Chews Wisely

Maybe you’ve heard the news. Microplastics are on top of Mount Everest, the bottom of the ocean, in our blood, breastmilk, vital organs, and testicles. They are pervasive and the scope of their effect on our health is only just beginning to be understood. Today’s episode lays out what microplastics (and nanoplastics, goodie!) are, where they come from, and what the early science says (it’s not good). Also discussed: small, easy, meaningful actions we can take to minimize our exposure to microplastics in our daily life.

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The commercial chicken industry is mysterious. It’s tightly controlled by the integrators - these are the companies that own and control the whole system - and it’s shrouded in NDA’s. We rarely get to hear from the actual farmers who raise the chicken. Until today! Esther Sprott, a regenerative and conventional farmer, joins us from Georgia where she and her family raise broiler chickens for a large integrator. Caroline asks Esther all of her burning chicken industry questions, and Esther answers with candor and grace. 

Mariah Gladstone (Blackfeet, Cherokee) is a botanist, a chef, and an advocate for healthy eating and indigenous foods. She joins us today for a conversation about the invisible foods all around us, what it means to re-indigenize our diets, and how food was used as a tool of colonization. We also talk about food sovereignty, the limits of the term ‘food desert,’ and the Irish Potato Famine that wasn’t. 

Caroline tells the story of her home birth, and her journey through the medical system leading up to her crunchy-adjacent birthing experience.

This is a Patreon exclusive episode. To hear the full episode, become a regenerator at the link below.

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Today we are diving into some current events, and talking about the farmer protests happening all across Europe. We dig into why and how these farmers are protesting, and what we can take away from these protests here in America.

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Lily Nichols, RDN, joins us today to turn everything we thought we knew about gestational diabetes (and nutrition in general) upside down. We also cover why we need to get over our fear of salt, fat, and meat when pursuing health. And then we dig into misconceptions around folic acid and B12, and whether eating seafood during pregnancy is safe. Everyone who eats will enjoy this deeply evidence based episode, whether or not you’re pregnant!

Today we debunk the claim that cattle “take up so much land.” Or rather, we add heaps of much-needed nuance to it. 

If you’ve ever felt unsettled by buying trend cycles on the internet, or noticed how nothing seems to be made to last anymore, you are definitely not alone. In today’s episode, Caroline discusses her own history with, and current thoughts on, the accumulation of stuff, and how to push back against the urge to consume our way into a more joyful, sustainable life.

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It might sound ridiculously simple, but today’s episode is about the slow shift I’ve made from recipe cooking to pantry cooking, and the joys it’s brought. We talk about how pantry cooking has built fluency in the kitchen, broadened my palette, and increased enjoyment for me in a place where traditionally I didn’t have much. Also discussed: cooking during inflated food costs, how social media has biased us towards ‘sexy’ or ‘trendy’ foods, and how to make our kitchens more functional. 

Full Episode is available on the Chews Wisely Patreon feed!

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Lacey Jean is a hide tanner, a butcher, a shepherdess, and a woman who has built a beautiful, rich life out of the ashes of very hard times. She’s on the podcast to talk about food and how  she nourishes herself directly from her community, but as with all the best conversations we range far. We talk about resilience, reinvention, taking the life of an animal, and how to respectfully approach mentors that you’d like to learn from. We also cover how to earn your own self respect, and how to chase dreams even - and especially - when no one else is coming to help you get there. 

Lacey Jean is a hide tanner, a butcher, a shepherdess, and a woman who has built a beautiful, rich life out of the ashes of very hard times. She’s on the podcast to talk about food and how  she nourishes herself directly from her community, but as with all the best conversations we range far. We talk about resilience, reinvention, taking the life of an animal, and how to respectfully approach mentors that you’d like to learn from. We also cover how to earn your own self respect, and how to chase dreams even - and especially - when no one else is coming to help you get there. 

What’s the deal with grassfed vs grainfed? Are grasslands the most endangered ecosystem? Today we talk with Professor Steve Smith, an Associate Professor of Biology, Field Botany, and Sustainability at the University of Arizona, about what makes grasslands such special and fragile ecosystems, the role of large ruminants on these landscapes, and the precise nature of grazing. Steve also shares his opinions on GMOs, and weighs in on the great grassfed vs grainfed debate.

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We’re joined by professor and air quality specialist Dr. Frank Mitloehner today who comes on to answer all our burning methane questions. He is director of UC Davis’ CLEAR Center, which helps the global community understand the environmental and human health impacts of livestock. What sets Dr. Mitloehner apart is his desire to work with farmers, ranchers, and agribusiness to mitigate emissions from within. On today’s episode we learn how the main greenhouses gasses differ from one another (and why it matters), what “idle cows” and “methane leakage” are, and why calling for developed nations to curb their beef production could be a huge mistake. 

