Food Non-fiction

This episode is about vending machines. The first reference to a vending machine is from the 1st century AD in Egypt. The reference is in a book called “Pneumatika”, written by Hero of Alexandria. In it, there is a detailed description and a picture of a device, which dispensed water when you put in a five-drachma coin. This was invented for dispensing equal amounts of sacrificial water at Egyptian temples. This was a source of money for the Egyptian temples, and it also made sure everyone got the same amount of holy water. Here is how it worked: Imagine a teeter totter. When a coin was dropped into the holy water dispenser, it fell on one end of the teeter totter, causing the other end to lift up, also opening a little exit which let the holy water out. As the teeter totter moved down on the side with the coin, the coin eventually fell off. Once the coin fell, the teeter totter reset and the water exit closed. Unfortunately, one of these devices has never been found, so we don’t know if this was just a desig

This episode tells the story of Jell-O from when it was first introduced in 1897. Because gelatin desserts like Jell-O used to be a food that only wealthy families could afford to eat, (it took a long time to prepare) people were unfamiliar with the product and it was hard to sell. It took some great marketing to get this product off the ground. Special Thanks to Interviewee: Lynne Belluscio and the Jell-O Gallery Museum Thanks to Looperman Artists for the Music: relaxed chillout strings by rasputin1963 happily ever after strings perfect for movie score by nbeats26

This Food Non-Fiction podcast episode is about vanilla! We explain the causes behind the rise and fall of the price of vanilla. It is a product that has very erratic cycles of prices skyrocketing then crashing, skyrocketing then crashing. The supply never seems to match the demands. We discuss a possible solution to this - fair trade. Special Thanks to Our Interviewees: Felix Buccellato of Custom Essence Richard J. Brownell We highly recommend this book about vanilla: "Vanilla Orchids: Natural History and Cultivation" by Ken Cameron Thank You to Truekey for the Music, as well as Looperman Artists: Memories Acoustic 1 by BradoSanz chillwave bass and synth by Djpuzzle  Going Up by LarsM

This episode is about the creation of the original chocolate chip cookie recipe by Ruth Wakefield in 1938. Ruth, along with her husband, was the owner of the famous Toll House Inn. As promised in the episode, here are 2 links to the original chocolate chip cookie recipe: Easier to read! With pictures! Thank you to Looperman Artists for the Music: Apollo by SANTIAGOO Funky Guitar by Neems 1 by Neems Whats Goin Down by rasputin1963

We talk to the Hershey community archivist, Pam Whitenack and her colleagues about what it is really like to live in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Hershey is a model community that was built by Milton Hershey - the founder of The Hershey Company. It was built as a place for The Hershey Company employees to live. Unlike other factory towns, it was built with care and love, with great transportation, entertainment, and aesthetics. Special Thanks to Our Interviewees: Pam Whitenack and Anthony Haubert of the Hershey Community Archives Thank You to Looperman Artists for the Music: Poppy Acoustic by BradoSanz Poppy Acoustic 2 by BradoSanz Poppy Acoustic 3 by BradoSanz Poppy Acoustic 4 by BradoSanz Bright Absurdity Hip-hop Piano by JulietStarling 1950s Rock-N-Roll Piano Riff by rasputin1963 Going Up by LarsM Nights Strings HD by jawadalblooshi FX - 34 - 80 Bpm by SoleilxLune

This is a very special Food Non-Fiction podcast episode. We had the immense pleasure of interviewing one of Time's 100 Most Influential People in the Heroes category of 2010. Her name is Temple Grandin. She is a professor of animal science at Colorado State University. In North America, over half the cattle are handled in the humane systems designed by Dr. Grandin. Thank You to Our Esteemed Guests: Temple Grandin Christopher Monger Mark Deesing Special Thanks to: David Porter and Rachel Winks of Cabi.org for all your help. Thank You to Looperman Artists for the Music: Memories Acoustic 1 by BradoSanz  Ambellient by Danke Primitive Piano by Danke  Nasty Patterns 4 by flsouto Funky Guitar by Neems 1 by Neems Whats Goin Down by rasputin1963 Concert Cello - Heaven by kickklee Piano Quality Cajsa by MINOR2GO SynCato by DesignedImpression Credit to Rosalie Winard for the photos of Temple Grandin

