All shows from Seasons 1-3 are available below. (Be sure to keep scrolling to find season 1)
About the Show
Why did I do this?
Many of us have devoted a significant amount of time to eating, and to talking and reading and thinking about eating. However, perhaps we have spent much less time thinking about where our food came from. Or who grew it or raised it or hunted it or collected it... or made it in a lab. But that may be changing.
Indeed, in these times, we a
Many of us have devoted a significant amount of time to eating, and to talking and reading and thinking about eating. However, perhaps we have spent much less time thinking about where our food came from. Or who grew it or raised it or hunted it or collected it... or made it in a lab. But that may be changing.
Indeed, in these times, we are beginning to think more about food security, as we realize ever more clearly that in this province (NL) we are at the weakest link of the transportation chain - in an age of extreme weather and climate disruption. If we were not able to ship in food, we would not survive. We produce only around 10% of what we eat. Thus, without imports, we’d eat until about the end of the first week of February, and then we’d go hungry the rest of the year. That is not a good situation.
So it is time to talk about our food system, and the people who play a role in it.
A new weekly radio/podcast show hopes to contribute to that conversation. It is called “Fit to Eat: The NL Farm and Food Show.” It features conversations with farmers, processors, hunters, chefs, thinkers, innovators, homesteaders, researchers and eaters. And, to further lighten the tone, it includes music suggested by the interview guests. The first show was released on the first day of November, 2018.
It is available on a number of community radio stations (check with your local station, to see if they are carrying it), as well as on a number of organizational web sites.
And it is always available on this web site.
Comments and suggestions are always welcome.
I hope that you join us. Oh, and feel free to have a snack as you listen in.
-Ivan Emke
All of the Fit to Eat shows are here, starting with the most current one. Click on them to play - they are downloadable as well.
SEASON FOUR
(A conversation with Darren Dinsmore, who raises Scottish Highland cattle in Central Labrador)
(the second part of my chat with Nicholas Fairbridge on self-provisioning and municipal regulations)
(A chat with community health researcher Nicholas Fairbridge about local food production and the municipal r
SEASON FOUR
(A conversation with Darren Dinsmore, who raises Scottish Highland cattle in Central Labrador)
(the second part of my chat with Nicholas Fairbridge on self-provisioning and municipal regulations)
(A chat with community health researcher Nicholas Fairbridge about local food production and the municipal regulations that sometimes make that challenging..
(A visit with Kim Thistle, Greenhouse operator, entrepreneur and former CBC Gardening Crosstalk host)
(Another visit to the Pye Centre in Labrador, walking and chatting with farmer and facilitator Lem Seaward)
(We visit the Pye Centre for Northern Boreal Food Systems in Labrador, and speak with Jamie Jackman)
SEASON THREE
(Season 3 was funded through the Community Radio Fund of Canada)
(We're at Windy Heights Farm talking about regenerative agriculture, mushrooms and the right to farm.)
