Feb. 12, 2026

Is A Parallel Food System Possible?

Is A Parallel Food System Possible?
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Is A Parallel Food System Possible?

What if the future of food isn’t about fixing the industrial system—but building a parallel one?

In this episode of One Bite is Everything, host Dana DiPrima is joined by David Fisher, a botanist, former USDA-funded potato breeder, and environmental scientist who has spent decades studying plants, sustainability, and food systems.

David challenges some of the most common assumptions about agriculture, climate change, and food security. Rather than focusing on reforming industrial agriculture, he argues that resilience may come from something far more personal—and far more scalable: growing food closer to home.

In this conversation, we explore:

  1. Why the industrial food system may be fundamentally fragile and difficult to repair
  2. How household and home food gardens could function as a national backup system
  3. What history teaches us—from World War II Victory Gardens to large-scale household gardening in Russia
  4. David’s own experiment living exclusively on food grown in his garden, and what it revealed about scale, nutrition, and possibility
  5. How climate change, supply chain disruptions, and resource constraints could shift food growing from a lifestyle choice to a necessity

This episode isn’t just about gardens. It’s about resilience, agency, climate reality, and what it means to participate in the food system rather than simply consume from it.

One Bite is Everything connects the food on your plate to the bigger world—health, community, the environment, and the economy—one conversation at a time.

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👏 The OBIE Team

Dana DiPrima, host & producer

Sonia Dhillon, co-producer & editor

Russell Chapa, sound engineer & original music

One Bite is Everything was selected to join Heritage Radio Network, home to the most influential voices in food.