Feeding the Family (bonus episode)

0:00One of the perks of my job is that sometimes I wind up in delicious places. We do have some chocolates if you guys are interested in tasting them. Oh, no, thanks. I'll pass. All right, well, let's get out of here. Have you not seen my mouth watering over here? I'm visiting a company called California Cultured. They make chocolate and coffee. I'm at their headquarters in Sacramento, California. In a small kitchen, Steve Stearns, a former chef at high-end restaurants, has three different chocolates lined up for me to try. little thumbprint-sized morsels laid out on a platter. I'll try to spare you the chewing sounds, but the first two samples taste a little sour.

0:41It's not my favorite. I'm going to be honest. Steve says I'm picking up on the fruity, more acidic notes. The third one is a nice, toasty, dark chocolate. I think that's my favorite of the three. It's got a little bit more bitterness to it, but it still has those fruity notes. So how do you guys feel like now having for the first time tasted chocolate from cells? You know, I didn't even think about the fact that it came from cells. Right. This is not like other chocolate. This is the chocolate of the future. It didn't come from a cacao plant grown in the ground. It was made here in a lab, created from cells in a Petri dish.

1:26And why would anyone do that? Climate change is making cocoa harder and costlier to produce. Cocoa prices have risen to record highs in recent years due to extreme rainfall, drought and heat. But it's not just climate change that's impacting food. Tariffs, supply chain issues and inflation mean we can all expect to pay more for all kinds of food. Beef prices have soared to all time highs with many families feeling the squeeze. Researchers are tracing price jumps, including an 80 % spike in the cost of U.S. vegetables to extreme weather linked to climate change. The key inflation report released last week shows prices have risen at the fastest pace since the start of the year.

2:12Many consumers are feeling that financial squeeze at the grocery store. I'm Amy Scott, and this is Feeding the Family, a marketplace special about the business and economics of food. Over the next hour, reporters from around Marketplace will explore the complicated forces impacting the food on our tables this holiday season. From farmers in Texas grappling with a sudden loss in federal funding, the ways TikTok is reshaping our meals. Plus, we even have a few cherished and inexpensive recipes to share. We're going to start with one of my favorite holiday indulgences, chocolate. Because as wild as it sounds, growing chocolate and other treats in a lab may be the key to enjoying them years from now.

3:05About 85 % of all the land that's currently used for chocolate just will not be suitable for it. It's going to either be too hot, too cold, too wet. That's Alan Perlstein, CEO of California Cultured. Without new technologies, Alan says, those might become luxuries for the super wealthy. He says in a couple decades, you might still be able to buy chocolate grown the old-fashioned way. Sure, for 80 bucks per bar, maybe. To see how the chocolate of the future gets made. Safety glasses, we don't need them? Yes, we actually do. Good call. I follow Alan through California Cultured's office space in the front and into what looks like a quintessential lab, where he opens a retrofitted pizza fridge with racks for stacking pans of pizza.

4:03Only instead of pizza, there are trays of Petri dishes filled with tiny brown blobs. They look like little boogers, basically. I don't know how else to describe this. It's basically little clumps of brown cells. So that's what they look like when they're growing inside of the cocoa pods. Each little blob, Alan says, contains thousands of cocoa cells. We sort of wrangle the cells and make them do what we want in this part of the lab. By wrangle, Allen means they're actually sort of tricking the cells to only grow the tissues they want, targeting certain compounds, flavors, and fats. And part of how they do that is by feeding the cells certain mixtures of food.

4:55Mostly sugar, plant extracts. From here, Allen says it's a bit like repotting plants. The bigger the cells grow, the bigger the container they need to keep growing. To make chocolate, the cells get fermented, roasted, and ground into a powder or liquid. You and I can't buy California cultured chocolate yet. But the plan is to sell the ingredients they make here and also lease the technology to large-scale producers. Although Alan's a little shy about saying which companies they're talking to. Probably some of the big guys out there of the companies who would require millions of tons of chocolate per year and have unfortunately been hit hard with the current chocolate tariffs and price increases.

