Making a Meal of It

About Making a Meal of It

Making a Meal of It is for eaters of all appetites who want to reimagine and reinvigorate their relationships with food, food culture, and food systems. Taking a deep dive into the ways we feed our bodies, psyches, and societies, the podcast helps make sense of the complexity that makes food so fascinating. Each episode unpacks a specific subject or theme, while host David Szanto—a professor, writer, and artist from Montréal, Québec—weaves in stories from his own diverse experience in food. Interviews with experts explore a range of themes, from food retailing to fatphobia, cocktails to fermentation. Wordplay and humor infuse tasting conversations with David’s semi-willing partner, Maxime, illustrating how each of us responds differently to smells, flavours, and textures. And a final segment featuring innovators in art, politics, and science rounds out the menu, as they respond to the Making a Meal of It “Food Questionnaire.” So sit down, grab a spoon, and dig into our most important and intimate relationship—food! Host/Producer: David Szanto Music: Story Mode makingamealofit.com (http://makingamealofit.com) @makingamealpodcast

Publisher

David Szanto

Category

arts · society & culture

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

13 Feb 2024

Latest episode

18 Jun 2024

Latest episodes

18 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   18 Jun 2024

   116: Pudding

   This episode ends season one of Making a Meal of It on a sweet note, but also a savoury one, as well as a lofty (but reasonable) proposition for using pudding as an icon for systemic change. Conversations with food scientist Richard Hartel and saucissier-philosopher Nick Amberg show that the proof of the pudding is not just in the eating, but also in a whole series of steps both before and after. Maxime and David ponder the pleasure of nostalgia during ‘Stick This in Your Mouth!’, and the episode concludes with questions proposed by past Food Questionnaire respondents. Guests: Dr. Richard Hartel is a professor of Food Engineering with the Department of Food Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His research focuses on phase transitions in foods, primarily sugar confections, chocolate, and ice cream, and he teaches courses in manufacturing and preservation, as well as candy science. His book, Food Bites: The Science of the Foods We Eat (https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/PMOrW3zkirwC?hl=en), is a lively read about everything from skunky beer to marshmallow peeps. Nick Amberg is a CÉGEP instructor, food maker, photographer, improviser, and self-trained charcutier. He is also a maker of connections, a process idealist, and an excellent host. Host/Producer: David Szanto Music: Story Mode @makingamealpodcast makingamealofit.com (http://makingamealofit.com)

2. 

   11 Jun 2024

   115: Mushrooms

   Mushrooms are the magical focus of this episode, though we only just touch the tip of their mycelial majesty. Conversations with entrepreneurs Nanae Watabe and Judith Noel Gagnon bridge the worlds of foraging, restaurants, humans, and mycelia, while Maxime and David taste two fungal flavours during ‘Stick This in Your Mouth’. Closing things off is the Food Questionnaire with artist and food scholar, Annika Walsh. Guests: Nanae Watabe (https://www.instagram.com/nanawatabe) is a Japanese and Mexican mushroom enthusiast, spreading fungi to the culinary-minded people of Mexico City. She is fluent in the languages and flavors of Mexico, Japan, and Italy, and has been involved in such food-related projects as managing a ranch and owning a sushi burrito stand. Her book, Estado de Hongos (https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/estadodehongos/?hl=en&img_index=1), reflects on and describes all things mushroom-y. Judith Noel Gagnon is a biologist and co-owner of the Mycoboutique (https://mycoboutique.com/) in Montreal, Québec, the “general store of mushrooms.” The shop offers dried mushrooms, mushroom-growing kits, mushroom excursions, and hundreds of other products from art to books to fermentation equipment. Annika Walsh (https://www.annikawalsh.com/) is a master student in Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. A transdisciplinary artist (https://www.instagram.com/annika.walsh/) who was born in Chuzhou, China and adopted at 11 months of age by her family in Canada, Annika works with a wide variety of ingredients, materials, and collaborators to form her conceptual pieces. Also mentioned: le Cercle des mycologues de Montréal (https://www.mycomontreal.qc.ca/) (the Montreal Mycological Society) Anna Tsing’s article, “Unruly Edges: Mushrooms as Companion Species (https://doi.org/10.1215/22011919-3610012)” Host/Producer: David Szanto Music: Story Mode @makingamealpodcast makingamealofit.com (http://makingamealofit.com)

3. 

