Is the battle over who controls and owns agricultural data one of the most important—and least discussed—fights in 21st-century farming? In this conversation, Jennifer Clapp (prof at the University of Waterloo and member of IPES-Food) explores the deep ties between fossil fuels and our food system, tracing their influence from fertilizers and pesticides to farm mechanization and digital agriculture. She unpacks how fossil-fueled inputs have shaped—and continue to shape—modern farming. 

For more info and resources, please visit our episode webpage.

Guests

• Jennifer Clapp, IPES-Food

Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Fuel to Fork is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and the Global Alliance for the Future of Food.

We gathered in Oxford to ask: Is a fossil free food system possible? 3 panelists: a farmer, an economist and biodiversity researcher, shared their expert perspectives. What technologies are on the horizon? What uncertainties do they bring? Is it better to farm differently, eat differently, plug in better tech, restrain environmentally damaging practices of food and agribusinesses, or all of the above?

Visit the episode webpage for more resources.

This series is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and Global Alliance for the Future of Food.

Guests

• Helen Browning, Soil Association
• Rupert Simons, SystemIQ
• Emile Frison, IPES-Food

Produced by Matthew Kessler, Robbie Blake and Chantal Clément. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.

View a 90 minute video of the full panel discussion 

Learn more about the Oxford Real Farming Conference
 

What would a food system free of fossil fuels look like by 2050? What insights surprised the experts featured in this series? And what trade-offs must we navigate to shape this future? In our final episode, we shift from acknowledging the 'fossil fuel problem in food' to exploring actionable solutions.

Visit the episode webpage for more resources.

This series is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and Global Alliance for the Future of Food.

Guests

• Raj Patel, IPES-Food
• Anna Lappé, Global Alliance for the Future of Food
• Darrin Qualman, National Farmers Union (Canada)
• Galina Angarova, SIRGE
• Molly Anderson, IPES-Food

Produced by Matthew Kessler, Anna Paskal and Nicole Pita. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Fossil fuels are hiding in plain sight in our kitchens—powering stoves and cooling refrigerators, plus they're fueling supply chains. They shape how we cook, eat and connect with food. In this episode, we explore how to reduce reliance on fossil fuels in home and commercial kitchens. What counts as a 'clean' cooking fuel in Malawi versus the United States? And what would it take to transform the energy grid powering our food systems? Researchers, chefs, and activists weigh in.

Visit the episode webpage for more resources.

This series is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and Global Alliance for the Future of Food.

Guests

• Christa Roth, Cleaner Cooking Coalition
• Christopher Galarza, Forward Dining Solutions
• Gabriel Eckhouse, Uppsala University
• Galina Angarova, SIRGE
• Nnimmo Bassey, Home of Mother Earth Foundation
• Errol Schweizer, IPES-Food
• Georgina Catacora-Vargas, IPES Food

Produced by Matthew Kessler, Anna Paskal and Nicole Pita. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.

When we talk about the future of food, we usually picture what's growing in the fields or what's on our dinner plates. But maybe we should pay a little more attention to everything happening in between. Processing and packaging consumes the largest share of fossil fuels in our food system— more than 40%. Our growing reliance on ultra-processed foods, and plastics across the supply chain is making food production more energy-intensive than ever before.

Visit the episode webpage for more resources.

This series is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and Global Alliance for the Future of Food.

Guests

• Emma Priestland, Break Free From Plastic
• Errol Schweizer, IPES-Food
• Rachel Muncrief, International Council on Clean Transportation
• Georgina Catacora-Vargas, IPES Food

Produced by Matthew Kessler, Anna Paskal and Nicole Pita. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.

What are the hidden costs of our current food system and its deep reliance on fossil fuels, a system that burdens citizens with financial, health and environmental consequences? With Raj Patel, research professor at the University Texas at Austin and IPES-Food panel member, we cover this and Christopher Columbus's wicked legacy, middle-class environmentalism, and what a food system free of fossil fuels could look like.  

We thought this extended interview with Raj Patel was so compelling we wanted to share it in its entirety.

For more info and resources, please visit our episode webpage.

Guests

• Raj Patel, IPES-Food

Produced by Matthew Kessler, Anna Paskal and Nicole Pita. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Fuel to Fork is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and the Global Alliance for the Future of Food.

