Episódios
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Most industries have a clear roadmap for transformation. The power sector goes renewable. Cars go electric. But food and agriculture? The world’s most impactful—and most damaging—industry still has no shared path to transformation. Food sustainability consultant and retail expert Mike Barry argues that the future of food hinges on one counterintuitive idea: simplification. And he explains how AI, smarter data, and design can potentially speed up change.
For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/
episode93Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected]
Episode edited and hosted by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.
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Instead of tell people what to eat, what if we changed what food costs? With Jörgen Larsson (researcher from Chalmers University), we explore a cost-neutral tax reform, one that makes healthier and climate-friendly food cheaper without raising the overall grocery bill. We break down how it works, why it matters, and how to frame it in ways that avoid predictable backlash.
For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/
episode92Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected]
Episode edited and hosted by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.
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We invite you to a three course meal in 2050, where climate breakdown has reshaped what and how we eat. Each of the courses is designed to provoke questions about the future of food through taste, visuals, and a bit of discomfort. It’s a story about eating possible futures — and noticing which ones feel delicious, or unsettling. In this episode, we take you behind the scenes of how the meal came together. Bon appétit.
For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/
episode91Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected]
Guests
Annie Faye Cheng, Cook, butcher and writerBryant Simon, History prof Temple UniversityLily Consuelo Saporta Tagiuri, Ecosystemic Designer and Eco-futuristEpisode hosted by Jack Thompson. Produced by Jack Thompson and Matthew Kessler. Edited and mixed by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.
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Hunger on our Doorstep is a two part podcast about food poverty in the UK. It explores the issues and potential solutions through the eyes of three food campaigners with firsthand experience of food poverty in urban communities, as well as others working to tackle the problem. The often bleak picture of poverty, inequality and exclusion painted in episode one contrasts with inspiring stories of the solutions being put into practice across the country in episode two.
This podcast is produced by TABLE with the support and contribution of the Food Foundation, a charity focused on changing food policy and business practice to ensure everyone, across the UK nations, can afford and access a healthy and sustainable diet.
For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/
episode90Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected]
Guests
Ryan McShane, Food campaignerGlory Omoaka, Food activistDominic Watters, Estate2Plate founderJonathan Pauling, former CEO of Alexandra Rose CharityDr Effie Papargyropoulou, Researcher at Leeds UniversityAna María Narváez, Coordinator of 2025 The Broken Plate reportHost
Richard Kipling, TABLERuth Mattock, TABLEEpisode edited and produced by Richard Kipling, Ruth Mattock and Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.
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What if changing what we eat wasn’t about persuasion, but about reshaping everyday food choices? With Sarah Lake, CEO of Tilt Collective, we explore how meat and ultra-processed foods came to dominate U.S. diets – and how Tilt Collective is building a future where healthy and sustainable foods compete on convenience, price, and accessibility.
For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/
episode89Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected]
Guest
Sarah Lake, CEO of Tilt CollectiveEpisode hosted, edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.
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What do Yorkshire beaches, Sierra Leone’s new food strategy, and New York City school lunches have in common? For Corinna Hawkes, they all shaped her journey toward understanding how systems shape food. In this episode, we trace her path from a childhood fascination with shifting sands to her current role at the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization. Along the way, we ask: what does it actually mean to ‘take a systems approach’ to food? What type of leadership skills are needed to fix food systems today? And why do the best solutions sometimes require slowing down, not speeding up?
For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/
episode88Read the report: Transforming food and agriculture through a systems approach (FAO, 2025)
Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected]
Guest
Corinna Hawkes, Director of Agrifood Systems and Food Safety at FAOEpisode hosted, edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.
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"Hunger on our Doorstep" is a two part podcast about food poverty in the UK. It explores the issues and potential solutions through the eyes of three food campaigners with firsthand experience of food poverty in urban communities, as well as others working to tackle the problem. The often bleak picture of poverty, inequality and exclusion painted in episode one contrasts with inspiring stories of the solutions being put into practice across the country in episode two.
This podcast is produced by TABLE with the support and contribution of the Food Foundation, a charity focused on changing food policy and business practice to ensure everyone, across the UK nations, can afford and access a healthy and sustainable diet.For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/
episode87Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected]
Guests
Ryan McShane, Food campaignerGlory Omoaka, Food activistDominic Watters, Estate2Plate founderJonathan Pauling, CEO of Alexandra Rose CharityDr Effie Papargyropoulou, Researcher at Leeds UniversityAna María Narváez, Coordinator of 2025 The Broken Plate reportHost
Richard Kipling, TABLERuth Mattock, TABLEEpisode edited and produced by Richard Kipling, Ruth Mattock and Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions and Pixabay.