(I chat with forager Shawn Dawson about dandelion, nettles, muchrooms, chickweed, alders and more)
(Today we head to the Bonavista Peninsula to talk with micro-greens producer and farmer Adam Furlong)
(I visit with Damien Oliver, a vegetable farmer in Musgravetown, Newfoundland)
(A visit with Valerie and John Barron of the Crooked Branch Apple Orchard on the Bonavista Peninsula)
(I chat with blueberry farmer Mark Bowering)
(We're in Norris Point to talk with Colleen Hiscock, food scientist, product developer, restaurant owner, cookbook author and consultant)
(We're in Iceland to talk to some folks at the Agriculture University there - Ólöf Ósk Guðmundsdóttir, Egill Gunnarsson, and Rósa Björk Jónsdóttir)
(I talk with instructor Sharon Wright and three of her students in the Ag Tech program at CNA in Corner Brook)
(I sit down with three students in CNA's Agriculture Technology program in Corner Brook - Jacey Bennett, Amy Mercer & Stephanie Jeffrey)
(I drop in to the Gower Street United Church to talk to Patrick Griffin, who started the Oat Company)
Show # 20 - "Ya Gotta Be in The Barn"
(I chat with dairy farmer Lucas Strong about the challenges and joys of his journey as a farmer)
Show # 19 - Sustainability and Local Wool
(I visit with Veronica Bavis at Skivvers, her shop in Cow Head)
Show # 18 - A Life with Plants
(A chat with Tim Walsh of the MUN Botanical Gardens about the path from an outport to CBC Gardening Crosstalk)
Show # 17 - The Deep Roots of Entrepreneurship
(I chat with Adam Anderson and Lukas Doman of the Deep Roots Farm and Market in Corner Brook and Reidville)
Show # 16 - Training New Farmers on Old Farmland
(I visit with Jeremy McNiven, a new farmer who is part of the New Found Farmers incubation program of the O'Brien Farm in St. John's)
Show # 15 - Social and Cultural Dietary Changes and Obesity
(I chat with Rachel Atkins, who is one of the founders of Obesity Matters, about shifts in diets, and stereotypes about obesity)
Show # 14 - Making Health in Rural NL
(we're in Port au Choix talking with Joanie Cranston and Philomena Gaslard about food, development and community)
Show # 13 - Preparing for the Indoor Farming Revolution
(I visit Greenfarm NL, an indoor urban farm in Mount Pearl, and chat with Scott Neary)
Show # 12 - Food Production, Incubation, Entrepreneurship, Entertainment and Tough Love for Plants
(I visit with Krista Chatman of Three Mile Ridge, about her work at the Farm and Market in Clarenville)
Show # 11 - Rebuilding the NL Sheep Industry
(I chat with 4th generation sheep farmer Matt Morry about the potential of a revitalized sheep industry in the province)
(I visit Ian Hussey of the Knotty Pine Farm and Apiary in Port Blandford to talk about honey, farming, animal husbandry and lard pigs)
Show # 9 - Season's Greetings from Down on the Farm
( of the widespread holidays we still have these days, Christmas/Solstice has the most rural theme of any of the lot - we explore that in this show)
Show # 8 - Growing Food and Telling Stories
(we visit with Lauralee Ledrew at the Upper Humber Settlement in Cormack to talk about permaculture and agritourism)
Show # 7 - The Potential of Community Gardens
(we chat with Katie Temple, Kaila Mintz and Ken Pinksen of the Western Environment Centre about the programming of some of their 5 urban gardens in Corner Brook)
Show # 6 - Food, Fun and Learning Down on The Farm
(spending time on the Robbins Family Farm with Terri Lynn and Bill)
Show # 5 - Bread and Community Development
(a visit with Carolyn Lavers, a baker and community development worker in Port au Choix)
Show # 4 - At the Gros Morne Farm and Market
(we chat with Laurie Haycock and Boyd Maynard about the rocky - and boggy - road to setting up a farm)
Show # 3 - Learning the Magic of Nature at the Foggy Food Forest
(we chat with Jonas Roberts of St. Phillips, a permaculture gardener and climate change consultant, about how his family is increasing its household food security)
Show # 2 - Following the Path of Cheeses
(a visit to cheesemaker Adam Blanchard at his new digs in Cormack, NL)
Show # 1 - Setting the Context for Season Three
(a selection of snippets from season 2, to get us in the mood for another season of the show!)
SEASON TWO
Show # 39 - Ray Solotki (part 2)
(the delights, complications, and sometimes politics, of food in the North)
(we chat about food in the north with the Arctic Chicken Lady)
Show # 37 - Ibrahim Abureidah and Minh Le Anh Nguyen
(This is the third part of our visit to the Functional Foods Lab at Grenfell Campus in Corner Brook)
(We head to Flatrock to answer the question, "should I buy a snowmobile or an earth-sheltered greenhouse?!")
