Hello Point of Origin fans, your host Stephen Satterfield here! I want to tell you about Whetstone Radio Collective, a brand new podcast venture from Whetstone Media now streaming. Whetstone Radio is like nothing else in the food podcast space and touches thematically on similar topics from Point of Origin—from politics, to culture, to global gastronomic histories, and of course, as always, centering on human empathy. With more in-depth conversations and more space to explore origins— and with unique cinematic and musical production—we think WRC is something really special and we have a strong feeling you’re going to think so too. 

We have some incredible shows for you. Climate Cuisine, from Taiwanese American journalist Clarissa Wei, takes a journalism-style look at the way the climate crisis is fundamentally shaping our relationship with food. Fruit Love Letters, from chef Jessamine Starr, is like a valentine to all your favorite fruits. This spring, writer Debra Freeman will invite you to a seat at The Table, an insightful show about Southern foodways. If you’ve been missing Point of Origin, I encourage you to check out some of the programming at Whetstone Radio Collective, search for the individual shows by title on your favorite podcast platform, and continue to discover the immense power food has on our collective/communal lives.

Link: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/channel/whetstone-radio/id6442689915

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Point of Origin friends this is our last episode of the season and a very special one to capstone the season. Today we’re talking about justice in food systems, its absence within those systems and the circumstances that lead to lacking. Now, maybe you've heard heard of the term “food desert” as a means of describing these circumstances, but food apartheid is more forceful, more succinct and frankly, more accurate language. 

To discuss the importance of language specificity when discussing food justice, we have just the right guest to speak on it, the same person who coined the term, Bronx resident and activist Karen Washington. We also chat with Mr. Bryant Terry, award-winning author, chef in residence of the Museum of the African Diaspora in San Francisco, and long-time food justice activist. And finally we close with author, educator and anthropologist, Dr. Hanna Garth. We compare and contrast food systems in the US and Cuba, and the ways in which each system undermines their respective constituents, and how, ultimately, systemic racism endures in both.

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What does it mean to eat meat in 2020? What it means to consuming it, to abstain from it and how, as always on matters of so called morality are murky, and impossible to detangle from the influence of culture, society, and privilege.

To lead the conversation we're joined with writer Alicia Kennedy, one of the clearest and most compelling voices in food media today on, among other things, veganism, and more broadly the politics of eating. We then travel to India where we’re Dr. Yamini Narayanan discusses the politicization of beef in India, and in particular, what happens when cow protection laws and diet regulations are coded as a means of marginalizing lower castes and Muslims. And finally, we go to the Dominican Republic with Ysanet Batista, activist and owner of Woke Foods who discusses her ongoing activism work through plant based recipes as a means of healing and restoration.

Join us as we consider as we consider the associated environmental burdens, veganism, it's misconceptions, the politics of meat, and diet identity.

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So often in “specialty” food and coffee, those are being marketed to and those on the ground who is a commentary on who gets to indulge and who must labor. Reclaiming stories of origin helps erode the idea that those who labor are helpless, and ideally, should push us to ask, why those with the history, knowledge and craft are relying on consumers — who rarely share any of these attributes — are the ones who ultimately uphold these systems. Who it's for becomes a question that is open for interrogation, as we learn more about, "where it's from."

In this episode, we pay homage to coffee’s African origins and Black entrepreneurs and laborers across the supply chain, highlighting stories from Burundi to California. We begin with artist turned coffee entrepreneur Keba Konte of Red Bay coffee, a pioneering African American coffee roaster. Jeanine Niyonzima-Aroian teaches us what makes Burundi an ideal coffee supplier and the unique challenges facing the women on the ground, and finally, we chat with Doug Hewitt of 1951 Coffee in Oakland, California, a nonprofit organization providing job training for refugees. Today on Point of Origin, it's Black Coffee.

