Claim OwnershipThe Business of Food with Steve Alexander
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Steve Alexander reports on the agriculture industry with stories of how what we eat goes from farm to plate and profiles of the people and companies who make it all happen.
252 Episodes
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https://serve.castfire.com/audio/7778825/7778825_2025-10-23-231225.64kmono.mp3 As a child, Emilia D’Albero loved cheese. Most kids do, but few take it as far as she did, all the way to the “Olympics of Cheese” — the Mondial du Fromage, a biennial event held in Tours, France, that combines a trade show for dairy professionals with a juried cheese tasting and the […]
https://serve.castfire.com/audio/7765758/7765758_2025-10-16-171158.64kmono.mp3 Sunday, October 12, was National Farmer’s Day in the United States. Traditionally, when people think “farmer,” they don’t think of a woman. “It’s usually expected that it’s her husband, or her father, or her brother,” says Kate Huffman. Not in her case. She owns two farms, and was recently honored by the Illinois Farm […]
https://serve.castfire.com/audio/7757079/7757079_2025-10-12-204619.64kmono.mp3 “I love Choco Chimps,” Jane Goodall told Nature’s Path Organic CEO Arjan Stephens. “I’m really proud to partner with you guys,” she told him in 2014 when the company teamed up with her to protect chimpanzees and raise money for the Institute. “She loved that Choco Chimps were vegan,” as she had been since […]
https://serve.castfire.com/audio/7745106/7745106_2025-10-05-163506.64kmono.mp3 In the film The Irishman, Teamsters Union boss Jimmy Hoffa, played by Al Pacino, rallies an audience by pointing out how vital trucks, and the men and women who drive them, are to our way of living. “If you got it, a truck brought it. If you got your food, your clothing, your medicine, […]
https://serve.castfire.com/audio/7741200/7741200_2025-10-02-164000.64kmono.mp3 So there you are, minding your own business as you inspect and squeeze the fresh produce in the supermarket when a robot named Servi, loaded with shelves of bananas and/or pineapples, glides up to you and says, “Hey you. Yes, you.” It’s happening daily at Jewel stores in Fox Lake, Huntley, and Westmont, Illinois. […]
https://serve.castfire.com/audio/7736402/7736402_2025-09-30-165202.64kmono.mp3 It was just another busy day in the Loyola Medical Center cafeteria in Maywood, Illinois. Cashier Ketzly Angel was helping a line of hungry customers. ER physician Dr. Joan Dimopoulos rushed in to grab a quick bite during a busy shift. While she was eating a chicken sandwich, things got scary: A piece of […]
https://serve.castfire.com/audio/7735456/7735456_2025-09-30-011556.64kmono.mp3 When Holly Simon gave birth, “The doctors and the nurses all said that they were sorry,” she recalls. Baby Nate had Down syndrome. Right away she knew she had her work cut out for her, not only raising her child but making sure no other new mom has to hear those words. You may […]
Gardening guru Jim Fizzell talks zucchini, seed harvesting, perennial dividing and more things that need to be done right now. https://serve.castfire.com/audio/7637530/7637530_2025-08-08-123030.64kmono.mp3
https://serve.castfire.com/audio/7563831/7563831_2025-08-06-174531.64kmono.mp3 “We’re halfway through… Spring of ’26,” is how Nilda Esparza describes the reconstruction of Milwaukee Avenue from Belmont Avenue to Logan Square. Esparza is the Executive Producer for the Logan Square Chamber of Commerce. She tells WGN’s Steve Alexander in the audio clip above that the end result will be beautiful. In the interim, […]
https://serve.castfire.com/audio/7557086/7557086_2025-08-04-162826.64kmono.mp3 When Idina Menzel sang “Let it Go,” she probably didn’t have Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. in mind, but those lyrics are the essence of the Health and Human Services Secretary’s suggestion for dealing with the bird flu. In the audio clip above, Johns Hopkins University researcher Erin Sorrell tells WGN’s Steve Alexander that after […]
