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Bread For Mama

Luz Lopes

Since she was a child, Luz Lopes would help her mother prepare the altar for the Day of the Dead. This year, her go-to bakery shut down so she made her own pan de muerto.

8 mins

Where’d All This Quinoa Come From?!

Linda Seligmann (George Mason University)

It seemed like quinoa just kind of came out of nowhere didn’t it? Well, it kind of did. Linda Seligmann tells us how she witnessed this afterthought crop become a commercial crop.

10 mins

Real Pigs

Brad Weiss (William & Mary)

Will the real pigs please stand up? Brad Weiss gives us insight on North Carolina’s local farming efforts to produce real, local pork.

10 mins

The Lost Ones At The Back Of The Pantry… Canned Goods

Anna Zeade (Virginia Tech)

When they first hit the shelves, Americans really were not interested in canned goods. They canned their own food in clear mason jars. There really was no real need for this strange, aluminum can that they couldn’t see inside of. Anna Zeide says that the commercialization of canned foods marks the beginning of our opaque food system.

13 mins

Pasta, Anyone?

Melissa Gray (William & Mary)

Pasta didn’t always come in neat boxes on shelves. Melissa Gray says that American pasta makers started that practice as a way to distinguish themselves from Italian immigrant pasta makers who sold in bulk. The idea was that the American pasta was cleaner.

11 mins

Special thanks this week to Pat Jarrett of Virginia Folklife. For more information about Virginia Folklife and its apprenticeship program, visit virginiafolklife.org.

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