Jane Craigie traces the origins of the humble tomato from a small hairy specimen to a juicy plump red fruit, and discovers the science and technology behind the delicious ingredient.

Jane Craigie traces the origins of the humble tomato from a small hairy specimen to a juicy plump red fruit, and discovers the science and technology behind the delicious ingredient.

The Science Behind Your Salad shines a spotlight on the innovation, technology, digital and sustainability for healthy food made by BASF in Agriculture.

The Science Behind Your Salad shines a spotlight on the innovation, technology, digital and sustainability for healthy food made by BASF in Agriculture.

The Science Behind Your Salad

Tomatoes

Before sunrise in central Kenya, green beans are packed for European supermarkets while, on the same morning, women carry leafy greens to sell by the roadside. In this episode, Jane Craigie explores Kenya’s dual food systems — one feeding global markets with precision and scale, the other sustaining families through informal trade and smallholder farming. From women-led coffee cooperatives and honey producers in Baringo County to vast flower farms exporting hundreds of tons daily, we examine how agriculture underpins Kenya’s economy and livelihoods. As exports grow and sustainability pressures mount, the question emerges: how can Kenya continue to feed the world while ensuring it feeds itself?

Before sunrise in central Kenya, green beans are packed for European supermarkets while, on the same morning, women carry leafy greens to sell by the roadside. In this episode, Jane Craigie explores Kenya&rsquo;s dual food systems &mdash; one feeding global markets with precision and scale, the other sustaining families through informal trade and smallholder farming. From women-led coffee cooperatives and honey producers in Baringo County to vast flower farms exporting hundreds of tons daily, we examine how agriculture underpins Kenya&rsquo;s economy and livelihoods. As exports grow and sustainability pressures mount, the question emerges: how can Kenya continue to feed the world while ensuring it feeds itself?

From Roadside to Runway: How Kenya Feeds Itself… and the World

In this special episode of The Science Behind Your Salad, we take you inside the World Food Prize and the Borlaug Dialogue, the gathering inspired by the grandfather of the Green Revolution, Norman Borlaug’s and his inherent belief that hunger is a challenge humanity can solve.

Recorded in Iowa, the episode brings together voices shaping the future of food. Jeannie Borlaug Laube reflects on her father’s legacy from his childhood farm. Rattan Lal reminds us why healthy soils still anchor global food security, while Cary Fowler offers the long view on safeguarding crop diversity. Paul Temple grounds the discussion in farm-level realities, and Olivia Marti brings the energy of a new generation. With insights from Neil Bentley on innovation in a climate-stressed world, this episode closes with a simple truth: feeding the future will take science, leadership, and hope.

In this special episode of The Science Behind Your Salad, we take you inside the World Food Prize and the Borlaug Dialogue, the gathering inspired by the grandfather of the Green Revolution, Norman&nbsp;Borlaug&rsquo;s and his inherent belief that hunger is a challenge humanity can solve.
Recorded in Iowa, the episode brings together voices shaping the future of food. Jeannie Borlaug Laube reflects on her father&rsquo;s legacy from his childhood farm. Rattan Lal reminds us why healthy soils still anchor global food security, while Cary Fowler offers the long view on safeguarding crop diversity. Paul Temple grounds the discussion in farm-level realities, and Olivia Marti brings the energy of a new generation. With insights from Neil Bentley on innovation in a climate-stressed world, this episode closes with a simple truth: feeding the future will take science, leadership, and hope.

The Next Billion Plates: World Food Prize Conversations

Food is also what connects farming to human health and our natural environment. In this episode of The Science Behind Your Salad, we ask you to close your eyes and listen: the steady hum of bees, the deep boom of a rare bittern, and the people creating the future of the food on your plate. 

Host, Jane Craigie, visits the rice fields of Australia, where a grower and an ecologist are working side by side to create habitat for endangered birds while producing food and managing limited access to irrigation water. We hear from a nutritionist about how diets shift through our lives and circumstances, and why nutrient density matters for lifelong health. And we meet innovators transforming agriculture: one listening to bees’ wingbeats to track pollination, another developing biological controls to fight pests, and a carrot variety developer working for better flavour, resilience, and shelf life. 

This is farming, science, and nature - connected in so many unseen and fascinating ways. 

Food is also what connects farming to human health and our natural environment. In this episode of The Science Behind Your Salad, we ask you to close your eyes and listen: the steady hum of bees, the deep boom of a rare bittern, and the people creating the future of the food on your plate.&nbsp;
Host, Jane Craigie, visits the rice fields of Australia, where a grower and an ecologist are working side by side to create habitat for endangered birds while producing food and managing limited access to irrigation water. We hear from a nutritionist about how diets shift through our lives and circumstances, and why nutrient density matters for lifelong health. And we meet innovators transforming agriculture: one listening to bees&rsquo; wingbeats to track pollination, another developing biological controls to fight pests, and a carrot variety developer working for better flavour, resilience, and shelf life.&nbsp;
This is farming, science, and nature - connected in so many unseen and fascinating ways.&nbsp;

Tomatoes

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