Picture walking into any grocery store and the shelves are filled with a variety of products and foods for you to choose from (at least in the US, Canada, and most of Europe pre-pandemic). It gives you the impression that you have great diversity and choice in what you eat, right?

Our guest on the podcast today is Dan Saladino, a prominent BBC food journalist, who just wrote a book that proves your impression may be wrong.

Eating to Extinction: The World’s Rarest Foods and Why We Need to Save Them is an exploration into how the structure and globalization of our food system have caused a loss of food diversity and traditional food cultures. The resulting food monoculture brings with it staggering costs like a lack of resilience in the face of climate change, pests, and parasites that threaten our health and the health of the planet.

Just take a look at these examples:

The source of much of the world’s seeds is mostly in the control of just four corporations.

Ninety-five percent of milk consumed in the United States comes from a single breed of cow.

Half of all the world’s cheese is made with bacteria or enzymes made by one company.

One in four beers drunk around the world is the product of one brewer.

My co-host, James Connolly chats with Dan about why he felt compelled to write a book that shines a light on the issue of food extinction and why it’s currently relevant in today’s world.

Listen in as they cover:

Dan’s background and how he found the topic of endangered foods

The history of seed hunting and seed saving

The worldwide effects of colonialism

How an accidental American cheesemaker saves an iconic British cheese

Why advanced technology in agriculture isn’t all bad

The impacts of the 2008 economic crisis on agriculture

Episode resources and transcript are available at www.sustainabledish.com

Connect with Dan:

Radio Show: The Food Programme on BBC Radio 4

Instagram: @dan.saladino

Twitter: @DanSaladinoUK

LinkedIn: Dan Saladino

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Episode Credits:

Thank you to all who’ve made this show possible. Our hosts are Diana Rodgers and James Connelly. Our producer is Emily Soape. And of course, we are grateful for our sponsors, Patreon supporters, and listeners.

This episode is sponsored by Levels, a continuous glucose monitor that gives you individualized insight into your metabolism. This is a tool I personally use and recommend to people I work with. It’s helped me figure out what foods spike my blood sugar and which ones keep me level. I can also see how certain tricks like walks after a meal affect my body. Right now Levels has a waiting list of over 150,000 but they are allowing my listeners to skip the line if they go to sustainabledish.com/levels and sign up. Try it out to see how the food you eat affects your metabolism. This is a must-have tool for anyone interested in personalizing their nutrition.

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Dan Saladino on Eating to Extinction: The World's Rarest Foods and Why We Need to Save Them