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Why are we drawn to simple fixes for the complex challenge of feeding the world sustainably? Researchers Colin Sage (formerly Cork University) and Garrett Broad (Rowan University) unpack what we're calling "food solutionism"—the tendency to promote single, sweeping solutions, whether high-tech or agroecological, while ignoring context and complexity. They argue for "complicating the narrative early and often", so we can move beyond binary thinking and better understand the trade-offs, limits, and realities behind competing visions for the future of food.
For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/
episode86Read the The Blue Sky Thread that prompted this episode
Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected]
Guests
Garrett Broad, Rowan UniversityColin Sage, Cork UniversityHost
Jack Thompson, TABLEEpisode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler and Jack Thompson. Music by Blue dot sessions.
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Why does Myanmar, often called the "rice bowl of Southeast Asia," continue to struggle with high rates of malnutrition? In this episode, journalist Thin Lei Win helps us unpack how political decisions, land ownership, and regional power dynamics shape food systems in Myanmar and beyond. We explore how issues like palm oil expansion and rice production connect to wider challenges around climate and biodiversity—and why lasting change remains difficult without addressing structural inequalities. Still, there are reasons for cautious optimism. Thin shares why she’s inspired by a new generation of journalists and activists working toward more just and sustainable food futures across Southeast Asia.
For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/
episode85Check out and subcribe to Thin Ink
Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected]
Guest
Thin Lei Win, Food and Climate JournalistHost
Jack Thompson, TABLEEpisode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler and Jack Thompson. Music by Blue dot sessions.
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Can humanity feed nearly 10 billion people without frying the planet? That question is at the heart of journalist Michael Grunwald’s provocative argument in Sorry, This Is the Future of Food, his recent New York Times essay and the basis of his forthcoming book, We Are Eating the Earth. He warns that we’re clearing an acre of rainforest every six seconds to grow more food — and even if we quit fossil fuels, we won’t avert climate chaos unless we fix how we use land. In this episode, Grunwald makes the case that high-yield industrial agriculture, for all its flaws, might be our best chance to grow more food on less land.
For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/
episode84Pre-order We Are Eating the Earth by Michael Grunwald.
Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to [email protected]
Guest
Michael Grunwald, Journalist and authorHost
Jack Thompson, TABLEEpisode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler and Jack Thompson. Music by Blue dot sessions.
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Can we have more honest conversations about the future of food and agriculture? That’s the plea from Ken Giller, recently retired professor at Wageningen University, after four decades of witnessing both progress and setbacks in supporting farmers worldwide. We discuss the dangers of populist narratives that oversimplify agricultural challenges, how to reshape research incentives to embrace complexity and nuance, why he opposes carbon credit schemes for farmers, and more.
For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/
episode83Guests
Ken Giller, Wageningen UniversityHost
Matthew Kessler, TABLEEpisode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.
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What else should we consider when shifting to natural, whole foods—beyond just their health benefits? Feminist Food Journal co-founders Isabela Bonnevera and Zoë Johnson explore the deeper questions: whose labor makes these diets possible, who can afford them, and how culture and experience shape our food choices. We dive into these issues and uncover how a simple "natural foods" search on TikTok exposes striking gender dynamics.
For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/
Isabela Bonnevera, FFJ + ICTA-UABZoë Johnson, FFJ + GPPi
episode82
GuestsHost
Jackie Turner, TABLEEpisode edited and produced by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.
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Is the battle over who controls and owns agricultural data one of the most important—and least discussed—fights in 21st-century farming? In this conversation, Jennifer Clapp (prof at the University of Waterloo and member of IPES-Food) explores the deep ties between fossil fuels and our food system, tracing their influence from fertilizers and pesticides to farm mechanization and digital agriculture. She unpacks how fossil-fueled inputs have shaped—and continue to shape—modern farming.
For more info and resources, please visit our episode webpage.
Jennifer Clapp, IPES-Food
Guests
Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.
Fuel to Fork is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and the Global Alliance for the Future of Food. -
We gathered in Oxford to ask: Is a fossil free food system possible? 3 panelists: a farmer, an economist and biodiversity researcher, shared their expert perspectives. What technologies are on the horizon? What uncertainties do they bring? Is it better to farm differently, eat differently, plug in better tech, restrain environmentally damaging practices of food and agribusinesses, or all of the above?
Visit the episode webpage for more resources.This series is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and Global Alliance for the Future of Food.
Helen Browning, Soil AssociationRupert Simons, SystemIQEmile Frison, IPES-Food
GuestsProduced by Matthew Kessler, Robbie Blake and Chantal Clément. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.
