Welcome to Oh Crop!, the food systems podcast serving up conversations at the intersection of food equity, climate change, and public health.
Join host Kat Morgan, MPH, for conversations with leading researchers, farmers, activists, and changemakers who are reimagining how we grow, distribute, and think about food. We dig into the root causes of our food system's biggest challenges and spotlight the innovative solutions sprouting around the world. Whether you're a sustainability professional, climate advocate, or simply someone who eats—there's something here for you.
E27: Plant Diversity and Food Equity at Oak Spring Garden Foundation – Dr. Peter Crane and Christine Harris
In this episode of Oh Crop!, host Kat Morgan, MPH, sits down with Dr. Peter Crane — President of the Oak Spring Garden Foundation and former Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew — and Christine Harris, Director of Oak Spring’s Rokeby Farm.
Recorded on the foundation’s 700-acre landscape in Upperville, Virginia, once the estate of Rachel “Bunny” Mellon, the conversation explores what it takes to conserve plant diversity at different scales, including their Biocultural Conservation objectives, and why that work matters now for both climate resilience and food equity. The episode also covers important themes like linking ecologically grown local produce to community food banks to combat regional nutrition insecurity. Christine describes how Oak Spring's Rokeby Farm produces crops to nourish visitors and community members alike. Peter and Christine close by sharing what gives them hope, from the young growers and visitors finding their way onto the land to the families who have kept seeds in circulation for generations.
Read more about the Oak Spring Garden Foundation (https://www.osgf.org/residencies/botanical-art-residency?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=21003400309&gbraid=0AAAAAqnvo-vog8vIo7ab67RAiWOvdXK94&gclid=Cj0KCQjw2OnUBhC2ARIsACKyfaHc4vMKfmJe1Tcay03JazY9LOsAHZgl-jNt7bx-C4xD1arWC2bd56UaAtH9EALw_wcB)
13 Jul 2026
E26: Dr. Alex McAlvey on Crop Mixtures and the Ancient Roots of Climate Resilience
In this episode of Oh Crop!, host Kat Morgan sits down — live at the New York Botanical Garden — with Dr. Alex McAlvey, Assistant Curator at the Garden's Center for Plants, People, and Culture.
Alex draws on his background in cropping systems, wild crop relatives, and wild edible plants to explore crop mixtures: the ancient practice of growing multiple species or varieties together in a single field.
The discussion dives into several key issues and tensions, including how mixtures act as an insurance policy against climate variability through complementarity and niche partitioning, why the practice has declined under pressures from global markets, mechanization, and government policy, and how it might be revived at scale — from France's wheat variety blends to school-meal programs in Kenya that reconnect diversified harvests to plates.
Alex and Kat examine the deeper challenge of aligning our tastes with our health and our environment, and how culturally relevant food can drive that shift.
Read more about Alex's work (https://www.nybg.org/person/alex-c-mcalvay/)
Check out the Traditional Grain Mixtures Project at NYBG (https://www.nybg.org/science-project/the-traditional-grain-mixtures-project/)
24 Apr 2026
E25: Andy Jarvis on Bezos Earth Fund's $1B Commitment to Food Systems Transformation
In this episode of Oh Crop!, host Kat Morgan sits down with Dr. Andy Jarvis — Director of the Future of Food at the Bezos Earth Fund.
Andy reflects on over two decades of work at the intersection of food security and environmental sustainability, and how that experience has shaped his present work on agro-biodiversity conservation, climate adaptation, and sustainable protein.
The discussion dives into several key issues and tensions, including reducing the food system's enormous emissions and land footprint, the complexity of meeting human nutritional needs and keeping food culturally relevant, and the role of philanthropy and strategic investment — including the Bezos Earth Fund's US$1B commitment to Food Systems Transformation — mobilized with the intention of spurring transformational change.
Andy closes by sharing what gives him hope: the brilliant entrepreneurs and scientists he encounters through his work, and — perhaps most powerfully — young people dedicated to changing the world.
Learn more:
Bezos Centers for Sustainable Protein (https://www.bezosearthfund.org/)
Stockholm Environment Institute - Planetary Boundaries Overview (https://www.stockholmresilience.org/research/planetary-boundaries.html)
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