Podcast
The History of American Food
Hosted by Margaret Hardin · EN
Starting with the first English settlements in the 17th Century, this podcasts traces how we went from barrels of salted meat & peas to Korean bbq tacos and the largest grocery store selections ever seen anywhere in the world. We'll go everywhere - and it is full of surprises.
Show Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/
Email: TheHistoryofAmericanFood@gmail.com
Internets: @THoAFood
Show Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/
Email: TheHistoryofAmericanFood@gmail.com
Internets: @THoAFood
18episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
175 New American Sugar
6d ago00:29:11Tap to summarizeSugar can reasonably be called "The White Stuff"It makes us happy - and yet people are willing to abuse it, and commit crimes to make it happen.The late 19th century is when America goes from eating a similar amount of sugar as the rest of the up and coming mechanical world - to becoming the greediest of all.The combination of extending sugar plantations out into Cuba, Puerto Rico and now Hawai'i along with the rise of maufactured foods - expecially sweet treats is going to place America at the front of the Suger Consumer Pack. And we'll stay there.To get into the nitty gritty of Sugar vs. The World - Check out Sidney Mintz Sweetness and PowerTo dig deep into what American Corruption looked like at the start of the 20th Century check out The Teapot Dome Scandal by Laton McCartneyMusic Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor TurtleShow Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/Email: TheHistoryofAmericanFood at gmail dot comThreads: @THoAFoodInstagram: @THoAFood& some other socials... @THoAFood
Transcribe →174 Foreign Salt, Local Salt, Industrial Salt
2w ago00:31:42Tap to summarizeThis week is the start of a few shows on the bad mic. And it is all my fault.But "A" mic is still better than no show at all.Let’s talk salt in late 19th century America. It used to be all about food but isn’t any longer. Listen along as we look out how the Industrial Revolution - especially around food - runs on salt. And how the living away from the farm and shopping in the stores needs salt to happen at all.Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor TurtleShow Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/Email: TheHistoryofAmericanFood at gmail dot comThreads: @THoAFoodInstagram: @THoAFood& some other socials... @THoAFood
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173.5 BONUS Interview - The Pickled City
3w ago00:49:00Tap to summarizeThis week I talk to Designers, Authors and Storytellers Paul van Ravestein and Monique Mulder about their book The Pickled CIty Availible in Bookstores now!We dive into the history, culture and importance of place of pickles. I also learn a few things about why pickles are that way. So listen in to this extra long bonus episode on Pickles, Salt and HistoryMusic Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor TurtleShow Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/Email: TheHistoryofAmericanFood at gmail dot comThreads: @THoAFoodInstagram: @THoAFood& some other socials... @THoAFood
Transcribe →173 Potatoes for Frontier & Factory
4w ago00:32:05Tap to summarizeHow did America become the land of Meat & PotatoesI don't have all the answers yet - but I think I've found the well spring of the "& potatoes" portion. I'm about to sneak up on the big answer to the meat.But in the meantime, we look at whether you can have factory culture at the same time you pushing out a wild frontier - and what the potato has to do with it.Side quests - the origin on the French Fry, the Potato Chip and Breakfast Hash - not to mention why didn't America get the potato blight. (short answer... actually, we did)Tune in for lots of Potato NewsMusic Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor TurtleShow Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/Email: TheHistoryofAmericanFood at gmail dot comThreads: @THoAFoodInstagram: @THoAFood& some other socials... @THoAFood
Transcribe →172 The Potato - A History
Jun 300:34:57Tap to summarizePo-tay-toesWhere are they from? Why do we call them Irish? Are they poisonous? And what was the blight? I answer all these questions and more - as well as providing you with a link to a really cool paper published about the origins of potatoes 9 Million Year Ago!Cell September 2025 Full Text Article on the Origin of PotatoesCell Press Release on Potato Origins (less technical)Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor TurtleShow Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/Email: TheHistoryofAmericanFood at gmail dot comThreads: @THoAFoodInstagram: @THoAFood& some other socials... @THoAFood
Transcribe →171 Iron Has New Jobs in Food
May 2700:29:10Tap to summarizeIron is back and it has a bunch of new tricks up it sleeves. Sure we still cook on it - but it's doing lots of other new things it has never done before.And that is going to change the way we eat - because what food we get, and how much we have to work to prepare it, and how fast we - and the food can travel is going to upset everything.So much of how long we think things should take is about to change in a big way.Hop on - don't miss the train.Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor TurtleShow Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/Email: TheHistoryofAmericanFood at gmail dot comThreads: @THoAFoodInstagram: @THoAFood& some other socials... @THoAFood
Transcribe →Season 6 Preview - I Wanna Go Fast
May 2000:18:28Tap to summarizeLet's Go Season 6(last season was way more dreary than I had thought)All I can say is Ice Cream for Everyone - and let's road trip... Rail Trip?The end of the 19th Century is exciting, colorful and yeah full of mistakes. But we are Doing Things, Building Things and Going Places.Let's Go.Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor TurtleShow Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/Email: TheHistoryofAmericanFood at gmail dot comThreads: @THoAFoodInstagram: @THoAFood& some other socials... @THoAFood
Transcribe →170 Prisoner of War Food for - Wait How Many Guys? The Long Tail of War
May 1300:27:09Tap to summarizeThe LAST Civil War Episode becasue I'm writing this - and have decided that is ENOUGH Civil War.And, yes I'm not happy about writing about war while there is a "we are pretending it's not a war" going on. My poor brain has said enough.That said - it's an interesting topic. And despite how dire it is - things are actually better now than they used to be. Eat your veggies, brush your teeth, wash your hands.The American Battle Field Trust article on Andersonville: Hell Hath a New NameMusic Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor TurtleShow Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/Email: TheHistoryofAmericanFood at gmail dot comThreads: @THoAFoodInstagram: @THoAFood& some other socials... @THoAFood
Transcribe →169 Not Enough Railroads Will Make You Salty in the Bad Way
May 600:30:24Tap to summarizeEvery seasone needs a salt episode! And here it is. It's mainly about why the South was without salt - and how that meant they couldn't keep food around. That is - if they had been making enough. Which they were not.This is also the last time I will blather on about the difference in railroad plans and how it helped back the Confeds into a corner they built themselves.Don't invest in your people and pay attention to technology and you will be left behind. Especially if you are attempting to run your little corner of the world. It happened before, It's happening now - and it will happen again.Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor TurtleShow Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/Email: TheHistoryofAmericanFood at gmail dot comThreads: @THoAFoodInstagram: @THoAFood& some other socials... @THoAFood
Transcribe →168 If Music Be the Food of Love, Are Drugs the Food of War?
Apr 2900:24:45Tap to summarizeHow long has America been dealing with Opiod Epidemics? If you said - since the 1860's you get a piece of Hardtack!Yes - just as war came up with more destructive weapons, the medical profession came up with the hypodermic syringe. While the ability to inject and extract things with this tool have been largely amazing, it also brought in the addictive rush of injected drugs. And one of the first injected drugs was opium.Even crazier than that was the fact the the US Government contracted with Chinese Immigrant farmers in Mexico to grow a large part of the supply of opium used in the war.America has always used drugs to make America go - has depended on the sale of drugs - nicotine and cafffeine for starters - to make American farmig profitable.Come find out about America's strange relationship with drugs - and how much we seem to not want to talk about it.Music Credit: Fingerlympics by Doctor TurtleShow Notes: https://thehistoryofamericanfood.blogspot.com/Email: TheHistoryofAmericanFood at gmail dot comThreads: @THoAFoodInstagram: @THoAFood& some other socials... @THoAFood
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