SN's Lempert Explores Food Supply on PBS

SN STAFF

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Public television audiences beginning Friday will be able to tune into a revealing documentary on the food industry as SN's Phil Lempert traces a typical American breakfast from his plate back to the farms and factories from which it came.

"Phil Lempert's Food Sense" is a one-hour television special produced by Maryland Public Television here, which begins airing this week (check local listings). The program, filmed in part at the Café Hon in Baltimore, explores the manufacturing and delivery processes behind coffee, sugar, milk, eggs, bacon, orange juice and strawberries while examining the impact of those processes on the environment.

In "Food Sense," Lempert and other industry experts will introduce viewers to both organic and conventional food production methods and discuss the potential sustainability of each model. The show will also examine local growing, farmer's markets, and travel to Chicago and New York to explain the food-pricing process. Viewers will learn how the Mercantile Exchange impacts the food chain and how packaging, transporting and refrigerating the food supply impacts the environment and food prices.

Lempert is an industry analyst and a contributing editor at SN.