Appetites: Lynne Rossetto Kasper's final course on the air
Lynne Rossetto Kasper will be retiring at the end of the year after 22 years of hosting the award-winning show, The Splendid Table.
Before saying goodbye on her own show, she stopped by to talk with MPR News host Tom Crann to remember her career in food and radio.
Both The Splendid Table and MPR News share a parent company, American Public Media Group.
Shortly after the show went national in 1995, Rossetto Kasper was asked to speak at a co-op and fielded a question she'd hear many times over the years: What's the next trend in food?
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"And I can remember saying, they were going to be three words: sustainable, organic and local," Rossetto Kasper said.
Even though it was a prediction many crowds wanted to hear, it was still met with a great deal of skepticism.
"But look at what's happened? The awareness has changed," Rossetto Kasper said.
But she observed there is still a big problem with the trend: organic and sustainably-made food is not available to all.
The Splendid Table's listeners pushed Rossetto Kasper and the rest of the crew to tackle food from complex angles, while similar shows focused almost exclusively on recipes.
But the radio host gives credit to the audience for challenging her.
"We have experts listening to this show, and I'm not an expert in everything, I know that's a shock to hear," she laughed. "You learn constantly, and also it's that business when you're challenged, what happens, you really scramble and then if I can't answer the question correctly just the curiosity drives me when I get home to look up material."
In her retirement Rossetto Kasper plans to take time to travel, see old friends and try new things.
A live, farewell show will air this weekend on MPR News and public radio stations around the country.
You can catch more of Rossetto Kasper as well as recipes, tips and stories on the Appetites page and at The Splendid Table.
To listen to their full conversation, click the audio player above.