A better food system starts with one thing: vision. Food Lab Talk gives global food system changemakers a platform to articulate their vision for the future of food.
The series features interviews with inspiring individuals who are working on the frontlines of many of our most pressing food issues: reducing food loss and waste, enhancing food system transparency, facilitating shifts toward more balanced plant-forward diets, enabling informed individual choices for sustainable lifestyles, and accelerating the transition to a circular food economy.
Join Google’s Michiel Bakker to meet the leaders taking bold action and answering what each of us can do to create a better food system for us all.
Site
RSS
Apple
Recent rankings
Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.
Shared links between episodes and podcasts
Links found in episode descriptions and other podcasts that share them.
A food systems policy expert and social impact entrepreneur, Deb Eschmeyer has dedicated her career to the betterment of society. From co-founding the national nonprofit Food Corps, to serving as Executive Director of Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” initiative, and driving change in the food industry, her efforts have permanently influenced the way we think about food and health. In this episode, Deb shares her journey as a changemaker emphasizing agility and persistence, finding your “zone of genius”, and balancing perspectives and patience to achieve long-term change.
Deb Eschmeyer: “Don't take no for an answer and just keep pushing and speaking up and showing up. And it’s sometimes really uncomfortable. There's so many people who don't like public speaking. There's so many people who are brilliant and just have fabulous ideas… Speak up, show up, and develop lines of empathy. To be a better change maker is to understand all the different avenues of change it takes to get things done.”
00:00 Intro to Deb
01:44 From farmhouse to the White House: be relentless, speak up, show up
06:30 How empathy and a diverse set of experiences can help you find your “zone of genius”
09:21 Why school nutrition reform can spark system-wide change
13:03 Focusing on the long view and the direction of travel
15:35 Embracing collective responsibility to drive meaningful systems change
18:20 Complexity and the impending food crisis
21:01 Why trust, accountability, and collaboration are key to impactful change
25:10 Deb’s advice: embrace uncomfortable spaces, focus on your strengths, and keep pushing forward
*The views expressed by the guests in this podcast don't necessarily represent the host’s views, nor those of his employer.
32. Olivia Thomas, Boston Medical Center and Rewire Health
Episode 32
Thursday, April 25, 2024 • Duration 34:25
Olivia Thomas is a registered dietitian, entrepreneur, and the co-founder of “Rewire Health”, a culinary medicine platform that simplifies healthy home cooking and expands access to teaching kitchens. In this episode, Olivia shares her experiences building a culinary medicine startup, including how active listening and a multidisciplinary approach can lead to impact-focused solutions.
Olivia Thomas: “We need to be focusing on how resources, especially within food as medicine, can be used to reinvest into disinvested communities... I have been redefining how I work on projects based on the impacts. What foods am I marketing? Who is it benefiting? How is the data being used? And the idea of sovereignty is important and making sure that it aligns with the communities we're focusing on and working with.”
00:00 Intro to Olivia
01:09 From childhood cooking to culinary medicine
02:13 How food-based interventions help manage chronic disease
04:50 Overview of Rewire Health from pitch to startup
07:58 Cultivating a culinary medicine platform
09:49 Enabling personally relevant food choices
11:22 Investing in local communities to impact the whole food system
12:30 Embracing change and using technology to stay ahead
14:24 Why navigating complex systems requires a multidimensional approach
17:00 The role of collaboration and community building
18:14 Using culturally affirming recipes to empower choice
20:51 Accelerating behavior change with personalization, practice, and insight
23:37 Shifting perspectives on the role of food’s impact on health
25:44 Creating sustainable habits
23. Janet Ranganathan, World Resources Institute
Episode 23
Thursday, January 25, 2024 • Duration 30:52
Janet Ranganathan is the Managing Director and Executive Vice President for Strategy, Learning and Results at World Resources Institute (WRI), a global research organization that addresses the urgent sustainability challenges related to food, forests, water, climate, energy, cities and the ocean. She leads the development and execution of WRI’s five-year strategy and oversees WRI’s Research Integrity, Managing for Results, and Data Lab teams.
