56: Our Shared Astronaut Moment + Demeter & Persephone

by Paige Donner © May 2020

Our global collective astronaut moment. That’s our theme for this episode 56 of Paris GOODfood+wine, as we ease out of confinement and into…

What?

Well that remains the question still for most countries worldwide still at threat by this pandemic. And it certainly remains the question here in Paris even though most parts of France have begun deconfinement as of May 11th.

But spending a couple months in a very close and confined space got me thinking of the astronauts and what they go through as a matter of course. So as I was researching NASA’s VEGGIE program, which our two guests, Gioia Massa and Matt Romeyn both scientists at the NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida, will be speaking to us at length about,

NASA’s Matt Romeyn in the Veggie Lab of the Space Station Processing Facility at the agency’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida. *Credit NASA/Cory Huston*

LISTEN To Podcast HERE

5′ 45” Start: NASA Scientists Gioia Massa and Matt Romeyn, on VEGGIE

35′ Start: Persephone & Demeter Greek Mythology Story

Photo courtesy NASA.gov

I came across anecdotes from several astronauts. These morsels of advice offered by a number of NASA astronauts were about how to better cope with being cooped up in a small space for lengths of time.

Gioia and Matt touch on some of these tips – specifically how gardening, even in a confined space, offers oodles of psycho-social benefits and in plain speak is simply good plant therapy.

Their VEGGIE program has their astronauts growing plants in space – edibles such as lettuce and baby leafy greens. NASA is also developing ways to eventually create greenhouse modules on the Moon and even Mars where fresh food for human space colonisers can be cultivated. You can find the VEGGIE factsheet link in our show notes at LocalFoodAndWine.

Matt and Gioia also share tips with us home gardeners and urban-dwelling wannabe gardeners on what it takes to start a little edible plant habitat at home, in a pantry, on a balcony or on a kitchen counter. (photo below courtesy NASA)

And for any and all educators and students listening in, they mention some of their student-friendly programs, of which NASA is quite a champion. You can find the links to more info about NASA’s at-home and at-school educational materials and projects in our show notes at LocalFood.wine.

That was: Gioia Massa Life Sciences Project Scientist and Veggie Project Lead at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center & Matthew (Matt) Romeyn Project Scientist for Space Crop Production at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center

I have to say that in all my interviews I’ve done for this podcast, this one had me the most star struck. Pun intended. Seriously, though, I never thought in my wildest imagination I’d get the chance to speak with NASA scientists and certainly not about vegetable gardening in space. So I am hugely grateful for their time and consideration and am so very pleased I get to share it with you.

CAMPS & EDUCATION Kennedy Space Center

Also NASA.gov

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For the second part of our show – we return to our recent theme of story time. This time, we turn to ancient Greek mythology, namely the story of Demeter and her daughter Persephone. Now, many of you organic food enthusiasts probably already know the Demeter label as being a respected one for quality control in organic and bio-dynamic foods. So here’s a refresher as to the origins of that name and how this ancient Greek Goddess relates to agriculture, seeds, crops and food.

Photo by Paige Donner view from Pont de l’Archeveche

Thank you again for joining us for this latest episode of Paris GOODfood+wine. We’re always thrilled to hear from you, so please leave your reviews, comments and questions on iTunes, Spotify and Soundcloud and also of course at our Local Food And Wine website.

So, cheers to our collective and shared global astronaut moment. May we emerge from this with strength, health and more compassion for our fellow human being.

And one final thought, any of you audiophiles keen to hear stories from around the globe about enduring confinement, can check out MIT’s Coronavirus Diaries where they feature 2 minute audio segments that are crowdsourced. You can find a link to that in our show notes at LocalFoodAndWine.wordpress.com

Music is Free of Rights thanks to Bensoundmusic.com

Show Intro/Outro ‘Badass’

Show Body: ‘Summer’

Sound Editing/Engineering by Paige Donner

Host-Producer : Paige Donner

Sound engineering by Paige Donner

Host-Producer: Paige Donner

For media collaborations contact http://paigedonner.info

Show Notes: https://localfoodandwine.wordpress.com

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Show Intro music by Bensoundmusic.com

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‘Never lose track of your assets’