The Local Food Report

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The Local Food Report can be heard every Thursday on WCAI, the local NPR station for Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, Nantucket, and the South Coast. From farmers' markets to backyard gardens, wild forage to home kitchen recipes, the Local Food Report explores the Cape, Islands, and South Coast to find out what's in season and what to do with it.The Local Food Report airs Thursday at 8:35 AM and 5:45 PM and Saturday at 9:35 AM and is made possible by our Local Food Report sponsors.

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    • May 29, 2025 LATEST EPISODE
    • weekly NEW EPISODES
    • 4m AVG DURATION
    • 142 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from The Local Food Report

    The purple color on local quahog shells—and why it might matter for fisheries management

    Play Episode Listen Later May 29, 2025 4:49


    Almost fifty years ago, when Haraldur Sigurdsson first came to the University of Rhode Island from Iceland, he got interested in what makes some clam shells more purple than others.

    It's pollen season in the kitchen

    Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2025 4:19


    My friend Nicole Cormier is a registered dietician and studying for a masters in herbalism. And when she told me she eats pine pollen — and that in fact, it's one of her favorite things to forage, I had to tag along.

    The beautiful, intricate relationships between native bees and native food crops

    Play Episode Listen Later May 15, 2025 4:49


    Many of our native bees — and a few other surprising insects — evolved with and rely on many native edible species.

    Expanding access to local food is more important than ever

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 24, 2025 4:46


    A Korean Natural Farming teacher on the relationships that create healthy soil

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 17, 2025 5:23


    This week on the Local Food Report, a Korean Natural Farming teacher on the relationships that create healthy soil.

    An apple expert from Maine on the importance of diversity in our trees

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 10, 2025 4:25


    John Bunker has spent the past fifty years learning everything he can about North American apple varieties.

    An apple expert from Maine shares his passion

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 3, 2025 4:51


    Earlier this year, I finally made the journey north to meet John Bunker — a farmer in his 70s who arguably knows more about apple varieties than almost anyone alive in New England today.

    Hunting for hazelnuts

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 27, 2025 4:47


    This week on the Local Food Report, a naturalist takes Elspeth hunting for hazelnuts.

    When times get tough, Martha's Vineyard residents practice gleaning

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 20, 2025 4:51


    This week part three of a mini-series on big picture local food issues—today with a focus on what we can change with a little hyper-local creativity.

    Weekend meals help hungry kids

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 13, 2025 4:44


    This week on the Local Food Report, weekend meals to help hungry kids.

    Rebuilding our regional food system

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 6, 2025 4:29


    Liz Wiley is executive director of the Marion Institute — a non-profit focused on improving human and environmental health and food quality in southeastern Massachusetts. And when I asked her what she's working on right now, she said regional communication.

    The big picture of local food issues: the shellfish industry

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 27, 2025 4:54


    This week part one of a mini-series on big picture local food issues—starting with the shellfish industry.

    Homemade limoncello on Martha's Vineyard

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 20, 2025 4:44


    Years ago, Lou Quattrucci's neighbor came home from a trip to Italy with a gift. It was a bottle of creamy limoncello.

    Oyster seed ordering for the spring

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 13, 2025 5:02


    Around this time every year, Elspeth talks with a local farmer or gardener about ordering seeds for the upcoming growing season. This year, she's branched into aquaculture.

    Pruning tips for backyard berries

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 6, 2025 4:37


    You've probably heard that you're supposed to prune fruit trees. But did you know that it's also important to prune berries?

    The basics of pruning fruit trees

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 30, 2025 4:46


    I sat down with Russell Norton a horticulture and agriculture educator with the Cape Cod Cooperative Extension and started by asking him: why do we prune?

    Seed saving tips from local pros

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 23, 2025 4:16


    Back in 2001, Lauren Leveque and her husband Josh learned to seed save as professionals with High Mowing Seeds in Vermont.

    Five ways to eat a cabbage

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 16, 2025 4:38


    This week on the Local Food Report, five ways to eat a cabbage.

    Food is medicine on the Outer Cape

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 9, 2025 4:12


    Melissa Lynch works with Sustainable Cape, a non-profit dedicated to connecting local food to healthy places and people. Since April of 2024, she's been running the organization's Food is Medicine program, where Mass Health actually pays Sustainable Cape to deliver some of its patients' local food:

    This local cactus is edible, but don't harvest it

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 3, 2025 4:33


    One fall, I lead a foraging walk with visiting fellows from the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. I pointed out Prickly Pear Cactus — a plant that I've heard you can eat, but that we're not allowed to harvest in Massachusetts, because here it's considered an endangered species.

    Tips for pie makers

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 19, 2024 4:22


    Imagine yourself sitting down to dessert at the end of a holiday feast. What are you looking for in a pie? This is the question a panel of judges in Provincetown asks themselves each year at an event at the Provincetown Commons called Pie Fest.

    A rare local fruit is making its way back to Cape Cod

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 12, 2024 4:39


    This week, a Falmouth man heads to the Midwest to meet a rare local fruit.

    A re-telling of the Thanksgiving story with an unexpected narrator

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 28, 2024 5:23


    This week on the Local Food Report, a re-telling of the Thanksgiving story with an unexpected narrator.

    A Falmouth shepherd, his dog, and their sheep

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 21, 2024 5:18


    Until the other day, I'd never thought about how an animal's diet affects the ways farmers control them. When we talk about the differences between farm animals raised on grass versus grain, we usually focus on health. But there's also a set of relationships that's lost when these animals follow the sound of grain in a bucket instead of grazing.

    A tiny squash that's packed with flavor

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 14, 2024 3:41


    When Brewster farmer Ron Backer first read about honeynut squash, he knew he wanted to grow it.

