State of the Plate Podcast

Finally! AI-powered robots we can welcome with open arms. Greenfield Robotics Head of Business Development Jared Brown joins us to share how their fleet of AI-based robots is advancing agriculture and helping lead the regenerative revolution by weeding rows, planting cover crops, adding nutrients and more—all without chemicals.

The beverage aisle is getting a buzzworthy upgrade. In this episode of State of the Plate , we sit down with Matt Swanson, co-founder of Drinkin’Buds , the Midwest-based THC beverage brand that's quickly becoming a standout in the functional drinks space.

From policy to weather phenomena to industry cycles, there are a lot of factors that impact the U.S. beef market. In this episode of the State of the Plate podcast, Rabobank Senior Analyst of Animal Protein Lance Zimmerman joins us to talk about the state of beef today and tomorrow and what that means for ranchers, restaurants, consumers and all throughout the food value chain.

Two of our 2025 Trends Episode predictions come to life in one interview: the rise of beef tallow and the year of women in agriculture. In our latest State of the Plate podcast, we talk to a couple of “mompreneurs” riding the beef tallow wave with their own product line—Farm Wife Tallow. Hear how these wonderful women of agriculture, Katie Carothers, Amanda Kather and their other partners, turned an inspired idea into a successful Farm-to-Table product that they can’t seem to keep in stock.

Is X on the decline? What’s the current word on TikTok? Do Threads and Bluesky have staying power? With so many uncertainties swirling around in the world of social media, we thought it would be a good time to sit down with our all-knowing social media director Kelli Calkins to bring answers to your most pressing questions.

We all love to talk about the food trends that are happening. But do we ever take the time to think about why they are happening? Menu Matters President Maeve Webster does. Join this fascinating conversation with a veteran market researcher and expert predictologist (it’s a word don’t bother looking it up) about the human behaviors and mindsets that cause the emergence of hot food trends.

Everyone’s giving their picks for 2025 food predictions right now, but no one’s doing it like this. Listen in as Brandon and Rochelle give their picks for tastiest emerging food trends, then jump over to the special bonus episode where Menu Matters president and veteran market researcher Maeve Webster takes us even further behind the curtain with insights into the consumer behaviors driving flavor shifts.

Back in January, we made a few bold predictions about what 2024 would hold for the food system. In this episode we hold ourselves accountable by taking a look back at the year that was to see if what we said would happen actually happened. Listen in and see what we got right and what we got … almost right. 

As the 2024 Sustainable Ag Summit approaches, we connected with two pioneers helping the food system work together to advance sustainability in the dairy industry. Tune in to hear Lauren Brey, Director of Strategic Partnerships & Sustainability at Farmers for Sustainable Food (FSF), and Holly Jones, Director of Global ESG/Sustainability at Agropur, share how they’re making measurable change, together.

World Dairy Expo is THE place to be to experience the latest in dairy tech and innovation. But if you couldn’t make it to Madison, WI, this year, we have you covered. Listen in as we discuss the coolest things we saw at WDE and share interviews with some of the show’s most intriguing innovators.

In the next episode of our Environmental Awareness series, we chat with Steve Rowe, Chairman of the Board at BioFiltro, where they’ve introduced a revolutionary, regenerative wastewater filtration system powered by worms, helping dairies, vineyards and all kinds of other food and ag operations significantly reduce their environmental impact.

In our second Environmental Awareness Month episode, we talk to Dan Kurzrock, Founder and CEO of Upcycled Foods, Inc., about how they’re helping turn spent grains left over from the beer brewing process into tasty treats you can really eat—a revolutionary idea to take a bite out of food waste and food insecurity.