5:47we're going to be launching our first product most likely with the current sixth largest chocolate company in the world. And we're also in discussions with number two, three, five, eight, 11, 18. Yeah. Wow. Yeah. All ones we've heard of, I'm sure. Yes. Alan did finally say a name. Next year, they're releasing a chocolate product with Meiji, the company that makes those little chocolate pandas, and they're hopeful that people are ready to embrace this type of food. It's not just chocolate that researchers and companies are trying to grow by culturing cells. They're also making salmon and chicken.

6:37The consequences for meat could be huge. I took a food tour of the future and actually tasted these products. You can find out how that went by listening to the new season of Marketplace's Climate Solutions podcast, How We Survive. From the chocolate of the future to something a little more vintage, I'm talking about seafoam salad, cranberry salad served in a gelatinous ring, broken glass jelly. And what do all these dishes have in common? One ingredient that you can pick up for about a dollar, Jell-O. We asked our digital producer, Dylan Mietinen, to dive into the economic history of Jell-O. Hey, Dylan.

7:24So this was a fun assignment. Where did you start? So yeah, for this piece, I decided to call up our family's resident Jell-O expert.

7:39Hello? Hey, Grandma. That would be Grandma Dawn, as she will almost universally introduce herself, no matter your relation to her. She famously makes lime jello dessert every year for nearly every occasion. It's a recipe that she got from her mother-in-law. I filed it away in my metal recipe box for later use. Grandma died in 1985, and I became the only family member that attempted her lime jello dessert recipe. It was a light, fluffy family favorite, and it became my kids' most requested dessert. But I only make it for special occasions now. So yeah, it's a family tradition, one that includes lime jello, evaporated milk, and an Oreo cookie crumble.

8:21Every year for his birthday, my uncle requests two lime jello desserts, one for the family birthday party and one for him to hide away in a secret stash. Okay, so lime jello, evaporated milk, and Oreos? Good stuff. And you're telling me this tastes good together? It does. It may surprise you, but it does. So you've been looking into the class history of Jell-O. I understand it started out actually as a more high-end dessert? So not Jell-O per se, but certainly its predecessor, gelatin. One of the very first recipes for aspic, which is a savory gelatin, first appeared in a medieval French cookbook around 1375.

8:57Now gelatin is created by breaking down collagen, which is found in the bones and skins of animals. Not overly appealing, but you boil them down, you purify the byproduct, add in fruits or juices and sugars, and you get something more dessert-y. Carolyn Wyman is the author of Jell-O, a biography. Before the creation of Jell-O, gelatin was something for the very rich, as cooking gelatin often required a maid or two spending a good part of their day making this one part of just one dish. That was a statement, just the way if you bought a Porsche or a BMW today, or a Rolex watch. People would know you were rich.

9:34Okay, so not just one maid. Potentially two working on this. Exactly. So gelatin was this ultimate status symbol back when people played the lute or wore powdered wigs. Zooming ahead more than a century, it didn't just stay a dish for the ultra-rich, though. No, it did not. Jell-O, this sugary, instant gelatin powder that we know today, was created in 1897. At the turn of the century, Jell-O was advertising itself as America's most famous dessert, and it was truly American. Because it was so easy to make and so easy to digest, it was served to newly arrived Americans at Ellis Island. Still, though, when Jell-O was advertised in publications like the Ladies' Home Journal, it was marketed toward middle - and upper-class housewives.

10:18Here's food historian Laura Shapiro. I think the early advertising and marketing was pushing you up a little. It's a kind of cheap product in a pretty dress. So you dug into, what, 125 years worth of advertising? What did you see? That's right. There's lots. You have ads that were illustrated by artists like Rosie O 'Neill, even Norman Rockwell. You have the Jack Benny radio program, which was sponsored by Jell-O from 1934 to 1942. J-E-L-L-O! The Jell-O program starring Jack Benny. Look for the big red letters on the box. They spell Jell-O. Jell-O also famously printed tons of recipe books and booklets.