View a 90 minute video of the full panel discussion
Learn more about the Oxford Real Farming Conference
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What would a food system free of fossil fuels look like by 2050? What insights surprised the experts featured in this series? And what trade-offs must we navigate to shape this future? In our final episode, we shift from acknowledging the 'fossil fuel problem in food' to exploring actionable solutions.
Visit the episode webpage for more resources.This series is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and Global Alliance for the Future of Food.
Raj Patel, IPES-FoodAnna Lappé, Global Alliance for the Future of FoodDarrin Qualman, National Farmers Union (Canada)Galina Angarova, SIRGEMolly Anderson, IPES-Food
GuestsProduced by Matthew Kessler, Anna Paskal and Nicole Pita. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.
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Fossil fuels are hiding in plain sight in our kitchens—powering stoves and cooling refrigerators, plus they're fueling supply chains. They shape how we cook, eat and connect with food. In this episode, we explore how to reduce reliance on fossil fuels in home and commercial kitchens. What counts as a 'clean' cooking fuel in Malawi versus the United States? And what would it take to transform the energy grid powering our food systems? Researchers, chefs, and activists weigh in.
Visit the episode webpage for more resources.This series is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and Global Alliance for the Future of Food.
Christa Roth, Cleaner Cooking CoalitionChristopher Galarza, Forward Dining SolutionsGabriel Eckhouse, Uppsala UniversityGalina Angarova, SIRGENnimmo Bassey, Home of Mother Earth FoundationErrol Schweizer, IPES-FoodGeorgina Catacora-Vargas, IPES Food
GuestsProduced by Matthew Kessler, Anna Paskal and Nicole Pita. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.
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When we talk about the future of food, we usually picture what's growing in the fields or what's on our dinner plates. But maybe we should pay a little more attention to everything happening in between. Processing and packaging consumes the largest share of fossil fuels in our food system— more than 40%. Our growing reliance on ultra-processed foods, and plastics across the supply chain is making food production more energy-intensive than ever before.
Visit the episode webpage for more resources.This series is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and Global Alliance for the Future of Food.
Emma Priestland, Break Free From PlasticErrol Schweizer, IPES-FoodRachel Muncrief, International Council on Clean TransportationGeorgina Catacora-Vargas, IPES Food
GuestsProduced by Matthew Kessler, Anna Paskal and Nicole Pita. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.
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What are the hidden costs of our current food system and its deep reliance on fossil fuels, a system that burdens citizens with financial, health and environmental consequences? With Raj Patel, research professor at the University Texas at Austin and IPES-Food panel member, we cover this and Christopher Columbus's wicked legacy, middle-class environmentalism, and what a food system free of fossil fuels could look like.
We thought this extended interview with Raj Patel was so compelling we wanted to share it in its entirety.
For more info and resources, please visit our episode webpage.
Raj Patel, IPES-Food
GuestsProduced by Matthew Kessler, Anna Paskal and Nicole Pita. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.
Fuel to Fork is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and the Global Alliance for the Future of Food. -
Fossil fuels are woven into nearly every aspect of modern agriculture - from powering farm machinery to creating plastics and supporting data-driven tech like precision agriculture. But what would it take to reduce or even eliminate their use on farms? We dive into both replacement technologies and transformative food production methods like agroecology, exploring the obstacles and limitations of scaling different solutions.
Visit the episode webpage for more resources.This series is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and Global Alliance for the Future of Food.
Darrin Qualman, National Farmers Union CanadaPat Mooney, IPES FoodJennifer Clapp, IPES FoodSwati Renduchintala, CIFOR-ICRAF
GuestsProduced by Matthew Kessler, Anna Paskal and Nicole Pita. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.
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Since 2020, over 120 million tonnes of nitrogen fertilizer have been produced annually—a number set to rise by 50% by 2050. It’s easy to assume this is non-negotiable, that without it, we’d face a food crisis. But do we really need all this fossil-based input? As it turns out, there are many ways we can reverse this trend - from curbing overuse and adopting alternative technologies to rethinking our diets and transforming farming practices. We explore a range of options to ease our dependency on fossil fueled agrochemicals.
Register for our webinar: Fossil Fuels and Food Systems: A Policy Discussion for COP29
Visit the episode webpage for more resources.This series is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and Global Alliance for the Future of Food.
Lisa Tostado, CIELJoanna Larson, Prairie Gates FarmChristine Delivanis, SytemIQGeorgina Catacora-Vargas, IPES FoodMamadou Goïta, IPES Swati Renduchintala, CIFOR-ICRAFJennifer Clapp, IPES Food
GuestsProduced by Matthew Kessler, Anna Paskal and Nicole Pita. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.
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