Vote with Your Plate and Palate: The Future of Food with Roanne Van Voorst Ph.D. & Joanne Molinaro
Original Air Date Wednesday, September 7, 2022
Factory-based farming and meat processing facilities have become part of the food chain for many developing nations but they are, in some circles, considered dirty little secrets. From birth to death, meat production sullies all aspects of the environment, not to mention the pain and suffering of the animals in this cycle. Plant-based eating is an alternative option that uses fewer resources and leaves the land less defiled.
To tantalize our Tierra-based tastebuds and unearth constructive consumption strategies, Positive Psychology Podcast Host Lisa Cypers Kamen speaks with two experts in plant-based food options. Roanne Van Vorst is a Futures Anthropologist who researches the future of food. She highlights key findings from her book, Once Upon a Time, We Ate Animals: The Future of Food, including the impact of the food industry on soil, the air, and human health. Joanne Molinaro aka The Korean Vegan describes how she transformed her love of fried chicken into a compassionate recipe book for vegans. Her bestselling cookbook, The Korean Vegan Cookbook: Reflections and Recipes from Omma’s Kitchen, has been dubbed the best cookbook of 2021 by several well-known publications.
Roanne Van Vorst Ph.D. — The Future of Food:
- In her book, Once Upon a Time We Are Food, Roanne highlights the impacts of the food industry on humans’ ability to produce food in the future. [1:46]
- Analyzing the statistics and myth busting veganism. [4:00]
- The Western world underestimates how much it consumes. [8:32]
- Any way Roanne researches it, plant production is less taxing on the earth than meat production. [15:00]
- Roanne shares how we can use eating as a way of voting to get the future we want for ourselves and our children. [21:54]
Dr. Roanne van Voorst is a futures-anthropologist, writer, and (Tedx) speaker. She is president of the Dutch Future Society and works as a scientific advisor for HATCH. As a futures anthropologist her coreresearch focuses on what she calls ‘sustainable humanity’.
Book: Once Upon a Time, We Ate Animals: The Future of Food
Roanne Van Voorst
@RoanneVanVoorst on Instagram
Joanne Molinaro — Cleanse Your Plate and Palate:
- Joanne shares a little about her past and how she became the Korean Vegan. [27:13]
- Going from a paleo, hard-core carnivore to a vegan left Joanne with some anxiety about how she would adapt culturally. [30:32]
- Korea has a deeply-rooted plant-based culture. [33:25]
- Her family’s immigration journey was fraught with danger, courage, and resilience. [36:32]
- In 2015, Joanne created a social media empire, then during COVID, she began creating her content on TikTok. [40:38]
- A quest to eliminate suffering is the guiding force in Joanne’s life. [44:08]
- Joanne shares modifications to common recipes using plant-based ingredients. [49:38]
Joanne Molinaro is a Korean American woman, born in Chicago, Illinois. Her parents were both born in what is now known as North Korea. Molinaro started her blog, The Korean Vegan, in 2016, after adopting a plant-based diet. In July 2020, she started her TikTok (@thekoreanvegan), mostly as a coping mechanism for the isolation caused by the global pandemic. She began posting content related to politics and life as a lawyer during quarantine. However, after a single post of her making Korean braised potatoes for dinner (while her husband taught a piano lesson in the background) went viral, Molinaro shifted her attention to producing 60-second recipe videos while telling stories about her family — immigrants from what is now known as North Korea. With over 4 million fans spread across her social media platforms, New York Times best-selling author Joanne Molinaro, a.k.a The Korean Vegan, has appeared on The Food Network, CBS Saturday Morning, ABC’s Live with Kelly and Ryan, The Today Show, PBS, and The Rich Roll Podcast. She’s been featured in the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Atlantic, NPR, and CNN; and her debut cookbook was selected as one of “The Best Cookbooks of 2021” by The New York Times and The New Yorker among others.
Book: The Korean Vegan Cookbook: Reflections and Recipes from Omma’s Kitchen
The Korean Vegan
@TheKoreanVegan on Twitter
The Korean Vegan on Facebook
@TheKoreanVegan on Instagram
This episode of Harvesting Happiness Talk Radio about the future of food is sponsored by:
Are We Happy Yet? Eight Keys to Unlocking a Joyful Life — A boot camp manual for greater emotional fitness. Happiness waits for no one and sometimes we all need support. What is getting in the way of your happiness right now?
H–Factor: Where is Your Heart? — Lisa’s documentary film explores the journey of human happiness. Emotions are contagious and happiness is a universally desired state. We tend to forget we all have the freedom to be happy or the liberty to be miserable each day.
“Theoretically, we have the technology and the resources to feed the world properly, and yet we don't.” @LisaKamen on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet “In high cuisine and in making fabulous recipes, there is an understanding of chemistry.” @LisaKamen on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet “We have so much degraded land that there is simply not enough left for animals.” @RoanneVan Voorst on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet“I think we all feel uncomfortable with the idea of big machinery and immense factories that livestock keeping has become.” @RoanneVan Voorst on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet“If you look at the general health of meat-eaters versus the general health of vegans typically the vegans are much more healthy.” @RoanneVan Voorst on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet “Meat is for the rich.” @RoanneVan Voorst on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet“Two days less meat is already saving a lot of lives but more importantly it shows that we are no longer okay with what is going on.” @RoanneVan Voorst on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet “I used the transition in my diet as an excuse to become closer to my mom and my dad.” @thekoreanvegan on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet“Food is one of the most powerful vehicles for connecting and healing us.” @thekoreanvegan on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet“Morality is a system designed for human beings. It is a gift and a responsibility.” @thekoreanvegan on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet “Veganism is about finding ways to eat in a way that is more compassionate but still delicious.” @thekoreanvegan on @HHTalkRadio Click To Tweet
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