After the cheesy gut bombs of the Reagan era, we’ve arrived at the “hopey changey” era of school lunch. Michelle Obama put school lunch on the front page and ushered in upgraded nutrition standards. But the battles didn’t end there. In this episode, Jane and Liz unwrap the future of school food with concrete tips on how parents can make a difference. And, as promised, If you'd like to follow along and find out what we'll be doing in Pressure Cooker's next act, please submit your email address at...
Aug 21, 2024•27 min
For those unfamiliar with the inner workings of the school lunch program, it is puzzling, even maddening: Why is it so hard to offer tasty, nutritious food at school? In this episode, Jane and Liz dig into the history of the school lunch program to unveil how we got to where we are today. It’s a surprisingly twisted tale involving desperate farmers, skittish military generals, shortsighted bean counters, pizza lobbyists, and a network of underground caves…filled with cheese. And, as promised, If...
Aug 01, 2024•31 min
In this final installment of Pressure Cooker (at least, for now!) Jane and Liz reflect on lessons learned over the course of more than fifty episodes. From political activism to picture-perfect bento lunches, our hosts break down which habits listeners should consider leaning into – and which ones you should let go of. Although we’re hitting ‘pause’ on the podcast for now, we’ve got lots of ideas brewing for the future of Pressure Cooker. If you’d like to stay in the loop on news and updates, pl...
Jun 27, 2024•41 min
We're resurfacing this Pressure Cooker "classic" that attempts to answer the perennial parental question: Why isn’t my kid eating green beans or zucchini or, for that matter, any food that isn’t beige? One theory holds that, with the help of the right bribe, you can teach kids to like anything. And so Jane dragoons her 10-year-old daughter Lucy into an experiment to see if she can learn to accept her most dreaded food: tomatoes. Jane and Liz talk to Julie Mennella , a taste scientist at the Mone...
Jun 19, 2024•29 min
If you’ve had a child in America anytime in the past, oh, 80 years, there’s one message about what to feed them that has been impossible to ignore: MILK! Kids need lots of milk to grow big and strong. Or do they? On this week’s episode of Pressure Cooker, Jane and Liz journey back through history to uncover when and why milk came to be seen as an essential part of a healthy child’s diet. Then, our hosts interview Sophie Egan , the Director of the Stanford Food Institute and the author of the 202...
Jun 05, 2024•45 min
Headlines about the dangers of “ultra-processed” foods – a category that includes Doritos and Twinkies but also protein bars, plant-based milks, and maybe your favorite yogurt or sandwich bread – are suddenly everywhere. But what makes a food ultra-processed, and what’s driving the concern about their role in the diets of both children and adults? On this episode of Pressure Cooker, Jane and Liz break it all down with Dr. Chris Van Tulleken, a professor at University College London and the autho...
May 22, 2024•49 min
It's Mother's Day. And like a lot of other moms, we're rebelling against the ideals of the "good mother." So we're bringing back a Pressure Cooker classic. In this episode, Jane and Liz challenge the idea that society’s ills can be solved by each of us spending more time in the kitchen, sing the praises of convenience food, and talk to the authors of the 2019 book Pressure Cooker: Why Home Cooking Won’t Solve Our Problems, and What We Can Do About It. We close out the show by sharing the dinner ...
May 15, 2024•36 min
Digital food marketing is ubiquitous. But what do teens and tweens see on their devices. And are the kids alright? In Part 2 of our deep-dive into food marketing, a Pressure Cooker investigation takes listeners deep inside some of the most closely guarded spaces in American life today– teenagers phones – and proposes strategies to stop the scroll. Further Resources: Food Marketing Literacy 1 (from University of Calgary) Food Marketing Literacy 2 (from University of Calgary) FTC: Protecting Kids ...
May 08, 2024•49 min
A generation ago, food marketing to kids was found mostly in two places: Saturday morning cartoons and the cereal aisle. No more. Children are now targeted throughout the grocery store, on billboards, product placements and, most dangerously, on digital media. Jane and Liz talk to Jennifer Harris of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Health and Charlene Elliott of the University of Calgary to understand how the problem has exploded, in particular for tweens and teens, who are now believed to be...
Apr 24, 2024•31 min
Half of all parents of young children say they have at least one picky eater in their household: a state of affairs that strikes many moms and dads stuck serving up the same half dozen foods on repeat as highly unnatural. With the help of Jennifer Traig, the author of A ct Natural: A Cultural History of Misadventures in Parenting , Jane and Liz explore when, and why, picky eating emerged as a common trait among children – and what you can do to stop it. #pickyeating #feedingkids #parenting Sales...