An extended cut of this episode is available on the Patreon feed!

Caroline shares a life update, how she’s thinking about food and nourishment at 21 weeks pregnant, and thoughts on navigating the medical system as someone who is “crunchy adjacent.”

This episode is a Patreon preview. To listen fully, become a member below.

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A personal episode about Caroline’s exploration into intuitive eating over the last year. We start with a reflection on surviving the toxic  1990’s food culture, Caroline talks about how she stopped forcing herself to eat things she didn’t like, and how she slowly got into an unstructured version of intuitive eating.            

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Is local honey really local? Store bought honey can be cut with what? And are queens really in charge of the hive? On today’s episode you’ll hear from Beth Couchoud of Honeysuckle Nectary, who brings her passion and knowledge for beekeeping to us, along with heaps of nuance. Today’s episode will have you marveling at the magic of honeybees, seeking out your local apiaries, and popping the tires on your lawnmowers. 

Honeysuckle Nectary:

The year after the Kramer’s went all in on walnut farming, the commodity market collapsed. And then it collapsed further. Today Kaben Kramer shares how walnuts are grown, why he doesn’t like to term ‘regenerative’ anymore, how the watershed works on his farm, the reason no one can afford to start a walnut farm today, and how he and his wife Jenn are forging a new path within an industry that is seemingly collapsing in real time around them. Kaben also shares how they’re conserving precious water in California, and the number one way consumers can improve our food system today.

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A jokey social media post gets deconstructed in today’s solo episode, a deep dive into the ideological pipeline so many of us who care about food and the environment tend to go down. If you’ve ever heard someone say “we just need to eat less meat,” or “Have you heard about Will Harris?” this episode is for you.

Wool may be the most eco-friendly textile there is, and Erin Martin Dorf is here to tell us why. Erin is wool royalty, or as she calls herself, a wool industry nepo-baby. She lives and breathes all things wool and sheep, and we mythbust shearing, lanolin, the wool supply chain, and discuss how fleece goes from sheep to sweater. We also cover the serious threats to the wool industry, and why it’s in danger of collapse. This episode might convince you to stop sleeping on wool. Or rather - to start sleeping under it. 

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On September 13th, the Washington Post published an article titled: “The food industry pays ‘influencer’ dietitians to shape your eating habits.” This comes on the heels of their 2022 article “Group shaping nutrition policy earned millions from junk food makers.” Can we trust registered dietitians who partner with Big Food on sponsored posts? More importantly, can they trust their overseeing trade organization, The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics? 

This episode is a Patreon preview. To listen fully, become a member below.

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Tales from the trenches of a food supply double agent. Kendall Ballantine wasn’t always a farmer. 10 years ago she was the Director of Operations for a multinational food supply chain corporation. On today’s episode (part 2) she shares why our “too big to fail” food system is tremendously fragile, and the hidden food waste in our current supply chain. She also talks about why she almost quit farming - to the point of announcing the closure of her business - and why she ultimately came back to it. 

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Tales from the trenches of a food supply double agent. Kendall Ballantine wasn’t always a farmer. 10 years ago she was the Director of Operations for a multinational food supply chain corporation. On today’s episode (part 1) she shares how food actually travels from farm to table in our modern day industrialized food system, and how consolidated our food system really is. After today’s episode you’ll never look at grocery store brands the same way.

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Avery Claire Wrigglesworth is a former ballerina and an administrator in international finance who gave it all up to come home and try to save the family farm. And it hasn’t been all roses. Several years in, they realized a traditional cow-calf model couldn’t pencil out for them. Out of necessity, Avery Claire and her husband Marc transitioned to a thriving modern direct-to-consumer business, Lily Hill Cattle, in Georgia. But the struggles didn’t end there. On this episode we hear about Avery Claire’s origins, the growth of Lily Hill Cattle, and the trials they face to stay on the land.  

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A poll of 300 farmers brings illuminating - and concerning - results. 

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*This is a re-release of Episode 2, Does Beef Waste Water?*

We’ve all heard that beef is a water hog, often enough that it’s considered common knowledge. Caroline goes to the source - a UNESCO study - to see what we can unpack about that claim. Holes are poked, rants are ranted, and nuance is added.

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@bigskycaroline

You can reach us at chewswiselypodcast@gmail.com

Chews Wisely is sponsored by Little Creek. Get regeneratively raised lamb & beef shipped directly to you from our Montana ranch. For a limited time we’re offering 10% off your first order over $100 with the code WISELY. 

