Earth Eats: Real Food, Green Living

“She looked at my husband and she was like, ‘Jennifer, translate what I’m about to say’ (she doesn’t speak English). She’s like, ‘Tell Derek that I said to please start a website for you and help you spread the word about your cake business.’  And I was like, ‘Grandma, I don’t really know who’s gonna buy a cake from me.’” This week we’re talking with Jennifer Whitely, owner of Cakes by Yenni. She walks us through the assembly and decoration of her strawberry cake with strawberry buttercream icing, and shares the origin story of her new home-based business.

 “For me it feels like we live in an age where you look on the news and it just feels like everything is going wrong. And so gardening feels like a small way we can have an actual, tangible, positive impact on the world around us. In a world where it’s easy to feel like everything is just falling apart, it’s a small way to actually see progress.” This week on the show, it’s back to school part two. We talk with high school students and educators about what their school gardens mean to them. 

“Society has gotten so far disconnected from where their food comes from, that if we can begin with the students, start with children, teaching them how to grow food, they will be much more interested in where their food comes from as they get older. I think that’s a very important part of the process” This week on the show, we talk with Kendall Slaughter, he’s the farm-to-school coordinator for Springfield Public Schools in Southern Missouri. We’ll tour an elementary school designed as a sundial, meet the bunnies and the chickens and hear about how the school system is building a sustainable school garden program and moving towards local food sourcing in school lunches.

“Preserved they don’t burn, the bitterness softens. California has been burning for years. When I lived in LA, I drank water pumped from Colorado. Lemons from my grandmother’s tree—two orbs, turning in my hands under the faucet—clear, cold, unfiltered…” This week on the show we’ve got poetry and pie.  We talk with the authors of How to Write a Novel in 20 Pies, and we hear from a poet who incorporates food imagery into her work. Plus, Daniella Richardson reviews a podcast that turns a critical eye towards the wellness and weight loss industry.

“And that’s why we call it a food value chain.You know, it’s a supply chain but it’s based on the values that you have as far as how the land is treated, how people are treated, what kind of nutrition contents in your food–all those things [that] people up and down–from the farmer to the consumer have an interest in. And so, this system that we’re developing is about addressing those values and making sure they happen.” —Patty Cantrell This week on the show, an uplifting conversation with Katie Nixon and Patty Cantrell with West Central Missouri Community Action Agency and New Growth Community Development Corporation. We talk about organizations and coalitions working together for stronger rural economies and robust local food value chains. We talk about micro lending, food hubs, farm-to-school programs and more. 

Conversations with a farmer at Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company and the owners of Lost Farm Meal Service.

A conversation with geographer Jen Watkins on her experience as a server and her research on the industry.

Huge wooden foeders, wild yeast, and hundreds of pounds of fruit make Upland’s sour beer program one of a kind.

A recent fellowship for young farmers focuses on Black, Indigenous and People of Color in Monroe County, Indiana.

A how-to episode for growing your own figs and for preserving your tomato harvest.

A how-to episode for growing your own figs and for preserving your tomato harvest.

A conversation about a non-profit organization working to build a resilient and equitably green city for all.

A conversation about a non-profit organization working to build a resilient and equitably green city for all.

A conversation with chef and anthropologist, Nafsika Papacharalampous about changes in high-end dining in Greece, sparked by the financial crisis.

A conversation with chef and anthropologist, Nafsika Papacharalampous about changes in high-end dining in Greece, sparked by the financial crisis.