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, addresses this new research.

Phil Viens is a former restaurant chef turned butcher and charcutier. His Montreal shop, Aliments Viens 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

the speculative films Soylent Green and Snowpiercer

Julie Guthman on the Thriving Farmer Podcast and “The Food Police”

the history of vegetarianism

the Maillard Reaction

Host/Producer: David Szanto

Music: Story Mode

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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

Nicole Claasen, GIZ, Germany

Kevin Morgan, Cardiff University, Wales

Anne-Marie Aubert, Conseil du système alimentaire montréalais, Québec

Laura Gómez Tovar, Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, Mexico

Samuel Gudu, Rongo University, Kenya

Chatura Pulasinghage, Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario/Sri Lanka

Lillith Brook, Government of Northwest Territories

Elodie Valette, URBAL/CIRAD, France

Rachel Carey, University of Melbourne, Australia

Victor Martinez, Kwantlen Polytechnic University, 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

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 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. 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
• Miels d’Anicet (Québec honey producer)
• Le Faubourg à m’lasse (former molasses-scented neighborhood of Montreal)
• Sweetness and Power by Sidney Mintz

Host/Producer: David Szanto

Music: Story Mode

Bees sound recording by Scottish Guy from Pixabay

@makingamealpodcast

makingamealofit.com