My Favorite Food Podcasts

If you’re a newbie to this topic, I’ve provided a brief introduction to finding and listening to podcasts at the end of the post. If you’re already a listener, these are a few of my favorites that keep me up-to-date on all things food while I’m driving, cleaning the house, or making dinner:

The Splendid Table:

https://www.splendidtable.org/listen-and-follow. It’s been around since 1994 and has many devoted followers. This podcast has been the easiest way for me to absorb cooking skills outside of actually cooking. Tid-bits will stick with me from one episode or another, and suddenly I’ll remember to try cumin, coriander, and cardamom as a flavor base for roasting vegetables. It’s a great tool for cooking without a recipe, but in addition they post a wide assortment of recipes on their website from new and noteworthy cookbooks.

Earth Eats:

http://indianapublicmedia.org/eartheats/podcasts/. Based in the Midwest, this podcast gives an overview of food, agriculture, and sustainability news with an emphasis on farmers, fisherman, and producers. It has a light tone with fun recipes and trips into the forest and field for foraging, harvesting, and interviews.

Gastropod:

https://gastropod.com/women-food-power-and-books/. I’m a new convert to this show! If you want to know the rich history of some of our favorite foods (chocolate, cranberries, wine…) and also consider current controversies like climate change and labor shortages, this is the podcast is for you. This is more of a story-telling vibe than a news update, which can be a nice change of pace.

Eating Matters:

http://heritageradionetwork.org/series/eating-matters/. From Heritage Radio Network, this program features in-depth interviews with folks at the forefront of current food issues ranging from ag policy to food in schools. The host asks hard questions and grounds the show in crucial current events relating to food.

Shows not about food that feature food:

Freakonomics Radio: Using data to answer all of life’s questions, episodes such as “The Domonization of Gluten,” “Food + Science = Victory!” and “There’s a War on Sugar. Is it Justified?” aim to use objective data and a range of interviews to assess our assumptions about food and health in the context of statistics and expert opinion.

Revisionist History: Don’t let Malcolm Gladwell’s soothing voice fool you: He’s out to de-bunk our commonly held beliefs about everything, diet included. “McDonald’s Broke My Heart” and “Food Fight” are nostalgic and scientifically-focused at the same time. “The Basement Tapes” cause me to re-investigate my opinions on vegetable oil (which are grounded in a senior thesis, I might add). 

Podcast newbies start here:

Almost all podcasts can be accessed through their websites. If you’re listening at a computer, this is an easy solution. However, I love to have podcasts downloaded on my phone so I can listen with headphones anywhere. To do this, instructions depend on the type of phone you have:

Apple: There is an app built in to the phone (or iPod) that is purple with a radio icon. Through this app you can search for podcasts by name and hit “subscribe.” Any podcasts you subscribe to will then show up in your app’s library. Once you click on a podcast, the next important step is to hit the cloud icon next to an individual episode that you want to download. If you’re bringing the phone somewhere without wifi, you’ll want to download the episode to avoid excessive data charges or interruptions.

Android: First you’ll need to download a podcast player app (you can do this on apple, too, if you don’t want to use the one that comes built-in). Check out LIfehacker’s list of recommended players. Just like the Apple instructions listed above, search for the podcast you’d like to listen to, subscribe, and then download individual episodes as you’d like to listen. For most players, you can set up automatic downloads so they’ll be ready to go when you leave the house.

 

Image credits:

(modified) Yagraph – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=9763243 with pixabay stock. 

The following two tabs change content below.

Guest Author

The Co-op News occasionally publishes posts from guest authors. Interested? Email comment at coopfoodstore dot com.