We’re closing out the season with a look at “True Cost Accounting.” There is a growing movement to include “true cost accounting” or TCA when considering the cost of food -- which can be far more than what you pay in a supermarket. 

Our guest today, food journalist and The Farm Report host Lisa Held is quite familiar with that report and cited it in her article for Civil Eats entitled “Can Accounting for the True Cost of Food Change the Global Food System?”

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Tom and Food Research and Action Center Ellen Vollinger and Massachusetts Congressman Jim McGovern discuss the historic permanent increase to the decades-old Thrifty Food Plan coming in October 2021.

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Tom talks with food critic and A Hungry Society Podcast host Korsha Wilson about supporting black culinary artists and relishing American dining experiences.

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Tom and Giving Kitchen co-founder Jen Hidinger-Kendrick discuss the state of mental health in the restaurant industry, how the pandemic has added pressure and hardship to some circumstances, and what Giving Kitchen does to support people in the restaurant industry. We learn how Giving Kitchen reaches food service workers, and discuss common issues affecting an industry that offers a comfort to so many.

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Tom talks with Hudson Valley Seed Company Co-Founder and Creative Director Ken Greene about heirlooms, seed sovereignty and how seeds reflect human history.

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Tom and Congressman Earl Blumenauer of Oregon discuss the Restaurant Revitalization Fund and have a wide-ranging discussion about where legislation around environment and food intersect.

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Reclaiming the food you threw away and up cycling it into nutrient-dense animal feed.

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Tom Colicchio and Bowery Farming's Irving Fain discuss the future of the food supply chain. Tom spotlights how the visionary's food company uses indoor farming technologies to grow nutritious food in a water-saving, pesticide-free environment. And they're not just growing food at Bowery Farming, they're also fostering avenues for people across the Northeast region and beyond to access and enjoy an array of tasty biodiversity. Learn more about Bowery at boweryfarming.com/vision.

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Sometimes our neighborhood eateries make us gather beyond the meal. In this episode, Pinky Cole of Slutty Vegan ATL joins Tom to talk about her plant-based pursuit of doing just that despite the pandemic.

The entrepreneur and philanthropist explains how her suite of expanding vegan dining experiences feeds food insecure communities, and even fights for equal voting rights with a Side Heaux and fries.

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Welcome back from a long holiday! Chef Andrea Drummer is the woman behind The Original Cannabis Cafe in West Hollywood, which is the first cafe in that city licensed to serve cannabis along with its menu. We’re going to talk to her about pioneering a new segment of the two industries, and how exactly one orchestrates pairings that feel more like ordering from a sommelier as opposed to a liquor store. We also talk to Senator Kim Jackson of Georgia, who was elected to the State Senate this year. She co-sponsored a bill to amend the state’s constitution to legalize recreational consumption, all under the larger mission of criminal justice reform. She helps to remind us that this is about way more than just enjoying a nice high with our burgers and nachos.

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Kathleen Merrigan was the United States Deputy Secretary of Agriculture from 2009 to 2013 and is now the Executive Director at Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems at Arizona State University. She is an advocate for organic farming, worked with former First Lady Michelle Obama on the Let’s Move campaign, and while working at the USDA she shaped the “Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food” initiative. Not only is Dr. Merrigan the person with answers on how food is regulated, she also is the person who knows the right questions to ask - including some involving chocolate cake.

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