   4 Jun 2024

   114: Fish & Sustainability

   This episode is all fish, fishing, and fisheries, including the fluid and dynamic ways that things change when water and humans meet. Conversations with fisheries researcher Kristen Lowitt and pisciculture entrepreneur Nicolas Paquin net out with a hefty catch of ideas about relationships, livelihoods, ecosystems, and innovation. For the fish edition of ‘Stick This in Your Mouth’, Maxime and David peel the metallic lid off a couple of cans of fish, and we close with art-scientist Christy Spackman’s responses to the Food Questionnaire. Guests: Kristen Lowitt (https://kristenlowitt.ca/) is a settler scholar working in the School of Environmental Studies at Queen’s University in Kingston, on the traditional territories of the Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabek. She grew up near the Great Lakes and recently returned to the region after many years in Atlantic Canada. Nicolas Paquin is the co-founder and operator of Opercule (https://www.opercule.ca/), an urban fish farm in central Montreal, and part of the Centrale Agricole (https://centrale.coop/), a cooperative of agrifood producers and actors working to develop businesses within a circular economy. Christy Spackman is an assistant professor at Arizona State University, where she runs the Sensory Labor(atory) (http://www.christyspackman.com/sensorylabor.html), a research-creation collective exploring how to disrupt the status quo of how institutions and infrastructures make sense of sensing. Her recent book, The Taste of Water (https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520393554/the-taste-of-water), which explores the increasing erasure of tastes from drinking water over the 20th century. Also mentioned: Opercule’s Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/opercule_mtl) the documentary “Lake Superior, Our Helper (https://www.batchewanaungfish.ca/)” and its distributor, Collective Eye Films (https://www.collectiveeye.org/products/lake-superior-our-helper-stories-from-batchewanaung-anishinabek-fisheries?_pos=1&_sid=bc88cbdee&_ss=r) more about Batchewana First Nation (https://batchewana.ca/) ‘Emergent Aliens’: On Salmon, Nature, and Their Enactment (https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00141844.2010.549946) by Marianne Lien and John Law Host/Producer: David Szanto Music: Story Mode @makingamealpodcast makingamealofit.com (http://makingamealofit.com)

4. 

   28 May 2024

   113: Meat & Power

   This episode is all about the meaty meatness of meat, including power and privilege, language and taste. Conversations with food scholar Julie Guthman and charcutier-and-butcher Phil Viens cut to the bone when it comes to politics, technocracy, artisanship, and trust. David and Maxime moderate their meat intake during ‘Stick This in Your Mouth’, and physicist (and chili-sauce lover) Liz Ainsbury responds to the Food Questionnaire. Guests: Dr. Julie Guthman is a professor of sociology at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Her research focuses on food system transformation in the United States, including Silicon Valley’s recent forays into food and agriculture. Her new book, The Problem with Solutions (https://www.ucpress.edu/book/9780520402676/the-problem-with-solutions), addresses this new research. Phil Viens is a former restaurant chef turned butcher and charcutier. His Montreal shop, Aliments Viens (http://www.alimentsviens.ca/) is a nexus of trust, artistry, and care for both people and what they eat. Liz Ainsbury is a radiation protection physicist who is based in the UK and works with research scientists and other colleagues from around the world. Also mentioned: Alex Blanchette's Porkopolis: American Animality, Standardized Life, and the Factory Farm (https://www.dukeupress.edu/porkopolis) the speculative films Soylent Green (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soylent_Green) and Snowpiercer (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1706620/) Julie Guthman on the Thriving Farmer Podcast (https://www.thrivingfarmerpodcast.com/julie-guthman/) and “The Food Police (https://www.utne.com/politics/the-food-police/)” the history of vegetarianism (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_vegetarianism) the Maillard Reaction (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maillard_reaction) Host/Producer: David Szanto Music: Story Mode @makingamealpodcast makingamealofit.com (http://makingamealofit.com)

5. 

   21 May 2024

   112: Voices from the FLOW Project

   This special episode of Making a Meal of It features 11 short conversations with participants in the FLOW Partnership, a seven-year international food systems research project. The full team met in Montreal in mid-May 2024 to share their progress, plan future research activities, and discuss ways to enable their work to transform food production, policies, and attitudes. Next week’s episode returns to the usual format, but for now, have a listen to the many ways that food, food culture, and food systems are both different and similar around the world. FEATURING: Alison Blay-Palmer on the FLOW Partnership (https://www.flowpartnership.org/) Nicole Claasen, GIZ (https://www.giz.de/en/html/index.html), Germany Kevin Morgan, Cardiff University (https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/), Wales Anne-Marie Aubert, Conseil du système alimentaire montréalais (https://www.montrealmetropoleensante.ca/a-propos/sam/), Québec Laura Gómez Tovar, Universidad Autónoma Chapingo (https://chapingo.mx/), Mexico Samuel Gudu, Rongo University (https://www.rongovarsity.ac.ke/), Kenya Chatura Pulasinghage, Wilfrid Laurier University (https://www.wlu.ca/), Ontario/Sri Lanka Lillith Brook, Government of Northwest Territories (https://www.gov.nt.ca/) Elodie Valette, URBAL (https://www.urbalfood.org/)/CIRAD (https://www.cirad.fr/en), France Rachel Carey, University of Melbourne (https://www.unimelb.edu.au/), Australia Victor Martinez, Kwantlen Polytechnic University (https://www.kpu.ca/), British Columbia The FLOW Partnership is funded in part by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Host/Producer: David Szanto Music: Story Mode @makingamealpodcast makingamealofit.com (http://makingamealofit.com)

6. 

