Tag: #food-systems — 23 segments on Living on Earth
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November 21, 2025:
Thanksgiving Feast Favorites
To kick off this Living on Earth Thanksgiving special, members of our crew share a few laughs and our favorite Thanksgiving recipes, from pumpkin soup to chouriço stuffing to desserts made with leftover pie crust.
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October 24, 2025:
Media and the Meat Habit
Meat is the biggest single source of carbon emissions from the food system, which is itself responsible for a third of global greenhouse gas emissions. Sociologist David McBey from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland joins Host Paloma Beltran to talk about the gap between reality and coverage of how meat contributes to global warming, as well as effective strategies for encouraging people to choose to eat less meat without trying to force them to do so.
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October 17, 2025:
Taming the Monsters of Halloween Waste
One of the most frightening aspects of Halloween is the monstrous amounts of waste it can generate. Katie Brewer of Greater Laingsburg Recyclers in Michigan joins Host Jenni Doering to share ideas for making Halloween a little more sustainable, from recycling candy wrappers, to composting pumpkins, to thrifting costumes.
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August 15, 2025:
Shiitake Mushroom Harvest
A year after inoculating a log with shiitake mushroom spawn and reporting about it on Living on Earth, Producers Aynsley O’Neill and Jenni Doering harvested and cooked up the first crop. Jenni Doering walks Host Steve Curwood through moments from the mushroom cooking adventure, which didn’t go quite as smoothly as planned.
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August 15, 2025:
Growing Shiitake Mushrooms in Your Own Backyard
With a few tools and a fresh log, you can grow delicious mushrooms in your backyard that will come back year after year. Hosts Jenni Doering and Aynsley O’Neill team up to inoculate a log with shiitake mushroom spawn.
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August 15, 2025:
The "Dirty Dozen" and "Clean Fifteen
Not all conventionally grown fruits and vegetables are loaded with high levels of harmful pesticides. To help consumers make efficient choices in the produce aisle, every year the Environmental Working Group puts together two lists, the “Dirty Dozen” and the “Clean Fifteen.” EWG Toxicologist Alexis Temkin talks to Host Steve Curwood about how to use them during grocery trips.
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July 18, 2025:
NYC Recycling Food and Yard Waste
A few months into New York City’s mandatory curbside composting policy, there are still some kinks to work out, and enforcement and fines have been temporarily paused. Eric Goldstein, the New York City Environment Director at the Natural Resources Defense Council, catches up Host Aynsley O’Neill on how the program is going and why composting food and yard waste can save money, benefit landfills, reduce NYC’s carbon footprint, and help gardeners.
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February 14, 2025:
No Help From America
The Trump administration’s attempt to freeze all foreign assistance and bid to lay off nearly all USAID staffers are bringing disastrous consequences for millions of acutely hungry people, including those in war-torn Sudan. Nisreen Elsaim is a Sudanese climate and environmental activist and joins Host Jenni Doering to describe the desperate situation and send a warning to the US about the perils of isolationism.
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January 24, 2025:
The "Dirty Dozen" and "Clean Fifteen
Not all conventionally grown fruits and vegetables are loaded with high levels of harmful pesticides. To help consumers make efficient choices in the produce aisle, every year the Environmental Working Group puts together two lists, the “Dirty Dozen” and the “Clean Fifteen.” EWG Toxicologist Alexis Temkin talks to Host Steve Curwood about how to use them during grocery trips.
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January 24, 2025:
Can Eating Organic Reduce Your Cancer Risk?
A number of pesticides have been linked to cancer, but there are challenges to studying whether eating organic food grown without these toxins would help reduce your risk. Dr. Mary Beth Terry of the Silent Spring Institute joins Host Steve Curwood to explain the mixed results of some studies on organic food and cancer and offer a variety of ways that people can reduce their cancer risk.
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November 22, 2024:
Shiitake Mushroom Harvest
A year after inoculating a log with shiitake mushroom spawn and reporting about it on Living on Earth, Producers Aynsley O’Neill and Jenni Doering harvested and cooked up the first crop. Jenni Doering walks Host Steve Curwood through moments from the mushroom cooking adventure, which didn’t go quite as smoothly as planned.
