The Local Food Report

The Local Food Report takes us to the heart of the local food movement to talk with growers, harvesters, processors, cooks, policymakers and visionaries. The world of food is changing, fast. As people reimagine their relationships to food, creator Elspeth Hay and editor Viki Merrick aim to rebuild our cultural stores of culinary knowledge — and to reconnect us with the people, places, and ideas that feed us. Tips from listeners are always welcome.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.

Recent Episodes

Using rosehips like tomatoes

Using rosehips like tomatoes

July 24, 2025 3:19
I grew up in farm country, in Maine. Like most of us, I associate food with farms—big cultivated fields, animals grazing in pasture, aquaculture racks in the sea. But recently I’ve been thinking a lot more about wild foods. What would the world look like if more wild places filled our bellies?
Black raspberry ice cream, a taste of summer

Black raspberry ice cream, a taste of summer

July 17, 2025 4:59
Have you ever had a black raspberry? Until about ten years ago, I thought they were made up—a way to describe a commercial flavor, like a blue raspberry Jolly Rancher. I know, it’s a little embarrassing.
Foraging for black trumpet mushrooms

Foraging for black trumpet mushrooms

July 10, 2025 3:40
This week on the Local Food Report, black trumpet mushrooms.
The challenge and pleasure of raising sheep

The challenge and pleasure of raising sheep

July 7, 2025 4:46
My friend Drew Locke is a seventh-generation farmer in Truro. He’s always trying new things — partly because he’s curious and partly because even though he comes from a long line of farmers, a lot of intergenerational knowledge has been lost in recent decades and he’s focused on relearning the old ways.
Restoring the American Chestnut

Restoring the American Chestnut

July 7, 2025 4:33
All over eastern North America right now, chestnut breeders are pollinating tree flowers.
The challenge and pleasure of raising sheep

The challenge and pleasure of raising sheep

July 3, 2025 4:46
My friend Drew Locke is a seventh-generation farmer in Truro. He’s always trying new things — partly because he’s curious and partly because even though he comes from a long line of farmers, a lot of intergenerational knowledge has been lost in recent decades and he’s focused on relearning the old ways.
Restoring the American Chestnut

Restoring the American Chestnut

June 26, 2025 4:33
All over eastern North America right now, chestnut breeders are pollinating tree flowers.
The connections between fire and native food plants

The connections between fire and native food plants

June 19, 2025 4:49
Our native forests are full of food. The understories are packed with blueberries and huckleberries and for thousands of years, local overstories have been full of nut trees: hickories and chestnuts and walnuts and oaks.
A farmer on Martha’s Vineyard works to fine-tune the relationships between cattle and grass

A farmer on Martha’s Vineyard works to fine-tune the relationships between cattle and grass

June 12, 2025 4:18
Mob grazing is a strategy Dan Athearn is working with to try to control what’s growing on this unique stretch of grassland. His family took over managing the land with a group of other local growers and cattle farmers in 2021.
A farm family on Martha’s Vineyard reflects on 50 years

A farm family on Martha’s Vineyard reflects on 50 years

June 5, 2025 4:11
When Debbie Athearn’s father bought the 25 acres that started Morning Glory Farm in Edgartown, times were different.