroir means and how the role that gastrodiplomacy can play into food systems and futures. I've included the links to Terroir's main website and for the Toronto symposium below, along with social media pages if you'd like to learn more about Terroir! Learn More
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| Solo Episode: What's in Store for Season 4 | 24 Sep 2019 | 00:08:27 | |
Hey everyone! Just a quick solo episode coming from me today to share a peak of what's to come for season 4. We're making a few big (and small) changes that I'm really excited about! Season 4 starts NEXT Tuesday, Oct 1st so be sure to tune in to hear an incredible guest! | |||
| Terroir Pop-Up 7: Understanding the Importance of Food Waste with Bruce McAdams | 19 Sep 2019 | 00:17:28 | |
Today's pop up episode features Bruce McAdams, a professor in the School of Hospitality, Food, and Tourism Management at the University of Guelph. He joined the faculty in 2009 after over 20 years of leadership experience in the Ontario hospitality industry. After starting his management career in operations and training with Darden Restaurants, McAdams joined Toronto-based fine dining company Oliver and Bonacini Restaurants. His most recent role was as the company's Vice President of Operations. McAdams has taught leadership to food and beverage management students at George Brown College in addition to his work at the University of Guelph. In 2017 he received an excellence award in service from the North American chapter for the Principles of Responsible Management Education through the United Nations for his work with the University of Guelph Sustainable Restaurant Project. He considers himself an advocate for a stronger restaurant industry and regularly speaks to major media outlets on restaurant issues. Today we speak about some of his work on food waste and the impact that this has for those working in the hospitality industry, as well as some really fascinating research on the connections between food waste and the quality of life experienced in retirement living communities. Learn More About Bruce:
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| Terroir Pop Up 6: Jeffrey Yoskowitz and Liz Alpern of The Gefilteria | 10 Sep 2019 | 00:19:24 | |
Today's episode is one of the pop-up episodes of AnthroDish which focus in on some of the speakers and guests of the 2019 Terroir Food Symposium. These are quick mini episodes that capture some of the perspectives of folks in the food industry around the theme of choices – the choices they make within their own work and its impact on their communities, businesses, and selves. Today mini-episode features Liz Alpern and Jeffrey Yoskowitz, two of the co-founders of The Gefilteria. Launched in 2012, it's mission is to reimagine eastern European Jewish cuisine, adapting classic dishes to the values and tastes of a new generation. Jeffery and Liz believe that Old World Jewish foods can be beautiful, inspiring, and delicious. They produce limited runs of their signature artisanal gefilte fish each spring and fall, cooking a wide range of Jewish foods from the Ashkenazi culinary tradition for unique dining events. They seek to inspire others to reimagine and rediscover this incredible cusiine in their home kitchens. While they don't have a storefront, they host tons of classes and experiences in their community around Brooklyn and worldwide, and have a brilliant cookbook called the Gefilte Manifesto. Jeffrey and Liz are so delightful to speak with, and the conversation that unfolded is one that I still think about on a fairly regular basis! Learn More About The Gefilteria:
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| 147: What Canada Ate - The Role of Cookbooks in Culinary History with Dr. Rebecca Beausaert | 18 Mar 2025 | 00:34:20 | |
As most historians will tell you, the past can help make sense of a lot of the present, but maybe in unexpected or novel ways—like through cookbooks! We're living in an intense period (I probably always say this, but it feels particularly challenging right now). With the new Trump presidency, shifts to Canada's economic stability and food security are top of mind for many—how are we going to afford eating, how can we support Canadian-focused food systems, and who is at the centre of these domestic pursuits? My guest today is Dr. Rebecca Beausaert, here to explore how historical food cookbooks can provide valuable insights into how we make sense of food as a country. Rebecca is an adjunct professor in the history department at the University of Guelph. She is also the co-founder and co-director of the increased What Canada Atewebsite, which is an online repository of digitized historical cookbooks. She is also the author of Pursuing Play: Women's Leisure in Small-Town Ontario, 1870-1914. In today's conversation, we explore the history of Canadian cookbooks from the first Canadian cookbook published in 1825 to today. She looks at how different agricultural, technological, social, and economic shifts impacted what recipes and ingredients appeared on cookbook pages, the untold stories of domestic handbooks and the women that fed farmers, and how cookbooks can paint the story of the ever-complex question around defining Canadian cuisine. Learn More from Rebecca:
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| 51: Organic Agriculture and Farming in Urban China with Dr. Sacha Cody | 20 Aug 2019 | 00:53:49 | |
Organic agriculture is a term we hear and use an awful lot, but do we stop to think about how complex and fascinating different organic farming systems are? This week's guest, Dr. Sacha Cody speaks with me today about organic agricultural movements in China, framing them as a form of exemplary agriculture. Sacha is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Australian-born, Sacha has spent the last 17 years in Asia, mainly across Greater China, working with senior executives at multinational corporations and decision makers in government in decision making and strategy building. Sacha has diverse research interests, he's spent 18 months ethnographically immersed in China's organic food movements, 14 months consulting with Huawei, China's global telecommunications firm, and published articles on China ranging in topic from consumerism and corporate culture to exploring the role of the countryside in China's modernity. We explore some of the key discussions from his recent book, Exemplary Agriculture: independent organic farming in contemporary China, and explore some of ethnographic work within the organic food world of China, and some of the interesting and important tensions and relationships between urban and rural sectors of such a diverse country. Connect with Sacha
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| Terroir Pop-Up 5: Jesse Baillie of Top Shelf Distillers | 14 Aug 2019 | 00:10:23 | |
Today's mini episode is a pop-up live from the 2019 Terroir Food Symposium in Toronto this past may. It features Jesse Baillie of Uncle Jesse Cocktails and Brand Ambassador for Top Shelf Distillers. Top Shelf Distillers was born in Perth Ontario, and crafts spirits from locally sourced natural ingredients, with a tree being planted for every bottle sold. I spoke with Jesse about how Top Shelf works with communities to create their spirits, and he shared some really fascinating information about the history of moonshine in Canada as well. Jesse's one of those people who's passion for their work immediately shines through, so I hope you enjoy learning from him as much as I did! If you're suddenly in the mood for a drink after this episode, he was kind enough to share a cocktail recipe with you listeners, which you can find on our Instagram and at anthrodish.com! You can find Top Shelf Distiller products across LCBOs if you live in Ontario, or on their website below.
Get Social With Jesse!