   14 May 2024

   111: Sweetness & (Dis)comfort

   This episode is all about the sweet, sour, and sometimes bitter taste of sugar—and honey, maple, and molasses! Two conversations unpack the sticky subject, one with food marketing expert Dr. Jordan LeBel, and the other with pastry artist and entrepreneur, Sonya Sammut. David and Maxime taste three sweet substances during ‘Stick This in Your Mouth’, and union organizer (and podcaster sister) Elisabeth Szanto responds to the Food Questionnaire. Guests: Dr. Jordan LeBel professor and researcher in food and experience marketing. Jordan started working in professional kitchens at the age of 12 and has since worked as a chef, a restaurant reviewer, and an industry consultant. His research looks at how we derive pleasure and comfort (https://twitter.com/doctorpleasure) from what we eat—and how that affects our consumption behaviour—and he is an expert in chocolate and maple, among other things. Sonya Sammut a pastry artist, entrepreneur, and proprietor of Sachère Desserts (https://www.instagram.com/sacheredesserts/). Her shop in the Centre-Sud neigborhood of Montreal is a destination for cake and ice cream lovers of all kinds, drawn by her distinctive flavour combinations and elegant visual aesthetics. Elisabeth Szanto is a union organizer working in healthcare and higher education, trying to make sure that the people who do the work have a voice in the decisions that affect them. She has volunteered and worked in labour for nearly 40 years, improving the lives and livelihoods of thousands and thousands of people. Also mentioned: the story of Sachertorte (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sachertorte) Miels d’Anicet (https://mielsdanicet.com/en-ca/) (Québec honey producer) Le Faubourg à m’lasse (https://ville.montreal.qc.ca/memoiresdesmontrealais/le-faubourg-mlasse) (former molasses-scented neighborhood of Montreal) Sweetness and Power (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/322123/sweetness-and-power-by-sidney-w-mintz/) by Sidney Mintz Host/Producer: David Szanto Music: Story Mode Bees sound recording by Scottish Guy (https://pixabay.com/users/scottishperson-16626294/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=153375) from Pixabay (https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=music&utm_content=153375) @makingamealpodcast makingamealofit.com (http://makingamealofit.com)

7. 

   7 May 2024

   110: Fermentation

   This episode is about the dynamic, transformative, ancient, and contemporary process that is fermentation. We also get into feminist theory, the queering of food, and taste in zero gravity during conversations with fermentation experts Joshua Evans and Maya Hey. David and Maxime taste kimchi, miso, and perga (bee bread) in the fermented edition of ‘Stick This in Your Mouth’, and filmmaker Bruce LaBruce responds scrumptiously to the Food Questionnaire. Guests: Dr. Joshua Evans is a senior researcher at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability (https://www.biosustain.dtu.dk/) at the Technical University of Denmark in Copenhagen, where he founded and leads the Sustainable Food Innovation Group. Their work brings together culinary research and development with academic research and practice in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Dr. Maya Hey (https://heymayahey.com/) is a postdoctoral researcher with the Centre for the Social Study of Microbes at the University of Helsinki. She is the instigator of food feminism fermentation (http://www.foodfeminismfermentation.com/), an organization that brings together the three themes in publications and conversations that cross culinary, health, and educational participants. Bruce LaBruce (https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0478418/) is a filmmaker, photographer, writer, and artist based in Toronto and working internationally. He has written and directed fourteen feature films, including Gerontophilia, which won the Grand Prix at the Festival du Nouveau Cinema in Montreal in 2013, and Pierrot Lunaire, which won a Teddy Award at the Berlinale in 2014. Other references: a list of global fermented foods (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fermented_foods) NewScientist article about “space miso” (https://www.newscientist.com/article/2419825-miso-paste-made-in-space-opens-a-new-frontier-for-fermented-foods/) Sandor Katz’s, The Art of Fermentation (https://www.wildfermentation.com/the-art-of-fermentation/) Host/Producer: David Szanto Music: Story Mode Stock media: ProSoundEffects / Pond5 @makingamealpodcast makingamealofit.com (http://makingamealofit.com)

8. 