Caroline tells you all kinds of things you don’t want to hear about pesticides, including herbicides like Glypohsate and Paraquat. How widely are synthetic chemicals used on crops? How much of them is on our food? Is there a difference between conventional and organic? And, ultimately, does the scientific data convince Caroline to change her mind?

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A rapid fire round of listener questions! Caroline explains the difference between farming and ranching, how she is able to get off the ranch every now and then, and how she deals with the uncertainty of not owning the land on which her livelihood depends. We wrap up with thoughts on the divisiveness within agriculture, and speculate at what’s behind it. 

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In June, the first lab grown chicken was approved for sale in the US. Today we unpack the company’s grandiose claims about cultured meat’s potential. What is it made of and how is it made? What are the environmental impacts? And nutritionally, how does it stack up to conventional meat? This episode poses a lot of questions, but the reality is that the industry is so new and there is very little information out about these products. But the early information is out, and it’s worth unpacking.

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Bribery. Corruption. Trafficking. Today’s episode takes you inside the real villains of the beef industry, the “Big 4.” Four multinational conglomerates control most of the global beef industry and over 80% of American beef processing, and it affects everyone from ranchers to consumers at the grocery store. Matthew Greco of My Health Forward is here to tell us all about our fragile, too big to fail meat supply chain, and how to forge a more optimistic and regenerative food system.

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How does a butcher feel when people tell her “I could never do what you do?” Today, we dive into big questions with Kate Kavanaugh. How did becoming a butcher inform her farming practices? And change her relationship with food? How do we bring more embodiment back into our food system and ourselves? What do butchers most want the public to know? 

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A vegetarian becomes a butcher trying to save the prairie one steak at a time. Kate Kavanaugh shares her story from harvesting her first chicken to opening up Western Daughters Butcher Shoppe.

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Do you love dairy, but feel kind of weird about it? Caroline was in the same boat until a local dairy farmer reached out and invited her to the farm. Today she sits down with Lily Andersen for an honest and wide ranging conversation. Caroline asks all her burning questions about dairy practices and Lily offers a real peek under the hood of a small, multi-generational, pasture raised operation, as well as much needed nuance on the industry as a whole.

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Do you love dairy, but feel kind of weird about it? Caroline was in the same boat until a local dairy farmer reached out and invited her to the farm. Today she sits down with Lily Andersen for an honest and wide ranging conversation. Caroline asks all her burning questions about dairy practices and Lily offers a real peek under the hood of a small, multi-generational, pasture raised operation, as well as much needed nuance on the industry as a whole.

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It’s not plants OR animals, it’s plants AND animals. Today’s episode covers the myriad of ways that plant and animal agriculture are intertwined. (Did you know the dairy industry and the almond industry are linked?) We focus particularly on crop byproducts, on the benefits of grazing, and the importance of manure as fertilizer. Then we zoom out to discuss nature at large, the importance of food webs, and Caroline gets to nerd out on trophic levels.

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Caroline discusses the climate cover-up no one’s talking about. Did you know nearly 75% of global emissions trace back to the energy sector? While we fight about cow burps, Big Oil keeps getting away with climate crimes in plain sight. What did they know and when did they know it? How do cars compare to cattle? What are methane ‘bombs?’ A deep dive into what has been called “the moral equivalent of war crimes.”

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“You pay a price to live your dreams.” Working in agriculture can certainly be a dream. It can also, occasionally, feel like a nightmare. Today’s episode meanders through burnout, romanticization, and the tangibles that are given up when one chooses to pursue ranching.

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We’re in muddy waters today, wading through the intersection of veganism, gender, disordered eating, and identity. We start by going down memory lane: Instagram in the 2010’s and the plant based influencers. Then, the rise of the carnivore diet, and the way gender seems to interact with restrictive diets. We get into data-based associations we have around food and food choices, food sovereignty and why it’s so important, and the way the honoring one’s hunger can be a radical act.

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Red meat and cancer. You’ve seen the headlines! Now it’s time to learn what the studies really say. Spoiler alert: it’s not that simple. We tease apart the link between processed meat & colorectal cancer. We discuss: absolute risk vs relative risk. Observational studies vs interventional. Confounding variables. And we end on an exploration of what’s at stake nutritionally when we tell the world to eat less red meat.

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Caroline & Justin Nelson are first generation ranchers who don’t own an acre. Yet they raise cattle and sheep and have a thriving pasture raised meat business. How do they ranch without a ranch? Today’s episode is an exploration of unconventional ways of entering the agriculture industry, and a transparent look at what it takes to do it.

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Caroline lays out five of her most mindblowing, perspective shifting food and ag facts in this week's bonus episode. Because you're never too knowledgable to learn something new.

