What if the future of plant-based food isn't about faking meat, but inventing something entirely new? We go inside a student hackathon at Wageningen University (WUR) and follow the winning concept from whiteboard sketch to test kitchen to campus cafeteria. Along the way, food scientists and student organizers weigh in on the potential for the food industry to not always try to imitate meat.

This episode was produced in collaboration with Wageningen Alt Protein Project (WAPP).

Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to podcast@tabledebates.org

For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/
episode106

Guest

• Melania Zanforlin, Co-chair WAPP
• Joaquin Fogel, Co-chair WAPP
• Dr. Laurice Pouvreau, Senior Protein Scientist at WUR
• Dr. Stacy Pyett, Program Manager at WUR
• Andy Bingham, Senior Food Application Scientist and Executive Chef at Kalsec Europe
• Dr. Raffaella Inchingolo, Lead Food Scientist at Kalsec Europe
• Dr. Guido Sala, Researcher in food physics and Molecular Gastronomy at WUR

Episode written, hosted, produced and edited by Melania Zanforlin. Produced and edited by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

After the 2018 African Swine Fever outbreak led to the culling of over a hundred million pigs, China moved toward larger, more biosecure, high-rise hog farms. Human geographer Ray Chan takes us inside these operations. He argues that biosecurity isn't only about preventing disease. He calls it a form of governance, deciding whose risk gets prioritized and how both people and animals are expected to behave.

For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/
episode105

Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to podcast@tabledebates.org

Guest

• Dr Ray Chan, Human Geographer at Royal Agricultural University

Episode written, hosted, produced and edited by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.

China's countryside isn't heading toward one future. Sociologist Forrest Zhang walks us through four different scenarios: suburbanizing villages turned tourist destinations, industrial-scale grain belts managed by smart phones, intensive vegetable farms facing a looming labor crisis, and aging villagers returning to subsistence farming. We explore the shift from socialist to capitalist agriculture, and ask whether the next era may take a "sustainability turn,” a door opened by a shrinking population, food oversupply, and a rising public health crisis.

For more info, transcript and resources, visit: https://tabledebates.org/podcast/
episode104

Want to share your reflections on the episode? Send us an email or voice memo to podcast@tabledebates.org

Listen to China's Food Future (Part 1).

Guest

• Prof Qian Forrest Zhang, Singapore Management University

Episode written, hosted, produced and edited by Matthew Kessler. Music by Blue dot sessions.