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| 50: Being a Girl in the Kitchen with Katy Osuna | 06 Aug 2019 | 00:55:10 | |
A topic we've hinted at in earlier conversations on the show is what it feels like to be a women working within the restaurant industry, but it's one of those conversations that deserves a much deeper exploration, and today we're doing just that. My guest this week is Katy Osuna, the co-creator and host of the James Beard Award-winning podcast, Copper & Heat. The podcast explores the unspoken rules and traditions of restaurant kitchens, and challenges exclusionary systems that have traditionally gone unquestioned. Katy herself is formally trained as both a cook and an anthropologist, with a Bachelors in anthropology and sociology. She then worked at a non-profit training refugees and others with barriers to employment in the food industry and helped them find jobs in Boise, Idaho. She left Boise for San Francisco to pursue the culinary arts and has been working in the restaurant industry for seven years, 2 of which were spent as a chef de parti at Manresa, a three Michelin star restaurant. In 2018, she left Manresa to start her podcast. This podcast quickly became one of my absolute favourites to listen to on commutes in 2019. Copper & Heat launched their first season, Be A Girl, in July 2018, which was a serialized narrative of Katy's story about being a woman working in Michelin-star fine dining restaurants around the San Francisco Bay. In the series, she has conversations with friends, family, coworkers, line cooks, prep cooks, and other kitchen employees about the challenges of being a woman in the industry and the pressures that traditionally masculine kitchen spaces create for the people that work in them. We speak today on how she takes an anthropological approach to telling these stories of women in the kitchen on her podcast, and discuss her super awesome win at the James Beard awards this past year, exploring whether or not that's changed her connection to the show and the stories she wants to tell in the future. Get Social with Katy! | |||
| Terroir Pop-Up 4: Ghille Basan - Food Writer and Anthropologist | 31 Jul 2019 | 00:16:38 | |
This pop-up episode is live from Terroir 2019 in Toronto, with writer, broadcaster, and fellow food anthropologist Ghillie Basan. Based out of the Scottish Highlands, Ghille has worked in different parts of the world as an English teacher, ski instructor, cookery writer, restaurant critic and journalist. She has a degree in Social Anthropology and a Cordon Bleu diploma, which, along with her passion for different culinary cultures has culminated in over 40 books! Some of these have been nominated for the Glenfiddich, Guild of Food Writers, and Cordon Bleu World Food Media Awards. Ghillie's most recent book is called Spirit and Spice through Kitchen Press, and was released this past May. She has a reputation for being a spice expert, and hosts whisky and food pairing experiences in her traditional barn by creating flavour toolkits and global menus for Chivas Whisky and Captain Reserve. As a host to many international guests, Ghillie won the Highlands and Islands Innovation in Tourism Award in 2017. In addition to her truly incredible writing and tourism, she is also the creator and host of her OWN podcast, Spirit and Spice with Ghillie Basan. It's always a nice treat to be able to meet other food anthropologists out in the real world, and this conversation with Ghillie was pretty special to me – despite many differences in our lives and our paths, there was that core passion for exploring culture through food, and experiences of motherhood while being anthropologists that really resonated with me. Learn More About Ghillie!
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| Terroir Pop-Up 3: Chef Selassie Atadika of Midunu | 22 Jul 2019 | 00:11:53 | |
In this pop-up mini episode I chat with the brilliant Chef Selassie Atadika, live at Terroir Food Symposium 2019. Selassie spent over a decade engaged with humanitarian work with the United Nations and years of self-teaching in the culinary arts before she went on to complete course work at the Culinary Institute of America. She is a founding member of Trio Toque, the first nomadic restaurant in Dakar, Senegal. In 2014, Selassie brought her innovative approach to African cuisine back home with Midunu, a nomadic and private dining experience in Accra which embodies 'New African Cuisine.' Midunu celebrates Africa's cultural and culinary heritage, aiming to create experiences where culture, community, and cuisine intersect. With an eye towards biodiversity and sustainability. Midunu employs local, seasonal, and under-utilized ingredients including traditional grains and proteins to deliver Africa's bounty to the table. Chef Selassie's cuisine has been features at a State Dinner and the James Beard Foundation in the US. In addition to her incredible culinary visions, she also holds a Master's degree in International Affairs from Columbia University. Her ability to bring together her humanitarian, academic, and culinary knowledge into Midunu is incredibly inspiring, so I can't wait for you to hear what she had to say! Learn more about Chef Selassie:
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| 49: Exploring Quinoa Production through Design Anthropology with Dr. Adam Gamwell | 17 Jul 2019 | 00:58:51 | |
As anthropologists, it's sometimes rare for us to think about the role that design plays in spaces and lives of the people we work with - and certainly in our food futures! This week I'm exploring the role that design plays in the production and distribution of quinoa with the super cool Dr. Adam Gamwell. Adam is a design anthropologist, or as he calls it, a design-centered human, with international experience in ethnographic and contextual research, narrative media production, cultural analysis, social strategy, and education. He is one of the co-founders of Missing Link Studios, which is a social impact agency that uses data-driven media production to create compelling stories, using podcasts, blogs, film, music, web interactions, and data journalism to do so. When he's not producing digital media, he teaching participatory design research and entrepreneurship in Boston, and is always looking for ways to meld food, design research and media. This was one of those conversations that really let me learn something in the process… I do a lot of work with communities for my PhD, and never really thought about the ways that design functions to shape food systems, or who is involved in designing these spaces. We're looking specifically today at the production and distribution of quinoa in South America, where he did his doctoral research. It's a super fascinating conversation that left me with a lot of inspiration about how we're thinking about designing food systems for our futures, and the roles that various people play in it. Learn More about Adam! | |||
| Terroir Pop-Up 2: Chef Bill Alexander | 10 Jul 2019 | 00:13:57 | |
Today's episode is one of the pop-up episodes of AnthroDish which focus in on some of the speakers and guests of the 2019 Terroir Food Symposium. These are quick mini episodes that capture some of the perspectives of folks in the food industry around the theme of choices – the choices they make within their own work and its impact on their communities, businesses, and selves. This pop-up episode focuses on the incredible Canadian Indigenous born Bill Alexander, the executive chef at Little Chief Restaurant at the Grey Eagle Resort and Casino, located on the beautiful Tsuut'ina Nation in Calgary, Alberta. Chef Bill believes that food brings people to the table, where we can talk about the necessary changes to build relationships, using cuisine to learn more about Indigenous cultures, land and food practices. Learn More about Bill Alexander:
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| 48: Food & Life Lessons from One Year of Podcasting [SOLO Episode] | 03 Jul 2019 | 00:22:21 | |
This episode is pretty meaningful for us, because we're celebrating our official one year anniversary as a podcast today! We launched our first two episodes last July 2nd, and it's been an incredible year with a lot of beautiful conversations and lessons. Today's episode is going to be a solo episode, and next week we'll resume with our regular season episodes and Terroir pop-up episodes as well. I wanted to take an episode just to share some reflections I've had now that it's been a full year of being a podcast, exploring some of the big takeaways I've learned about building a show and keeping things connected to their roots in satisfying ways. I also speak a little about my own food journey, and how this podcast has directly and indirectly caused me to shift my perspective and connections with food - tune in to learn more!
