Marketplace All-in-One Feeding the Family (bonus episode)
Nov 22, 2025
Elizabeth Troval, a Marketplace reporter who covers urban farming and food accessibility, highlights the challenges faced by refugee farmers in Houston due to lost USDA funding. Dylan Mietinen, a digital producer, dives into the quirky history of Jell-O, exploring its rise from upscale delicacy to a staple of American cooking. They discuss budget-friendly cooking trends, how families adapt during high food prices, and the significance of maintaining traditions in a changing culinary landscape.
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Cacao's Climate Threat Spurs Lab Chocolate
- Climate stress is already shrinking the land suitable for cacao and driving innovation like lab-grown chocolate.
- California Cultured grows cocoa cells and plans to sell ingredients and license tech to large chocolate makers.
Tasting The Lab Chocolate Process
- Amy describes seeing trays of petri dishes with tiny brown clumps that are cocoa cells growing in a retrofitted pizza fridge.
- She notes the cells get fermented, roasted, and ground into chocolate ingredients in the lab.
Lab Chocolate Targets Big Chocolate Makers
- California Cultured is partnering with major chocolate companies and will release a product with Meiji next year.
- The company aims to supply ingredients and license production tech to scale lab-grown cocoa.