https://serve.castfire.com/audio/7554257/7554257_2025-08-01-150257.64kmono.mp3 Click above to hear the radio edit. Click below to hear the longer version. https://serve.castfire.com/audio/7554269/7554269_2025-08-01-152209.64kmono.mp3 Is bacon an ultra-processed food? Some people would say yes, but Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has stated that when he does eat breakfast–he typically skips breakfast as part of intermittent fasting–but when he does, […]
https://serve.castfire.com/audio/7536189/7536189_2025-07-23-020529.64kmono.mp3 Push play for the radio edit above. The extended version is below. https://serve.castfire.com/audio/7536190/7536190_2025-07-23-024430.64kmono.mp3 Many Chicagoans remember Emily Hurd. She, her voice and her piano, with occasional accompaniment, played many Chicago clubs: Space, Schubas, Martyrs, and the Old Town School of Music, among them. She played elsewhere nationally and internationally, too, getting rave reviews. How […]
https://serve.castfire.com/audio/7530440/7530440_2025-07-19-003140.64kmono.mp3 Radio edit above, full-length interview below. https://serve.castfire.com/audio/7530447/7530447_2025-07-19-001147.64kmono.mp3 When you’re starting a business, it’s wise to pay attention to others’ opinions. Zach Rash and Brad Squicciarini were studying robotics at UCLA and developed the concept for a more efficient, economical, and environmentally friendly way of delivering food: a robot, or more to the point, a […]
https://serve.castfire.com/audio/7527955/7527955_2025-07-17-225355.64kmono.mp3 Radio edit above. Extended interview below. https://serve.castfire.com/audio/7530111/7530111_2025-07-18-222311.64kmono.mp3 Chicago is a restaurant city, one of the world’s best, and at the top of the list of Windy City restaurateurs is Alex Dana. In 1973, he opened his first restaurant on the corner of Washington and Wacker in the heart of the Loop. It was across […]
https://serve.castfire.com/audio/7514905/7514905_2025-07-10-203605.64kmono.mp3 Even though he did skydive recently, it’s hard to imagine what WGN legend and meteorologist emeritus Tom Skilling could have in common with Superman. In the audio clip above, WGN’s entertainment reporter Dean Richards, in his regular 8:10 a.m. segment with Bob Sirott, mentions the name of the actor playing Superman in the new […]
https://serve.castfire.com/audio/7499755/7499755_2025-06-30-235855.64kmono.mp3 In the audio clip above, famed Chicago-grown chef Joe Flamm tells WGN’s Steve Alexander about his participation in the recent Taste of the Nation for No Kid Hungry event where more than 500 people got together to have fun and donate money to tackle food insecurity in Chicago. The sold-out event was at Rockwell […]
Researchers found 'forever chemicals' in 95% of the U.S. beers they tested.
His first drone was made from Popsicle sticks, tape, and some cheap motors. Now, his company is building thousands of drones a year, many of them the size of small cars. In the audio clip above, WGN’s Steve Alexander talks with Arthur Erickson, CEO and co-founder of Hylio, a rapidly growing American ag drone company […]
https://serve.castfire.com/audio/7483330/7483330_2025-06-20-182130.64kmono.mp3 Click above to hear the extended 16 and a half minute interview; click below for the 2 and a half minute radio version. https://serve.castfire.com/audio/7483356/7483356_2025-06-20-182556.64kmono.mp3 First things first: Where did Meathead get his name? In the audio clips above, he tells WGN’s Steve Alexander his dad gave it to him. Not at birth, though. It […]
For nearly a century, one of the biggest names in baking has been Wilton. The Naperville-based company is the go-to brand for professional and home bakers for everything from baking pans and tools to icing pouches and sprinkles. In the audio clip below, Declan O’Leary, the president of Wilton, tells WGN’s Steve Alexander about summer […]
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