Janet Ranganathan: “One of the most important lessons I've learned is you can't do anything on your own. You have to do everything together through partnerships and collaborations. You know, if you wanna go far, take many people with you, but don't expect to get there too fast. If you wanna go fast, go alone, but don't expect to get very far. So true.”
00:25 Intro to Janet
01:21 30 years of changemaking
02:02 WRI’s method for impact: Count it. Change it. Scale it.
03:48 Feeding people, addressing climate, protecting land
05:54 Produce, protect, reduce, restore
07:03 A production and consumption problem
07:52 Education to enable change
09:44 Empowering food companies
12:06 Overview of the Shift Wheel
15:32 How the Cool Food Pledge put the Shift Wheel into practice
17:50 From outputs to outcomes to impact
20:40 How WRI connects food and climate change
21:44 Establishing collaborative partnerships for long term success
23:12 Design and act for impact
25:02 Learning from the past to inform the future
A Special Message from Michiel Bakker
Thursday, December 21, 2023 • Duration 01:52
Michiel Bakker: “Over the course of this season, we’ve explored why we need to shift diets, the many ways of doing that, and identified some of the things that need to happen on a systems level to make these changes sustainable and inclusive.
This time of year is often one of reflection and gratitude. As I reflect on all the incredible conversations from Season 2, I must admit I am truly inspired by all the changemakers who are stepping up and getting things done. This is what it takes to make a tangible, positive impact.
I also want to express my gratitude to you, for listening to the first year of Food Lab Talk. I truly appreciate your support of the show and its community of changemakers. Thank you.
We’ll be back in the new year with more episodes of Food Lab Talk. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast and follow us on LinkedIn and YouTube for updates on our next season, which is all about enabling individuals to make informed, and personally relevant food choices.
For now, I invite you to keep pursuing your own bold vision for food systems transformation. Imagine what that would look like. Believe in yourself, because you can make a difference. And, most importantly of all, Act! I hope that you have a joyful holiday season and a bright new year.”
*The views expressed by the guests in this podcast don't necessarily represent the host’s views, nor those of his employer.
22. Ann Cooper, Chef Ann Foundation
Episode 22
Thursday, December 14, 2023 • Duration 33:51
Chef Ann Cooper is a celebrated author, educator, and enduring advocate for better food for all children. She has been a relentless champion of school food reform for improved child nutrition. Known as the “Renegade Lunch Lady,“ Chef Ann founded the Chef Ann Foundation in 2009, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping schools take action so that every child has daily access to fresh, healthy food.
Chef Ann Cooper: “In the beginning, I just kind of thought, I know what's right. This is what I want to do. I'm going to push, I'm going to push, and I'm going to push and yell and scream and jump up and down and people will listen. And I think maybe, you know, 25 years ago, there was a place for that, but I've come to learn that system change has to be really inclusive. It has to be collaborative. Doesn't mean I can't jump up and down and yell and scream, but I have to listen as much as I yell and I have to bring everyone to the table. And when you do that, it's maybe slower, but then this change becomes more sustainable and more people come under the umbrella.”
00:20 Intro to Chef Ann
01:14 How a digital lunch box could change the world
04:02 The role of parents, educators, farmers in school food reform
04:50 From renegade to mainstream
06:42 Why collaboration is essential to sustainable systems change
09:10 Pushing from the inside vs. hammering on the outside
10:16 Future opportunities for shifting school foodservice operations
12:05 Working on a continuum to evaluate partners and focus efforts
13:55 The catalyst for change comes from within
15:04 Levers for changemaking: food, finance, facilities, human resources, marketing
17:02 Shedding light on the nuanced school food rules and regulations
21. Joseph Yoon, Brooklyn Bugs
Episode 21
Tuesday, November 14, 2023 • Duration 31:55
Chef Joseph Yoon is an Edible Insect Ambassador, a world renowned thought leader in entomophagy, the practice of eating insects. He founded Brooklyn Bugs in 2017 to normalize edible insects through delicious, creative, and educational programming. From kitchens and classrooms to stages around the world, Chef Yoon shares the incredible potential of not only edible insects, but the burgeoning innovation in Insect Agriculture to create resilient solutions for our global food systems.
