Gastropod looks at food through the lens of science and history.
Co-hosts Cynthia Graber and Nicola Twilley serve up a brand new episode every two weeks.
The Rise and Fall of Quinoa: From Incan “Superfood” to Buddha Bowl Basic
Quinoa is everywhere these days, the base for a million salads and grain bowls. But, until recently, barely anyone outside the nutritious seed's ancient's homeland—the Peruvian and Bolivian Andes—had ever heard of it. This week, we're telling the story of how a gorgeous spinach-like plant traditionally grown in a remote, high-altitude region of South America was transformed into one of the hottest foods on the shelves at Whole Foods. This is a tale that began with Coloradan hippies, the deliberate invention of a new Peruvian gastronomy, and beer, but truly took off when the United Nations declared that this so-called "superfood" was the secret to solving global hunger, adapting to climate change, and rescuing Andean farmers from poverty. So, did quinoa deliver? Listen in now for the story behind your next Buddha bowl.
Episode Notes
Emma McDonell
Anthropologist Emma McDonell is an instructor at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga and the author of The Quinoa Bust: The Making and Unmaking of an Andean Miracle Crop. She's currently a fellow at The New Institute in Hamburg, Germany, where she's focusing on recommendations for global agricultural biodiversity policy.
Mission Ceviche
Our thanks to chef Jose Luis Chavez, co-founder of Mission Ceviche in New York City, and his team for hosting and feeding us so well.
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for the Public Understanding of Science, Technology, and Economics
This episode of Gastropod was supported by a generous grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for the Public Understanding of Science, Technology, and Economics. Check out the other books, movies, shows, podcasts, and more that they support here.