Chews Wisely

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...

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...

A poll of 300 farmers brings illuminating - and concerning - results.  Stay in touch with Chews Wisely: Instagram Patreon Email: chewswiselypodcast@gmail.com Chews Wisely is brought to you by Little Creek Lamb & Beef. Get regeneratively raised, pasture raised meats 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...

*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. Follow along on Instagram: @chewswiselypodcast @bigskycaroline You can reach us at chewswiselypodca...

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? Stay in touch with Chews Wisely: Instagram Patreon...

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.  Stay in touch with Chews Wisely: Instagram...

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 in...

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 fai...

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?  Follow Kate Instagram The Mind, Body, Soil Podcast...

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. Follow Kate Instagram The Mind, Body, Soil Podcast Western Daughters Butcher Shop Stay in touch with Chews Wisely: IG: @chewswiselypodcast Twitter: @chewswiselypod Patreon: Chews Wisely Email: chewswiselypod...

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...

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...

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 we...

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 o...

“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. IG: @chewswiselypodcast Twitter: @chewswiselypod Patreon: Chews Wisely Email: chewswiselypodcast@gmail.com Chews Wisely is brought...

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 an...

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 worl...

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. Follow along on Instagram: @chewswiselypodcast You can r...

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. Follow along on Instagram: @chewswiselypodcast 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...

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 Farmin...

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 le...

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 epi...

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. Follow along on Instagram: @chewswiselypodcast @bigskycaroline You can reach us at chewswiselypodcast@gmail.com Chews Wisely is sponsor...

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: @chewswi...

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: @chewswi...