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| Terroir Pop-Up 1: Brad Bodnarchuk | 26 Jun 2019 | 00:11:36 | |
Today is the beginning of some pop-up mini episodes of AnthroDish that are focusing in on some of the speakers and guests of the Terroir Food Symposium. These are quick pop-up episodes that capture some of the perspectives of folks in the food industry around the theme of choices – the choices they make within their own work and its impact on their communities, businesses, and selves. I'm calling these pop-up podcasts because they were all done on the side of a very busy main hall during the food symposium's event day at The Carlu. I will warn you that the sound quality of these is not the best, but the conversations I shared with so many amazing food industry folks were really inspiring and worth a listen! This first pop-up episode focuses on Brad Bodnarchuk, who is the creator and host of the Half a Dozen Hospitality Podcast – we met at the pop-up podcast bar and shared the space during the day at Terroir. I couldn't have asked for a better or kinder person to work all day with - he's so passionate about his community and the work he's doing through the podcast and events around BC is really wonderful to see. Be sure to subscribe to his awesome podcast, Half a Dozen Hospitality! You can also check out his show on Instagram @bradbodnarchuk or check out his videos on YouTube! Listen in the player above to our conversation, or on iTunes, Spotify, and Stitcher!
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| 47: Live from Terroir Food Symposium | 19 Jun 2019 | 00:43:21 | |
This week's episode is an extra special (and extra fun!) one for us to share with you - we recently had the opportunity to attend the 2019 Terroir Food Symposium in Toronto, hosted by The Carlu We interviewed several guests and speakers around the theme for this year, choices. We spoke with chefs, writers, anthropologists, drink experts, academics, photographers, and more about the choices they make and how these impact their experiences and connections around food. The full versions of interviews from this event will be released over the coming weeks this summer, so stay tuned! This episode serves as an overview of some of the incredible work being done in our food and beverage industry, highlighting key issues and themes our food industry is tackling in 2019. Interviews
Half a Dozen Hospitality Videos | |||
| 146: Flavour's Role in Food System Fixes with Franco Fubini | 12 Mar 2025 | 00:36:39 | |
The idea of industrial food systems is flat, heavy, and feels complex to access. It brings up connotations of very bland, hyper-processed foods made to reach a large number of people at a low cost. There are important consequences to these food systems choices, though some are louder ones than others. My guest today, Franco Fubini, tackles an often under-appreciated one: flavours of ingredients. Franco Fubini is the founder and CEO of Natoora, and takes a unique approach to seasonality and sourcing for chefs and consumers across London, Paris, Milan, Copenhagen, Malmo, New York, LA, Miami, and Melbourne. He is also a professor of Sustainability Management at Columbia University in NYC. Franco is driven by his belief that engaging people with the real flavour of fruits and vegetables, arguing that we can collectively transform how food is being farmed and supplied if we focus more on a supply chain rooted in flavour, transparency, and direct relationships. He is also the author of In Search of the Perfect Peach: Why Flavour Holds the Answer to Fixing Our Food System. In today's episode, we look at the role that flavour plays in our food systems, and how flavour's decline has been connected to wartime economies and contemporary agricultural systems. Franco speaks to the work he's doing through Natoora, and how both old and new strategies are needed to model more sustainable, resilient, and locally-grounded food systems for the future. Learn More About Franco
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| 46: From Food Industry to Food Hero with K80 Jones | 05 Jun 2019 | 01:12:36 | |
I am incredibly excited to kick start our THIRD season today, complete with a brand new theme song by Lukas Wojcicki! SO with that all being said, let me introduce this week's guest: K80 Jones of one of MY favourite shows, Food Heroes Podcast! K80 and I established a friendship over social media pretty early on when I started AnthroDish, and we've been each other's cheerleaders ever since. It's always incredibly cool to establish a connection with someone so far away and then have it turn into a real, tangible conversation around food, something we're both very passionate about! For those of you who do not know K80, she is an innovator and self-proclaimed food geek with over a decade of experience in the food industry. She created new product categories while working as a Food Technologist in the Organic and Natural food industry. Her concern for the future of food led to the creation of the Food Heroes Podcast. Today on AnthroDish, we're exploring K80's passion for positive conversation around food systems and sustainability. We explore her past in the food industry and how that's helped to fuel her show and the themes she tackles on it. We also have a really cool chat about what it's like hosting and creating food podcasts, so if you've ever had questions for K80 or I about what it's like creating these shows or some of our thought processes while we interview, stay tuned for that too! Many thanks to K80, it's such a pleasure to connect with fellow podcasters around the topic of food, and I really enjoyed getting to know the woman behind the show more! Listen to the episode in the player above, or find us on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, and iHeartRadio! Get Social with K80!