Show # 36 - The Nourish and Develop Foundation, part 2
(How food is the "golden thread" that connects everything)
Show # 35 - The Nourish and Develop Foundation, part 1
(We head to Cannington, ON, to visit a group who link food with many other social values)
(We visit market gardener Andy Wright of Pasadena, NL)
(We talk to a farmer, a teacher and the mayor of Stephenville, NL - it happens to be all the same person)
Show #34 - Melissa Hamilton, Abraham Armah and Owen Bartlett
(This is the 2nd part of our visit with three graduate student researchers in a Functional Foods Lab)
Show # 33 - Owen Bartlett, Melissa Hamilton and Abraham Armah
(We visit three graduate student researchers in a Functional Foods Lab)
(We visit Iceland's most famous tomato greenhouse and talk tourists, tomatoes, horses and more)
(Talking about Horticultural Therapy at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto)
(We chat about horticulture and life with an author and MUNL Botanical Garden research horticulturalist)
(We meet a NL-based storyteller of food and farming tales)
Show # 30 - Robbie and Chantille Coles
(one couple's journey from the oil patch to the cabbage patch)
(we head to Central NL to visit with a shepherd and apiarist and entrepreneur)
Show # 29.7 - Jane and Brian Yager
(we go to the magical town of Ferryland to talk about garlic and fish waste with Jane and Brian Yager)
(we visit with a cider maker and a very patent entrepreneur, in Clarenville)
Show # 29.5 - þórarinn Ingi Pétursson
(we visit with a sheep farmer and politician in northern Iceland)
Show # 29 - Christmas on the Farm
(Some chat, some music, and some fun, all related to this season of the year and its connection to farms, agriculture and rural)
(I visit with egg producer and mixed farmer Nathan Dennis, and catch up on what is happening on his Cormack-area farm)
(We spend some time in St. Anthony Bight, to talk about how food and health and community intersect in this wonderful rural location on the Great Northern Peninsula)
(We drop by Birchbark Farm in Pasadena for a tour)
Show # 25 - Eura Curtis, Marcel McLean and Cal Nicholas
(We head up the Great Northern Peninsula to talk about home gardening, self-provisioning, rough food and the primacy of green turnips)
(We go to the margins of St. John's to visit Lester's Farm Market, surrounded by pumpkins and corn mazes and lots of fresh food)
Show # 23.5 - Steve and Lisa McBride
(We reprise a visit to a couple of homesteaders and social media entrepreneurs who run one of NL's most popular Facebook sites)
Show # 23 - Ólafur Dýrmundsson
(A visit to Iceland to talk about agriculture there, and the challenges of creating urban-rural alliances)
(A chance to check in with homesteader David Goodyear on how he is continuing to increase his household's food security)
Show # 21 - Rhonda Teitel-Payne
(A chat about urban agriculture, land use, social justice, food insecurity and chicken policies with a co-coordinator of the Toronto Urban Growers)
(I chat with a market gardener who is getting ready to start another season of labour, promise, wonder, and experimentation)
(I get a chance to talk with a grand educator, gardener, entrepreneur, advocate, and the founder of the Food Producers' Forum)
(We talk about transforming trash into treasure with the head of 3F Waste Recovery, located on the Great Northern Peninsula)
Show # 17 - Dóróthea Ármann and Hjalti Jóhannesson
(We visit Iceland to talk about how a famous tomato greenhouse and restaurant dealt with Covid-19, and how rural Iceland was affected by the pandemic)
(I chat with one of Labrador's farmers about the joys of sub-arctic farming)
(We chat with the Young Farmers Coordinator of the NL Federation of Agriculture)
Show # 14 - Sarah Ferber and Josh Smee
(We chat with Sarah and Josh of Food First NL about food policy, food strategy, food insecurity, and other things that food modifies)
(We chat with a St. John's chef, entrepreneur, food impresario and more about restaurants and Covid)
(We cross the ocean - virtually - and land in Iceland to chat about Covid, local food, island challenges, innovation, climate, imports and knitting)
(I chat with a fisher, educator, community organizer and all-round social entrepreneur based in Petty Harbour)
(We head to Foxtrap to chat with a farmer and butcher from a 160-year tradition of feeding people)
(Talking about the St. John's Farmer's Market with its Executive Director)
(A chat with NL's only cow's-milk cheese producer, Adam Blanchard)
(What does the Covid-19 pivot look like down on the farm? Or at the Craft Brewery?)
