Editor’s note: We had some brief technical difficulties during the first minute of the show.
Brittany Turner in the WCBN studio.
Brittany Turner is the founder of Cheyanne Symone, a jewelry company based in Ypsilanti that specializes in handcrafted, indigenous-style earrings. She’s also an energy analyst at EcoWorks Detroit and a graduate of the University of Michigan’s School for Environment and Sustainability. Turner joined hosts Bella Isaacs and Meg Czerwinksi to talk about how she factors social justice and environmental sustainability into her business, her identity as a Native woman of the Haliwa-Saponi Tribe, how an experience at science camp sparked her interest in energy, and much more.
Earlier this month, regular host Bella Isaacs met up with the executive and assistant directors of Growing Hope, Cynthia VanRenterghem and Erica Bloom. Their nonprofit focus on four interconnected areas of the local food system in Ypsilanti: farms and gardens, youth and schools, farmers markets, and food entrepreneurship. The three talk about the roots of Growing Hope (get it), how this organization seeks to empower food producers and consumers in Ypsilanti, and how you can get involved.
On Friday, hosts Ed, Bella, and Logan interviewed John Barrie and Monika Goforth in an effort to “shed some light” on the inner machinations of the Mayan Power and Light Program (MPL). The MPL co-founders discuss the origins and motivations for creating the program, which include a desire to contribute to the green economy and create businesses within small communities in Guatemala. Breaks from the show feature Aurora and Tex’s top picks for solar-themed songs.
Want more information? Students who would like to get involved in these projects can volunteer to join them in Detroit or look into opportunities to travel to Guatemala with the team. Check out them out at apptechdesign.org.
In this week’s episode co-hosts Chris Askew-Merwin and Malavika Sahai talk food and power, with a focus on corporate control over the food industry. This conversation is based on an interview we air between Malavika and guest Phil Howard from Michigan State University, a professor and sociologist studying food markets and food systems. He has a new book out, entitled Concentration and Power in the Food System: Who Controls What We Eat?, and is perhaps most famous for his widely-circulated infographics about concentration of ownership in the food system. They talk taking back power through consumer purchasing power and sustainable movements in pre-existing markets.
The conversation between Malavika and Phil got us thinking about a previous show we had on sustainability in the craft beer industry, from November 2015. We review a clip from the episode, A Cultural Shift to Conservation, with Kris Spaulding of Brewery Vivant in which she discusses being a LEED certified brewery and profit sharing at Brewery Vivant.
Along with these fabulous content-rich interviews, we play some groovy tunes from Weird Al Yankovic and The Beatles. If you love the content we provide on It’s Hot in Here, please consider donating to WCBN during our fundraising week. There are some pretty neat premiums being offered in exchange for donations, and it’s your support that helps us continue to bring you this show!
One of Phil Howard’s infographics on corporate power in the food industry. This one is on the soft drink industry, and Malavika and Chris discuss it on air on this week’s show! For more information like this, check out his website https://msu.edu/~howardp/
Did you know that insects form part of the traditional diet of an estimated 2 billion people on the planet? And that even those of us who actively avoid all contact with bugs can’t avoid ingesting a pound or two of flies, maggots, and other bugs without knowing it every year? Insects aren’t the future of food–they’re very much part of our present reality!
This week’s broadcast debuts a new partnership between IHIH and Michigan Sustainability Cases (MSC), a new case-based learning platform which integrates podcasts into sustainability curriculum. Hosts Katie Browne and Andrea Kraus first speak with Laure Katz of Conservation International about her role managing the transition of the Bird’s Head Seascape, from donor-supported to fully financially self-sustaining — in four short years. Suffice to say the demands of such a challenge live little time for sleep.
We are then joined in studio by Peter Pellitier, a student of both coral and soil, who conducted research in Papua New Guinea and the Coral Triangle a year ago. Peter speaks to the importance of protecting marine biodiversity, as a foundation of livelihoods and buffer against climate change, and the difficulty of sustaining homegrown conservation initiative. Continue reading Financing Biodiversity Conservation: The Case of the Bird’s Head Seascape→
Our hosts Alex Truelove, Ed Waisanen, and Bailey Schneider wrapped up our three part series, “Please, Drink Sustainably” with a vibrant discussion on distilled spirits with distiller and marketing director at Journeyman Distillery in Three Oaks, Michigan, Nick Yoder, and co-owner and operator of Cafe Zola in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Alan Zakalik.
Journeyman Distillery is an Organic Spirits Distillery, located in the EK Warren Historic Featherbone Factory, in Three Oaks, Michigan. They offer a variety of organic spirits such as vodka, gin and rum but mainly focus on whiskey. The spirits are distilled, bottled, labeled, and packaged at their distillery. Journeyman Distillery puts a strong emphasis on maintaining sustainability in their practices from their location in a historic reclaimed factory to their spirits. This distillery started four years ago and has focused on being a sustainable and innovative business ever since. The spirits are made using certified organic ingredients sourced from the local farmers. The Journeyman Distillery Tasting Room offers a variety of food items, all made with organic ingredients from local farms.
Nick helps Journeyman Distillery share the tales of its journey with the world. Nick is in charge of raising customer awareness and bringing consumers to the distillery to experience the spirits first hand. He pridefully proclaims to have extensive knowledge of spirits from his experience of distilling once a week.
Alan Zakalik has owned and operated Café Zola alongside Hediye Batu since 1996. Alan and Hediye deliberately choose their suppliers to ensure that they serve the highest possible quality of food and beverages. Alan emphasizes that they try to buy local and organic when possible. Café Zola has an exquisite bar menu and serves many craft liqueurs. Alan discussed traditional polish cherry liqueur making, something that anyone can do at home.
Sustainability in the local alcohol industry has remained a constant throughout this series. Producing distilled spirits requires more energy than beer and wine production, and almost of the water used in the distillation process ends up as waste. To combat this, many local distillers are purchasing grain from local organic farmers, reusing liqueur barrels, and turning their waste into energy.
Our second segment in the three part series, “Please, Drink Sustainably” takes our hosts Alex Truelove, Becca Baylor, and Rebecca Hardin to the vineyards of Michigan with the help of Black Star Farms‘ managing member and winemaker, Lee Lutes, and principal and co-founder of 5 Lakes Energy, Liesl Clark.
In this first episode of our three part series called “Please, Drink Sustainably,” our guests Kris Spaulding, co-founder of Brewery Vivant, and Brian Tennis, owner and operator of the Michigan Hop Alliance taught hosts Harry Rice, Becca Baylor, Ed Waisanen, and Alex Truelove all about the sustainability innovations in beer production happening right here in the mitten.
It’s the finale of our three part series on climate change. This week our hosts Becca Baylor, Ed Waisanen, and Alex Truelove investigate the implications of climate change on agriculture, especially on cherries in northern Michigan. They are joined on the phone by Jim Nugent, the director of the Leelanau Conservancy; Nikki Rothwell, the coordinator of the Northwestern Michigan Horticultural Research Station; and in studio by Dr. Paige Fischer, Assistant Professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment. Continue reading Cherries of Change: Adaptation by Michigan Farmers→
It’s the finale of our three part series on climate change. This week our hosts Becca Baylor, Ed Waisanen, and Alex Truelove investigate the implications of climate change on agriculture, especially on cherries in northern Michigan. They are joined on the phone by Jim Nugent, the director of the Leelanau Conservancy; Nikki Rothwell, the coordinator of the Northwestern Michigan Horticultural Research Station; and in studio by Dr. Paige Fischer, Assistant Professor in the School of Natural Resources and Environment.