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FoodButHow
Learning about the challenges facing the global food production system directly from the experts
Food for thought ...
Building a sustainable food production system is critical to the survival of humankind.
Climate disasters, political imbalances, and global health crises have taken turn in stress-testing our current food system.
While we are struggling to keep a well-functioning and efficient food production system for ourselves, we must also consider our resposibility towards future generations.
A paradigm shift from the traditional methods based on irresponsible consumption, towards diversified, resilient, and sustainable systems for our food chain is much-needed.
FoodButHow is a series of podcasts that aims to explore the food system through its delicately interconnected parts: production, distribution, and consumption.
In the episodes linked below, we interview expert guests about the challenges and opportunities they face within their sectors.
The Soil
"We can produce more food if we eat more plants."
Dr. Peter Schad - Lecturer at the Chair of Soil Science at the Technical University of Munich.
In this episode, Dr. Schad discusses what makes soil healthy, the historical relationship between fertile lands and thriving societies, the industrialization of agriculture and sustainable soil management.
Hosts: Alma, Selcen, Ayoub
"Food security is not going to come from increasing productivity alone."
Dr. Faouzi Bekkaoui - Head of the Moroccan National Institute for Agronomical Research (INRA).
In this episode, Dr. Bekkaoui takes us through the main working streams that are happening within l'INRA, challenges concerning transfer knowledge from labs to the farm and water scarcity as a major concern for Moroccan agriculture. We also bring up seed politics and INRA's interest in regenerative agriculture.
Hosts: Ayoub, Alma
"Had Russia started its invasion on Ukraine before October, it would have been the end for Clementines growers in Morocco."
Omar Baalla - Operations Manager at Wazo Packaging.
In this episode, Mr. Baalla takes us through the steps that citrus fruits go through from soil to shipping containers, all while discussing the various logistical challenges involved, particularly to reduce fruit wastage.
We also talk about the socioeconomic aspects of agriculture, the impact of the Ukranian invasion on the citrus fruit market and failed governmental incentives.
We also talk about the socioeconomic aspects of agriculture, the impact of the Ukranian invasion on the citrus fruit market and failed governmental incentives.
Host: Ayoub
The Processing and Distribution
The Plate
"Food is an intimate matter. What you have inside your refrigerator says a lot about who you are."
Vincent Fricke - chef, member of the Munich Nutrition Council and CEO of HolisticFood GmbH.
"We are throwing tomatoes away in Switzerland because tomatoes from Spain are ten times cheaper."
Mirko Buri - Owner/Chef at Mein Küchenchef.
Our guests, Mirko Buri and Vincent Fricke are trained chefs and political activists that are coming up with and implementing alternative consumption models for the hospitality industry.
Mirko Buri owns a Zurich restaurant that uses predominantly second-grade produce that would have otherwise gone to waste. Vicent Fricke is a political activist as well as a coach toprofessionals in the hospitality industry on sustainable practices.
Mirko Buri owns a Zurich restaurant that uses predominantly second-grade produce that would have otherwise gone to waste. Vicent Fricke is a political activist as well as a coach toprofessionals in the hospitality industry on sustainable practices.
Hosts: Jonas, Annika
"What makes a restaurant sustainable is not transparent. How they purchase their products, how they manage their waste is behind closed curtains”
Tugce Bayrakdar Turgut - Chef, Attica Restaurant Melbourne
In this episode, Tugce and Selcen discuss possible indicators of sustainability to evaluate a restaurant as ‘Green’, how to design a smart menu to reduce food waste, Covid-19 and labor shortage in the hospitality industry, lack of necessary legislation and encouraging initiatives for the industry. They also reflect on the cooking practices that would help adapt our food system to climate change and the influential power of restaurants.
Link to script.
Link to script.
Host: Selcen
“What we refer to as the beginning and end of the food chain – a field on a farm at one end, a plate of food at the other – isn’t really a chain at all. The food chain is more like a set of Olympic rings. They all hang together.”
Dan Barber - The Third Plate
As FoodbutHow comes to an end, we look back at our conversations and the points that we brought up and see the food system's rings very clearly interlocked through economical, environmental and political factors.
These discussions brought along answers to our initial questions but also questions that we hadn't thought about.
These discussions brought along answers to our initial questions but also questions that we hadn't thought about.
FoodButHow is an interdisciplinary project on food sustainability created by a group of graduate students from the Technical University of Munich as part of the Introduction to Politics and Technology class.
Alma Cantorán
Viramontes
Viramontes
Ayoub Kachkach
Sumeyye Selcen
Eyyubi Ufuk
Eyyubi Ufuk
Annika Schott
Jonas Schödel
