What happens when we stop asking where our food comes from — and what we lose when we do?
In this season-closing episode of the Bites and Bytes Podcast, your host, Kristin King, sits down with Fiona Delaney, an award-winning agri-food technologist and founder of Origin Chain Network, for a reflective, story-driven conversation about food systems, agriculture, technology, and trust.
Recognized across Europe for her work at the intersection of agriculture and technology, Fiona brings a rare perspective shaped by lived experience, landscape, and community. Throughout the episode, she weaves technical insight with storytelling rooted in Irish culture and oral tradition, offering a thoughtful and grounding lens on modern food systems.
Together, Kristin and Fiona explore how food systems have become increasingly opaque, why context and trust matter more than tools alone, and how the stories we tell about food and technology influence the systems we build and accept — from digital infrastructure to cybersecurity parallels.
This episode closes Season 2 by slowing down and inviting listeners to reflect on what we choose to remember, and what we quietly forget about the systems that feed us. Whether you’ve followed the season from the beginning or are just joining now, this conversation brings the year’s themes in food and agriculture into a single, thoughtful moment. Enjoy.
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Guest Contact Information & Notes
Fiona Delaney
Founder, Origin Chain Network
🌐 Website: https://originchain.network/
🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fgdelaney/
*Fiona references the Irish “Salmon of Knowledge” — a myth where wisdom comes not from power, but from care, chance, and connection to food and land.
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Episode Key Highlights
00:01:41 — A First Food Memory: Fishing, Family, and the Meaning of Food
00:03:36 — The Salmon of Knowledge and Irish Storytelling Traditions
00:08:44 — From Software Engineer to Agri-Food Systems Builder
00:12:02 — Why the Food System Is a Giant, Fragmented Black Box
00:16:08 — Farming as Community, Not Just an Industry
00:19:04 — Trust Isn’t a Buzzword: How Farming Communities Read Risk
00:21:46 — The Demise of Local Food Systems and What Replaced Them
00:26:02 — “We Are Nurtured Into Not Looking at Where Our Food Comes From.”
00:27:08 — Why People Can’t Absorb the Full Complexity of Risk
00:43:46 — What We Choose to Remember, and What We Choose to Forget
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📘 Sign up for early updates, exclusive previews, and launch news of Kristin’s book, “Securing What Feeds Us: Cybersecurity in Food and Agriculture,” here.
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🛡️ About AnzenSage & AnzenOT
AnzenSage is a cybersecurity advisory firm specializing in security resilience for the food, agriculture, zoo, and aquarium industries. AnzenSage offers practical, strategic guidance to help organizations anticipate risks and build resilience. Learn more about their offerings at anzensage.com.
AnzenOT: Industrial Cyber Risk — Simple. Smart. Swift.
AnzenOT is the SaaS risk management platform built to bring clarity and control to Operational Technology (OT) cybersecurity. Designed for critical infrastructure sectors, AnzenOT translates technical risk into clear, actionable insight for decision-makers. Explore the platform at anzenot.com.
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