   30 Apr 2024

   109: Restaurants

   This episode focuses on the design, politics, and economics of restaurants, including some of the reasons that the experience of dining out is a lot more complex than it may seem. One conversation with restaurant design and consumer behaviour expert Dr. Stephani Robson, and another with chef-turned-social gastronomer Christophe Dubois, shed light on the dynamics of cooking and serving food. (The conversation with Christophe is in French—see transcript for English translation.) David and Maxime go humble in the bread-and-butter edition of ‘Stick This in Your Mouth’ segment, and vocalist and drag performer Gabriel Dharmoo responds to the Food Questionnaire. Dr. Stephani Robson is an expert in restaurant design and consumer behaviour with a master degree in Design and Environmental Analysis and a PhD in Environmental Psychology, both from from Cornell University. She works in both educational and commercial settings, helping to create and optimize hospitality environments. For more, see her LinkedIn profile (https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephani-robson-a8a64052/) or listen to this episode of NPR’s Planet Money podcast (https://www.npr.org/2020/01/22/798594109/episode-968-the-trouble-with-table-101). Christophe Dubois is a former restaurant co-owner and cook who now studies and practices social gastronomy (https://www.ithq.qc.ca/blogue/christophe-dubois-gestionnaire-humanitaire/). He is also a co-founder of the Parti culinaire du Québec (https://www.electionsquebec.qc.ca/partis-et-autres-entites-politiques/partis-politiques/fiche-du-parti/00106/42/), a provincial political party focusing on “gastronocracy.” (https://www.facebook.com/particulinaireduquebec) For Christophe, preparing food is a way to acquire confidence and a sense of belonging, to bring transformation to political and environmental contexts, and to increase solidarity among diverse communities of people. Gabriel Dharmoo an experimental vocal artist (http://gabrieldharmoo.org/en/info), composer, and performer, including as Bijuriya (https://www.instagram.com/bijuriya.drag/), his curious and vulnerable drag identity inspired by South Asian culture. Also mentioned: Eric Kim’s article (https://www.saveur.com/story/food/bread-and-butter-pickle-sandwich/) in Saveur about bread-and-butter pickles Host/Producer: David Szanto Music: Story Mode Stock media: ProSoundEffects / Pond5 @makingamealpodcast makingamealofit.com (http://makingamealofit.com)

9. 

   23 Apr 2024

   108: Eco-gastronomy

   This episode unpacks gastronomy, including the way the concept has evolved in terms of meaning and practices. It also poses the question: Is the holism and complexity of an idea like eco-gastronomy too much for times when socio-political-environmental crises keep us focused on short-term needs? A conversation with Mark Panayiotis Notaras focuses on how an eco-gastronomic social enterprise is working wonders in Timor-Leste, while David and Maxime taste what might be the most important food on the planet. (“important?” hmm…) Finishing things off, author Taras Grescoe responds with wit and wisdom to the Food Questionnaire. Guests: Mark Panayiotis Notaras is the Greek-Australian co-founder of the Timor-Leste Food Lab (https://www.timorlestefoodlab.com/) social enterprise and its flagship restaurant Agora Food Studio (https://www.facebook.com/agorafoodstudio/). Mark has focused his career on international development and peacebuilding in South-East Asia and Timor-Leste in particular. Since returning to Australia in 2020, he has worked as general manager for the multicultural marketing agency CulturalPulse, leading the strategy in multicultural fan engagement for the recent FIFA Women's World Cup. He is the executive producer of the podcast, Statecraftiness (https://omny.fm/shows/statecraftiness/playlists/podcast), and also shows up in the episode titled Foodcraftiness (https://omny.fm/shows/statecraftiness/foodcraftiness?in_playlist=podcast) (S2E2), featuring his work in Timor-Leste. Taras Grescoe is a Canadian non-fiction writer who is the author of, among other books, Bottomfeeder: How to Eat Ethically in a World of Vanishing Seafood (https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/bottomfeeder-9781608196623/) and Straphanger: Saving Our Cities and Ourselves from the Automobile (https://www.harpercollins.ca/9781443411431/straphanger/). Most recently, he published The Lost Supper: Searching for the Future of Food in the Flavors of the Past (https://greystonebooks.com/products/the-lost-supper). He lives in Montreal. Host/Producer: David Szanto Music: Story Mode @makingamealpodcast makingamealofit.com (http://makingamealofit.com)

10. 

    16 Apr 2024

    107a: Gastronomy is dead, long live gastronomy...

