Logo for REAP/SOW

REAP/SOW

FERN

Dispatches from the frontlines of food, farming, and the environment. From the Food & Environment Reporting Network, the producers of Hot Farm, REAP/SOW brings you narrative and investigative reporting that examines the consequences of what we choose to eat and why.

2024 FERN

Dispatches from the frontlines of food, farming, and the environment. From the Food & Environment Reporting Network, the producers of Hot Farm, REAP/SOW brings you narrative and investigative reporting that examines the consequences of what we choose to eat and why.

2024 FERN
9hr 1min
Thumbnail for "Hot Farm Bonus Episode: Climavores - "Bursting the 'eat local' bubble"".
Buying local makes us feel good, but does it really help the planet?
July 28, 202232min 21sec
Thumbnail for "Redfish Blues".
Scientists have long predicted that land loss in Louisiana will harm fisheries. That finally seems to be happening—to one of the state’s most iconic fish.
July 9, 202439min 55sec
Thumbnail for "A native people fight for their stolen waters".
In California, a study of centuries-old irrigation ditches suggests the Nüümü people could rightfully lay claim to the waters of Owens Lake.
June 6, 202428min 50sec
Thumbnail for "The forever chemicals on the farm from What You’re Eating".
Found in everything from pizza boxes to rain jackets, PFAS - aka "forever chemicals" - are now being discovered in our farms, our food, and in our bodies.
May 2, 202456min 24sec
Thumbnail for "Farming with ghosts".
FERN contributor Lisa Morehouse reports on a Japanese-American farmer who uncovers a shocking family secret.
April 4, 202430min 42sec
Thumbnail for "White gold fever from Snap Judgment".
This FERN/Snap Judgment partnership tells the story of how a massive bed of callo de hacha, a prized scallop, could have saved a struggling Mexican fishing village – and why it didn’t.
March 5, 202427min 59sec
Thumbnail for "Weaponized food from The Switchyard Podcast".
Episode four of REAP/SOW is the final installment of our partnership with Switchyard, as host Ted Genoways interviews writers Jori Lewis and Siddhartha Deb.
February 15, 202450min 18sec
Thumbnail for "The Sioux Chef’s decolonized cuisine from The Switchyard Podcast".
FERN editor-in-chief Theodore Ross interviews Chef Sean Sherman about decolonized food, in an episode from the Switchyard podcast.
February 13, 202446min 48sec
Thumbnail for "Tom Colicchio: Finding my voice in food from The Switchyard Podcast".
Top Chef star Tom Colicchio sits down with longtime FERN contributor Ted Genoways for an in-depth conversation with the acclaimed celebrity chef
February 8, 202451min 14sec
Thumbnail for "Introducing REAP/SOW!".
Introducing the latest audio project from the Food & Environment Reporting Network
February 1, 20245min 18sec
Thumbnail for "Hot Farm Bonus Episode: "Should I Give up Beef?" from How to Save a Planet".
A bonus episode about beef from a show called “How to Save a Planet"
June 28, 202241min 21sec
Thumbnail for "Hot Farm Part 4. The New California".
Most of our food comes from California. But in the very near future, climate change will force us to grow more food in other parts of the country. Here’s what that might look like.
May 3, 202230min 11sec
Thumbnail for "Hot Farm Part 3. Grain of the Future".
To fight climate change, we need new crops that consume less water, protect the soil and lock away more carbon. For twenty years, scientists have been breeding a grain that does all that. Will farmers grow it? Will people eat it?
April 26, 202228min 51sec
Thumbnail for "Hot Farm Part 2. Enlisting the Unconvinced".
Most American farmers don’t believe man-made climate change is real. But if we’re serious about fighting climate change, we need those farmers to be part of the solution. How can we convince them to change how they farm?
April 19, 202232min 49sec
Thumbnail for "Hot Farm Part 1. Change Is Hard".
In the opening episode of Hot Farm, we visit with Dave Bishop, a farmer who shown a willingness to change.
April 12, 202236min 17sec
Thumbnail for "Hot Farm Trailer".
A new podcast from the Food & Environment Reporting Network about what the people who grow our food are doing, or could be doing, to combat climate change coming April 12.
March 15, 20221min 59sec

Hot Farm Bonus Episode: Climavores - "Bursting the 'eat local' bubble"

Thumbnail for "Hot Farm Bonus Episode: Climavores - "Bursting the 'eat local' bubble"".
July 28, 202232min 21sec

From our friends at Climavores: The eat local movement is huge. Bumper stickers in liberal towns across the U.S. tell us to “Eat local” or ask “Who’s your farmer?” But eating local food may be wildly overrated when it comes to climate change. 

When we look at how foods are produced, transportation accounts for less than 10% of carbon emissions. So should we abandon farmers’ markets for big grocery store chains? 

In this episode, Mike and Tamar break down the real carbon footprint of local food and ask whether the value of supporting local, small-scale farmers outweighs the climate benefit of not buying local (spoiler alert: Tamar says yes. Mike says no). They also dive into the history of the local food movement and explore why it’s gained such traction.

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.