Show # 6 - Andria Jones-Bitton
(I chat with one of Canada's prime researchers in the area of farmer mental health and well-being, in her office at the Ontario Veterinary College)
Show # 5 - Crystal & Doug Parsons
(We visit the sheep barn to learn about the curiosity of sheep, the rigour of lambing schedule and how to start an abattoir in your spare time, and more)
(We sit down in Thimble Cottage on the O'Brien Farm and talk about 200 years of food production and the future of the farm in the middle of St. John's)
(We visit Pasadena's Wright's Family Farm to talk about U-picks, farming as a second career and carrot secrets)
(A visit with the Homestead at Flatrock to see the four-season earth-sheltered greenhouse that feeds the family)
(I chat with Bill and Karen Bennett, who operate NL's first commercial goat cheese dairy in Cormack)
SEASON ONE
(on this show I play clips from the 75 interviews that made up season 1 of this series, a grand review)
Show # 54 - Olafur Dyrmundsson
(researcher, farmer, farmer association worker, Selfoss, Iceland)
Show # 53 - Agriculture University of Iceland
(I talk with three staff members at this institution - Egill Gunnarsson, Rosa Bjork Jonsdottir and þafpór, Iceland)
(organic farmer, mushroom grower, entrepreneur, musician from Portugal Cove, NL)
Show # 51 - Jason Bull and Stelman Flynn
(Jason is an organic farmer, entrepreneur and activist from Eastport, NL, and Stelman is an entrepreneur and berry processor from Labrador and now Corner Brook, NL)
(teacher, rural development worker, researcher, Borgarnes, Iceland)
(gardener, educator, administrator, parent, policy advisor, citizen, Corner Brook)
Show # 48, Edward Mesher and Tom Angiers
(farmers, gardeners, agricultural entrepreneurs, Happy Valley Goose Bay, Labrador)
(pig farmer, tourism operator, entrepreneur, from north Iceland)
(brewer, forester, entrepreneur, local champion)
(entrepreneur, agronomist, market organizer, trend-setter)
(farmer, mayor of Stephenville, promoter of food production in urban spaces)
Show # 43, Kelly Mansell and Stelman Flynn
(food entrepreneurs doing retail in St. John's and jam production in Forteau)
Show # 42, Ólöf Ósk Guðmundsdóttir, Egill Gunnarsson, and Rósa Björk Jónsdóttir
(staff members at the Agriculture University of Iceland)
Show # 41, Greg Wood and Mervyn Dean
(gardener and educator from Bonne Bay, NL, and retired doctor and gardener from Corner Brook, NL)
Show # 40, Hans Steffen Lindner
(gardener, innovator, health care worker, Hughes Brook, NL)
Show # 39, Leanne Wilson, Anne Marceau & Michael Burzynski
(Agriculture and Agrifoods Canada, St. John's - Leanne - and naturalists and authors, Rocky Harbour - Anne and Michael)
(Executive Director, Food First NL, St. John's, NL)
(Chair, Community Food Hub, Happy Valley Goose Bay, Labrador)
Show # 36, Anne Marceau & Michael Burzynski
(naturalists, gardeners, writers, interpreters, Rocky Harbour, NL)
(Second career farmer, Grand River Farm, Happy Valley Goose Bay, NL)
(Greenhouse operator, facilitator, strategic thinker, Little Rapids, NL)
(program manager, working with refugee farmers, St. John's, NL)
(farmer, berry grower, entrepreneur, philosopher, Campbellton, NL)
(carpenter, fisher, farmer, B&B owner, storytelller, Ferryland, NL)
(teacher, gardener, musician, thinker, observer, proclaimer, Pouch Cove, NL)
Show # 29, David Vatcher & Oli Einarsson
(chefs, Corner Brook, NL, and Hvanneyri, Iceland)
(shepherd, apiarist, entrepreneur, Bishop's Falls, NL)
Show # 27, Rebecca Brushett & Ian Stone
(culinary tourism entrepreneurs, Gros Morne region, NL)
Show # 26, Bernard Bird, Chris & Debbie Swyers