    This mini-episode explains why it’s not the actual gastronomy episode, but is instead a placeholder for the eventual episode 108. Due to a late-arriving bit of bad news, one of the original conversations couldn’t be used, so we’re pivoting and re-editing. In the meantime, and to keep you occupied for the next week, check out the first ever Making a Meal of It crossword puzzle at makingamealofit.com (https://www.iceboxstudio.com/IS/podcast/mmi-107a-the-crossword-puzzle/). You can either download and print it out, or play online. And yes, it makes references to past episodes, so you might have to go back and listen again. Enjoy! Do the MMI crossword at makingamealofit.com (http://makingamealofit.com)! Host/Producer: David Szanto Music: Story Mode @makingamealpodcast makingamealofit.com (http://makingamealofit.com)

11. 

    9 Apr 2024

    107: Booze

    This episode takes a few different perspectives on alcohol—including making, serving, drinking, and not drinking it—as well as the benefits, effects, and privileges associated with consuming wine and cocktails. We start with liquids entrepreneur Jean-Sébastien Michel and his many points of view, and then hear from Alessandra Castelli, a food/wine/yoga/wellness educator. The ‘Stick This in Your Mouth’ features two rice-washed cocktails, and biophysicist Ruth Wilkins responds to the Food Questionnaire. Guests: Jean-Sébastien Michel is a former social sciences academic with a fascination for alcohol and prohibition. In 2012, he launched Alambika (https://alambika.ca/) and Entreprises Jesemi (https://jesemi.com/), the retail and wholesale arms of his business, and the centre of his consulting practice and multiple collaborations, including with alcohol-education organization, Éduc’alcool (https://www.educalcool.qc.ca/en/). Alessandra Castelli is a yoga teacher, gastronome, and organizer of events that involve all the senses. Her work connects people and places to create experiences for personal growth. She particularly enjoys making people feel good and, at the moment, casa B. (https://casabattaglino.it/en/) is the living container of this and everything she likes. Ruth Wilkins has a master degree in biophysics and a PhD in medical physics. She is Chief of the Ionizing Radiation Health Sciences Division at Health Canada, overseeing biological research on the health effects of ionizing radiation. Other references – Malcolm Gladwell’s New Yorker article, “Drinking Games (https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2010/02/15/drinking-games)” – recipes for a Rice-Washed Negroni (https://www.americastestkitchen.com/cooksillustrated/articles/8024-how-to-rice-wash-a-negroni), a Perfect Manhattan (https://www.liquor.com/perfect-manhattan-cocktail-recipe-5094817), and several variants on The Last Word (https://www.diffordsguide.com/encyclopedia/961/cocktails/20-best-variations-on-the-last-word-cocktail) (I prefer using yellow Chartreuse and not green…) Host/Producer: David Szanto Music: Story Mode @makingamealpodcast makingamealofit.com (http://makingamealofit.com)

12. 

    2 Apr 2024

    106: Kitchens

    This kitchens episode focuses on the ways in which our cooking spaces enable connection making, both among friends and family as well as within our inner selves and the world of imagination and poetry. Kitchen constructor Hubert Taschereau gives insights into spatial design, while literature scholar Alexia Moyer shares the ways that authors evoke character and place with references to kitchens. David and Maxime get a little spicy during ‘Stick This in Your Mouth’, and designer and artist Dawn Lee responds to the Food Questionnaire. Guests: Hubert Taschereau is the founder and former owner of Gepetto (https://www.gepetto.ca/), a kitchen design, fabrication, and installation company. He has two kids, with whom he spends a good deal of time in his self-designed kitchen in Montreal. Dr. Alexia Moyer runs an editorial collective called redline-lignerouge (https://www.redline-lignerouge.ca/), manages a journal called Canadian Food Studies / La Revue canadienne des études sur l’alimentation (https://www.canadianfoodstudies.ca/), and spends much of her free time trying to devise ways of getting her kids to eat mushrooms and parsnips. During the podcast, she referred to the following texts: - Diamond Grill (https://fredwah.ca/bibliography/section-a/diamond-grill-10th-anniversary-edition) by Fred Wah (https://fredwah.ca/) - Canadian Literary Fare (https://canadianliteraryfare.org/) edited by Nathalie Cooke & Shelley Boyd - The Canlit Food Book (https://books.google.ca/books/about/The_Canlit_Foodbook.html?id=TJkbAQAAIAAJ) edited by Margaret Atwood - Kitchen Talk (https://49thshelf.com/Books/K/Kitchen-Talk) edited by Edna Alford & Claire Harris - The Practice of Everyday Life (https://monoskop.org/images/b/be/De_Certeau_Giard_Mayol_The_Practice_of_Everyday_Life_Vol_2_Living_and_Cooking.pdf) by Michel de Certeau, Luce Giard & Pierre Mayol - Kitchen Stories (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0323872/) directed by Bent Hamer Dawn Lee is an artist and designer at the Ontario Science Centre (https://www.ontariosciencecentre.ca/) in Toronto. She has been delighting museum-goers for nearly 40 years with her work creating interactive exhibits and spaces that invite learning, discovery, and reflection. Host/Producer: David Szanto Music: Story Mode additional music: Aya Higuchi (https://musopen.org/music/performer/aya-higuchi/) via Musopen (https://musopen.org/) @makingamealpodcast makingamealofit.com (http://makingamealofit.com)

13. 

