Meat and Three

Episode 107 Aired: Friday, March 12th 2021

Rethinking Surplus: Innovative Solutions to Excess

Surplus is usually defined as what’s left over when the demand, or need, of a population has been met. However, in the context of the food system, this definition leaves us with more leftovers than answers. What might be referred to as surplus food faces a core contradiction: while approximately 35% of the food we produce goes to waste, about 50 million people in the U.S. are experiencing food insecurity. This number has increased from previous years due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which begs the question – is it possible to have a food surplus when the need for nourishment is only going up?

This week, we rethink the meaning of surplus. We start off with a lesson on embracing the food sharing economy. Then, we walk through the process of upcycling leftover grain from breweries into crackers and learn about eliminating surplus in dairy production as a response to Covid-19. Last but not least, we look at an example of closed-loop manufacturing that turns surplus waste into a common household product. 

Further Reading and Listening:

For more on the sharing economy, check out Michael Carolan’s book The Food Sharing Revolution: How Start-Ups, Pop-Ups, and Co-ops are Changing the Way We Eat.

Need a new addition to your charcuterie board? Check out Brewer’s Crackers.

Feast Yr Ears: This episode featured “Episode 131: The Food Sharing Revolution.” Subscribe to Feast Yr Ears wherever you get your podcasts. (Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS).

Cutting the Curd: This episode featured “Episode 442: Upcycled Inspiration: A Conversation with Kyle Fiasconaro of Brewers Crackers.” Subscribe to Cutting the Curd wherever you get your podcasts (Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS).

Eating Matters: This episode featured “Episode 155: Closing the Loop on Food Waste.” Subscribe to Eating Matters wherever you get your podcasts. (Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify | RSS).

What Doesn’t Kill You: This episode featured “Episode 329: Rebuilding Dairy in Pennsylvania” Subscribe to What Doesn’t Kill You wherever you get your podcasts.  (Apple Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify| RSS)

Surplus

Keep Meat and Three on the air: become an HRN Member today! Go to heritageradionetwork.org/donate. 

Meat and Three is powered by Simplecast.

Subscribe

Share

From the Show

Tags

Sponsors

Sponsored by

Latest Episodes

Eating Outside the Norm

Episode 184, Aired: October 23, 2023

In this episode of Meat and Three, we are trying to move beyond western medical definitions, and thinking outside the box to better understand disordered eating. Disordered eating has a history of visibility as a negative disease, and largely impacting a small population. Historically, young, white...

You’re Invited!: Mystery and Mindfulness at Dinner

Episode 183, Aired: September 29, 2023

We’re hosting a dinner party, and you are all invited! On this week’s Meat and Three, we explore the complex meanings behind sharing a meal with friends, family, and acquaintances. We dive into how a casual dinner party can be a conduit for community building and fostering connections across diverse...

Bursting at the Seams: Aesthetics, Sustainability and Self-Expression

Episode 182, Aired: July 30, 2023

The clothes we wear day in and day out can impact our sense of self-worth, or become a fundamental form of self-expression. From books to online personas to restaurants, we can’t help but cultivate an aesthetic. This episode of Meat and Three is all about what we wear and what it communicates to the...

Cookbooks: Past and Present

Episode 181, Aired: July 21, 2023

Behind a great meal is often a well crafted recipe. This week on Meat + Three we are opening up the cookbook to explore how foodways are preserved through text. We talk to librarians, YouTubers, cooks, publishers, about the history of cookbooks and the state of the cookbook publishing industry today...

The Changing Landscape of Food Media

Episode 180, Aired: June 29, 2023

You may have heard it said that “the eyes eat first”. This is especially true of the social media world, and this week on Meat + Three, we are examining the intersection of the digital world with food. We talked with people across the landscape of food media, from talent agencies to blogs and...

Sewing Seeds Rooted in Community

Episode 179, Aired: May 26, 2023

This week on Meat and Three, we’re traversing across the country to learn how members of diasporic communities are preserving cultural heritage through seed saving. We’ll introduce you to farmers growing Korean perilla in California, Hmong medicinal herbs and indigenous corn in Wisconsin, and Somali...

Related Editorial