Honey is supposed to be one of the purest foods on earth. So why is global honey production rising while bee populations are collapsing?
In this episode, Max and Jess follow the sticky trail from declining pollinator health to a massive international fraud known as Honeygate. We explore collapsing colonies, crop monocultures, honey laundering, and why so much cheap honey on store shelves isn’t honey at all.
We also dig into what consumers can do, how to spot the real stuff, and why supporting local beekeepers matters more than ever.Sign up for our newsletter!

In this episode, Jess educates Max on the billion dollar, illicit food fraud industry.

We cover how the Italian Mafia gained legitimate enterprises through American subsidies post WWII, how they strengthened their positions through vertical integration, and how they (among other criminal enterprises) figured out how to sell fake olive oil, cheeses, and wines to not only Europe, but the world at large.

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It’s spooky season, and Farms and Frontlines is diving into the surprising history behind trick-or-treating.

Max and Jessica trace the tradition all the way back to the Celtic festival of Samhain, when families left food to appease wandering spirits, and through the Catholic Church’s “soul cakes” that children collected while praying for the dead. From medieval souling to Scottish and Irish “guising,” the practice eventually crossed the Atlantic, where American suburbs, postwar candy companies, and even Peanuts comics turned it into the Halloween we know today.

Along the way, Max and Jess uncover why soul cakes might have been the original pumpkin spice, how candy corn started life as “chicken feed,” and why the end of World War II’s sugar rationing was the real turning point for Halloween candy. Expect stories of VHS tapes in trick-or-treat bags, pranks gone wrong during the Great Depression, and the surprising link between peanut butter, Hershey, and Reese’s Cups.

From ancient bonfires to candy capitalism, this episode explores how food and ritual shaped one of the most beloved holidays in America—and why every Kit Kat still has an ancestor in a little cake baked for the souls of the dead.