Hungry Planet

In this episode of Hungry Planet, Niba chats with two teams increasing access to chile peppers: New Mexico State University’s Chile Pepper Institute whose researchers are breeding mechanically-harvestable chile peppers; and the Transplanting Traditions, a community farm in North Carolina providing space and support to refugee farmers.

Niba visits Raleigh City Farm to learn about cross-breeding and growing dwarf tomatoes for urban gardens. Niba also speaks with Dr. Zachary Lippman at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory who is using genetic approaches to make dense tomato plants for cities and outer space.

Packed full of vitamin A, calcium, and iron, sweet potatoes don’t get the love they deserve. In this episode of Hungry Planet, North Carolina State University PhD student Modesta Abugu tells Niba about her research to make sweet potatoes more delicious. Niba also chats with students in the Sweet Potato Project who have planted, harvested and sold sweet potatoes at a local community farm.

From movie theaters to barbecues, corn shows up seemingly everywhere. In this episode of Hungry Planet, Niba visits LA’s Boyle Heights where she chats with restaurant owner Deysi Serrano about honoring corn’s historical roots in modern cooking. Niba also calls plant biologist and science TikToker Katie Murphy to hear about the research she’s doing to ensure corn will survive climate change.

Citrus trees are threatened by a devastating disease called Huanglongbing. In this episode of Hungry Planet, Niba visits Southern California, where she learns what UC Riverside researchers are doing to stop it. She also speaks with Food Forward, an organization that connects excess food to people who need it in California communities, including in areas hit by HLB.

Niba visits Charleston, South Carolina to learn how Carolina Gold Rice became a staple of the U.S. thanks to the Gullah/Geechee community. Niba also talks to Dr. Terri Long to explore how her research on iron uptake in plants could fight malnutrition and anemia by revealing a path towards creating staple crops like rice that contain more iron.