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 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
Previous Shows (click on them to play)
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
(Greenhouse operator & research scientist at
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
Riverbrook Farm, Loch Leven, NL
Where else can I listen to the show?
There are several community radio stations which broadcast "Fit to Eat" regularly. They include:
- CHMR (MUN Radio), St. John's, NL, 93.5 FM, Thursdays at 13:30 (www.mun.ca/chmr/)
- VOBB (Voice of Bonne Bay), Norris Point and Rocky Harbour, NL, 95.9 and 98.1 FM, Wednesday at noon (www.vobb.org)
- BOIR (Bay of Islands Radio), Corner Brook, NL, 100.1 FM, Tuesday at 6 pm (www.boir.ca)
The show is available through the National Campus and Community Radio Association's Community Radio Exchange (http://previous.ncra.ca/).
Shows are also available on the web site of Food First NL, by clicking here.
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).