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| 45: Behind the Scenes with Sarah and Lukas | 07 May 2019 | 01:03:33 | |
In a special episode to wind down Season 2, host Sarah Duignan and sound producer Lukas Wojcicki are doing a super fun behind the scenes episode! We put out a call for questions on social media last week, and tried to answer most of your questions about our process of starting the show, some of the learning curves and ways in which our own understandings of food have changed since we first launched the podcast in July 2018. We also highlight some of our personal favourite episodes, and drop some hints about what to expect in season 3! AnthroDish will be on a break for May, with regular Season 3 interviews starting up again June 4th. Until then, we might have a couple of surprise mini-episodes coming your way! Thanks for listening as always, and be sure to drop us a line on social media, we always love hearing from this wonderful food community! | |||
| 44: Latinx Navigations of Diet, Health, and Illness in Chicago with Dr. Lilian Milanes | 01 May 2019 | 00:33:42 | |
My guest this week is Dr. Lilian Milanes, an assistant professor of Anthropology at William Paterson University in New Jersey. As a Floridian Cuban-American, she received her B.S. in anthropology from the University of Central Florida and earned her PhD in anthropology at the University of Kentucky. As a medical anthropologist, Dr. Milanes focuses on the various contexts of health inequities in the US, especially surrounding Latinx communities. Her dissertation research emphasized health narratives of Chicago Latinx in their experiences with diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol. As a product of various mentoring villages, she is passionate about supporting undergraduate research opportunities and community engaged research. I was first introduced to Dr. Milanes work at the AAA meetings this past November in San Jose, and was completely struck by her research, as she was speaking on some of the difficult negotiations and dietary shifts experienced by Latinx communities with respect to chronic health conditions. We speak today on some of the themes she brought up in her AAA talk. We unpack how Latinx communities can get homogenized in health strategies and guidelines, and how communities and researchers are working to create more contextual and culturally specific dialogues to help improve access to healthcare. Dr. Milanes is someone I admire a lot, and it was so wonderful being able to speak with her and learn more about her work. Check out the full episode in the player above, or on any major podcast platform! Get Social with Dr. Milanes! Humboldt Park Ethnographies/Reading Recommendations
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| 42: Sustainable Viticulture and Natural Wine with Emily Harman | 16 Apr 2019 | 00:39:25 | |
This week I'm speaking with the very cool Emily Harman, a sommelier and wine consultant. Emily is the independent owner of VinaLupa, a sommelier consultancy which she began in 2015 by working with restaurants and hotels in London England, advising them on aspects relating to wine and providing training to food and beverage teams. Since then, the business has grown and expanded, now reaching across a number of countries and markets in the UK, Germany, and USA. She is also one of the hosts and creators of JUICE podcast, an entertaining and accessible podcast in which Emily and her co-host Guen Douglas share stories, knowledge, and banter on their favourite bottles of wine. Today we explore the topic of natural wines and sustainability with a bit more depth – she kindly explains what the term "natural wine" encompasses, some of the challenges and benefits to these modes of production, and the integral role of farming and landscape. She also explores what makes our current era such a fascinating and fun time to be a wine consultant, and the ways wine culture is shifting for the better. For those of you listening who may be a bit daunted by the subject, Emily is wonderful at breaking down the hurdles of language and the broadness of the topic in a clear and fun way! Resources:
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| 43: Can We Really Have a Global Diet? with Dr. Sarah Rotz | 15 Apr 2019 | 00:53:45 | |
I came across this week's guest on Twitter and was so grateful for it, because her perspective and research on food systems is a complete inspiration. I'm interviewing Dr. Sarah Rotz, a postdoctoral fellow in the department of Geography at Queens University, as part of the CIHR funded "A SHARED Future" project. Sarah has a PhD in geography from the University of Guelph and has published on topics ranging from the political economy of farmland tenure and critical perspectives of big data in agriculture, to the ways that settler-colonial logics and gendered narratives uphold extractive practices and relationships on the land. As a settler-scholar-activist, Sarah's work focuses on political ecologies of land and food systems, settler colonial patriarchy, and concepts of sovereignty and justice related to food, water, energy and the ecosystems that support them. Her current research critically explores how settler and Indigenous relationships are emerging through land-based, Indigenous food and energy sovereignty projects across Canada. We're focusing this conversation around the idea of a global diet or globalized food systems. Given Sarah's unique perspective and research on food systems as they relate to ideas of power, colonialism, and Indigenous sovereignty, I was really excited to speak with her on the strengths and limits to globalized food systems approaches. I definitely have a tendency to become somewhat negative or in my head when it comes to thinking about solutions and changes to our relationships with food and land, and Sarah shares some incredible perspectives and ways to navigate how we feel and emotionally connect with food systems. Check out the episode in the player above, or download on any major podcast platform! Resources:
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| 41: The Neurobiology of Eating Disorders with Dr. Jillian Lampert | 09 Apr 2019 | 00:50:36 | |
If you've been listening to AnthroDish for a while, you know that the topic of disordered eating is one that holds tremendous meaning for myself both personally and from a research perspective. I am always passionate about exploring the spectrum of eating disorders with experts and had the privilege of interviewing Dr. Jillian Lampert on the neurobiology of disordered eating. Jillian is the Chief Strategy Officer for the Emily Program, a US-based program that is recognized for its compassionate and personalized approach to eating disorder awareness, treatment, and lifetime recovery. She is also the co-founder of the Residential Eating Disorders Consortium, and the Treasurer for Eating Disorders Coalition. If you ask Jillian what her goal in life is, she says its to raise her 14 year old daughter to grow up loving herself. So basically, she's awesome. It is clear when Jillian speaks that she has a passion for sharing her story and educating others about eating disorders. In our conversation, we discuss which sorts of people are more vulnerable to develop eating disorders. She explores how we have varied responses to hunger and satiation, and how that impacts our behaviours around eating. Something I really appreciate about her as a science communicator is her ability to break down neurobiological research in an engaging way, so I am excited for you to hear about all the cool work she's been a part of. Learn more about Jillian!
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| 40: Recreating Ancient Roman Foods with Farrell Monaco | 01 Apr 2019 | 00:49:53 | |
I'm sure it comes as no surprise that when I was a kid I was completely obsessed with ancient Rome, given that I've gone on to work in anthropology. So this week's interview was an absolute dream come true for me, as I was finally able to explore these worlds with someone who knows ancient Rome so well! I'm speaking with Farrell Monaco, who is an archaeologist, baker, and food intaker. Farrell's work centres on foodways, food preparation, and food related ceramics in the Roman Mediterranean. Farrell takes archaeology a step further, and is well known for her experimental archaeology projects, where she painstakingly recreates Roman recipes using instruction and ingredients sourced from the archaeological record. When possible, she uses original Roman food preparation and cooking technologies as well. Farrell focuses on the sensory aspects of Roman food preparation itself to better understand the labour, sights, smells, textures, and flavour profiles. Her recreations are published on her wildly successful food blog, Tavola Mediterranea and have been featured online by institutions such as The British Museum, the Penn Museum, covered by the BBC, Atlas Obscura, Radio New Zealand, and Heritage Radio Network. She frequently hosts edible archaeology workshops and lectures, most recently hosting workshops at Taste of Rome in Rome, and Terroir Tuscany food symposium. Recently, she has worked as a team member on Roman Food archaeology projects with CEIPAC at Monte Testaccio, The Pompeii Food and Drink Project, and the Porta Samo Necropolis Project. Each project has provided critical data and insights into Classical Roman daily life, economy, politics, foodways and cultural identity. I've been following her journey for a while through Tavola Mediterranea and it is such a pleasure to be able to unpack and discuss the ways in which food — and particularly bread — played such an integral role in the economy, culture, and lives of people living in ancient Pompeii, and explore the ways these histories have unfolded and influenced our current cultures. Listen in the player above, or find on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, and iHeartRadio! Get Social with Farrell:
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| 39: Edible Insects and Human Evolution with Dr. Julie Lesnik | 26 Mar 2019 | 00:38:43 | |
Why do some cultures get squeamish at the idea of eating bugs when other cultures use them as dietary staples? There are a lot of biases, particularly for Western folks, about what animals are and are not edible, and my guest this week, Dr. Julie Lesnik, is here to unpack these cultural attitudes around edible insects! Julie is from Wayne State University in Detroit Michigan and researches the evolution of the human diet. She focuses particularly on the role of insects as food. She is the author of the book Edible Insects and Human Evolution and recently launched a fabulous and fun science communication channel on YouTube called Octopus & Ape. The show brings Julie's love of all things life-science outside of the classroom and to the broader public in a fun and informative way. I'll admit going into this interview, I had a lot of biases around the idea of edible insects because of growing up as a Westerner, and Julie is great at pushing folks to think more about the powerful cultural, political, social, environmental dimensions to eating bugs. We also explore what she describes as the ugly history that Westerners have when it comes to their relationships with bugs, and she unpacks some of the harmful ways colonialism has influenced not just our own perspectives on edible insects, but negatively impacted other cultures to present day. Check out the full episode in the player above, or download on any major podcasting platform! Resources Get Social with Dr. Lesnik!