11:03Among some of the best recipes I've seen, though admittedly have not created, asparagus salad, mint Jell-O with capers, prune whip, mystic fruit layers, and again, an affordable enough food option, two-penny salad. Oh my, you know, Dylan, these sound so gross to me, but apparently they tasted good? Have tastes changed? Well, days have indeed changed over time. So it's like thinking back to the Great Depression, how this was advertised was it was sort of like a form of escapism from the poverty of the day. It was economical, sure, easy to make, yes, but it could be sophisticated. It could be beautiful.

11:44When you look at recipe books of the day, they included these really fun illustrations of people noshing on jello in these extravagant gowns and tuxes. Fast forward to World War II, sugar had to be rationed, and that did impact Jell-O production. But at the time, it was seen as patriotic to ensure that food, especially fresh foods, fruits, and vegetables, did not go to waste during that time. So Jell-O helped food stretch further for homemakers during a time of war. So it makes sense that Jell-O had a moment during the Depression and World War II because of how cheap it is, and surprisingly really still is.

12:19So talk to me about where Jell-O stands in the American culinary tradition now. So like I said, Jell-O has for a long time been this thing that's colorful and sweet and tasty that moms could make and kids could enjoy. So for adults these days, it can scratch that sort of nostalgic itch. But as Laura Shapiro points out rather comedically, unless you like really grew up eating Jell-O, it might not have this special place in your heart. You know, once you've been told that Jell-O is one of the few things you can eat while you're waiting for a colonoscopy, it loses that allure and joy. Fair, fair, fair.

12:59But I just want to say Jell-O is far from gone. I recently spoke with one of the owners of Solid Wiggles, which is a great name for a boutique gelatin shop based here in New York City. Wait, what? Boutique gelatin shop? Boutique, you heard me right. You heard me right. They create these really artful, artisanal takes on the traditional jello shot. So it's not blue raspberry. You have like Aperol Spritz. You have Manhattan. They're not served in these little plastic shot glasses. They are in beautifully cut cubes. Business is strong for solid wiggles. Their products are served in 19 restaurants across New York and counting, and they'll be publishing a cookbook next June.

13:36But I don't want to make it seem like that's that, that you can really only get jello these days at really swanky New York City eateries or in hospital cafeterias. It's still at many a church supper, many a family gathering, with all of the fun little add-ins and accoutrements you can imagine. Oh, and as for Grandma Dawn and her lime jello dessert? I'm actually glad to be known as the only family member still making the dessert. But my granddaughter Olivia has recently asked to watch me make it, and I look forward to that. So, the jello baton gets passed along, and the family tradition, and the brand that goes along with it, will be cemented at dinner tables for years to come.

14:14All right. Thanks so much, Dylan. I learned a lot. Awesome. Thank you, Amy. This time of year, the internet is filled with influencers sharing ambitious holiday recipes, promising the best ever turkey or wow-worthy wine pairings. The kinds of meals that make you think, I wish I was eating that when you scroll past. But on another side of the internet, people are strategizing about how to put any kind of food on the table. Food insecurity was already on the rise even before the federal shutdown hit SNAP benefits. In 2023, 18 million families were food insecure, up a million from the year before, according to the USDA, which has stopped tracking those numbers under the Trump administration.

15:04Meanwhile, grocery prices have shot up more than 25 percent in the past five years, which means that there's another kind of food influencer popping up, the kind who will teach you how to cook something delicious on a budget. Marketplace's Alice Wilder has the story. Kiki Ruff's videos usually start the same way. If this is your first time being poor, I'm Kiki. There's no telling what recipe will come next. It could be a batch of hot dog buns, roasted tomato soup, or caramel apples. But whatever she makes in her Indiana kitchen, you can be sure it will be cheap. But you just got to keep your eye on those sales.