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In many ways, no other food represents the center of culinary and communal life more than bread. It is likely the most consumed food in the world, but as it has been a staple food over the millenia, when we think of "bread", the images that come to mind are as diverse as the cultures of the world. Though it is a staple of just about every culture on earth, the contents of the bread we eat have become wildly disconnected to the grains of our ancestors. Today on Point of Origin we're looking at why that is, and how it came to be. 

In this episode we examine the whitewashing of wheat and the emergence of the whole grain revival. Our guests are a smattering of whole grain bakers, farmers and scholars from around the world. We begin in Oaxaca with Mixtecan bakery owner Martina Julieta Castellanos Lopez from Rincón de la Grana bakery, then we move to Nova Scotia Canada where food writer, author and amateur whole grain baker Simon Thibault breaks down the industrial grains along with some home baking tips. In Puglia Italy, multigenerational grain farmer Leonardo Petruccelli and writer Marissia Tiller discuss the transformation of his family farm from into a whole grain enterprise, and finally, in Washington DC, Jonathan Bethony, baker and co-owner of Seylou Bakery talks about his whole grain journey as a baker. Today on point of origin, we're going Beyond Wheat. 

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What do we mean when we say anthropology? And specifically food anthropology? We're talking about a word we use often and a word embedded in Whetstone lexicon and ideology. But it's also a word we have never defined. While it is a generous term that at its core is about the relationship between human beings and the world, we recognize the problematic history of the genre, one historically comprised of white male academics who brought their biases with them into the field. 

To help us properly define the term food anthropology, we're joined by two women anthropologists, GinaRae LaCerva and Hanna Garth. Ecologist and anthropology GinaRae LaCerva is the author of Feasting Wild: In Search of the Last Untamed Food and her work is in an exploration of the modern-day implications of wild and foraged foods, including wild meat, and what it tells us about the current state of the world. Sociocultural and medical anthropologist Hanna Garth [http://www.hannagarth.com] work specializes in the anthropology of food, while addressing issues of inequality and structural violence in Latin American, the Caribbean, and the United States.

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You're familiar with those "Got Milk" commercials. You've seen the billboards a hundred times. Those milk mustaches seemed innocuous enough. What you may not have considered is how Americans have been coerced into believing milk is an essential part of our healthy diet. We discuss how milk is the perfect microcosm for the many maladies plaguing our corporate food system. Currently, in the US an estimated 2.7 million - 3.7 million gallons of US milk is dumped every day as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. We investigate why. Join us as we uncover the politics rife in the US food systems, the everlasting systemic problem of money shaping policy, and how the joint actions of industry and government lead to the creation and perpetuation of health disparities. Andrea Freeman, author of The Unbearable Whiteness of Milk: Food Oppression and the USDA helps us navigate this landscape.

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The Hass avocado boom has driven significant change, both positive and negative, in the communities of those growing and harvesting the fruit. While the revenue created by this cash crop has led to improvement in living conditions for many, its popularity is threatening avocado's biodiversity and the business has become deeply entwined with political corruption and violent crime. We're learning about the history of the avocado farming in Morelos, Mexico, government intervention, and the farmers dedicated to the important work of preserving heirloom avocado varietals.

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Whetstone contributor Mónica R. Goya takes us to La Palma, part of the Spanish archipelago of the Canary Islands, to meet winemaker Victoria Torres Pecis. Pecis owns and runs the oldest winery on the island and is one of the few women winemakers in La Palma using a vinification process that relies on spontaneous fermentation and natural yeasts to produce “free” wine. Join us as we learn about colonial expansion and its effect on wine, and how Spain’s female winemakers are playing a critical role in revitalizing the industry.

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Host Stephen Satterfield connects with Chef Binta, an ambassador for the ancient grain fonio and self described modern nomadic chef. Her Fulani roots, classical training from the Kenyan Culinary Institute and love for rural life and nature inspire her dishes and pop up “Dine on a Mat” events, resulting in a modern, and environmentally engaged experience. Chef Binta helps us answer: What is Fulani food? 

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