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| 38: LGBQ+ Health and Food Security with James Gibb | 18 Mar 2019 | 00:39:31 | |
Food security is a topic that's very close to my heart, in part because of how complex and varied experiences of food access, affordability, and availability can be. This week, we're breaking down food security amongst LGBTQ+ communities with James Gibb. James is currently a human biology graduate student at the University of Toronto, whose research focuses on the biocultural forces affecting health and wellbeing for sexual and gender minorities (SGMs). In this interview, we explore the ways in which food and diet impact health outcomes for sexual and gender minorities. Nutrition is an important factor that influences individual risk for a number of non-communicable diseases, specifically in preventing morbidity and premature mortality. Despite food insecurity being linked to a number of physical and mental health outcomes, James has found that there is little research hon the nature of nutritional health for SGMs. We explore some of the reasons that these gaps in research and health programming exist, and James makes some suggestions about how we can start to connect nutrition, health, and the social processes of stigma, isolation, and discrimination for SGM communities. | |||
| 37: William Lucas on Indigenous Food Transitions and Health in Rural Guatemala | 11 Mar 2019 | 00:39:49 | |
What really happens when a community undergoes a dietary transition, or shift? When speaking about Indigenous communities and their health, we often think of nutritional transitions as linear, and uncomplicated. But is this really a fair assessment of reality? This week I'm speaking with William Lucas, a medical anthropology PhD student at the University of South Florida. His research has explored issues of Latino community health topics such as food and nutrition, diabetes, HIV, and Hepatitis C. His current doctoral work integrates these through syndemics research, where he analyzes the interactions between nutrition, disease, and other social and cultural factors in Guatemala, a country which experiences some of the highest rates of childhood stunting worldwide. Originally from Los Angeles, California, William developed his anthropological interests through his exposure to food deserts and swamps, issues of community violence, and other social determinants of health, as well as an interest in how overall health is implicated in all these areas of research. In our interview, we explore his work with a remote Q'eqchi' Maya community in Guatemala. We explore nutritional transitions and the internal and external mechanisms that influence community attitudes about what constitutes healthy or unhealthy food, and how Western-style processed foods are perceived. William's work is very unique in that there are some interesting attitudes around the idea of what healthy food looks like, and how this plays out for other health conditions for the Q'eqchi'. Resources | |||
| 145: Exploring the Biodiversity of Climate-Smart Crops with Shreema Mehta | 04 Mar 2025 | 00:25:39 | |
Industrial food systems tend to use mono-crop and unilinear approaches to supplying the Global North with food. But what happens when we consider more diverse crops? My guest today, Shreema Mehta, will discuss the traditional, climate-smart crops that are overlooked by the industrial food system. She started Climate Cookery selling tamarind hot sauce and has since expanded it to a newsletter that explores increasing biodiversity and supporting knowledge of underutilized crops. Resources:
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| 36: FEAST - Exploring Canadian Identities through Food with Lindsay Anderson and Dana VanVeller | 05 Mar 2019 | 00:35:51 | |
A topic that I feel we haven't REALLY explored the way I'd like to is Canada's food identity. And that's something that my guests this week, Lindsay Anderson and Dana VanVeller know an awful lot about! Lindsay and Dana are authors and freelance food writers based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Their award-winning culinary travel blog, edibleroadtrip.com launched in 2013 and went on to win a Saveur Best Food Blog Award. In 2017, they published their debut cookbook, Feast: Recipes and Stories from a Canadian Road Trip through Appetite by Random House. It quickly became a bestseller, and was awarded the Taste Canada Gold Award for Regional and Cultural Cookbooks. Their latest project saw them travelling to Nunavut as consultants on a country food cookbook with the Department of Fisheries and Sealing. In our interview, they speak to what makes the foods and cuisines in Canada just so diverse and complex, and they highlight some of their experiences during their road trip and cookbook writing process. They even explore their more recent project working in Nunavut a bit and share the ways in which their connections with food have grown through time. These women are such talented storytellers and they made me really think about what Canadian cuisines are and how that shapes our identities. Resources: Website: www.edibleroadtrip.com Instagram: @feast_on | |||
| 35: Mental Health and Wellbeing in the Food Industry with Hassel Aviles | 26 Feb 2019 | 00:39:39 | |
As someone who's worked in the food industry and has a partner and many friends that still work in the industry, the topic of mental wellbeing in these intense environments is of great importance to me and a topic I'm always keen to explore on the show. My guest this week is someone who has done a terrific job creating a space in these environments for conversations around mental health and addictions. I'm speaking Hassel Aviles, a Toronto native with over 20 years of culinary experience in the food and beverage industry, specifically focused on restaurants, events, and entrepreneurship. Hassel founded the Toronto Underground Market (or TUM) in 2011, which is a community festival turned incubator designed for food entrepreneurs, chefs, and home cooks. TUM was attended by thousands each month, and produced enormous tourism for Toronto, birthing over three dozen food brands in the GTA (including restaurants, celebrity chefs, food trucks, and catering companies). She leveraged TUM to launch and co-found the successful and delicious La Carnita, which is now a global restaurant franchises. In addition, Hassel is the co-founder of Not 9 to 5 with Chef Ariel Coplan. Not 9 to 5 is a Canadian non-profit focused on normalizing the mental health and addiction conversations while providing connections to resources for those working in the food and beverage industry. In our interview, we explore her experiences creating and growing Not 9 to 5, and discuss the reasons that this particular food industry culture is such an important place to tackle conversations around mental health and addictions. Here is my interview with Hassel. Not 9 to 5
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| 34: Exploring Food and Stress at the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site with David Ebert & Dr. Amy Scott | 19 Feb 2019 | 01:01:54 | |
