The Latitude

Latest Episodes:

Climavores: Is Kernza the climate-friendly answer to wheat? Jan 24, 2023

Show notes

Wheat feeds billions but it has some big climate problems. Wheat production degrades the soil, which releases carbon. It also requires a lot of land. That means clearing land—often forest—to make room for it, which also releases carbon. Plus, wheat harms ecosystems: fertilizer runoff causes water pollution, and monoculture hurts biodiversity.

One alternative? Kernza. Developed over decades by the Land Institute, it’s a perennial relative of wheat that sequesters carbon with its massive root system. But does its carbon-sequestering power make it truly climate-friendly?

This week, Mike and Tamar talk about Kernza and the decades-long movement to domesticate the holy grail of grains: a crop that not only produces high yields but also improves the environment.

To leave a message for Mike and Tamar, call the Climavores hotline at (508) 377-3449. Or email us at climavores@postscriptaudio.com. We might feature your question on a future episode.

Climavores is a production of Post Script Media.

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Climavores: Rowan Jacobsen on Wild Chocolate and the Climate cost of Cacao Jan 17, 2023

Show notes

It’s no secret that chocolate is a sweet loved by pretty much everyone (well, everyone except Tamar). Here in the states, the average American eats about 12 pounds of chocolate a year, and worldwide we eat eight million tons of it annually. Unfortunately, our obsession with chocolate comes with a high carbon footprint. It also often creates terrible labor conditions for the communities who cultivate it.

This week, Mike and Tamar speak with Rowan Jacobsen — author, journalist, and host of the podcast “OBSESSIONS: Wild Chocolate” — to discuss how we make chocolate in a way that’s good for the planet and people.

Full transcript here.

To leave a message for Mike and Tamar, call the Climavores hotline at (508) 377-3449. Or email us at climavores@postscriptaudio.com. We might feature your question on a future episode.

Climavores is a production of Post Script Media.

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Climavores: New Year’s Mailbag! Plastics, precision agriculture, grains, and more Jan 10, 2023

Show notes

It’s a new year, and that means a new stream of voicemails filling up our listener hotline. This week Mike and Tamar kick things off by answering questions about the impact of food packaging, the scope of precision agriculture, lamb and goat meat compared to beef, and much more. They also share some of their predictions for what 2023 will bring in the worlds of nutrition and climate.

It’s the mailbag episode! And it won’t be the last, so keep your questions about food and climate change coming.

To leave a message for Mike and Tamar, call the Climavores hotline at (508) 377-3449. Or email us at climavores@postscriptaudio.com. We might feature your question on a future episode.

Climavores is a production of Post Script Media.

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Climavores: YouTube's Hank Green is ready for lab-grown nuggets Dec 20, 2022

Show notes

This week on the show, internet sensation Hank Green talks with Mike and Tamar about the future of cell-based meat. Hank lives in Montana, which is hardcore ranching country. It’s a place where beef is king, cowboys are real and pickup trucks are the norm. But he’s convinced that the future of meat looks a lot different than it does today. And Mike and Tamar agree.

But there are huge hurdles to overcome before the majority of us sit down to cell-based steaks at the dinner table. Scaling up bio reactors in a way that maintains sterility is complicated; making cell-based meat that’s affordable to the general public is a long way out; and changing the “ick” mindset around cell-based meat will take a monumental cultural shift.

But despite all that, Hank predicts he’ll be eating cell-based nuggets by 2030 and loving them.

Click here for a full transcript of the episode.

Have a question about food and climate change for Mike and Tamar? Leave a message on the Climavores hotline at (508) 377-3449. Or email us at climavores@postscriptaudio.com. We might feature your question on a future episode.

Climavores is a production of Post Script Media.

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Climavores: Never heard of first-hand food? Ask Tamar Dec 13, 2022

Show notes

Mike and Tamar talk a lot about eating better for our bodies and our planet. They’ve tackled meat versus plants, processed food versus whole food, cow milk versus almond milk. They even did a whole episode about the pros and cons of local food.

But in this episode, they talk about the ultimate local food, something Tamar calls “first-hand food.” It’s the food we grow, forage, raise, hunt or even fish ourselves; and it’s central to Tamar’s book “To Boldly Grow.”

In this episode Mike interviews Tamar on how her book came to be and outs himself as a major fan. “To Boldly Grow” is part memoir, part how-to guide. But it’s not just a book about food. It’s about doing stuff; it’s about love and marriage; and it’s available wherever books are sold if you need a last minute holiday gift…

Resources:

To Boldly Grow by Tamar Haspel

Climavores is a production of Post Script Media.

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Climavores Live: Can we eat right and still save the planet? Dec 07, 2022

Show notes

We want your feedback! Fill out our listener survey for a chance to win a $100 Patagonia gift card.

In this live recording of Climavores, Mike and Tamar talk with special guest Dr. Marion Nestle, a nutrition and food studies professor at NYU and author of Slow Cooked: An Unexpected Life in Food Politics.