    Farmers, gardeners, and landscapers on adapting their growing practices and crops as our climate changes

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 7, 2024 4:13


    This summer, farmer Dave Dewitt of Truro told me he's growing something I've always thought of as a southern crop — okra.

    It's a banner year for acorns

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 31, 2024 4:23


    Harvesting dinner and jewelry from the sea

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 24, 2024 4:20


    Harvesting Dinner—and Jewelry—from the Sea.

    A farm educator in Truro gets kids excited about fruits, veggies and voting

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 17, 2024 4:16


    For years now, farmer Stephanie Rein of the non-profit Sustainable Cape in Truro has been teaching kids about growing food. She does this in multiple elementary schools on the Outer Cape, and when she first started, she had the kids make something she called a seed wish list.

    100 years of tree crops in Pennsylvania

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 10, 2024 4:54


    A few years ago, a Philadelphia arborist named Max Paschall read an article about a man named John Hershey. Hershey ran a tree nursery and experimental farm in Pennsylvania in the 1930s.

    A fizzy fermented drink made from leftover bread

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 12, 2024 4:29


    Helen loved kvass. The flavor, the fizz, everything about this drink made from fermenting stale bread with water and sugar. But when she got home, she forgot about it for almost forty years.

    The underappreciated Cornelian Cherry

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 29, 2024 5:00


    I have a friend in Barnstable who's always telling me about unusual edible plants, particularly perennials. Recently, he told me he's planting something new called a Cornelian Cherry.

    A fig tree grows in Wellfleet

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 22, 2024 4:04


    To plant a fig tree in our climate is an act of faith. Most figs are native to the tropics—and in the heat and sweat of this world they do amazing things. They've co-evolved with a wasp that crawls into the fruit and pollinates it from the inside out.

    How abundant shellfish help create healthy waters

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 15, 2024 5:10


    As a fisheries and aquaculture specialist at the Barnstable County Cooperative Extension, Abigail Archer spends a lot of time trying to help the public connect the dots between shellfish, nitrogen, and healthy estuaries. This relationship starts when nitrogen travels through freshwater streams and runoff into our marine environment.

    Support plants to help a fruit tree

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 8, 2024 4:38


    In 2015, Jess Tsoukalas was living in Wellfleet at a rental property that the tenant before her had planted with an abundance of fruit trees.

    One farmer's love affair with garlic

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 1, 2024 3:41


    Carrie Richter of Peach Tree Circle Farm in Falmouth is a self-proclaimed garlic fanatic."It makes every dish better. There's nothing about garlic that I don't like."

    Bibbs, Bostons, and Caesers: Local farmers talk about growing great lettuce

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 25, 2024 3:54


    This time of year at the farmers markets, lettuce is the variety queen. It comes in heads and leaves, reds and greens, crisp hearts and soft butter leaves. Over the past few weeks, I've spoken to farmers about growing lettuce, and what varieties they like.

    A common wild berry brings a range of delicious flavors

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 18, 2024 3:40


    It's high season for a common wild berry with a whole lot of names.

    Saltwater fish return to Wellfleet's Herring River floodplain

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 11, 2024 5:02


    I've been hearing about the Herring River Restoration Project since I moved to Wellfleet in 2004. Restoring tidal flow to the 1100-acre saltwater estuary, which was diked in 1908, is an effort that's been decades in the making — and hands-on work finally began in early 2023.

    WIC program is helping more Martha's Vineyard families thanks to grant

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 27, 2024 4:57


    Have you ever been in a grocery store and seen items marked “WIC approved”? It stands for “women infants and children.” It's a federally funded state run supplemental nutrition assistance program.

    Tuning into plant flowers to manage fruit and vegetable productivity

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 20, 2024 5:11


    Over the past few years, I've started noticing how much I can control certain plants' productivity by managing their flowers and seeds.

    The magic of weeds

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 13, 2024 4:32


    A New Jersey forager visits Falmouth to give a talk on the magic of weeds.

    Exciting new vegetables for your summer garden

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 6, 2024 5:09


    It's that time of year where many of us are getting summer seedlings in the ground. And I don't know about you, but my excitement is usually bigger than my garden — I can't fit everything I want to plant.

    Kale Rabe: A local spring delicacy

    Play Episode Listen Later May 23, 2024 4:40


    Most cooks have heard of broccoli rabe. But what about other rabe varieties? This week on The Local Food Report, Elspeth Hay talks with growers at the Orleans Farmers' Market about this spring delicacy from the Brassica family.

    These indoor-outdoor houseplants are edible

    Play Episode Listen Later May 9, 2024 4:50


    This week, the joys of keeping indoor-outdoor food plants.

    A slaughterhouse in Westport

    Play Episode Listen Later May 2, 2024 4:25


    This week on the Local Food Report, a slaughterhouse in Westport.

    A Mashpee Wampanoag youth group works to protect a beloved fish

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 25, 2024 4:49


    Making bagels in the dawn kitchen

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 18, 2024 4:31


    There aren't many things that will get me out of bed at 5:30 in the morning. But bagels—or really just the prospect of learning how to make them—is one. Recently, I stood in Wellfleet's Bagel Hound with owner Ellery Althaus, while the windows were still dark, staring a pile of dough.

    Black garlic, a popular choice for home cooks and chefs

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 11, 2024 4:00


    Beau Valtz is standing in his Wellfleet kitchen in front of a giant pile of fresh garlic.He's wrapping heads of garlic tightly in tin foil.

    Four trout varieties that are stocked in local waters

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 4, 2024 4:18


    Recently I made a visit to the Sandwich fish hatchery. That's where the state raises trout for stocking in local ponds and rivers and I spoke with Mike Clark who helps breed four different trout varieties.

    One woman's story of starting a food truck

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 28, 2024 4:51


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