Apr 10, 2024•39 min
Christina Tosi is the chef and creative force behind Milk Bar : a dessert brand that she launched in 2008 in Manhattan’s East Village, and has grown to include almost a dozen shops, a brisk mail order business, and a line of cookies, ice creams, and other treats for sale at grocery stores nationwide. In addition to being a successful entrepreneur, and the host of the Netflix show Bake Squad , Christina is also a mom of two. In this episode, Jane and Liz talk with Christina about all things Milk ...
Mar 27, 2024•36 min•Season 1Ep. 47
We spend a lot of time thinking about the stress of feeding kids. But what keeps YOU, our listeners, up at night? This week, Jane and Liz answer questions from the Pressure Cooker mailbag: Does 10 minutes at the table “count” as family dinner? Is Costco really cheaper? (Here’s a really useful article we discuss on the show which compares Costco vs Stop & Shop .) What on earth do you feed a kid who hates sandwiches? And more… See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Mar 13, 2024•33 min•Ep. 43
Dan Pashman is host of the insanely popular podcast, The Sporkful , inventor of a primo pasta shape, cascatelli , and author of a new cookbook, Anything’s Pastable , a book that makes a persuasive case for eating pasta for dinner every night of the week. And as if that isn’t enough to tune in, Dan’s also a dad of two who has successfully found ways to weave the pleasures of food into family life. Interested in his new cookbook, you can pre-order at the link above. The Sporkful is also running a ...
Feb 28, 2024•32 min•Season 1Ep. 45
Kathryn Jezer-Morton is a pHd sociologist and the brains behind The Cut ’s popular parenting newsletter, Brooding: Deep Thoughts on Modern Family Life . Brooding is not an advice column; it’s a collection of smart, funny, topical essays that interrogate what it means to be a parent today, and how we got this way. In this episode of Pressure Cooker, Jane and Liz chat with Jezer-Morton about some of their favorite Brooding essays, hitting on topics like vacation food rules, snack drawers, and “pou...
Feb 14, 2024•39 min•Season 1Ep. 44
Peanut butter sandwiches were once the go-to brown bag lunch. But since the 1990s, food allergies in children have tripled. Jane and Liz plunge into the research that explains (finally) why this is happening and talk to Dr. Ruchi Gupta of Northwestern University about new recommendations for how to help prevent allergies in our kids. Additional resources The Center for Food Allergy and Asthma Research : Dr. Gupta’s center with links to a ton of peer-reviewed articles and advice Food Allergy and ...
Jan 31, 2024•50 min•Season 1Ep. 43
What can any one person do to fight climate change? Paul Greenberg, author of The Climate Diet: 50 Simple Ways To Trim Your Carbon Footprint , joins Liz and Jane to home in on achievable ways that you can make a difference in your kitchen. Further Reading: Rowan Jacobsen’s great piece on the fantasy of plastic recycling Liz’s Wall Street Journal GREAT piece on reducing food waste Jane’s Washington Post interview with Dana Gunders , author of the Waste-Free Kitchen Handbook Bill McKibben: The UN ...
Jan 17, 2024•41 min•Season 1Ep. 42
Intuitive eating, the popular new anti-diet philosophy, recommends serving candy with dinner and letting kids eat whenever and whatever they want. Is this hands-off approach the best way to escape toxic diet culture? Or … is intuitive eating just another food fad? Guests: Dr. Janet Lydecker , Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine. She’s a researcher but also works directly with adolescents suffering from eating disorders. Emily Hohman , an assistant research professor at t...
Jan 03, 2024•47 min•Season 1Ep. 41
If you don’t know Melissa Clark, have we got a treat for you. She’s a food columnist for the New York Times and the author of 48 (!!) cookbooks, including one made for this show: “Kid in the Kitchen.” On this episode, Melissa joins Jane and Liz to talk about respecting kids’ tastes, when to give up control, and the secret to her viral lentil soup recipe. Books featured in this episode: Kid In The Kitchen by Melissa Clark Dinner in an Instant by Melissa Clark Recipes featured in this episode: Eas...
Dec 20, 2023•33 min•Season 1Ep. 40
Kids can be cruel, the old saying goes. And there is no time that is more true than when they dismiss or all out reject your carefully chosen holiday gift. And so … here’s Pressure Cooker to the rescue with a winning collection of stories and food-themed holiday gifts for kids of all ages. Links to our favorites below: For Reading: Who Ate What: A Historical Guessing Game for Food Lovers What Happens When You Eat Madame Pamplemousse and her Incredible Edibles For Cooking: American Girl: Around t...
Dec 06, 2023•27 min•Season 1Ep. 39
Candy, cookies, cake galore…welcome to the holidays! If you find yourself struggling with where to draw the line on sweets during the festive season, you are not alone. To help out, we’re reupping an old episode we love: an interview all about kids and sugar with Dr. David Katz , a specialist in preventive and lifestyle medicine. Listen in to find out whether you really need to worry about holiday sugar benders, and what you can do to sensibly manage your little ones’ sugar intake all year round...
