On this especially curious dish, we are digging into a poisonous history of the United States with Deborah Blum, a Pulitzer-prize winning science journalist, the best-selling author of six books, and a writer with a long-standing interest in poison, in our everyday lives, in our history and in far too many murders. Deborah takes us on a broad journey over time from ancient Rome to the Industrial Revolution era's sensational crises, to the creation of the FDA and her current outlook on today's food safety landscape.

Have you pondered the meaning and legacy of seeds, from our human agricultural origins, to now? What does it mean to be a good steward and ancestor to not only land, but also to the seeds passed down along these generations from past to present to future?

This special episode explores transformative visions for a more just and sustainable food system, which fundamentally connects every human back to land -- from field to food safety to cultural practices. Luminaries, authors, and sacred earth champions Jim Embry and Jennifer Bailey share their visions for a healthier future for all, and how seed work is the focal point of social transformation and justice.

Resources

Slow Food

Seeding Stardust

Organic Seed Alliance Conference 2025: Seed Cosmology

We're shining a spotlight on Missouri Farmers Union! Hear from Brittany Sullivan of Fayette's Sullivan Farms and learn all about her family farm's first-generation-farmer journey into a regenerative, small-scale pasture and vegetable operation. Brittany also highlights how Missouri Farmers Union has been instrumental in their farm story and how being a part of the Local Food Safety Collaborative has helped to leverage new opportunities for Missouri farmers.

Missouri Farmers Union

Sullivan Farms

Lights...camera...action...Biofilms! Slimy, microorganisms, cellular life forms on surfaces-- from algae to the kitchen sink, they were some of the first life forms on Earth! What are they exactly and how do they work?

Learn the science of the mysterious, slimy biofilms that present themselves in everyday life-- the good, the bad, and the ugly. We got the dish from Dr. Angela Walla of Texas Tech University on the basics of biofilms, how it relates to food safety, and how you can mitigate the presence of harmful biofilms on the farm.

We're kicking off season 3 of the Food Safety Dish with the inspiring story of Regenerating an Iowa Family Farm with food & agriculture writer and farmer Beth Hoffman. Follow her story from coastal journalist to the heartland as she and her husband cultivate their new regenerative farm visions on Whippoorwill Creek Farm, raising beef, goats and veggies without the sprays, chemicals, or the GMO grains. Hear all about their dynamic farm model offering farm tours, cooking and writing classes, on-farm dinners, and overnight stays on family farmland passed down through generations.

Beth Hoffman has been reporting on food and agriculture for more than twenty-five years and is the author of Bet the Farm: The Dollars and Sense of Growing Food in America, a book about the economics of farming, told through her story of moving to the farm. She also writes In the Dirt as part of the Iowa Writers Collaborative and hosts the "At the Iowa Farm Table Podcast."

On this exciting season 2 finale, we explore the world of cooperatives and the co-operative advantage with the longstanding and pioneering Ashland Food Co-op in Ashland, Oregon. With produce manager Joe Reyes and cooperative expert Annie Hoy, we talk AFC's origin story and evolution, how they developed into the northwest's first Certified Organic Retailer, the many parallels between food safety and certified organic standards, and so much more!

Seven Cooperative Principles

Ashland Food Coop

Co-Op Development Resources:

Northwest Cooperative Development Center

California Co-op Development Center

National Co-op Business Association/CLUSA

Food Co-Op Initiative

University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives

With the recent 2024 final rollout of FSMA's Produce Safety Rule on Pre-Harvest Agricultural Water (Subpart E), there's been a lot of chatter and some confusion about what growers need to do to comply. We got the dish from Michigan State University extension educator and on-farm food safety statewide coordinator Phil Tocco. Hear what Phil has to say about water hazards, risks, and assessing your own ag water as he distills technical regulatory language into an accessible pool of knowledge that empowers growers.

Risk Prioritization Tool for Agricultural Water

Past, future, and present visions of ancient grains all intersect in Southern Oregon's Rogue Valley Heritage Grain Project--farmer Chris Hardy's pursuit of ancient, nutrient dense grains and legumes that will thrive in the increasingly arid bio-region of lower Cascadia. Starting with a spoonful of seeds, to embarking on a worldwide search for rare and resilient heritage cultivars, back to the inner-mountain valleys of Oregon, RVHGP has amassed one of the largest "Living Seed Banks" in the western United States. Hear from farmers Chris Hardy and Steve Fry, owner of one of the Rogue Valley's largest diversified organic farms, as they recount the origins of this project, how they've adopted dry farming practices, why good grain is a food safety & public health matter, and much more!

Learn more about the Rogue Valley Heritage Grain Project!