    26 Mar 2024

    105: Media, Tech, and AI

    This episode focuses on food media, digital technology in agriculture, and some of the ways in which artificial intelligence might have an impact on cooking, eating, and nutrition. We also get into a few related themes, including food porn, celebrity chefs, data sensors, and the promises and warnings of science fiction. David talks with food scholars Signe Rousseau and Maaz Gardezi to find out where we’ve been and where we’re going when it comes to media and tech, exploring the blurry line between the digital and analog worlds of food. During the ‘Stick This in Your Mouth’ segment, Maxime offers up his opinions on futurist meals, and closing things off, we hear from ChatGPT during the Food Questionnaire. Guests: Dr. Signe Rousseau teaches critical and digital literacy at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. Her PhD focused on the rise of celebrity chefs before “food media” was a commonly used term, and she is the author of Food and Social Media and Food Media. She is currently Co-Chair of Gastronomica: The Journal for Food Studies (https://gastronomica.org/). During the podcast, she mentioned the following food folks: - José Andres (https://www.instagram.com/ChefJoseAndres) and the World Central Kitchen (https://wck.org/) - Heston Blumenthal (https://www.instagram.com/thehestonblumenthalteam) and his restaurant The Fat Duck (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=db56yGznfqo) - early food TV host Keith Floyd (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Floyd) and his show, Floyd Cooks (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Evm30HTbD0) Dr. Maaz Gardezi is a faculty member in the department of sociology at Virginia Tech (https://liberalarts.vt.edu/departments-and-schools/department-of-sociology/faculty/maaz-gardezi.html). His research focused on two interrelated issues in the US and South Asia—climate change adaptation and mitigation, and the social implications of emerging digital technologies in agriculture. For more on digital and precision agriculture, as well as the effects of Big Data in food production, take a look at the articles listed on the Making a Meal of It website (https://www.iceboxstudio.com/IS/podcast/mmi-105-media-tech-and-ai/). ChatGPT is an AI language model designed to assist users with a wide range of tasks and inquiries, created by OpenAI. Check out what it has to say about how AI might affect the ways people grow and eat food on the Making a Meal of It website (https://www.iceboxstudio.com/IS/podcast/mmi-105-media-tech-and-ai/). Host/Producer: David Szanto Music: Story Mode additional sound: William Termini via FreeSound @makingamealpodcast makingamealofit.com (http://makingamealofit.com)

14. 

    19 Mar 2024

    104: Systems in Conflict

    We talk a lot about THE food system, but in reality, our world comprises multiple food systems, along with a lot of other kinds of systems, each of them overlapping with, interacting with, and often conflicting with each other. This episode looks at how those interacting systems of systems often produce really challenging types of conflict, whether it’s between colonialism and Indigenous foodways, corporate-exploitative capitalism and nature, or technological systems and sustainability. Guests include food educator Jane Clause, artist-activist Zack Denfeld, and the incomparable systems thinker, astrophysicist, and former Green Party of Canada leader, Amita Kuttner. And oh, yeah—Maxime and David eat a piece of Christmas cake, quite a few months after the festive season. Guests: (Courtney) Jane Clause is the projects coordinator for the Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems and the UNESCO Chair on Food, Biodiversity, and Sustainability Studies. She is also the creator and professor of the Indigenous Food Systems course in the Bachelor of Food Studies program at George Brown College (https://www.georgebrown.ca/programs/honours-bachelor-of-food-studies-program-h317) in Toronto. Jane is a registered band member of Six Nations of the Grand River. And take a look at the Haudenosaunee food projects Jane mentions in the podcast: Kayanase (https://www.kayanase.ca/) (greenhouse and native plant propagation business) Chef Tawnya Brant (https://www.cheftawnyabrant.com/) Yawékon (https://www.facebook.com/p/Yaw%C3%A9kon-by-Chef-Tawnya-Brant-100063617197024/) (catering by Tawnya Brant) the Healthy Roots and Our Sustenance initiatives (https://canadianfoodstudies.uwaterloo.ca/index.php/cfs/article/view/210) (article in Canadian Food Studies) Zack Denfeld and Cathrine Kramer founded the Center for Genomic Gastronomy in 2010 and continue to lead many of the research projects the Center undertakes. They are artists, writers, speakers, and prototypers of alternative culinary futures. Their projects, blog posts, and images can be found on the Center’s website (https://genomicgastronomy.com/), along with the Genomic Gastronomy Lexicon (https://genomicgastronomy.com/texts/genomic-gastronomy-lexicon/), a mind-expanding collection of terms and definitions that the Center’s team have compiled in the course of their investigations into food, art, and the life sciences. Dr. Amita Kuttner (they/he) is co-founder of moonlight institute (https://www.moonlightinstitute.org/), a non-profit organization that seeks to create frameworks for an equitable and just future. Amita (https://amitakuttner.com/) has a PhD in astronomy and astrophysics from the University of California, Santa Cruz, ran for Canadian parliament in 2019, and served as interim leader of the Green Party of Canada between 2021 and 2022. Host/Producer: David Szanto Music: Story Mode additional audio: Maxime Giroux @makingamealpodcast makingamealofit.com (http://makingamealofit.com)