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On the flip side of a newspaper article from 1958, Bethany Cantwell of Aurora Blue Farm saw something that caught her eye. It was an article titled ‘This Farm is a Factory.’ That article kicked off an in depth conversation between Bethany and Caroline, which we share with you as a bonus episode this week. A clip from this conversation was featured in episode seven, 'The Case For Factory Farming.'

Our modern food system is highly productive, highly efficient, and tremendously fragile. Today we explore the flip side of the Green Revolution and talk about environmental costs including synthetic fertilizer, antibiotics, chemical and "superweeds." A brief foray into manure management, and then a deep dive into our "oligarchic, corporate food regime." And finally, Caroline leaves the stats and analysis behind to speak from a place of values regarding animal confinement.

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Warning: this episode requires an open mind and an earnest desire to learn about our food system.  Today, Caroline asks: what is factory farming, how did it come about, and is it really so bad? We’re taking a sincere look at the good things about our current food system, because we can’t change a food system we don’t understand. We start with history, get into the Green Revolution, and end the episode myth-busting the biggest claims against factory farming. And in the next episode, we’re going to tear it all down.

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We take a closer look at the principles and nuances of the lens of regenerative agriculture, the similarities and differences with certified organic foods, and why the most sustainable options often aren't the most efficient. Caroline has some stories to tell.

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You can reach us at chewswiselypodcast@gmail.com

Chews Wisely is sponsored by Little Creek. Get regeneratively raised lamb & beef shipped directly to you from our Montana ranch. For a limited time we’re offering 10% off your first order over $100 with the code WISELY. 

A deep dive into leather production & the global supply chain. We compare and contrast leather with pleather, also known as vegan leather, and uncover a multitude of environmental issues across the board, but particularly in pleather’s fossil fuel connections. Supply chain challenges. Chrome tanning. Polyvinyl chloride. Greenwashing. Caroline’s got opinions.

Follow along on Instagram:

@chewswiselypodcast

@bigskycaroline

You can reach us at chewswiselypodcast@gmail.com

Chews Wisely is sponsored by Little Creek. Get regeneratively raised lamb & beef shipped directly to you from our Montana ranch. For a limited time we’re offering 10% off your first order over $100 with the code WISELY. 

A deep dive into leather production & the global supply chain. We compare and contrast leather with pleather, also known as vegan leather, and uncover a multitude of environmental issues across the board, but particularly in pleather’s fossil fuel connections. Supply chain challenges. Chrome tanning. Polyvinyl chloride. Greenwashing. Caroline’s got opinions.

Follow along on Instagram:

@chewswiselypodcast

@bigskycaroline

You can reach us at chewswiselypodcast@gmail.com

Chews Wisely is sponsored by Little Creek. Get regeneratively raised lamb & beef shipped directly to you from our Montana ranch. For a limited time we’re offering 10% off your first order over $100 with the code WISELY. 

Caroline’s journey from feeling disconnected from nature to integrated. Her first garden, first chicken eggs, first elk processing. A revelation about seeds! Trees. Fungi. Death. And it’s opposite - aliveness - everywhere.

Follow along on Instagram:

@chewswiselypodcast

@bigskycaroline

You can reach us at chewswiselypodcast@gmail.com

Chews Wisely is sponsored by Little Creek. Get regeneratively raised lamb & beef shipped directly to you from our Montana ranch. For a limited time we’re offering 10% off your first order over $100 with the code WISELY.

We’ve all heard that beef is a water hog, often enough that it’s considered common knowledge. Caroline goes to the source - a UNESCO study - to see what we can unpack about that claim. Holes are poked, rants are ranted, and nuance is added.

Follow along on Instagram:

@chewswiselypodcast

@bigskycaroline

You can reach us at chewswiselypodcast@gmail.com

Chews Wisely is sponsored by Little Creek. Get regeneratively raised lamb & beef shipped directly to you from our Montana ranch. For a limited time we’re offering 10% off your first order over $100 with the code WISELY.

We’re kicking off by examining the lenses through which we look at agriculture and sustainability. What do we talk about when we talk about food? Caroline shares her unexpected journey of becoming a shepherd, the assumptions she brought with her into agriculture, and the first few cracks that started to appear in her viewpoints as a preview of things to come.

Follow along on Instagram:

@chewswiselypodcast

@bigskycaroline

You can reach us at chewswiselypodcast@gmail.com

Chews Wisely is sponsored by Little Creek. Get regeneratively raised lamb & beef shipped directly to you from our Montana ranch. For a limited time we’re offering 10% off your first order over $100 with the code WISELY.