Joseph Yoon: “One of the ways is not to take it from a theoretical dogmatic approach of... ‘We have a sustainable nutrient dense food. It will solve the climate crisis. All we have to do is eat some bugs, friends.’ That would not work. And I think that that's what a lot of the scientists were actually doing. My approach was entirely from the opposite side. ‘We have this delicious, incredible food source that happens to also be sustainable, incredibly nutrient dense, and we can prepare any single dish you can possibly imagine with it.’ The only limitations with insect protein lie with our imagination.”
00:23 Intro to Joseph
01:10 Bugs and sustainable nutrition
02:13 Metamorphosis from fine dining to food justice
04:42 Exploring the wide variety of flavors and functions of edible insects
06:10 Shifting negative thoughts to acceptance and celebration
08:10 Changing our food system is like interdisciplinary calculus
10:42 Regenerative circular nature of insect agriculture
13:18 Following the data to find scalable solutions
15:37 “Bugifying” familiar foods to connect with people
19:28 Balancing marketing, education, and regulations
23:06 Importance of regulatory frameworks, policies, and incentives
24:57 Insect agriculture to improve livelihood
20. Bernhard Kowatsch, UN World Food Programme
Episode 20
Tuesday, November 7, 2023 • Duration 33:33
Bernhard Kowatsch is founder and head of the Innovation Accelerator at the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP), the world's largest social impact incubator dedicated to ending hunger worldwide. The Innovation Accelerator offers 15 annual programs to the broader ecosystem on multiple social impact and sustainability issues, such as hunger, climate change, primary healthcare, gender equality, and emergency response. On this episode of Food Lab Talk, Michiel speaks with Bernhard about how tech solutions can support shifting diets, the importance of centering lived experiences in the change-making journey, and how to balance risk-taking and acute needs to fulfill a long-term vision.
Bernhard Kowatsch: “What I would advise my younger self is to really embrace risk taking and not worry as much. There's inherent risk in so many aspects of entrepreneurial or intrapreneurial decision making. And sometimes, that may mean that you're taking risks that are really, really feeling uncomfortable. However, if you're working hard, if you're smart, if you're working with the right people, if you have the right partners, if you're looking for advice... I think there's so much impact that you can make. Just try it out. Make experiments if you don't know what the right solution is. Take one step at a time.”
00:46 Intro to Bernhard
02:30 Overview of the WFP and Innovation Accelerator
03:59 How the WFP helps close the impact-making gap
06:05 Co-benefits of the WFP Innovation Accelerator
08:04 Using blockchain technology in times of crisis
10:33 An open innovation approach to solve hunger
13:30 Why technology can support sustainable food systems
14:41 Balancing the tension between risk, rapid innovation and known solutions
16:54 Investing in a combination of solutions to support long-term strategy and acute needs
19. Eve Turow-Paul, Food for Climate League
Episode 19
Tuesday, October 31, 2023 • Duration 35:35
Eve Turow-Paul is an author, globally-recognized thought leader, and the founder and Executive Director of Food for Climate League (FCL). FCL is a nonprofit that is on a mission to democratize sustainable eating and empower action towards climate-smart eating through campaigns, toolkits and behavioral design interventions. By facilitating a deeper understanding of how people think and make decisions, FCL creates narratives and implementation strategies that reframe climate-smart eating as enticing, accessible, and culturally-relevant. On this episode of Food Lab Talk, Michiel speaks with Eve about the complex nature of behavior change, the hidden drivers influencing food choices, and the importance of listening to and learning from the community to drive lasting change.
Eve Turow-Paul: “[There’s] this myth that most people don't care about the climate crisis. No, the vast majority of people care. That doesn't mean that it's driving their everyday decisions because we have record high rates of loneliness, stress, depression, anxiety. There are so many other immediate things that are shaping our decisions. Sometimes it's cost, sometimes it's availability, sometimes it's just comfort. You have to be able to paint people a picture of the eventual benefits. Most of the work we [at FCL] do is focusing on the ‘here and now’ including how we make [shifting behavior] something that is related to someone's own personal identity and their immediate needs and values. It's kind of like an added benefit of, oh, and by the way, it's also good for the environment.”