15. 

    12 Mar 2024

    101: Food Relationships

    In this inaugural episode, we set the stage for a season of deep dives into some big food themes, starting with relationality and how the multiple, overlapping ways in which we interact with food make it the most complex and delightful relationship that any of us participates in. The show kicks off with a couple of examples of complexity, one musical, one edible. That leads into a conversation with the philosopher of food, Lisa Heldke, who explains why philosophy is like plumbing—an infrastructure that sits behind the walls of our day-to-day experiences, provides critical services to keep things going, and hopefully doesn’t spring a leak at crucial moments. We then hear from Taylor Cocalis Suarez, a food entrepreneur who blends theory and practice to slowly but surely change the culture of labour. The show wraps up with David and his partner, Maxime, tasting something really awful (a bit of banana), and a poetic and multilingual response to the MMI Food Questionnaire by composer-conductor, Sandeep Bhagwati. Guests: Lisa Heldke is a pragmatist feminist philosopher (https://gustavus.edu/academics/departments/philosophy/heldke.php) of food who teaches at Gustavus Adolphus College, a small liberal arts college in St. Peter, Minnesota. She's the author or co-editor of several books on food, including Philosophers at Table: On Food and Being Human (https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/P/bo23422932.html), and Exotic Appetites: Ruminations of a Food Adventurer (https://www.routledge.com/Exotic-Appetites-Ruminations-of-a-Food-Adventurer/Heldke/p/book/9780415943857). In her dreams, she is a world-class bread baker, while in reality she's merely decent. In the summer she lives in a yurt on the coast of Maine. In the winter, she skijors (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skijoring) with her husky every chance she gets. Taylor Cocalis lives near Hudson, NY where she spends her time connecting with humans and the natural world. She divides her time among the Suarez Family Brewery (http://www.suarezfamilybrewery.com/) (which she runs with her significant other Dan Suarez), the job search community Good Food Jobs (https://goodfoodjobs.com/) (which she shapes with her partner and friend Dorothy Neagle), cooking with her kids Mira and Enzo, and tending to the garden. Sandeep Bhagwati is a professor in the Department of Music at Concordia University (https://www.concordia.ca/faculty/sandeep-bhagwati.html) in Montreal. He is an award-winning composer, theatre director, and media artist, and his compositions and comprovisations in all genres (including six operas) have been performed by leading performers at leading venues and festivals worldwide. He founded and currently directs matralab (https://matralab.hexagram.ca/), a research/creation center for intercultural and interdisciplinary arts. Host/Producer: David Szanto Music: Story Mode @makingamealpodcast makingamealofit.com (http://makingamealofit.com)

16. 