In this Food Non-Fiction podcast episode, we tell the incredible true story of The Poison Squad. Thanks to Looperman Artists for the Music: SynCato by DesignedImpression 1950s Rock N Roll Piano Riff by rasputin1963 Food non-fiction 1 & 2 Funky Guitar by Neems 1 by Neems Special thanks to the musician, truekey, for writing music for Food Non-Fiction: Soundcloud Twitter: @truekeymusic

In this Food Non-Fiction podcast episode, we tell the incredible true story of Henry John Heinz - the founder of the H.J. Heinz Company and the maker of everybody's favorite ketchup. Special Thanks to Looperman Artists for the Music: Liar Piano - 1 of 5 Sounds by RicoBeatz Funky Guitar by Neems 1 by Neems Bright Absurdity - Hip-hop Piano by JulietStarling Liar Guitar FLEX - 4 of 5 Sounds by RicoBeatz Piano Quality - Love Confession 2 by MINOR2GO Piano Quality - Love Confession 1 by MINOR2GO If you'd like to know more about this topic, we strongly recommend the book "H.J. Heinz: A Biography" by Quentin R. Skrabec - we relied heavily on this source for this episode.

In this Food Non-Fiction podcast episode, we tell the incredible true story of ketchup. Thank you to this Looperman Artist for the Music: 1950s Rock N Roll Piano Riff by rasputin1963 Special thanks to the musician, truekey, for writing music for Food Non-Fiction: Soundcloud Twitter: @truekeymusic

In this Food Non-Fiction episode, we tell the incredible true story of the Tupperware Party. Every few seconds, someone somewhere in the world is hosting a Tupperware Party. In a world where everything is sold online, Tupperware sells their product through Tupperware Parties. If you haven't attended a Tupperware party, it's unlikely that you own actual Tupperware brand Tupperware. That's right - Tupperware is a brand. It's one of those brands, like Frisbee and Kleenex, with a name that has become synonymous with the product. If Tupperware Parties didn't exist, it's possible that tupperware would not exist. And without tupperware, we might still be covering our dishes in shower caps. When tupperware first hit the market, it was a huge dud. Even with tons of marketing, the inventor, Earl Tupper, could not increase sales. However, while no one was buying tupperware from stores, people were buying tupperware from independent sales people hosting parties, utilizing the "party plan" sales method. This is because ba

This Food Non-Fiction podcast episode investigates the question - who created the California Roll? Thank You to Our Interviewees: Hidekazu Tojo Trevor Corson David Kamp Thank You to Looperman Artists for the Music: Drum Loop Republic by attackyak Japanese Vibes Rhodes Only by raphael29 edm pluck for intro by capostipite Dusted Jazz Loop by LeuNatic Poppy Acoustic 2 by BradoSanz Poppy Acoustic 3 by BradoSanz

In this Food Non-Fiction episode, we go nerdy and cover a paper titled "Simply Walking into Mordor: How Much Lembas Would the Fellowship Have Needed?" by Skye Rosetti and Krisho Manaharan. The paper calculates how many pieces of lembas (elvish waybread) the Fellowship of the Ring would have had to pack for the journey from Rivendell to Mordor. Special Thanks to Looperman Artists for the Music: Concert Cello - Heaven by kickklee Apollo by SANTIAGOO Amazing Strings by BakoBone

In this Food Non-Fiction podcast episode, we tell the rollercoaster story of the birth of instant noodles. On March 5, 1910, Momofuku Ando was born in Taiwan and raised by his grandparents. This was during the 50 years of Japanese rule that started after Japan won the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895. He was a natural entrepreneur and started a clothing business when he was only 22. With his success, he moved to Japan the next year and expanded his clothing company while still attending university. But during WWII, he lost everything when Osaka was firebombed by American forces. It was a tragedy that informed his world-view. He saw the hungry all around him. In a 1988 interview, he said, “the world is peaceful only when everyone has enough to eat. Everything starts with food.” With his strong respect for food, he made his first attempt at entering the food industry by producing salt and nutritional products but it was too competitive. Instead, he worked as chair of a credit union until it went bankrupt in 1957

In this Food Non-Fiction podcast episode, we tell you how the accountant, Walter Diemer, ended up creating the world's first commercially available bubble gum. Walter worked for the Frank H. Fleer Corporation founded by Frank H. Fleer who had invented the world's first (not commercially available) bubble gum. After Frank died, his son in law, Gilbert Mustin, eventually took over the company. There are few sources on how Walter became involved with making bubble gum, but according to a book titled, "It Happened In Philadelphia", Mustin had set up a lab for working on a gum base. This lab happened to be near Walter's office. Walter helped watch over a gum concoction one day and became fascinated with the idea of making a successful bubble gum. He played around with recipes and eventually created Dubble Bubble. Thank you to Looperman artists for the music: edm pluck for intro by capostipite Drum Loop Republic by attackyak Japanese Vibes Rhodes Only by raphael29 Thank you to Bob Conway for the interview Website  

