A new podcast from Decorah-based Seed Savers Exchange is taking listeners beyond the grocery aisle—and beyond the garden—to examine the forces that shape the food available on their plates.
The organization’s third episode of Sowing Connections, titled What Shapes What We Eat?, explores the links among seed genetics, agriculture, industry marketing and food policy. The 41-minute, 43-second episode is designed for gardeners, farmers and shoppers who want to better understand how food moves from seeds to grocery-store shelves.
Seed Savers Exchange published the episode as part of its continuing discussion of food, agriculture and the preservation of plant varieties. According to the episode’s central argument, food choice is not only a matter of individual preference. The systems that determine which foods are produced, promoted and sold also help determine the options consumers encounter.
Why seed diversity matters
The episode opens with field notes from Seed Savers Exchange about maintaining open-pollinated seeds. The Decorah organization uses careful isolation practices to keep varieties true to type while protecting their genetic diversity for future generations.
That work is presented as more than a preservation effort. The podcast explains that the seeds gardeners and farmers save, share and grow can affect the variety and resilience of the food system over time. For growers, preserving a plant variety today is connected to maintaining future choices for communities.
From seed preservation, the discussion expands to the economic and political forces that influence diets and grocery selections. The episode addresses industrial agriculture, food policy, ultra-processed foods and food-industry marketing.
Marion Nestle discusses food policy
The featured guest is Marion Nestle, whom Seed Savers Exchange identifies as a nutritionist, consumer advocate, award-winning author and academic. Her work focuses on the politics of food and dietary choice, including the scientific, economic and social forces affecting what people eat and how those decisions connect to health.
Nestle’s segment focuses especially on marketing. Rather than placing responsibility for dietary decisions entirely on individuals, the conversation considers how industry practices and public policy help shape those decisions.
The episode also considers steps gardeners, farmers, communities and policymakers could take toward a healthier, more resilient food system. It presents change as a shared effort involving the varieties people grow, the markets they support and the policies that govern production and promotion.
The Corgi pea offers a practical example
The closing segment features the Corgi pea, described as a sweet and versatile heirloom variety in the Seed Savers Exchange collection. The pea serves as a practical example of the episode’s broader point: the future of the food system begins with the varieties people choose to save, share and grow.
Listeners can access the episode through the Seed Savers Exchange podcast webpage, YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Nestle’s conversation begins at 6:25, and the Corgi pea segment starts at 39:23. Seed Savers Exchange also provides access to a collection of thousands of varieties and information about requesting the pea.
The episode was reported by Decorah Today on August 22, 2026, at 4:00 p.m., and updated August 23, 2026, at 5:34 a.m.