Chews Wisely

A note from Caroline: Making this podcast is one of my favorite things. But right now, I have to put it on pause to attend to the other parts of my life that require my attention. After this, there will be one more episode.  It's not just time commitments that are causing me to pause the podcast for now. In the process of researching these episodes, I've had many personal revelations and i...

How do you know you’re eating sustainably caught fish? Should we be buying fresh or frozen seafood? Is trawling ethical? Farmed salmon is pumped full of what? Today we have Tara Hines, who owns and operates a wild caught Alaskan Salmon business called Sockeye Servings. She and her crew catch salmon in the summer on her boats, and then she returns to Montana in the fall to sell her catch direct to...

An interview with the happiest person I know - Sarah Reese. Sarah is my mom (!) and a radically joyful person, whether she’s in the ICU or on a golf course. Nourishment and health mean nothing if we don’t have joy, and today she is going to share her ‘laws of happiness’ to help us cultivate more of it in our own lives.  Stay in touch with Chews Wisely: IG: @chewswiselypodcast Patreon: 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 goo...

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 l...

This episode with Dr. Robert Paarlberg mythbusts from start to finish. Everything you think you know about the dirty dozen, food subsidies, the cost of whole food vs processed…just set it to the side because he is here with the data and the nuance that we need to dig deeper. You will especially love his nuance about modern precision agriculture and how we need to stop conflating Big Food with Big...

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 was...

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. Stay in touch with Chews Wisely: IG: @chewswiselypodcast Patreon: Chews Wisely Email: chewswiselypodcast@gmail.com

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. Stay in touch with Chews Wisely: IG: @chewswiselypodcast Patreon: Chews Wisely Email: chewswiselypodcast@gmail.com Chews Wisely is brought to you by G5 Agency! Sources: h...

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 bas...

Today we debunk the claim that cattle “take up so much land.” Or rather, we add heaps of much-needed nuance to it.  The Bloomberg article/map referenced in the episode is here . This is a Patreon exclusive episode. To hear the full episode, become a regenerator at the link below. Stay in touch with Chews Wisely: IG: @chewswiselypodcast Patreon: Chews Wisely Email: chewswiselypodcast@gmail.com Chew...

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

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...

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 ment...

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 ment...

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...

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 fro...

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. Stay in touch with Chews Wisely: IG: @chewswiselypodcast Patreon: Chews Wisely Email: chewswiselypodcast@gmail.com

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.             Stay in touch with Chews Wisely: IG: @chewswiselypodcast Patreon: Che...

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 o...

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 se...

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. The original post Stay in touch with Chews Wisely: IG: @chewswiselypodcast Patreon: Che...

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 i...

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...

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 farmi...