Climavores Post Script Media

In this last episode of the season, Tamar and Mike discuss what they’ve learned over the past six months and debate whether there’s hope for solving the food and climate problem (spoiler alert: they both say, “Yes, if….). 
They discuss techno optimists who see the rise in food and ag tech innovations as an overall win for the climate, but admit that technology can only slow climate change if people embrace it. In this episode, Mike and Tamar weigh in on a recent Bloomberg article titled “Fake Meat Was Supposed to Save the World. It Became Just Another Fad.” They point out that naysayers also doubted the solar industry in the ‘60s and plant-based milks in the ‘90s. And look where they are now! 
They also dig into the belief that the way we grow food and the food we eat should be rooted in a natural system. Tamar admits that until people can disassociate naturalness from their view of the food system, we're not going to make the progress needed to save the planet. 
Have a question about food and climate change for Mike and Tamar? Leave a message on the Climavores hotline at (508) 377-3449. Or email us at climavores@postscriptaudio.com. We might feature your question on a future episode. 
Climavores is a production of Post Script Media.
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Wheat feeds billions but it has some big climate problems. Wheat production degrades the soil, which releases carbon. It also requires a lot of land. That means clearing land—often forest—to make room for it, which also releases carbon. Plus, wheat harms ecosystems: fertilizer runoff causes water pollution, and monoculture hurts biodiversity.

One alternative? Kernza. Developed over decades by the Land Institute, it’s a perennial relative of wheat that sequesters carbon with its massive root system. But does its carbon-sequestering power make it truly climate-friendly?
 
This week, Mike and Tamar talk about Kernza and the decades-long movement to domesticate the holy grail of grains: a crop that not only produces high yields but also improves the environment.

To leave a message for Mike and Tamar, call the Climavores hotline at (508) 377-3449. Or email us at climavores@postscriptaudio.com. We might feature your question on a future episode. 

Climavores is a production of Post Script Media.
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It’s no secret that chocolate is a sweet loved by pretty much everyone (well, everyone except Tamar). Here in the states, the average American eats about 12 pounds of chocolate a year, and worldwide we eat eight million tons of it annually. Unfortunately, our obsession with chocolate comes with a high carbon footprint. It also often creates terrible labor conditions for the communities who cultivate it.

This week, Mike and Tamar speak with Rowan Jacobsen — author, journalist, and host of the podcast “OBSESSIONS: Wild Chocolate” — to discuss how we make chocolate in a way that’s good for the planet and people. 

Full transcript here.

To leave a message for Mike and Tamar, call the Climavores hotline at (508) 377-3449. Or email us at climavores@postscriptaudio.com. We might feature your question on a future episode. 

Climavores is a production of Post Script Media.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s a new year, and that means a new stream of voicemails filling up our listener hotline. This week Mike and Tamar kick things off by answering questions about the impact of food packaging, the scope of precision agriculture, lamb and goat meat compared to beef, and much more. They also share some of their predictions for what 2023 will bring in the worlds of nutrition and climate.

It’s the mailbag episode! And it won’t be the last, so keep your questions about food and climate change coming. 

To leave a message for Mike and Tamar, call the Climavores hotline at (508) 377-3449. Or email us at climavores@postscriptaudio.com. We might feature your question on a future episode. 

Climavores is a production of Post Script Media.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week on the show, internet sensation Hank Green talks with Mike and Tamar about the future of cell-based meat. Hank lives in Montana, which is hardcore ranching country. It’s a place where beef is king, cowboys are real and pickup trucks are the norm. But he’s convinced that the future of meat looks a lot different than it does today. And Mike and Tamar agree. 
But there are huge hurdles to overcome before the majority of us sit down to cell-based steaks at the dinner table. Scaling up bio reactors in a way that maintains sterility is complicated; making cell-based meat that’s affordable to the general public is a long way out; and changing the “ick” mindset around cell-based meat will take a monumental cultural shift.
But despite all that, Hank predicts he’ll be eating cell-based nuggets by 2030 and loving them. 

Click here for a full transcript of the episode.
Have a question about food and climate change for Mike and Tamar? Leave a message on the Climavores hotline at (508) 377-3449. Or email us at climavores@postscriptaudio.com. We might feature your question on a future episode. 
Climavores is a production of Post Script Media.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mike and Tamar talk a lot about eating better for our bodies and our planet. They’ve tackled meat versus plants, processed food versus whole food, cow milk versus almond milk. They even did a whole episode about the pros and cons of local food. 
But in this episode, they talk about the ultimate local food, something Tamar calls “first-hand food.” It’s the food we grow, forage, raise, hunt or even fish ourselves; and it’s central to Tamar’s book “To Boldly Grow.”
In this episode Mike interviews Tamar on how her book came to be and outs himself as a major fan. “To Boldly Grow” is part memoir, part how-to guide. But it’s not just a book about food. It’s about doing stuff; it’s about love and marriage; and it’s available wherever books are sold if you need a last minute holiday gift…
Resources:

To Boldly Grow by Tamar Haspel

Have a question about food and climate change for Mike and Tamar? Leave a message on the Climavores hotline at (508) 377-3449. Or email us at climavores@postscriptaudio.com. We might feature your question on a future episode. 
Climavores is a production of Post Script Media.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices