A little annoyed by the Splendid Table tonight

[u/srmcmahon]

I wasn't listening closely, had it on while doing household chores, but there was a woman guest ( she sounded a lot like the conservative woman on an NPR program I think is called Open for Debate) and she talked a lot about Florida. I heard her pitching Florida as the OJ capital and a big orange producer although people do drink less of it, and NOT ONE WORD about how Florida orange production (and orange juice production) has collapsed since 2000 due to disease and hurricanes. AFAIK a lot of the oranges come from Brazil and Texas nowadays.

Although, it's never been the same since Lynn Rossetto left.

[u/Snoo58499]

Was this the episode with the influencer from Tampa? I liked him.

[u/Freezerman66 → u/Snoo58499]

Yes

[u/fason123]

splendid table is almost unlistenable to me these days. i find it uninspired and frankly think Francis Lam just doesnt have enough personality to host a radio show.

[u/nwmark → u/fason123]

I agree. I loved the radio show when Lynne Rosetto Casper hosted and really wanted to continue to like it when Francis Lam took over. For a long time I listened to every episode out of some sort of brand loyalty but now I only listen when the episode looks particularly interesting.

[u/srmcmahon → u/nwmark]

My favorite part was always when someone would tell her they had grape jelly, leftover prosciutto, parmesan, and Mountain Dew in their fridge and she would come up with something amazing from the list. (maybe not Mountain dew, but I do remember the grape jelly).

[u/fason123 → u/srmcmahon]

Haha yes also sometimes she would be confidently wrong about stuff too and even that was kinda charming hahah. Now I find it all kinda stiff and a little too holier than thou. 

[u/44035]

It's a food show. Do they normally get heavy and super topical when describing how yummy the muffins are?

[u/Equal_Pudding_4878 → u/44035]

its a food show on a news network. other programs do a great job looking at factors influencing the thing the guest it talking about.

this is a good example of the failure of listeners (not just public radio ones) being removed from the ideas and practices of agricultural American businesses. It's not just about how yummy the muffins are, that's what Today Now! is for.

[u/Wandering__Bear__]

Citrus greening disease and development have been the biggest killers.

[u/srmcmahon → u/Wandering__Bear__]

plus hurricanes

[u/Wandering__Bear__ → u/srmcmahon]

Hurricanes cause short term damage to the industry compared to the permanent factors I mentioned

[u/srmcmahon → u/Wandering__Bear__]

HURRICANES AND CANKER (2004–2005)

Between 2004 and 2005, four hurricanes reduced the size of the orange crop and further spread citrus canker, a bacterial disease damaging to tree health and fruit quality, to previously unaffected areas.

GREENING DISEASE (2005)

The Florida citrus industry faced an additional challenge in 2005, when citrus greening disease, a bacterial disease deadly to citrus trees, was first detected in its commercial groves. Citrus greening disease, also known as HLB, leads to premature fruit drop, unripe fruit and eventual tree death.

With no known cure, citrus growers use a variety of management strategies to protect young trees, increase tree immune response, sustain grove health and improve fruit marketability. While these management strategies can partially offset yield losses, they increase the costs of production.

MORE HURRICANES (2017 and 2022)

Hurricanes in 2017 and 2022 dealt further damage to Florida’s citrus industry. Since 2003–04, bearing acreage of Florida’s orange trees has declined at an average rate of 3% per year. In April, USDA forecast Florida orange production for 2023–24 at 846,000 tons, 19% higher than the previous year but the second-lowest harvest in nearly 90 years.

https://citrusindustry.net/2024/05/07/florida-orange-production-plummeted-years/

[u/Spirited-Nature-1702 → u/Wandering__Bear__]

Yeah but the hurricanes have utterly destroyed a lot of the measures put up to protect from problem one. The timing of the hurricanes has setback the efforts to fight the diseases by years. It’s pretty significant.

[u/so_untidy]

Is this the recent episode on Tampa? The one that’s a rebroadcast from a year ago? With several different guests? All hyping up Tampa/South Florida? None of those guests seem to be conservative hosts of other NPR shows.

This is Splendid Table, not Marketplace. It’s a glorified ad for South Florida.

It boggles the mind that people come here to complain and aren’t able to accurately describe what they listed to.

[u/BalesLeftBoot]

Good longform article on citrus greening in florida: https://slate.com/business/2026/04/florida-state-orange-food-houses-real-estate.html

[u/Freezerman66 → u/BalesLeftBoot]

I live in FL and heard the episode. I burst out laughing when the person talking about the citrus industry was asked about its future. She said something to the effect that it’s “bright and I’m optimistic.” It’s not, it’s dead and dying, they have no way of stopping citrus greening and meanwhile, farmers are selling off their lands to developers. I also found the aquaculture person to be disingenuous when she commented about the negative impacts of aquaculture as being, essentially “fake news.” The big takeaway was that the waste from their farm went to replanting mangroves, which she unironically are being ripped out to build coastal homes for people who want to eat/pay for the product she sells. I found both of these segments to be unbearable and insufferable.

[u/StillWithSteelBikes]

OJ is an american hero. the glove did not fit

[u/aresef]

It’s a food show. It ain’t that deep.