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November 08, 2024:
Slippery Beast: A True Crime Natural History, with Eels
Eels play an important ecological role in many rivers and streams, but they’re so eel-usive that even eel scientists have been challenged to observe them mating in the wild. Ellen Ruppel Shell is author of the 2024 book Slippery Beast: A True Crime Natural History, with Eels, and she sheds light on the eel’s murky ecology and path through the seafood industry.
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May 24, 2024:
Uncovering the Truth About Beef and Deforestation
The Brazilian cattle industry has led to massive land clearing in the Amazon rainforest. Investigative journalist Marcel Gomes set out to uncover which companies were involved and documented a direct link between the meatpacking company JBS and illegal deforestation in Brazil. He received the 2024 Goldman Environmental Prize for Central and South America and joins Host Paloma Beltran to talk about the need for more transparency about where beef comes from and better cattle grazing practices.
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March 08, 2024:
Ross Gay's Book of (More) Delights
Poet and essayist Ross Gay is back with a follow up to his 2019 Book of Delights, loaded with moments of good that sprout amid our troubles. He joins Host Steve Curwood to share readings from his new Book of (More) Delights celebrating simple joys such as clothes on a clothesline, garlic sprouting, and dandelion abundance.
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December 01, 2023:
Bacon Bear
Smell is an ancient and powerful sense, and for Living on Earth’s Explorer in Residence Mark Seth Lender, it evokes potent memories and an encounter with a hungry polar bear.
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November 17, 2023:
A Native Perspective of the First Thanksgiving
The story of the “first Thanksgiving” that persists in American culture often stereotypes Native peoples and sanitizes what happened to them as white settlers dispossessed them of their lands. A picture book written and illustrated by Indigenous authors offers a new story of the “first Thanksgiving” that centers the Three Sisters crops. Author Tony Perry joins Host Jenni Doering to discuss the inspiration for Keepunumuk: Weeâchumun’s Thanksgiving Story and share ideas for creating a more inclusive holiday.
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November 17, 2023:
Thanksgiving Feast Favorites
To kick off this Living on Earth Thanksgiving special, members of our crew share a few laughs and our favorite Thanksgiving recipes, from pumpkin soup to chouriço stuffing to desserts made with leftover pie crust.
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November 17, 2023:
Three Sisters Stew for a Plant-Based Feast
The Three Sisters are a trio of staple crops that have played a fundamental role in numerous Native American tribes throughout history. The corn, beans, and squash all grow together in a symbiotic planting relationship. Chef Steven Looney talks with Host Steve Curwood about the history and significance of these crops and suggests some recipes from his Chickasaw heritage.
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September 29, 2023:
Growing Shiitake Mushrooms in Your Own Backyard
With a few tools and a fresh log, you can grow delicious mushrooms in your backyard that will come back year after year. Hosts Jenni Doering and Aynsley O’Neill team up to inoculate a log with shiitake mushroom spawn.
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July 14, 2023:
Rethinking the Recycling Symbol
The chasing arrow symbol that many consumers think means a plastic product is recyclable often doesn’t mean that in practice, since most plastics are of little to no economic value. Jennie Romer is Deputy Assistant Administrator for Pollution Prevention at EPA and joins Host Aynsley O’Neill to explain how revising the use of the recycling symbol could reduce consumer confusion.
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July 07, 2023:
High Levels of PFAS in Wild Freshwater Fish
PFAS “forever” chemicals have widespread health impacts from cancers to reproductive disorders. A recent study revealed high levels of PFAS in wild-caught, American freshwater fish. David Andrews, a senior scientist with the Environmental Working Group, joined Living on Earth’s Bobby Bascomb to discuss the results and the impact on consumers.
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May 19, 2023:
Backyard Chickens and the People Who Love Them
As many as 13 percent of American households now keep chickens as pets and a cruelty-free source of fresh eggs. Tove Danovich, author of the new book Under the Henfluence: Inside the World of Backyard Chickens and the People Who Love Them, joins Living on Earth’s Bobby Bascomb to share the joys of raising chickens.
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February 17, 2023:
High Levels of PFAS in Wild Freshwater Fish
PFAS “forever” chemicals have widespread health impacts from cancers to reproductive disorders. A recent study revealed high levels of PFAS in wild-caught, American freshwater fish. David Andrews, a senior scientist with the Environmental Working Group, joined Living on Earth’s Bobby Bascomb to discuss the results and the impact on consumers.
