Food Sleuth Radio

Did you know that global food production puts enormous environmental pressure on our planet? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Ben Halpern, Ph.D, marine ecologist and conservation scientist at the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management at UC Santa Barbara. Halpern discusses his recent paper titled: “The Environmental Footprint of Global Food Production,” and describes four pressures of food production: greenhouse gas emissions, freshwater use, habitat disturbance, nutrient pollution; he also discusses the costs and benefits of “efficient” food production. Related resource: IPCC: https://www.ipcc.ch/srccl/chapter/chapter-5/ Related website:  The Environmental Footprint of Global Food Production:https://www.rootsofchange.org/wp-content/uploads/Environmental-impact-of-Global-Food-Production.pdf 

Did you know that mushrooms are more closely related to animals than plants? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Christopher Hobbs, Ph.D., internationally renowned botanist, mycologist, research scientist and author of Christopher Hobbs’s Medicinal Mushrooms: The Essential Guide: Boost Immunity, Improve Memory, Fight Cancer, Stop Infection, and Expand Your Consciousness. Hobbs discusses the unique traits and multiple benefits of fungi, from human to planetary health.Related website:  www.christopherhobbs.com 

Did you know that Black farmers faced grave injustices, racist policies and land loss while attempting to feed their families and communities? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Gail Myers, Ph.D., cultural anthropologist and creator and director of the multimedia documentary film project, Rhythms of the Land: A Love Story of Land and Family. Myers discusses her decades of interviewing African American farmers, the “eldest elders,” and shares their philosophies, injustices, and challenges in obtaining and holding onto farmland. Myers captures agrarian legacies and calls her project a “Valentine to generations of Black farmers.” Related website:  www.rhythmsoftheland.com 

Did you know that many chocolate products contain unsafe levels of cadmium and lead? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Tod Cooperman, MD, President, Founder, and Editor-in-Chief at ConsumerLab.com, the leading independent evaluator of dietary supplements and nutritional products. Cooperman discusses Consumer Lab’s chocolate testing results and the dangers of lead and cadmium in relation to beneficial flavanols in chocolate. Cooperman also discusses whether any dietary supplements offer protection against Covid-19, the benefits of masks, and a new report on powdered fruit and vegetable supplements.Related website:  www.consumerlab.com 

Did you know that organic agriculture is a key to mitigating climate change, building strong rural economies and supporting public health? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Lena Brook, M.S., Director, Food Campaigns, Healthy People & Thriving Communities Program at the Natural Resources Defense Council. Brook defines “organic” agriculture, discusses the new report: “Grow Organic: The Climate, Health and Economic Case for Expanding Organic Agriculture,” and the public policies necessary to support it.Related website:  https://www.nrdc.org/experts/lena-brook/new-report-unlocking-potential-organic-agriculture 

Did you know that alcohol consumption increases our risk for cancer? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Nigel Brockton, Ph.D., Director of Research at The American Institute for Cancer Research. Brockton dives into the research explaining how and why specific nutrients impact cancer risk, with an emphasis on the role of inflammation, and alcohol.  Tune in for supporting information for “dry January” and to find out if you are practicing cancer prevention.Related website:  https://www.aicr.org/cancer-health-check/ 

Did you know that many food additives allowed in the U.S. have been banned in the EU?  Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Thomas Galligan, Ph.D., Principal Scientist for Food Additives and Supplements at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). Galligan explains that more than 1800 brand name food products contain titanium dioxide, yet in 2021, the European Food Safety Authority concluded that the cosmetic additive is no longer safe in foods.  Galligan describes CSPI’s “Chemical Cuisine Guide,” which ranks food additives from “safe” to “avoid.”Related website:  https://www.cspinet.org/page/chemical-cuisine-ratings 

Did you know that food is a key intersectional point for health, labor, human rights, agriculture, environment, and climate change? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Alison Cohen, Advocate and Coordinator of the National Right to Food Community of Practice. Cohen exposes false narratives around poverty and hunger, and advocates for a legal framework to protect the right to food.Related website:  file:///C:/Users/Dan/AppData/Local/Microsoft/Windows/INetCache/Content.Outlook/1QPWI2U5/OP-ED%20White%20House%20Conference%20on%20Hunger%202022%20(1).pdf

Did you know that fiber-rich, plant-based diets are key to wellness? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Jill Nussinow, M.S., R.D., a.k.a. “The Veggie Queen,” culinary educator and author of multiple cookbooks.  Nussinow describes the health benefits of organic, seasonal, high-fiber, whole food plant-based eating, the ease of speedy pressure cooking, and how adopting a breathing practice can enhance digestion and improve health and energy in the New Year.  Hint: put mushrooms, beans and fermented foods on your food resolution list, and try the simple breathing exercise Nussinow describes.Related website:  https://www.theveggiequeen.com/

Did you know that microplastics have infested every corner of Earth, from the highest mountains to the deepest seas? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Matt Simon, journalist, staff writer at Wired, and author of A Poison Like No Other: How Microplastics Corrupted Our Planet and Our Bodies (https://islandpress.org/author/matt-simon ). Simon describes the “unbearable burden” of this insidious pollutant on our personal and planetary health, and ways we can work to curtail its production.Related website:  http://www.mattsimon.net/