In this Food Non-Fiction podcast episode, we talk about the spork.  Thank you to the Looperman artist BradoSanz for the music! We used these wonderful songs: Poppy Acoustic 1 Poppy Acoustic 2 Poppy Acoustic 3 Poppy Acoustic 4

This is the first Food Non-Fiction episode of 2016, so we are going to talk about food trends. This episode will cover how to spot food trends, how to track food trends and what food trends we can expect in 2016. Using the New York Times' Chronicle tool, writer Neil Irwin came up with the Fried Calamari Index to track food trends by looking at the frequency at which the NYT mentioned various foods. Culinary trendologist, Christine Couvelier, forecasts food trends by going to food shows around the world, talking to chefs, visiting grocery stores/gourmet retail stores, and looking at food magazines. Christine says that food trends start at industry food shows around the world where food companies show their new food ideas. Some ideas are adopted in restaurant menus and the successful flavours then become available in specialty stores and magazines. From there, certain foods make it to grocery stores, thus becoming widespread and easily available to the average consumer. This is the path that balsamic vinegar ha

This Food Non-Fiction podcast is all about Can Man Dan. This is the story of how Dan Johnstone became Can Man Dan.   Thank you to the following artists for the music in this episode:  Paul Otten "Joy to the World" cover - Website | SoundCloud Shaun Friedman "Deck the Halls" cover - Website | SoundCloud   Thank you to our Interviewees: Dan Johnstone Evan Cherot Wood Buffalo Food Bank Edmonton's Food Bank

1300 km past the Arctic Circle, nestled in the permafrost, amongst inhabitants like polar bears and reindeer, lies the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. In the media, it’s better known as the “Doomsday Vault”. The vault contains backup copies of our world’s seeds...it protects the genetic diversity of our crops in case of large-scale disasters. The location was chosen in 1983 by the Nordic gene bank. Originally, they had used an old coal mine to store containers of seeds. The coal mines were so big that they had the idea to include the seeds from many other gene banks in this secure storage. But at the time, the project couldn’t get the international or financial support that it needed and it was put on hold. In 2004 when The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture was taken into force then the project was started again. The facility was opened in 2008. Thank You To Our Interviewees: Evjen Grethe Helene - Senior Advisor at Ministry of Agriculture and Food Ahmed Amri - Head of the ge

In this Food Non-Fiction podcast episode, we talk about the creation of the Rice Krispies Treats. In 1928, Kellogg’s introduced the Rice Krispies cereal to the public. In the same year, the company hired a recent home economics graduate of Iowa State University - her name was Mildred Day. Her job was to test recipes for Kellogg’s and she also travelled around the country conducting cooking schools for the company’s customers. Kellogg’s recipe testers were asked to develop recipes using Kellogg’s cereals. So Mildred Day and her friend Malitta Jensen put their heads together to create something delicious. They created what we now know as Rice Krispies Treats or Rice Krispies Squares, but back then they called it “marshmallow squares”. By the way, they didn’t create the recipe from thin air, it’s likely they tweaked the recipe using either the Puffed Wheat Squares recipe in the 1938 cookbook, It’s Fun to Cook, or they may have used an older recipe from 1916 which was a recipe for something called Puffed Rice Bri

In this Food Non-Fiction podcast episode, we tell the story of how Las Vegas became a destination market for gambling, how the nature of destination markets created competition amongst the many casinos, how casino food amenities were used as a competitive tool, and how casino restaurants have changed over time from buffet to gourmet. In October of 1929, the stock market crashed. October 29th was the worst day of this crash. It was named “Black Tuesday”. On Black Tuesday, over 16 million shares were traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Billions of dollars were lost and the economy was on a downward spiral into the Great Depression of the 1930’s. So, in 1931, Phil Tobin, a 29 year old freshman member of the legislative assembly introduced a bill to legalize gambling in Nevada. He wasn’t a gambler himself, in fact, he was a cowboy, but he knew that legalizing gambling would bring the state of Nevada some much-needed revenue. The revenue would come from gaming taxes. At this time, in 1931, the Hoover Dam was sc