The History of Fresh Produce

What becomes of a man who spent his life moving plants, people, and power across the globe - when his own body finally begins to fail? How did Joseph Banks face his final years: in pain, in controversy, and yet still at the very center of British science? And why, after four decades at the helm of the Royal Society, did his reputation wither almost as quickly as his health? In this seventh and fin...

What happens when exploration gives way to administration - and adventure turns into power? How did a royal garden become the beating heart of a global botanical empire? And how did Joseph Banks, without leaving London, reshape landscapes, economies, and diets across the world? In this episode, John and Patrick move from the drama of ocean voyages to the quieter - but far more consequential - worl...

How did a gentleman botanist turn a vague imperial idea into a functioning colony on the far side of the world? Why did Joseph Banks’s quiet influence matter as much as any act of Parliament or naval broadside? And how did food, plants, and fragile supply lines decide whether Britain’s most audacious colonial experiment would live or die…? Join John and Patrick as Parliament finally commits to Bot...

Fresh from fame and flush with ambition, Joseph Banks sets out to remake the world in his own image. But what happens when celebrity curdles into entitlement, when science collides with the Navy, and when one man’s colossal ego derails an imperial voyage before it even leaves port? Join John and Patrick as Banks plans a second South Seas expedition, throws one of the great tantrums of the eighteen...

What happens when discovery turns to disaster — and survival hangs on a sliver of luck? How close did Joseph Banks come to losing everything he had collected, and his life with it? And how did coral, disease, and chance shape one of the most important scientific voyages in history? Join John and Patrick as the Endeavour smashes onto the Great Barrier Reef, limps into Batavia, and is transformed fr...

What happened when Joseph Banks finally put to sea - and discovery left the comfort of gardens behind? How would a voyage meant to advance science collide with storms, suspicion, imperial rivalries, and human tragedy? And what would it cost to catalogue the natural world at the far edges of the globe? Join John and Patrick as they follow Banks aboard HMS Endeavour , from vineyards in Madeira and s...

Who was Joseph Banks before he became the most powerful botanist in the British Empire? How did a wealthy, restless young man turn a childhood fascination with weeds into a scientific obsession that would reshape global agriculture? And why did one cold, miserable voyage to Newfoundland prove to be the spark that launched a world-changing career? Join John and Patrick as they begin a brand-new mul...

Once, Switzerland was a land of pears. When we picture the Swiss countryside today, we imagine tidy fields, precision farming, and alpine order. But not so long ago, vast stretches of eastern Switzerland were covered in towering pear trees - ancient giants that fed communities, sustained wildlife, and produced perry renowned across Europe. So how did a nation famed for care, balance, and cultivati...

As 2025 draws to a close, we also reach the midpoint of the decade. Looking back on an eventful first half of the 2020s, we’re left with a big question: what will history remember about this era in the world of fresh produce? In this final livestream of 2025, John and Patrick will revisit the defining moments of the past five years, unpack their historical significance, and ask whether these event...

What do gold, frankincense, and myrrh really tell us about the world into which Jesus was born? Who were the Magi - kings, mystics, scientists, or traders - and why did they travel vast distances carrying some of the most valuable agricultural products on Earth? How do desert trees in Arabia and the Horn of Africa connect a humble birth in Bethlehem to ancient global supply chains, imperial econom...

From incestuous wasps and prehistoric forests to sacred enlightenment, revolutionary resistance, and a certain square-shaped snack aisle icon - what if the fig is the most powerful fruit in human history? Join John and Patrick as they trace the astonishing 80-million-year saga of the fig: its ancient pact with tiny wasps, its role in shaping ecosystems, feeding early humans, inspiring gods and emp...

"They say once you grow crops somewhere, you have officially colonized it. So technically, I colonized Mars. In your face , Neil Armstrong!" As Mark Watney's line from the book and film The Martian suggests, fruits and vegetables have long played a starring role in our visions of space. Sometimes they’re subtle symbols of home; other times, they’re humanity’s only hope for survival. But how realis...

What does a thorny Mediterranean thistle have to do with the American Mafia? How did a humble vegetable — adored by Romans, cultivated by Renaissance queens, and grown lovingly by Italian immigrants — become the centerpiece of one of the strangest criminal rackets in U.S. history? And why did a fiery New York mayor decide that the only way to defeat organized crime… was to ban artichokes altogethe...

