In this episode, Gastronomica’s Bob Valgenti talks with Evelyn Lambeth about the rise of beef consumption and the historical legacies that continue to shape food systems in Australia. Contrasting cattle with kangaroos and wallabies, Evelyn explains how imperial power and regulation have defined notions of what’s edible – and what’s not.
This week’s episode looks at lab-grown meat, climate change, and the possible futures of edibility. In conversation with Gastronomica’s Bob Valgenti, Hallam Stevens shares his new article about a mammoth meatball and what motivated him to explore the technological innovation of an un-eatable food. Connecting history, biology, technology, and ethics, Hallam discusses how cellular agriculture shapes the temporality of food and the category of the animal itself, weighing in on what these new forms of value creation mean for sustainability transitions.
In this episode, Gastronomica’s Bob Valgenti talks with Chelsea Fisher and Clara Albacete about their new article on food justice and civilizations in the supermarket. Drawing on superfoods such as quinoa and chia, they unpack the process of ancient greenwashing and the notion of long-term sustainability. Their conversation connects the contemporary moment to pre-colonial civilizations to reveal how social inequities in global food systems live on through storied food.
How is value created in heritage food systems, and what role does the figure of the artisanal producer play? In this episode, anthropologists Lauren Crossland-Marr and Elizabeth Krause introduce a special section on authenticity, published in Gastronomica’s newest issue (Spring 2023). In conversation with Gastronomica’s Bob Valgenti, Lauren and Elizabeth share some of the most pressing questions around the notion of authenticity today.
How is the war in Ukraine impacting regional food supply chains? In this episode, Gastronomica’s Bob Valgenti speaks with scholars Diana Mincyte and Fabio Parasecoli about the current state of food systems in countries that immediately border Ukraine.