About this episode
Last week, we heard a former U.S. ambassador describe Russia’s escalating conflict with the U.S. Today, we revisit a 2019 episode about an overlooked front in the Cold War — a “farms race” that, decades later, still influences what Americans eat. SOURCES: Anne Effland , former Senior Economist for the Office of Chief Economist in the U.S.D.A. Shane Hamilton , historian at the University of York. Peter Timmer , economist and former professor at Harvard University. Audra Wolfe , writer, editor, and historian. RESOURCES: Freedom’s Laboratory: The Cold War Struggle for the Soul of Science , by Audra Wolfe (2018). Supermarket USA: Food and Power in The Cold War Farms Race , by Shane Hamilton (2018). “ Association of Higher Consumption of Foods Derived From Subsidized Commodities With Adverse Cardiometabolic Risk Among US Adults ,” by Karen R. Siegel, Kai McKeever Bullard, K. M. Narayan, et al. ( JAMA Internal Medicine , 2016). The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The U.S. Standard of Living Since the Civil War , by Robert J. Gordon (2016). “ How the Mechanical Tomato Harvester Prompted the Food Movement ,” by Ildi Carlisle-Cummins ( UC Davis Department of Plant Sciences Newsletter , 2015). EXTRAS: " Is the U.S. Sleeping on Threats from Russia and China? " by Freakonomics Radio (2024). Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.