Nov 29, 2023•33 min
Just in time for the holiday season, we’re resurfacing one of our favorite episodes about all the conflicts that bubble up when other people get involved in feeding our kids. Jane and Liz enlist the help of Carolyn Hax, the Washington Post’s legendary advice columnist, to help solve listeners’ issues with interfering, overbearing, and lackadaisical relatives who make feeding our kids more stressful than it should be. Sales and distribution by Lemonada Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privac...
Nov 21, 2023•34 min
Caroline Chambers is a guru to parents trying to get dinner on the table. And now, Caroline joins Pressure Cooker to troubleshoot the ultimate (and most exhausting) meal of the year: Thanksgiving. On this episode, she offers essential “dos” like “edit the meal to no more than five dishes” and a lot of sanity-saving “don’ts” to keep you in the holiday spirit. Plus, Caro gave us her recs for truly great recipes to try this year. Enjoy: TURKEY: Cover in salt, smoked paprika, and brown sugar. Leave ...
Nov 08, 2023•37 min•Season 1Ep. 38
Turns out the secret of cooking has nothing to do with hacks and recipes. It is, according to British author Bee Wilson, about overcoming all the parts of daily life that get in the way of making it pleasurable. Bee joins Jane and Liz to discuss her new book, The Secret of Cooking , and her pioneering research on how to successfully convince children to try and like new foods. Sales and distribution by Lemonada Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Oct 25, 2023•39 min•Season 1Ep. 37
When it comes to feeding infants their first foods, American parents are divided into two camps: those who favor spoon feed their infants purées and those who adhere to “baby led weaning,” which encourages babies to feed themselves. If this doesn’t seem all that complicated or controversial…think again. Who’s right? Liz and Jane talk to Amy Bentley, a professor at NYU about how we have fed babies through the ages, and to Dr. Krupa Playforth about the latest science to understand why it has come ...
Oct 11, 2023•39 min•Season 1Ep. 36
Influencer dietitians are all over social media – and their advice about feeding kids isn't always as impartial as you might think. On this week’s episode, Liz and Jane talk to Ananad O’Connor, the lead reporter on a newly released investigation by the Washington Post into the surprising financial ties between Big Food and registered dietitians on Instagram and TikTok. Sales and distribution by Lemonada Media See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information....
Sep 27, 2023•35 min•Season 1Ep. 35
Artificial intelligence can write term papers and computer code. It helped someone win the lottery. But could it succeed at the ultimate task: Meal planning for demanding children? Pressure Cooker takes on the challenge with the help of a special guest. Want to try this at home? We have a cheat sheet for how to create customized, easy dinners with ChatGPT. Plus, a Pressure Cooker-tested ChatGPT written recipe that your kids will love: Lettuce Wraps with Sesame-Ginger Pork. Sales and distribution...
Sep 13, 2023•42 min•Season 1Ep. 34
Welcome new listeners. We’re highlighting one or our favorite episodes: The Great American Food System makes chicken nuggets that look like hearts, dinosaurs even Baby Yoda. And why not? Last year, American families spent more than $200 million on frozen nuggets in novelty shapes. In this episode, Jane and Liz talk to Scott Friedman, whose family invented the dinosaur chicken nugget, and explore why dino nuggets—and all sorts of fun-shaped foods—might deserve a little more respect. Sales and dis...
Sep 06, 2023•23 min
Listen in on a live podcasting event on the future of motherhood, coproduced by Future of Women . This week, Jane is joined by the Better Life Lab’s Brigid Schulte, journalists Helena Dyer Andrews, Julianna Goldman and Daniella Senior of the Colada Shop to discuss what’s not working for moms in America today and how we can work together to make change. If you’re fired up after the conversation, here are a few organizations to follow or get involved with: Moms Rising , the Better Life Lab , the C...
Aug 30, 2023•47 min•Season 1Ep. 33
For years, cook and writer Tamar Adler’s kitchen overflowed with leftovers: stale bread, leftover buttermilk, potato chip crumbs. Her mission was to figure out what to do with all of them. Her new book, The Everlasting Cookbook: Leftovers A - Z, has the answers. In this episode, she troubleshoots how busy parents can rethink leftovers – it’s a meal with half the work already done! – plus offers advice on how not to let a picky child get under your skin. Sales and distribution by Lemonada Media S...
Aug 16, 2023•35 min•Season 1Ep. 32
On Instagram, mommy influencers abound, offering recipe inspiration, parenting hacks…and advice on which non-stick pan or organic snackbar will definitely, finally make you feel like the mother you always thought you would be! On this episode, Jane and Liz talk to Sara Petersen, the author of the new book “Momfluenced: Inside the Maddening, Picture-Perfect World of Mommy Influencer Culture” about the multi-billion dollar business of momfluencing, and why we’re so drawn to watching performances o...
Aug 02, 2023•33 min•Season 1Ep. 31