Fossil fuels are woven into nearly every aspect of modern agriculture - from powering farm machinery to creating plastics and supporting data-driven tech like precision agriculture. But what would it take to reduce or even eliminate their use on farms? We dive into both replacement technologies and transformative food production methods like agroecology, exploring the obstacles and limitations of scaling different solutions.

Visit the episode webpage for more resources.

This series is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and Global Alliance for the Future of Food.

Guests

• Darrin Qualman, National Farmers Union Canada
• Pat Mooney, IPES Food
• Jennifer Clapp, IPES Food
• Swati Renduchintala, CIFOR-ICRAF

Produced by Matthew Kessler, Anna Paskal and Nicole Pita. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.

Since 2020, over 120 million tonnes of nitrogen fertilizer have been produced annually—a number set to rise by 50% by 2050. It’s easy to assume this is non-negotiable, that without it, we’d face a food crisis. But do we really need all this fossil-based input? As it turns out, there are many ways we can reverse this trend - from curbing overuse and adopting alternative technologies to rethinking our diets and transforming farming practices. We explore a range of options to ease our dependency on fossil fueled agrochemicals.

Register for our webinar: Fossil Fuels and Food Systems: A Policy Discussion for COP29

Visit the episode webpage for more resources.

This series is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and Global Alliance for the Future of Food.

Guests

• Lisa Tostado, CIEL
• Joanna Larson, Prairie Gates Farm
• Christine Delivanis, SytemIQ
• Georgina Catacora-Vargas, IPES Food
• Mamadou Goïta, IPES 
• Swati Renduchintala, CIFOR-ICRAF
• Jennifer Clapp, IPES Food

Produced by Matthew Kessler, Anna Paskal and Nicole Pita. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.

How did fossil fuels become so embedded in our food systems? We trace this journey from the industrial extraction of guano, through the game-changing Haber-Bosch process, to today’s globalized food system. Along the way, we uncover the hidden impacts on biodiversity, farmworkers, and our oceans—revealing the true cost of this reliance on fossil fuels.       

In Fuel to Fork, a new podcast series powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, we expose and explore the fossil fuels in our food, speaking to farmers, chefs, food industry experts, scientists and campaigners. Each episode delves deep into a different step of the food supply chain.         

Guests

• Jennifer Clapp, IPES-Food
• Darrin Qualman, National Farmers Union Canada
• Pat Mooney, IPES-Food and Etc Group
• Navina Khanna, HEAL Alliance
• Rashid Sumaila, University of British Columbia

Produced by Matthew Kessler, Anna Paskal and Nicole Pita. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.

“For many of us, how fossil fuels are integrated across the food chain is highly invisible.”   
When we bite into a juicy apple, barrels of crude oil and natural gas cylinders might not spring to mind. But fossil fuels are the hidden ingredient behind all of our food. For every calorie that ends up on our plates, around 10 calories of fossil fuels are used. From the diesel powering the tractors to the fertilizer in the field and plastic packaging, fossil fuels are the lifeblood of the food industry.     

In Fuel to Fork, a new podcast series powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and the Global Alliance for the Future of Food, we expose and explore the fossil fuels in our food, speaking to farmers, chefs, food industry experts, scientists and campaigners. Each episode delves deep into a different step of the food supply chain.         

Guests

• Anna Lappé, Global Alliance for the Future of Food
• Raj Patel, IPES-Food
• Errol Schweizer, IPES-Food
• Nnimmo Bassey, Health of Mother Earth Foundation
• Christine Delivanis, SystemIQ

Produced by Matthew Kessler, Anna Paskal and Nicole Pita. Edited by Matthew Kessler. Audio engineering by Adam Titmuss. Cover art by The Ethical Agency. Music by Blue dot sessions.

When we bite into a juicy apple, barrels of crude oil and natural gas cylinders might not spring to mind. But fossil fuels are the hidden ingredient behind all of our food. For every calorie that ends up on our plates, around 10 calories of fossil fuels are used. From the diesel powering the tractors to the fertilizer in the field and plastic packaging, fossil fuels are the lifeblood of the food industry.

What are the options to phase out fossil fuels in food and what are the powerful forces standing in the way? To find out, subscribe to Fuel to Fork.

This series is powered by TABLE, IPES-Food and Global Alliance for the Future of Food.

Learn more at https://fueltofork.com/