What if the most valuable substance on Earth wasn’t gold, or oil, or diamonds… but bird droppings? In the mid-19th century,  guano —yes, seabird excrement—fueled an agricultural and geopolitical revolution. From the sacred islands of the Inca Empire to the docks of Victorian London and the halls of the U.S. Congress, this strange, smelly fertilizer transformed farming, powered economies, and...

What happens when humanity takes its most basic need - food - beyond Earth’s atmosphere? From John Glenn’s applesauce tubes to the first lettuce grown aboard the International Space Station, the story of fresh produce in space is one of science, innovation, and survival. In this episode, John and Patrick are joined by Vickie Kloeris, former NASA Food Scientist and manager of the Space Food Sy...

What is the legacy of Japanese American farmers in shaping California’s agricultural landscape? How did a community once barred from owning land become pioneers in strawberry and vegetable farming? And how did families like the Tanakas endure displacement, incarceration, and prejudice to rebuild—and ultimately thrive? John and Patrick are joined by special guest Glenn Tanaka, whose family has been...

Join John and Patrick for a special bonus episode recorded live from Anaheim, California, at the International Fresh Produce Association’s Global Produce & Floral Show! Surrounded by the sights, sounds, and scents of the world’s freshest innovations, they sit down with four bright Cornell University students to hear their impressions of the show - and to ask a question close to their hearts: w...

What do garlic, blackberries, cucumbers, eggplants, mushrooms, and pumpkins have in common? More than you might think. Across history and folklore, fruits and vegetables have not only nourished humanity but terrified it - linked with madness, curses, demons, vampires, and even the Devil himself. From garlic garlands that warded off the undead, to blackberries spoiled by Satan’s spit, to Japanese r...

From myth and legend to cider-fuelled revolutions, from Johnny Appleseed’s frontier orchards to the Victorians’ quest for the perfect pippin, the story of the apple has been anything but ordinary. In the final part of this five-part series, John and Patrick follow the fruit onto the world stage - when refrigeration, global shipping, and empire transformed it into an international commodity. From T...

From the barefoot wanderings of Johnny Appleseed to the fiery kick of applejack on Civil War battlefields, the apple’s story in America takes a dramatic turn in this fourth episode of our series. John and Patrick trace how John Chapman’s seed-planting helped shape frontier life, fueled the nation’s cider culture, and - ironically - set the stage for America’s drinking frontier. But the apple’s jou...

John and Patrick journey into the seventeenth century, when cider wasn’t just a drink - it was a matter of national survival. From John Evelyn’s bold call for apple orchards to secure England’s navy and replace French wine, to the early experiments that nearly made England the home of “apple champagne,” the apple takes centre stage in politics, science, and patriotism. But apples weren’t only abou...

Apples are one of those rare fruits that you can actually recognize by name. Honeycrisp, Gala, Fuji… the list seems endless. But have you ever wondered where these names came from? Is there an actual 'granny' behind the Granny Smith? Was the Red Delicious truly the most delicious of all red apples? And what about Bramley - does that name come from a person, a place, or perhaps an aristocratic fami...

From the kitchens of medieval Europe to the orchards of Anglo-Saxon England, the apple became far more than just a fruit. It was medicine, it was myth, it was ritual. In part two of our apple series, John and Patrick explore how crab apples were pressed into sharp, sour verjuice to season everything from pigs’ feet to plague remedies, how Anglo-Saxon charms and midwinter wassailing blended Christi...

Where did the apple come from, and how did it go from a sour, berry-sized wild fruit to the sweet, plump star of our fruit bowls today? Was it really bears (and their sweet tooth) that shaped its destiny? How did the mountains of Kazakhstan become the apple’s Garden of Eden, and what role did nomads, traders, and even the poets of Ancient Greece play in transforming it from wild cra...

What do Afghan purple roots, Roman aphrodisiacs, Dutch horticulturalists, and wartime propaganda have in common? The answer: the carrot. From its wild ancestor  Daucus carota  scattered across Europe 10,000 years ago, to its starring role as Britain’s unlikely weapon in the Second World War, the carrot’s journey has been anything but straightforward. Once confused with parsnips, praised...