15:44Ruff has dubbed her creations recession recipes. She told me that she frequently fields requests from hungry followers who are adjusting to their new economic reality. If they're going to a food bank for the first time and they're getting flour and lentils, they're like, well, I don't bake. And what is a lentil? On Ruff's channel, flour turns into donuts and lentils become chili or burgers. She got the idea for recession recipes while scrolling LinkedIn. There was someone who popped up on my feed who was talking about how he was in a transitionary period with his job and he couldn't buy granola bars or fruit snacks for his daughters anymore.

16:19They had to cut the expense and how stressful it was for his daughters. That LinkedIn post inspired her to put together her first recession recipe. She posted it to TikTok in February 2025. And the next morning, she woke up to 90 ,000 new followers. Ruff has a full-time job in software technology, but she immediately decided to devote her free time to making more videos. People are relying on food banks more than ever, and like, I just saw that that was a need that needed to be filled. Today, she has over half a million followers between TikTok and Instagram. If you want an idea of what her videos are like, imagine if your favorite babysitter taught you how to cook.

16:59Now the next part, you get to get a little crafty. We're going to season these. Ruff is warm and goofy, but will also dole out some tough love if the moment calls for it. Oil your pan! Oil your pan! Oil it! She wears heart-shaped glasses and has the red hair of an off-duty Disney princess. I met Ruff in the parking lot of an Aldi in northwest Indiana, where she does most of her grocery shopping. So what is our budget for this grocery shopping trip? I'm going to try to get this under$15. She grabbed a quarter to rent a cart, and we headed in, laser-focused on our grocery list. Oh, pizza dough. We'd be making pizza rolls.

17:36Think cinnamon rolls, but with a savory filling and tomato sauce for dipping. They only have jalapeno. I'm allergic to jalapeno. We're going to roll with it, though. Wait, check behind. There might be... Oh, regular. Okay, perfect. I think we're going to get this under, like,$8. Our total came out to$6.82.

18:00Hold on a second. Okay, so we got it less than half of the budget that we have had for today. I have to admit that when I asked Ruff if we could make a holiday dish together, I wasn't imagining pizza rolls. But she pointed out that potlucks are common this time of year, and there can be pressure to deliver something impressive. When you're invited somewhere, you don't want to show up empty-handed. But if you're only working with$10, it becomes, okay, can I go get the tiniest fruit plate in the world? Can I go get a block of cheese and just bring cheese? Or like, maybe I should just stay home. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

18:34And it's like, I think financial shame is so deeply rooted that it is going to change the way that people gather. That there might be less events within your friend group because, hey, like, no, I actually have to pay rent now. Ruff's hope is that this recipe will mean someone can say yes to a holiday potluck and be proud to bring a homemade dish. We returned to Ruff's home slash studio, where her husband helped her set up a camera and lighting in front of the kitchen stove. Can I ask you a quick question as we're getting started? Yeah. What are the rules of your kitchen? Everybody eats. There are no mistakes.

19:13We're here to learn. And whatever you have is okay. As a kid, Ruff loved to cook. She told me this story while popping butter in the microwave. When I was little, I wanted to be a chef really bad. And I wanted to own my own restaurant. And I was trying to teach myself the fundamentals of cooking. But I stopped cooking around the 2008 recession because when I would mess up, it would waste too much from our family. Most of the frugal skills that Ruff teaches to her followers, she learned the hard way. After dropping out of college, she worked two minimum wage jobs and relied on food stamps, amounting to$40 a month.

19:52I was constantly monitored, which was frustrating. And I remember I got a 25 cent an hour raise at one of my jobs and I lost my EBT. It's this difficult, lengthy process. It does not feel like, hey, we're coming in and helping you. And then the second you do a little bit of good for yourself, it can be yanked out under your feet. So then you're not actually getting ahead. She sometimes had sleep for dinner and lost a lot of weight. Then a friend gave her a four ingredient cookbook. And I started building my skills off of that and then just having staples that I could make when I had the time between the two jobs.

