Welcome to Meant to Ferment, hosted by artist and public scholar Rebecca Echevarria! This is a space to explore the fermentation world of the Hudson Valley and beyond through interviews, music, and more.

Past guests include cidermakers, microbiologists, sourdough bakers, authors, winemakers, herbalists, and picklers. In these shows, we often discuss unique aspects of their practice as well as the technical and sociocultural dimensions of it. Music inspired by their work is a favorite feature too. 

Sometimes shows take a different form, like a fermentation road trip in Kyushu, Japan, where each stop featured histories, methods, and music inspired by ferments such as katsuobushi, shochu, and kurozu. Another, inspired by “Reading Microbes,” a virtual reading group on microbes and food, included readings of fermentation manifestos, a sound art piece of dying yeast in a wine vat, and music inspired by alpine cheesemakers and ancient DNA. 

Come join this fermentative radio journey of people, music, microbes, and place.

Rebecca Echevarria is an artist and public scholar based in the Hudson Valley who is interested in the creative possibilities of food preservation, particularly fermentation. Her practice is rooted in place and sociality. She researches local and global food histories, explores the communal nature of food preservation, and integrates her own experiences and familial pasts into her projects. Currently, she teaches fermentation histories and methods in libraries, screenprints t-shirts with archival cookbook illustrations, writes essays for food publications, co-organizes fermentation gatherings, presents at fermentation festivals, and hosts a public virtual reading group on microbes & food called “Reading Microbes.” More information on her past and upcoming work can be found on her Instagram and website.