Radio Curious

As part of a series of Radio Curious on tour in Scotland,  we interview Jim Fairlie, the organizer of Farmers Markets in Scotland. Jim is a farmer by trade at Logie Almond Farm near Perth in the southern end of the Scottish Highlands. A decade ago, following the mad cow disease crisis, Jim Fairlie saw the need for farmers to market their own produce rather than rely on Government subsidies. After returning from a holiday in France, where he was blown away by the local markets, he set up Edinburgh’s much celebrated monthly farmers market, which now attract as many as 10,000 visitors. In our conversation we discuss how the farmers market movement gained momentum and the trials and tribulations of getting farmers and consumers to understand each other’s needs.

I spoke with Jim Fairlie at his farmhouse kitchen table near Perth, Scotland on May 17th 2009. We began with his story of how farmers markets in Scotland began.

The book Jim Fairlie recommends is “We Need To Talk About Kevin,” by Lionel Shriver

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Do you know how the food you eat is raised? In this conversation host and producer Attorney Barry Vogel visits with Gene Baur, author of  “Farm Sanctuary: Changing Hearts And Minds About Animals And Food.” Gene Baur is the president and cofounder of Farm Sanctuary, the nations leading farm animal protection organization, which advocates the fair treatment of farm animals, a return to the roots of agriculture and the end of animals suffering for our consumption.

I spoke with Gene Baur at our studio in Ukiah, California on March 22nd, 2009 and began by asking what brought him to be involved in food and it’s production.

The book Gene Baur recommends is “Calling All Radicals: How Grassroots Organizers Can Save Our Democracy,” by Gabriel Thompson

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In the story of Don Quixote, the author Miguel Cervantes tells, among other things, what Don Quixote ate for dinner every day of the week. This, in part became the inspiration for a book entitled, “Cooking from the Heart of Spain: Food of La Mancha,” written by Janet Mendel, an American woman who has lived in Spain for approximately 40 years. This book and the name of the author ignited my spontaneous curiosity, so when Janet Mendel and I visited by phone from her home on the southern coast of Spain in June 2007, I asked about her focus and inspiration to write a cookbook centered around Don Quixote de La Mancha.

The book she recommends, not surprisingly, is “Don Quixote,” by Miguel Cervantes, in the English translation by Edith Grossman.

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Behind the scenes in Per Se, a four star restaurant in New York City, a sister restaurant to The French Laundry in Napa, California, is one of the topics in this edition of Radio Curious.  Phoebe Damrosch, author of, “Service Included: Four-Star Secrets of an Eavesdropping Waiter,” was the first female captain (head waiter) at a New York four-star restaurant. A graduate of Columbia University’s Barnard College, she shares surprising episodes and charm in a story relayed from the always-pleasant server’s point of view that some people spend several hundred dollars each to witness from the diner’s perspective. However, Phoebe sees things that the diners don’t. Phoebe Damrosch was born in a small rural mountaintop cabin next to a pure water lake several hours north of New York City, and grew up partly in Vermont and rural Haiti.

This conversation, recorded on July 15, 2008, began when I asked her to explain what a restaurant must do to receive the four-star nomination.

The book she recommends is “Drown,” by Junot Diaz.

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The consequences of growing genetically modified alfalfa were deteremined by the United States District Court in San Francisco, California to be so uncertain and so potentially dangerous that they were outlawed nation-wide in litigation brought by the Center for Food Safety based in San Francisco. In this edition of Radio Curious we visit with Attorney Kevin Zelig Golden, who, along with others from the Center for Food Safety, litigated this landmark case which banned the planting of genetically modified alfalfa as of May 3, 2007.  This program was originally broadcast May 7, 2007.

The book that Kevin Z. Golden recommends is “Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals,” by Michael Pollan.

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How can we assure ourselves that the food we eat is safe, nutritious and energy-efficient? If we are what we eat, we ought to know what we will become. That may be the concept underlying what is coming to be known as the slow food movement. Glenn McGourty is the wine growing and plant science advisor for the University of California Cooperative Extension for Lake and Mendocino Counties in Northern California.

Glenn McGourty recommends “The Origins and Ancient History of Wine,” by Patrick McGovern.

Originally Broadcast: January 4, 2005

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Director of, The Future of Food

“The Future of Food,” a film written and produced by Deborah Koons Garcia, discusses our food’s conflicting relationship with both mass agri-business and local agriculture. Our discussion was conducted in the context of the passage of Mendocino County’s Measure H, banning growth of GMOs in the county.

Deborah Koons Garcia recommends “Women’s Diaries fo the Westward Journey,” edited by Lillian Schlissel.

Originally Broadcast: April 25, 2004

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Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal

Eric Schlosser, the author of “Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal,” writes that it is not only what is served for human consumption that plagues the country, but the art of mass marketing to children – through organized promotions and ads in school buses, hallways and even bathroom stalls – that has serious side effects in society.

Eric Schlosser recommends “New Jack,” by Ted Conover.

Originally Broadcast: August 1, 2002

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Not so long ago in human history, wars were fought with sticks, slings and rocks. Now, with the ability to modify the DNA of disease causing organisms, war is very different. Evidence is appearing that genetically engineered war has, in fact, been used in our world. With this program, Radio Curious will begin a series of discussions on environmental and social effects of genetically engineered war. This program’s guest is Dr. Ron Epstein, a research professor at the Institute of World Religions in Berkeley, California, and a lecturer in the Philosophy Department at San Francisco State University in San Francisco, California. We discussed the scientific and ethical dangers of genetic engineering.

Dr. Ron Epstein recommends “The Cobra Event,” by Richard Preston & “Biotech Century,” by Jeremy Rifkin.

Originally Broadcast: September 4, 1998

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