This week's episode is extra special, as we have TWO phenomenal guests on: Dr. David Ebert and Dr. Amy Scott are here to talk about life and food at the Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia! This episode runs a bit longer than most, because I wanted to weave together multiple ways of looking at and celebrating the past, and the role that the past plays for contemporary Canadians. Louisbourg is truly one of the most magical places I've been to, and Amy and David play a huge role in why I love the Fortress so much. In the first part of the episode, I speak with David Ebert, who is part of the management team for Parks Canada's Cape Breton team and the Fortress of Louisbourg. We explore the history of the Fortress, and he discusses what makes it such a fascinating part of Canadian and French history. David paints a vivid picture of what food and life were life for residents of the fortress during the 1700s, and the ways food is used now to make modern visits to the Fortress sensorial and interactive (aka super fun!) During the second part, I speak with Dr. Amy Scott, an anthropology professor from the University of New Brunswick, and the project director of the bioarchaelogy field school at the Fortress. Dr. Scott has teamed up with Parks Canada for a long-term rescue archaeology project designed to document and protect the burial grounds out at Rochefort Point, where the shoreline has retreated about 90m in the past 300 years. I speak with Amy about the bioarchaeology side of things – we look at how we can learn about individual lives, stresses, health, mobility and diet just from their skeletal remains and burial context! Parks Canada creates such an immersive experience and Amy's UNB team does a fabulous job connecting with the public and engaging in dialogues about climate change in Canada and how it impacts not only our present but our past. It was such an honour to speak with these two about their work because they're both so passionate and engaging! Resources Fortress of Louisbourg Association: http://www.fortressoflouisbourg.ca/ Parks Canada Website: https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/lhn-nhs/ns/louisbourg UNB Bioarch Website: http://unb.ca/bioarchaeology Field School on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unbbioarchaeologyfieldschool/ Field School on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/unbbioarchaeologyfieldschool/ | |||
| 33: Sugar & Tension - Exploring Type 2 Diabetes and Gendered Health in New Delhi with Dr. Jo Weaver | 11 Feb 2019 | 00:45:14 | |
What happens when someone gets diagnosed with type 2 diabetes? What happens after to that person's connections with their culture, identity, and family? This week we're exploring the connections between type 2 diabetes and gender for women living in New Delhi with Dr. Jo Weaver. Dr. Weaver is an assistant professor in the department of International Studies at the University of Oregon. She is a biocultural medical anthropologist, who's research addresses chronic diseases, mental health, and food insecurity in India and Brazil. She also co-hosts the podcast Speaking of Race (another fantastic show sponsored by the AAAs). In our interview, Dr. Weaver highlights some of her key findings from her research with women managing type 2 diabetes in India. She explores the strong connections between cultural identity, gender roles, mental wellbeing and dietary shifts that these women experience after their diagnoses, and the connections between the lived experiences of these women and some of the biochemical markers for stress that she found during her studies. Dr. Weaver very poignantly sums up the complexity of diabetes as a social disease in this interview, and I'm excited for you to learn as much from her as I did. Resources: Dr. Weaver's Book, Sugar and Tension: Diabetes and Gender in Modern India | |||
| 32: Escape to Reality - Food, Growing, and Starting a Business with Ben Cullen | 05 Feb 2019 | 00:45:15 | |
I've known this week's guest, Ben Cullen, for a number of years, and am always excited to talk food with him at any gathering we're at. So naturally he's been someone I've wanted to bring on the show for quite a while! Ben is the owner of the recently launched Cullen's Foods, and a fourth-generation urban gardener. As the son of expert gardener Mark Cullen, Ben has worked with his father his whole life, but officially joined Mark full-time in January 2017. Together they write a weekly column for the Toronto Star on horticulture, and have a new book out, Escape to Reality: How the World is Changing Gardening, and How Gardening is Changing the World. On the show, Ben discusses what makes gardening such an important tool to actively reimagine more sustainable, healthy, and happier futures. Ben has a unique perspective on the food world, as he spent some time working in the food industry following his agricultural education. We explore the nuances of these dual identities and the implications they have for his business, along with how he uses this knowledge to increase accountability and sustainability of food business in local spheres. I love talking with Ben because we come to the idea of food sustainability from two different lenses. I think this is important, given the echo chambers of social media: it's easy to get caught up in ideas and spheres that make us comfortable… and the ideas in commerce and business certainly don't come naturally to a biocultural anthropologist like me! When we're thinking about anti-consumerist futures, it's important to look at how different backgrounds and experiences can help shape these futures together. Enjoy the episode in the web player above, or download on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, Google Play, or iHeartRadio. Resources:
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| 31: Sparking Joy in Nutrition & Wellbeing for Kids with Haile Thomas | 29 Jan 2019 | 00:31:28 | |
I'd be lying if I didn't say I was extra-excited to share this week's interview with you! I'm speaking this week with the remarkable Haile Thomas, an 18-year-old international speaker, health activist, vegan food and lifestyle influencer, and the youngest Certified Integrative Health Coach in the United States. Haile is the founder and CEO of the non-profit HAPPY (Healthy, Active, Positive, Purposeful Youth). She founded HAPPY at age 12 to address the need for free and affordable plant-based nutrition and culinary education in under-served and at-risk communities, as well as in schools and through annual summer camps. Haile has personally engaged over 15, 000 kids and thousands of adults around the world since she began her activism in 2010. She was inspired to pursue this passion after her family successfully reversed her father's type-2 diabetes without the use of medication, only with healthy eating and lifestyle choices, and upon learning that kids were increasingly being diagnosed with conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. All of Haile's programs, projects, and initiatives are geared towards engaging, educating, and empowering young people to make healthy lifestyle choices and live their best lives. Haile and her work have been featured on the Today Show, Food Network, CNN, Buzzfeed, MTV, NowThis, Dr. Oz, Teen Vogue, Fortune, O Magazine, and the Experience Magazine… to name a few! In our discussion, Haile shares her experiences founding and running HAPPY, and how to spark a joy and curiosity in kids around food and nutrition (yes, even picky eaters!). She speaks to how her own business and personal connection to food has grown with her through time, and how that's impacted her business goals and desires. We also discuss what makes folks in her generation so successful in being advocates for social justice and equity on the world stage. Haile is a woman I am constantly inspired by, and it was a true delight to be able to speak with her for this episode! Resources:
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| 30: Immigrant Visibility in Food Systems with Vanessa Garcia Polanco | 21 Jan 2019 | 00:49:18 | |