Over her long career, Marion has become one of the leading voices on food, nutrition and politics. Her research examines scientific and socioeconomic influences on food choice, obesity, and food safety, with an emphasis on the role of food industry influence. Tamar calls Marion “the premier Nutrition Scientist of the Western World,” and it’s only a slight exaggeration!

In this episode, Mike, Tamar and Marion dig into why we believe what we do about food and nutrition and explore where eating for the planet is – and isn’t – the same as eating for health.

Climavores is a production of Post Script Media.

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Climavores: How climate-friendly is your Thanksgiving dinner? Nov 22, 2022

Show notes

Join us on November 30 for a live, virtual episode of Climavores with guest Marion Nestle. Come ask a question about food, nutrition, and eating for the climate.

We want your feedback! Fill out our listener survey for a chance to win a $100 Patagonia gift card.

This week, a whole lot of Americans will sit down to Thanksgiving turkeys raised on farms; turkeys that have eaten corn and soybeans that needed land and fertilizer and other resources to grow. And although those turkeys are way better for the climate than beef (which is why Thanksgiving is way better for the climate than the Fourth of July), they’re still the most emissions-intensive part of the meal outside of Tofurkey or wild turkey.

In this first ever Thanksgiving episode of Climavores, Mike and Tamar break down the climate impact of America’s ultimate food holiday – from cranberries to sweet potatoes. Spoiler alert: it’s not bad! They also reflect on the intimate connection Native Americans and early settlers had with their food and the land. And they give thanks for the less than one percent of Americans who grow our food.

Plus, Tamar remembers her mother.

RESOURCES:

The Washington Post: Tamar on the climate impact of Thanksgiving dinner

Climavores is a production of Post Script Media.

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Climavores: Important Not Important: Starting a food company in the climate era Nov 15, 2022

Show notes

We want your feedback! Fill out our listener survey for a chance to win a $100 Patagonia gift card.

Join us on November 30 for a live, virtual episode of Climavores. Come ask a question about food, nutrition, and eating for the climate.

As a Climavores listener, you know that we spend a ton of time trying to understand and help you understand how climate change affects food, and vice versa.

From beef to corn to rice to deforestation and overfishing, to water and soil, and even to food waste, our current food system is not great for climate change, or people – but that also means there’s huge opportunities to build a better one.

Today we want to introduce you to Important, Not Important – it’s science for people who care, like Climavores!

The critically-acclaimed show, hosted by Quinn Emmett, guides listeners through in-depth conversations with incredible humans working on the frontlines of the future, from climate to COVID, heat to hunger, agriculture to AI ethics.

Quinn teases out stories, tips, and tactics from senators and scientists, investors and doctors, students and CEO’s, and more, helping you to answer everybody’s favorite question: “What can I do?”

In this episode, Quinn welcomes Aishwarya Iyer, founder of Brightland, the wildly popular maker of climate-friendly and delicious olive oils and vinegars, to try and understand what it’s like to start a food company in the climate era, why their bottles are both beautiful and useful, and what California’s drought means for food.

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Climavores: Is industry-funded research a problem? Nov 08, 2022

Show notes

Last week, The New York Times weighed in on food and climate change in a big way. They devoted an entire section of page one to Dr. Frank Mitloehner, the head of an agricultural research institute at the University of California, Davis. The headline? “He’s an Outspoken Defender of Meat. Industry Funds His Research, Files Show.”

The implication of the story was that Mitloehner takes meat industry money and expresses meat industry views. But The Times article admitted it didn’t actually find anything unclean about the money, so it felt more like a smear campaign to some. Or just a bad journalistic call.

But the article raised a bigger question for Mike and Tamar: How should we think about industry-funded research, particularly when so much research about the links between agriculture and climate is driven by private-sector support? They also ask how we should think about scientists who moonlight as advocates as well as how pseudo-scandals like the one in The New York Times affect the larger conversation around food and climate change.

Resources:

The New York Times He’s an Outspoken Defender of Meat. Industry Funds His Research, Files Show.

Climavores is a production of Post Script Media.

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Climavores: Throwing soup to fight climate change Nov 01, 2022

Show notes

In recent weeks, climate activists in London, Paris and Germany have taken center stage for throwing food at famous works of art. Their goal? To focus attention on climate change and fossil fuel dependency. And it’s working. Videos of the protests have racked up tons of views on YouTube. But are these kinds of protests the most effective way to persuade the public?

Mike and Tamar are in the anti-food-throwing camp. But while they don’t agree on the methods, they push back against critical voices in the climate movement. As Mike says, “If you’re going to get pissed, get pissed at the oil companies and agribusinesses that are causing this mess, not these idealistic young people trying to do something about it.”

In this episode, Mike and Tamar talk about the tension between climate wonks and climate activists and weigh in on whether climate activists are being helpful or not.

Resources:

ResearchGate on the effects of extreme protest on popular support for social movements
NYTimes: Climate Protesters Throw Soup Over van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’
The Guardian: Climate activists throw mashed potatoes at Monet work in Germany

Climavores is a production of Post Script Media.

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