This episode, courtesy of the podcast “What you’re eating,” heads to Maine to investigate PFAS, a category of chemicals known as “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down over time. Found in everything from pizza boxes to rain jackets, PFAS is now being discovered in our farms, our food, and in our bodies. Originally released in September 2023, we hear from family farmers Fred and Laura Stone about how these chemicals got into their ground – and what we have to do to get them out.

David “Mas” Masumoto says he farms with ghosts. This episode of REAP/SOW is a FERN/KQED California Report partnership, telling the story of a Japanese-American farming family that’s survived generations of discrimination. Masumoto’s small organic farm just south of Fresno, California is on land that’s been in his family for decades. In 2012, he uncovered a secret about his family that showed him how truly resilient and strong they were. Reported by longtime FERN contributor Lisa Morehouse as part of her California Foodways project, this episode was originally produced in 2023.

In a small fishing village in Mexico, Belen Delgado made a discovery that would change his life: a massive cache of callo de hacha, a large black scallop that’s one of the most prized species in the Gulf of California. Years of overfishing had depleted the area’s fish and seafood, and Belen knew his discovery could change his village’s economic future. But reaching the scallops was only the first challenge: Belen would also have to protect it. Originally released in 2022, this is a partnership between FERN and Snap Judgment.