When we think of what a food system is, we tend to think of it as a static structure, rather than a complex system of people working at different levels, or the diversity of communities working towards sustaining foodways. This week, we're discussing how to create more diverse and equitable food systems in America with Vanessa Garcia Polanco. Vanessa is a current graduate student in Community Sustainability at Michigan State University, and an immigrant from the Dominican Republic. She is an alumna of the Food Solutions New England Network Leadership Institute and the University of Rhode Island. As a member of Food Solutions New England and the Northeast Sustainable Agriculture Working Group, Vanessa has served at the local, state, and regional levels to promote democratic empowerment, racial equity, and visibility of immigrants in food systems. She worked as a chair for communications and outreach at the Rhode Island Food Policy Council and as a program assistant at the URI Cooperative Extension. In our discussion, we explore the idea of what a food system is and the limitations of the term, the ways in which language and actions in food studies can disempower or disenfranchise people of colour and immigrants' agency, and how Vanessa challenges these ideas with her own research and writing. I first came across her work on Twitter through a hashtag she started called #FoodJusticeFridays and was struck by her activism and perspectives on the food system, so I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to talk with her – as I'm sure she's going to be out changing food policy and economics one day not so far from now! Resources: A Foodie's Guide to Capitalism by Eric Holt Giménez Food Solutions New England 21 Day Racial Equity Challenge Farming While Black by Leah Penniman To Serve a Larger Purpose Get Social with Vanessa! Twitter: @vpgvisions Vanessa's Website: http://vgp1996.wixsite.com/vanessagarciapolanco Hashtags to Follow: #foodjusticefridays #dominicanfoodstudies #foodisneverjustfood | |||
| 29: YouTubing and Food Storytelling with Katie Quinn | 15 Jan 2019 | 00:46:25 | |
One medium I take a lot of inspiration from in terms of food storytelling is YouTube (as I'm sure many of you do as well!). Personally, it was the first platform that made me connect to cooking in a fun and accessible way, and reduced my fear of learning about the kitchen. Today we're talking all about video creation and food storytelling with one of my favourite YouTubers, Katie Quinn of the QKatie channel. Katie is a video journalist, host, and cookbook author. Katie's YouTube channel has over 3 million views, and her slogan is #keepitquirky because she thinks life is more enjoyable when you don't take yourself too seriously. An Ohioan turned Brooklynite, Katie was based out of NYC for the past nine years. She has talked about food on NBC'S Today Show, as a contestant on the Food Network's "Chopped" and as a judge on Beat Bobby Flay. Katie attended Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in Paris and is the author of the "Avocados" cookbook. Katie is currently based out of London, England, where any day of the week you can find her recording videos and finding new adventures or experimenting with new recipes. She is also the host of the delightful and refreshing Keep It Quirky podcast. This interview with Katie was such a lovely way to start of the new year. We explore the many ways we can tell food stories through different mediums both digitally and with television, and how her connection to food transcends into how she connects with people and shares her story. We explore her experiences in culinary school and the influences these had on how she shared her own stories through video journalism, and the ways she feels her creativity has shifted and grown from cooking into a diverse array of platforms. It's always exciting for me to dig deeper into the places and values food holds for us, and Katie really opened up to exploring these with me in the interview. This lead us through how different mediums shape the stories we tell and the audiences we speak to! Her approach to food and cooking is infused with her Keep It Quirky slogan, and it was a dream to be able to speak with her about the ways her connection with food has developed and grown as her QKatie brand has also evolved over the years. Get Social with Katie! Katie's Website: https://www.katie-quinn.com/ QKatie on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSprAO1TNhIk6yz_pdhQK-w Keep it Quirky Podcast: http://keepitquirkypodcast.com/ @qkatie for Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook | |||
| 28: The Dirt on Neanderthal Diets with Dr. Anna Goldfield | 08 Jan 2019 | 00:59:30 | |
AnthroDish is back and ready to kick off the new year and new season! We have a lot of really amazing interviews in store for you. I want to start off the new season with a topic that I find endlessly fascinating: Neanderthals! I'm speaking this week with Dr. Anna Goldfield about what Neanderthal diets looked like and how that impacted their lives. Anna is a zooarchaeologist whose PhD research focused on Neanderthal nutrition and subsistence behaviour. In addition to all of her super cool research, Anna is one of the co-hosts of one of my favourite new podcasts, The Dirt, where she and co-host Amber get excited about all the weird, amazing, mysterious, and fascinating stories from our human past. In this interview, we explore what Neanderthal diets generally would have looked like by breaking down some of the major findings of her doctoral work. She analyzed the faunal remains from Neanderthal (Middle Paleolithic) and anatomically modern human (Upper Paleolithic) archaeological sites to understand how these two populations used the food resources around them. What emerges is an interesting and nuanced understanding of what their diets might have looked like, and what food-related practices might have contributed to their extinction. Listen to the episode in the player above, or find it on Stitcher, iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, or iHeartRadio! And if you love AnthroDish, please drop us a line or leave us a rating and review on iTunes! Resources Mentioned: Adam Rutherford's A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived Anna's SAPIENS Column: https://www.sapiens.org/column/field-trips/ John D Speff's Paper, "Putrid Meat and Fish in the Eurasian Middle and Upper Paleolithic: Are We Missing a Key Part of Neanderthal and Modern Human Diet?": http://www.paleoanthro.org/media/journal/content/PA20170044.pdf Get Social with Anna:
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| 27: Solo Episode -- Reflections on the 2018 Season | 18 Dec 2018 | 00:31:06 | |
I'm not going to lie - I took a break from interviewing this November to avoid burning out. I didn't want to resent having to interview people (when I truly LOVE connecting with them), and I didn't want to just ask the same questions on repeat without a positive energy coming through. So that meant relying on the episodes I had banked, and also means you get a solo episode from me today! A good friend of mine operates by a "So What? Who Cares?" approach to her research and work, and I've quickly adopted that to sharpen the impact and relevance of my own work. This solo episode centres some of the main lessons and thoughts I've had about AnthroDish using the So What/Who Cares approach. It occurred to me this past month that I don't really share my own thoughts or reflections on the show the way that other podcast hosts do. Part of that is intentional, as I like to let these interviews speak to the ideas and issues I'm passionate about - but I thought it would be fun to put together some key takeaways I've personally had to wrap up the 2018 season, and share some of the changes I'm considering for the 2019 season. With that being said, AnthroDish will be going on a two week HIATUS after this episode - I speak a lot about slowing down and connecting with the land and food we eat, but I've found myself rushing around a lot more lately, and want to remember to practice this myself. We'll be back on air January 8th, 2019 for the new season, and starting off with a super exciting interview with one of the co-hosts from The Dirt Podcast! So let me know your thoughts about the 2018 season on social media - what did you love/like/dislike, what themes do you really wish we explored, or what guests do you think would be great additions to the show? I so value the connections I've made since starting this show, and I want to honour what YOU as listeners want to hear from this show as much as I can for 2019. Until then - I hope you enjoy this solo episode and time with your families for the holiday season. I know it can get stressful and busy (coming from a mum who's daughter was born on Christmas Day), but always remember that you can slow down, say no to parties or events that don't really feed your soul in any meaningful way, and focus your time on the people you really want to celebrate life with, whoever that community may be! | |||
