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Food Non-Fiction

Food Non-Fiction tells the incredible true stories behind food. We delve deep into the history and fascinating facts about the most famous and interesting foods. We look forward to taking you on this wild food journey, through history, and around the world.
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Now displaying: July, 2015
Jul 29, 2015

This Food Non-Fiction podcast episode talks about milk cartons. We speak to patent attorney, Matt Buchanan, about the inventor of the milk carton and his patent, which was granted in 1915 in Toledo, Ohio. We then talk to Dr. Joel Best, author of "Threatened Children: Rhetoric and Concern about Child-Victims", about the history of missing children milk carton campaigns.

Special Thanks to Guests:
Matt Buchanan (partner at Buchanan Nipper)
Dr. Joel Best (University of Delaware Professor of sociology and criminal justice)

References:
Patent Blog
Dairy Antiques Website
Google Patent 1157462A
Google Patent 1123628A

Jul 15, 2015

In this podcast episode of Food Non-Fiction, we are talking about popcorn! Popcorn is made out of any variety of corn that can be popped. Corn was selectively bred from a wild grass called Teosinte, which was a very tough plant. So right from the beginning of the cultivation of corn, people were making popcorn, because corn kernels were a lot harder and popping it was one of the easiest ways to eat it. Corn spread over Central and South America because it was traded. One of the civilizations that ate popcorn was the Aztecs. They even had a word for the sound of kernels popping - "totopoca". During the Depression, popcorn was one of the few foods that actually rose in sales. This is because it became considered an affordable luxury. So vendors sold popcorn outside of theatres. Eventually, theatres started charging vendors to sell either right outside their doors or even inside the lobby. And then by around 1938, theatres started having popcorn machines inside.

References:

New York Times

Livestrong

PBS

Popcorn Origins

Jul 7, 2015

In this podcast episode of Food Non-Fiction, we speak with world champion sumo wrestler, Byamba. He is 6'1'' and 350lb but he has gotten his body fat percentage down to 11%. Sumo wrestlers may look fat, but they have more fat free mass (this includes the weight of internal organs and skeletal muscle) than body builders. This means that underneath the external fat is a wall of dense muscle. We talk about chankonabe, otherwise known as sumo stew. This is the sumo wrestler's staple food. It is a healthy stew that is filled with meat and vegetable.

Special Thanks to Byamba and his manager Andrew for the fascinating interview!

References:

Byamba website

Impressive match video

Music by:

Hearbeat

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