    12 Mar 2024

    103: Fat

    This episode is all about fat—both eating it and being it—and some of the many ways in which fat and fatness have highly complex effects on our psyches, our well-being, and our societies in general. The visibility (and invisibility) of fat in our worlds is a starting point, followed up with conversations with critical nutrition scholar Dr. Jennifer Brady, fat activist and educator Virgie Tovar, and naturopathic health consultant Deb Oleynik. (Yep, this is a longer-than-usual episode…) David and Maxime taste some unctuous hors d’oeuvres in the aperitivo edition of the ‘Stick This in Your Mouth’ segment, and medical physicist John Schreiner responds rapid-fire style to the Food Questionnaire. Guests: Dr. Jennifer Brady is a professor of nutrition and dietetics at Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Her research focuses on the ways in which science and society come together to produce various effects in and on our bodies, including such themes as health justice, weight-neutral approaches to practice, and the intersectionality of gender, race, and class. She has written and edited many scholarly articles and books, including Conversations in Food Studies (https://uofmpress.ca/books/conversations-in-food-studies) and Feminist Food Studies (https://canadianscholars.ca/book/feminist-food-studies/). Virgie Tovar is a writer (https://www.virgietovar.com/books.html), podcaster (https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/rebel-eaters-club/id1495401238), Instagrammer (https://www.instagram.com/virgietovar/), and public speaker (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZnsamRfxtY) who has a master’s degree in sexuality studies with a focus on the intersections of body size, race, and gender. For more than a decade, she has been non-judgmentally teaching people about the harmful effects of weight-based discrimination and the benefits of celebrating body diversity. Virgie has been featured by the New York Times, Tech Insider, BBC, MTV, Al Jazeera, NPR, and Yahoo Health. She lives in San Francisco. Deb Oleynik is a naturopathic health and wellness consultant (http://www.deboleynik.com/) who helps clients find and adjust the lifestyle factors that contribute to chronic disease. She is committed to the reality that the food we eat and the environments that surround us contribute greatly to our wellbeing. Deb has a doctorate in Naturopathic Medicine from Bastyr University and a master’s degree in Food Culture and Communication from the University of Gastronomic Sciences. John Schreiner is a medical physicist who served the Canadian medical physics community in many roles including as newsletter editor for the Canadian Organization of Medical Physicists and president of as Canadian College of Physicists in Medicine. In 2019, he retired as Chief of Medical Physics at the Cancer Centre of Southeastern Ontario in 2019, and he is now Professor Emeritus (https://www.queensu.ca/physics/people-search/l-john-schreiner) of Oncology and Physics, Engineering Physics & Astronomy at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. Host/Producer: David Szanto Music: Story Mode @makingamealpodcast makingamealofit.com (http://makingamealofit.com)

17. 

    12 Mar 2024

    102: Buying & Selling

    This episode focuses on the relationships that underlie the buying and selling of food (and wine), including the ways in which trust is built up through exchange and communication. We start off with some sounds of feedback—but not the awful screechy kind. That’s followed by conversations with Nicolas Fabien-Ouellet of the Montreal Public Markets and Tania Perreault, from the wine bar L’aPéro Buvette. (This conversation is in French—see transcript for English translation.) Both talk about the relationships, cycles, and feedback that make their businesses thrive, while also keeping the commercial aspect as humanistic as possible. The ‘Stick This in Your Mouth’ segment gets pretty cheesy, as David and Maxime do some dances with dairy, and this episode’s Food Questionnaire respondent is politician and environmental champion, the Honorable Sheila Malcolmson. Guests: Nicolas Fabien-Ouellet is the Director General of the Marchés publics de Montréal, a network that includes the Jean-Talon, Atwater, and Maisonneuve food markets, as well as six neighbourhood markets and three Solidarity markets in Montreal. He earned his master degree in Food Systems from the University of Vermont in 2017, and is the author of several articles, including “Poutine Dynamics (https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/cuizine/2016-v7-n2-cuizine02881/1038479ar/),” a socio-political examination of the iconic québécois dish. Tania Perreault is an interior designer and co-owner/operator, with her partner Melisande Lefebvre, of l’aPéro Buvette (https://www.laperobuvette.com/), a natural wine bar in Montreal. During the day, the space doubles as Tania’s design studio and office, Pero studio (https://www.studiopero.com/). Sheila Malcolmson was first elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada (https://www.leg.bc.ca/learn-about-us/members/42nd-Parliament/malcolmson-sheila) (for Nanaimo, BC) in 2019. Her work has included improving mental-health services and addressing the ongoing toxic drug crisis, as well as protecting the environment and clean up coastal waters. Previously, she served as a federal member of the Canadian parliament for Nanaimo-Ladysmith in BC. As an MP, she was a leading advocate for solutions to vessel abandonment, oil spill prevention and women’s equality. Sheila lives on Gabriola Island with her partner, Howard. Host/Producer: David Szanto Music: Story Mode Stock media: soundsvisual / Pond5 @makingamealpodcast makingamealofit.com (http://makingamealofit.com)

18. 

    13 Feb 2024

    100: How To (make a meal of it)

    Making a Meal of It is the podcast for eaters of all appetites who want to re-imagine and reinvigorate their relationships with food, food culture, and food systems. This trailer is a kind of “How To” for the show, an introduction to the ways it is conceived and produced. Not that you really need an instruction manual for listing to a podcast... Full episodes will be released starting March 12, 2024.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

3 ratings

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Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.