This Radiolab interview podcast explores the surprising history and technology behind keeping food fresh, focusing on the journey from farm to table. The conversation begins with a discussion of refrigeration's impact on food preservation, highlighting how it slows down biological processes, acting as a "time machine." The discussion then shifts to ethylene, a plant hormone crucial for ripening and its historical use, including a fascinating theory about its role in the Oracle of Delphi. Finally, the podcast delves into the advanced technology used in modern salad bags, which control the atmosphere to extend the shelf life of produce, even potentially eliminating the need for refrigeration in the future. This technology, inspired by nuclear submarine atmosphere control, demonstrates the lengths to which we go to preserve food and challenges our assumptions about "freshness."