20:30Once Ruff re-enrolled in college, she was able to get back on her feet and had reliable access to food. But years later, things still feel precarious. A couple years ago, when I could put whatever I wanted in my cart, it felt like the highest accomplishment. And it's just, it's not the case anymore. Why is that? Grocery prices have gotten so extreme that it's irresponsible to just be like, oh, yeah, I can bring home donuts. No, I need to make them because I can't spend five dollars on a box of donuts. It's just like there is way more budgeting to it now. This past year, staples like coffee and bananas have gotten a lot more expensive.

21:05The middle class threshold has drastically changed. You know, like I'm working in software technology as an executive and I am considered lower middle class. Right? I live paycheck to paycheck. I do not go out often. I do not buy myself nice clothes. I shop at Aldi. My husband and I haven't even been able to take a honeymoon. We've been married three years. Ruff makes some money off her videos, but the algorithm is fickle. The first month that I released this series, I made$3 ,000. And that, to me, I was like, yeah, I can get new tires. I can get my oil changed, whatever. But the next month, Ruff earned just$175.

21:45Once the oven is preheated and the ingredients are laid out on the counter, it's time to shoot today's video. You have no money. You've been invited to a holiday party. You have to bring a dish and don't want to bring, hmm, I need to sound more excited. She spoke off the cuff and laughed through mistakes. Elbow grease makes it taste better. In just a few minutes, the pizza rolls were assembled. And not long after, it was time to take them out of the oven. Oh my god, wait! That's so cute already. Oh, look at her. The rolls were golden brown and cheese was sizzling on the aluminum foil. You know, I could let them cool, but that would be no fun.

22:25Ruff arranged them on a plate, poured pizza sauce into a ramekin, and presented the final product to the camera. You're bringing these cute little things to your party and they're going to taste so good too. I said before that her videos usually start the same way. Well, they end the same way too. Please remember to eat and also, I love you. Just to our left on the fridge is a note with the same phrase. A friend left it for her during those difficult, hungry years. And I try to give it to other people because that is the greatest gift I've been given. Ruff told me that after I left, she planned to split the rules with her husband and get right back to work, editing her next video.

23:04I'm Alice Wilder for Marketplace.

23:11A lot of the country's wheat comes from Kansas, a place that's grappling with tariffs and climate change. You do it for the love of farming, but also, you know what? I'm a businessman, too. I gotta make money. And I get really angry at myself when I don't make money, you know. That's after the break.

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24:13You're listening to Feeding the Family, a special from Marketplace. I'm Amy Scott. I took a trip recently to Dodge City, Kansas. Okay. I'm at a sign that says, The 100th Meridian, where East meets West. to visit the 100th Meridian. It's the invisible longitudinal line that runs from pole to pole and cuts through the Great Plains. The Meridian passes through the city approximately one mile east of this marker between avenues L and M. The 100th Meridian is historically significant to this region. It's historically significant because it symbolized the dividing line between east and west, Not just geographically or culturally.

25:04In 1878, the explorer and geologist John Wesley Powell observed a difference in the climate, too. He said that was, you know, divided America into an arid half and a humid half. Richard Seeger is a climate scientist at Columbia University's Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory. Several years ago, he looked into Powell's theory. And I thought, let's see if that idea is really right. He found that Powell's observations about the East-West Divide were pretty spot on. But Richard also discovered something else. The line appeared to be moving. Not the actual meridian on the map, but the dry line. The psychological 100th meridian is moving east.

25:53East of the 100th meridian, he says, is gradually getting more arid. And that could have huge implications for farmers, the economy, and the global food supply. About half of the wheat grown in Kansas is exported to countries including Mexico, Japan, and Nigeria. And since the 1950s, surplus harvests have helped feed the hungry through international aid programs. Climate change in the central U.S. is of enormous importance to food security across the world. I wanted to see how farmers are adapting. So I drove 170 miles across Kansas from west to east to visit Penner Farms in Hillsborough, Kansas.