00:16 Intro to Eve
00:49 Understanding how stress, anxiety, & depression influence food behaviors
03:04 The impact of the market research intention-action gap
04:14 Why research is essential to bending food culture in a more sustainable direction
05:28 Co-developing narratives to build trust
07:20 Untangling the complexities of food- and environment-related narratives
09:01 Linking narratives to Self-Determination Theory and Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
18. Bonus Episode: Wadhwani AI
Episode 18
Monday, October 23, 2023 • Duration 24:32
Wadhwani Institute for Artificial Intelligence (Wadhwani AI) has been actively building and deploying AI solutions for underserved populations in developing countries since 2021. As a Google.org recipient, they are using AI to bring the world’s agricultural expertise to every farmer, protecting critical crops and mitigating the threat of hunger for billions of people. On this special episode of Food Lab Talk, Michiel speaks with Aditya Nayan and Soma Dhavala from Wadhwani AI to discuss the importance of understanding the audience and building trust when implementing novel programs, demonstrating value before scaling, and “open sourcing” innovation to open the door for other changemakers.
Wadhwani AI: “We're always inclined to think, okay, what is the specific problem statement that you're solving, how you're solving it and all that. But we're obligated to look at the larger system and see the value. So even in the case of CottonAce, there is as much value in that farmer getting the advisory as there is that the ministry can get a sense that this is the kind of infestation that's happening in these places and I can know that in real time. That's a starting point so that a year, two years down the line, I can create a predictive system which will help me prepare better. That's something that we didn't know in 2019 when we won the Google AI Impact Challenge. We didn't know this part of it. So it's this system thinking that where innovation also has to go and how things that we do maybe on the field, how they plug back in into the larger system is very important.” - Aditya Nayan
01:11 Intro to Wadhwani AI
03:36 How AI can add value in a rural environment
05:22 Why education is critical to adoption of novel technologies
06:19 How smartphones make AI and data accessible
07:17 Proof of concept with CottonAce
09:59 Scaling CottonAce principles to more crops
10:54 Building trust in technology through community engagement
17. Devon Klatell, The Rockefeller Foundation
Episode 17
Tuesday, October 17, 2023 • Duration 39:22
Devon is the Vice President, Food Initiative, at the Rockefeller Foundation. Devon oversees the Good Food Strategy in the United States, working to advance a more nourishing, regenerative and equitable domestic food system. In this role, she collaborates with stakeholders across the food system to increase consumption of healthy, sustainably produced foods in underserved communities. On this episode of Food Lab Talk, Michiel speaks with Devon about the complexity of systems change, the importance of engaging with a variety of people and perspectives, and why nutrition education isn’t the only tool for shifting diets.
Devon Klatell: “I think we get a little lost thinking that we all can go from the same A to B when talking about shifting diets. I think nutrition education is a really important tool in shifting diets and it's not enough. So let's educate them, but let's also make sure that they can afford to buy the foods that you're recommending that they eat. Let's also make sure that those foods are available to them in a place that they can get to in their busy day. That they have the transportation to access. Let's make sure that they're culturally appropriate. Let's make sure that our policy framework supports growing and producing those foods just as much as it supports growing and producing other foods. One of the big mistakes we've made in the past around shifting diets is being overly focused on one solution.”
00:10 Intro to Devon
01:10 From late night food shows to shifting food systems
05:28 Why we need to talk about multiple food systems at different scales
07:35 Unintended consequences of food system complexities
09:19 Making opportunity universal and sustainable
11:12 How the health impacts of the food system carry a $1T price tag
14:32 Why we cannot ignore the scale of the problem
16:44 Shifting the focus of healthcare to nutrition
28:15 Redefining problem-solving
29:23 How active listening builds trust and drives impact
30:13 Looking towards the future of culinary medicine
*The views expressed by the guests in this podcast don't necessarily represent the host’s views, nor those of his employer.
Related Shows Based on Content Similarities
Discover shows related to Food Lab Talk, based on actual content similarities. Explore podcasts with similar topics, themes, and formats, backed by real data.