(horticulturalists and greenhouse operators in Goose Bay and Logy Bay)
Show # 25, Anna Sigríður Pétursdóttir & Holly Kristinsson Petty
(a Greenhouse and agri-tourism operator & a research scientist, from Iceland)
Show # 24, Joshua Smee, Sheilagh O'Leary & Craig Pollett
(a show about St. John's Farmer's Market)
(CEO SucSeed, entrepreneur and social activist, St. John's)
Show # 22, Olof Hallgrimsdottir and Solvi Arnarson
(Dairy farmers, entrepreneurs, tourism operators, Iceland)
(Teacher, Gardener, Historian, Thinker, Stephenville, NL)
Show # 20, Des Sellars & Ron Watts
(Nature's Best Farm, and Grenfell Missions, Happy Valley and Northwest River, Labrador)
(Fishing for Success, Island Rooms, etc., Fisher, Social Entrepreneur, Petty Harbour)
(Co-founder, farmer, agri-tourism entrepreneur, Friðheimar greenhouse, restaurant and horse farm, Iceland)
(Research Horticulturist, author, gardener, MUN Botanical Gardens)
Show # 16, Þórarinn Ingi Pétursson
(Sheep farmer and politician, Grenivík, in north Iceland)
(Five Brothers Artisan Cheese, The Goulds)
(Lester's Farm Chalet, St. John's)
Show # 13, Laurie Haycock & Boyd Maynard
(Gros Morne Farm & Market, Norris Point)
Show # 12, Lisa and Steve McBride (Homesteaders, self-provisioning champions, Facebook facilitators), Mobile, NL
(Silver fox fur farm, NL Federation of Agriculture), North Harbour, NL
Show # 10, Nathan Dennis and Melvin Rideout (Long Range Poultry Farm and Rideout's Farm, respectively), Cormack, NL
Show # 9, Brian and Jane Yager
(the Natural Gardener), Ferryland, NL
(Adelaide's Honey), The Goulds, NL
(Chef, Mallard Cottage), Quidi Vidi Village, NL
(NL Cider Company), Shoal Harbour, NL
(Birch Lane Farm), Happy Valley Goose Bay, Labrador.
Show #4, Terri Lynn Robbins (Robbins Farm and Gardens) and Chris Oram (Mark's Market), Nicholsville, NL and Wooddale, NL
Show #3, Evan Murray and Brian Kowalski
Murray Meadows Farm and the Grounds Cafe, Portugal Cove, NL
Show #2, Krista Reader Chatman,
Three Mile Ridge, Lethbridge, Bonavista Peninsula, NL
Show # 4 - At the Gros Morne Farm & Market
(We chat with Laurie Haycock and Boyd Maynard about the rocky - and boggy - road to setting up a farm)
Where else can I listen to the show?
Where else can I listen to the show?
If you would like to be notified when new episodes are released, send me an email at: ruralnl@gmail.com
There are a number of community radio stations which broadcast "Fit to Eat" regularly. Many of them are in Atlantic Canada, but some are from the mainland and beyond. If you'd like it to be broadcast in your region, send me an email.
If you would like to be notified when new episodes are released, send me an email at: ruralnl@gmail.com
There are a number of community radio stations which broadcast "Fit to Eat" regularly. Many of them are in Atlantic Canada, but some are from the mainland and beyond. If you'd like it to be broadcast in your region, send me an email. In NL, four of the community stations have been regular broadcasters for the show, including:
- VOBB (Voice of Bonne Bay), Norris Point and Rocky Harbour, NL, 95.9 and 98.1 FM, (www.vobb.org)
- BOIR (Bay FM), Corner Brook, NL, 100.1 FM, (www.boir.ca)
- CHMR (MUN Radio), St. John's, NL, 93.5 FM. (www.mun.ca/chmr/)
- CJBI (Radio Bell Island), Bell Island, NL, 93.9 FM, (www.radiobellisland.com)
The show is available for rebroadcast or other uses through the !earshot Digital Music Distribution site at
Shows are also available on some organizational web sites.
If you are interested in using these programs on your station, or on your web site, get in touch and we can work it out (as the song says).