71: Food's Role in the Spread of Past Diseases with Jessica Hider

So this week is particularly heavy, and I don't feel right starting out this episode without addressing that. I have been thinking for a long time about the role of podcasting in pandemics, and whether it's silly to produce and share episodes when everyone's minds are riddled with panic, fear, and an ever-growing awareness of just how much food you have in your pantry.

But then I remembered that this show has ALWAYS been about us as a community. This isn't about me, it's about what we can offer each other in terms of sharing knowledge and experience. And right now, it's also about what I can offer you as a break from the endless Twitter feed refreshes and breaking news briefs. So we continue, and hope we can offer you a little peace and distraction, if only for a half hour.

So before I introduce our guest, I also want to share that my podcast is open for interview bookings to anyone who may have had to cancel a food-relate lecture or conference, or close your restaurant, or have been hard hit by these as someone working in the food industry in any capacity, please reach out and email anthrodish@gmail.com. I'd love to do a quick interview with you – just because we can't gather to support each other in person doesn't mean we can't still be celebrating hardworking people in our food systems!

Okay, so this week we're exploring the role of food in disease outbreaks with my friend and McMaster colleague, Jessica Hider. She's a PhD candidate in my anthropology department at McMaster and works in McMaster's uber-cool Ancient DNA Centre. Jess looks at the spread of pathogens in pre-Rome and ancient Rome. She combines ancient DNA analyses with bioarchaeology and paleopathology (or the study of ancient diseases and pathologies on bone). Her main focus and interest is a disease known as brucellosis – which is a lesser known but absolutely fascinating disease to explore. I will let her do the expert explaining on what it entails in the interview!

We're chatting about the differences between food-borne diseases, zoonotic diseases, and the ways that food can help spread disease in the past. For those of you who are really tired of hearing about COVID-19, don't worry – we don't really touch on it. But we do talk about Typhoid Mary, and she's a real hoot.

Learn More About Jess:

• McMaster's Ancient DNA Centre
• Email: hider.jessica@gmail.com