Check out the short October 2025 Food Literacy Podcast. As always, be sure to check out the show notes for resources, including a link to the October 2024 episode. Most of this short episode is related to topics related to food as medicine, whereas the 2024 episode is garden-oriented. A checklist for October garden tasks is included in the show notes.

I participated in the interview process for the Center for Agriculture and Food Systems at Vermont Law and Graduate School project, Urban Agriculture and Innovative Production Policy Project report.

More on food and health, or if you wil,l food as medicine... Check out a bit of research on the MIND Diet as a potential way to mitigate dementia and Alzheimer's. Here is a link to information about the MIND Diet.

I discovered an interesting though long podcast you may want to check out in chunks, The Most Honest Man in Nutrition Research. Nutrition research and information is often contradictory one influencer extols the wisdom of eating spinach and another claims that spinach is a diet no-no because of a compound called oxalates. What’s one to do?

I could not miss at least a little bit of gardening information. Check out the link for a checklist of garden tasks for October. Also, if it is not available yet the Chicago Grows Food, October 2025 Lunch & Grow session featured Selma Sims from Gardeneers discussing how to shut down your garden and prepare for Spring 2026.

Bonus Content: Want to Live Longer?... Exposing the US Food Industry

Contact Orrin Williams: orrinw@uic.edu

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the OCEAN-HP, the CPHP, the CUT, or the RWH podcast series. The material and information presented here are for general information purposes only. While the podcast is about food literacy, we offer no health advice and encourage our listeners to seek guidance from their healthcare providers.

This is a very short episode. If you are looking for gardening information, see the show notes for content regarding ideas for September. We are seeking ideas related to cooking, cooking skills, recipes, and other culinary topics for the next few episodes. Please email me with any ideas you may have.

Plantophiles: What to Plant in September, Zone By Zone

Knollwood: The Beginner's Guide to Fall Vegetable Gardening in Zone 6

September 2022 Food Literacy Podcast Episode

September 2023 Food Literacy Podcast Episode

Here is an interesting article you may want to check out: Chiara Certomà & Chiara Tornaghi (2015). Political gardening.

Contact: orrinw@uic.edu

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the OCEAN-HP, the CPHP, the CUT, or the RWH podcast series. The material and information presented here are for general information purposes only. While the podcast is about food literacy, we offer no health advice and encourage our listeners to seek guidance from their healthcare providers.

August offers opportunities to sow seeds for crops that will carry our gardeners into autumn. There will be about 60 days before the first frost date. Check out the video links for crops that will mature before October 15th. Because frost dates are not set in stone, you may even have a longer period. Last year, I harvested some warm-weather crops after November 1, so you never know. Just know there is ample time to continue your 2025 gardening journey...

I am elated to offer this episode after beginning my gardening adventure thinking that everything had to be sown before July 1st. There are plenty of crops that you can sow for a fall harvest. The main things to remember is that they should mature in the next 60 days of so and that they can endure cooling late summer and early autumn temperatures, especially at night.

Here are some links for you to check out.

From one of my favorite YouTube channels, the Gardening Channel, here is a video with 20 potential crops you may want to consider sowing in August.

I want you to think outside the box and have fun gardening. I have experimented with multiple varieties of crops such as kale, collards (my favorite), okra, beans, peas, and others from the African Diaspora. So, I am happy to share this video from a plant person in Brooklyn that grows cotton! Also, check out this offering.

I love our plant kin, without them, life as we know it on Mother Earth would not exist. Check out some videos regarding plant research:

The Sleepy Scientist: How Plants Make Life Possible

New Scientific Discoveries That Change Everything About Plants

How Plants Think...

I always thought bolting was something you wanted to avoid except perhaps if you wanted to collect seeds. But the Benefits of Bolting?

Happy August, look out for the September episode dropping soon!

Contact: orrinw@uic.edu

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speaker’s own and do not represent the views, thoughts, and opinions of the University of Illinois at Chicago, the OCEAN-HP, the CPHP, the CUT, or the RWH podcast series. The material and information presented here are for general information purposes only. While the podcast is about food literacy, we offer no medical or health advice and encourage our listeners to seek guidance from their healthcare providers.