| 144: The Rich History of Georgian Wines with Sarah May Grunwald | 25 Feb 2025 | 00:53:55 | |
When it comes to wine, I have a tendency to retreat and panic: I don't know anything, and I certainly don't feel like I have the means to access the knowledge. I often wonder if that's a common experience for people, based on the connotations that come with its consumption. My guest this week, Sarah May Grunwald, is someone I find quite admirable for the barriers she breaks down in communication about wine and winemaking practices. Sarah May Grunwald is a wine, food, and travel writer originally from California. She is a certified sommelier, WSET level 3 certificate holder, and former professor of wine. Sarah practices permaculture and keeps bees in the Roman countryside, where she produces olive oil and has seven rescue dogs and five cats. She leads wine and food tours in Rome and the country of Georgia and co-owns a Tbilisi-based food and wine tour company called Taste Georgia. She has been working in Georgia since 2014. Today, she's on the show to discuss Georgian wines' rich, deep, and fascinating history. Despite more attention being given to Italian or French traditions of wine, Sarah May taught me that wine's birthplace is long considered to be in Georgia during the Neolithic. What makes us skip over this key piece of wine history? We explore the role of the qvervi vessel in the specific practices of winemaking in Georgia. These sociopolitical and geographic influences have informed how and where Georgian wine is made, and delve into the future of winemaking with climate change. Learn More About Sarah May Grunwald:
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| 26: Reconnecting to Family Foods through Allergies with Kalyn Fantasia | 11 Dec 2018 | 00:54:06 | |
I first met this week's guest, Kalyn Fantasia, at a dinner party hosted by a mutual friend (shoutout to Sarah Van Den Berg!). The theme of the party was "Identities," so we spent much of the evening moving from a group of relative strangers to friends that shared thoughts about their identities from the depths of their hearts. When Kalyn shared her stories and experiences (all while kneading dough to make fresh gnocchi), I was immediately impressed by her strong connection to her history and cultures, and the ways she negotiated these while having many intolerances and allergies - and thankfully, she was happy to share these stories with you this week! Born and raised in Toronto, she is a multi-hyphenated artist/manager (depending on what day you ask her!) and she is an artist manager for local Canadian bands, as well as a photographer, amateur painter, and homemade foodie. As a long time allergy kid with a growing list of food intolerances, Kalyn had always had a strong connection to the food she ate and a stronger understanding of the effects of food on her body. She spends at least 3 hours a day in the kitchen and finds pleasure in putting in the work to create comforting meals she can eat without worry. She's been recently exploring the ways in which family history, food, and identity are related, and how these interconnect with modern food and modern food intolerances. This conversation reflects her passions and interest in exploring all of these interconnections, and it felt like such a privilege to interview Kalyn about this. | |||
| 25: Eating Disorder Recovery with Dr. Andrea LaMarre | 04 Dec 2018 | 00:39:30 | |
With the holidays comes many social gatherings that are often centred around food. For some this may be filled with joy, but for others, this may cause a lot of stress and anxiety around eating or body image. That's why this week, I'm speaking with Dr. Andrea LaMarre on eating disorder recovery and health ay any size. Based out of Guelph, Ontario, Andrea is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Propel Centre for Population Health Impact at the University of Waterloo. She recently earned her PhD at the University of Guelph, where she studied eating disorder recovery from the perspectives of people in recovery and their supporters. In this episode we speak about experiences of eating disorders and recovery, and Andrea breaks down some of the common assumptions surrounding these experiences – about what an eating disorder looks like conventionally, what bodies and experiences are legitimized and which are often left out, and ways in which researchers like her are challenging the social, cultural, and psychological barriers to accessing recovery. She's doing incredibly important work with thoughtful and engaging approaches for communities, and I think it's important to speak more to the diverse ways disordered eating can manifest in our lives and bodies - particularly during times of the year where we have less control or agency over what we eat. Listen to the episode in the player above, or download on any major platform! Get Social with Andrea: Twitter: @andrealala Instagram: @andrealamarre Website: www.andrealamarre.com Some of the many folks whose work has inspired Andrea: People who do work on dismantling body oppression: Deb Burgard: http://www.bodypositive.com/ Desirée Adaway: http://desireeadaway.com/ Sonya Renée Taylor: https://www.sonyareneetaylor.com/ Virgie Tovar: https://www.virgietovar.com/ Be Nourished: https://benourished.org/ Nalgona Positivity Pride: https://www.nalgonapositivitypride.com/ Marcella Raimondo: http://www.marcellaedtraining.com/ Carmen Cool: http://www.carmencool.com/ Karin Hitselberger: https://themighty.com/u/karin-hitselberger/ Corbett O'Toole: https://www.corbettotoole.com/ Kaley Roosen: https://twitter.com/kaleyroosen?lang=en Carla Rice: http://www.carlarice.ca/ Cocimientos: http://nedic.ca/provider/9895-cocimientos
Some eating disorder scholars who inspire me: Rebecca Lester: https://artsci.wustl.edu/faculty-staff/rebecca-lester Helen Malson: https://people.uwe.ac.uk/Person/HelenMalson Karin Eli: https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/people/540 Paula Saukko: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/socialsciences/staff/paula-saukko/
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| 24: Seafood Fraud and Ocean Health with Andrew Lewin of Speak Up for Blue | 27 Nov 2018 | 00:53:58 | |
As someone who researches water quality and health outside of this podcast, I've been wanting to explore the connections between water and food on AnthroDish for quite some time. This week we're finally diving into this theme (heh…sorry) with Andrew Lewin, a marine ecologist and the founder of the website and podcast Speak Up For Blue. A self proclaimed oceanpreneur, Andrew helps people become more aware of issues facing the ocean and helps guide them to make more environmentally and ocean-conscious choices. As the CEO of Speak up for Blue media and communications, he is building a network of podcasts on marine science and conservation. In this interview, we explore the ways that climate change and ocean health interact with human fishing economies and vice versa. We break down what exactly a seafood tax deficit is and what it means for local marine systems, the impact of the Trump administration on marine system health in America, and explore the important emerging issue of seafood fraud and what that means for fish consumers. Andrew is great at breaking down the complex ways that politics and biology interact in fishing economies - this is certainly something I found daunting at first, but he does a wonderful job explaining these ideas in engaging ways. Resources: Documentaries (Available on Netflix!):
News:
Get Social with Andrew! Twitter: https://twitter.com/speakupforblue | |||