Food Sleuth Radio

Did you know that young people worldwide are working to mitigate climate change, clean up their environment and create a more sustainable, livable world for future generations? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Marianne Larned, Founding Director of the Stone Soup Leadership Institute and author of Stone Soup for a Sustainable World: Life Changing Stories of Young Heroes. Larned shares stories of stand-out youth leaders and describes the Institute’s work, which inspires people from all walks of life to work together to build a more just, equitable, and sustainable world. The Institute also features a virtual toolkit for educators and lesson plans. http://stonesoupleadership.org/virtual-education-toolkit-intro/ Related website:   https://soup4worldinstitute.com/ www.stonesoupleadership.org

Did you know that poppy seeds used in baking come from the same plant that produces opiates, including morphine and codeine? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Sarah Sorscher, J.D., MPH, Deputy Director of Regulatory Affairs, Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). Sorscher explains that the poppy plant cannot be legally grown in the United States, so all poppy seeds sold in this country are imported. While the seeds themselves contain negligible amounts of opiates, they can be contaminated with plant debris and require washing and processing to reduce opiate contamination to safe levels.  Not all importers adequately process their seeds, and some sellers even market poppy seeds as “unwashed” or “unprocessed,” to convey that they have high levels of opiates to consumers who may purchase the seeds to brew poppy seed tea, which can be fatal. Related website:   https://cspinet.org/sites/default/files/attachment/Contaminated_Poppy_Fact_Sheet_1-13-2021.pdf 

Did you know that chronic wounds (those that have not healed in 12 weeks) affect approximately  6.5 million patients in the U.S. annually? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Nancy Collins, Ph.D., R.D., a registered dietitian who is certified in wound care, and is known nationally for her expertise in the complex relationship between malnutrition, body composition, and tissue regeneration. From surgical scars to gunshot wounds, diabetic ulcers and bedsores, Collins discusses nutrition’s vital role pre- and post-surgery and for general wound healing.   Related website:   https://drnancycollins.com/ 

Did you know that most cropland in the U.S. is characterized by large monocultures, whose productivity is maintained with costly inputs, such as chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and that this over-simplification of our of our food system contributes to climate change, pollution and biodiversity loss? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Jonathan Lundgren, Ph.D., Director and Founder of Blue Dasher Farm and the Ecdysis Foundation. Lundgren defines and discusses regenerative agriculture through the lens of research entomologist, agroecologist, farmer, rancher and beekeeper. He shares key polnts from a recent article, “Regenerative agriculture: merging farming and natural resource conservation profitably:” https://peerj.com/articles/4428/. Lundgren explains why pests were 10-fold more abundant in insecticide-treated corn fields than on insecticide-free regenerative farms, and how regenerative farming is at the heart of food system reform. Lundgren delivered a keynote presentation at the 2021 Beyond Pesticides Forum: www.beyondpesticides.org Related website:   https://www.ecdysis.bio/ 

Did you know that August is Breastfeeding Awareness Month and August 25th-31st is Black Breastfeeding Week? https://www.facebook.com/BlackBreastfeedingWeek/Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Kimberly Seals Allers, journalist, author and advocate for equity in maternal and infant health. Seals Allers discusses the economics, politics and culture of breastfeeding in America and the specific challenges faced by women of color.  Seals Allers has developed an app to help women of color find maternal health care free of bias. https://irthapp.com/ Related website:   www.kimberlysealsallers.com 

Did you know that industrial agriculture is economically flawed, and survives by externalizing its costs to taxpayers, while spending billions of dollars on myth-based marketing campaigns? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Emily Miller, Research and Policy Manager at the Family Farm Action Alliance, and lead author of the report: “The Truth About Industrial Agriculture: A Fragile System Propped up by Myths and Hidden Costs.” Miller describes the “feed-meat complex,” and how and why farmers lose choice in the way they grow and produce food, while consumers lose choice in the marketplace. Miller also describes regenerative, resilient agriculture - keys to robust rural communities.   Related website:   https://farmactionalliance.org/truthreport/ 

Did you know that Lee Johnson is the first person in the world to go to trial against Monsanto to prove that the company’s popular weed killer, “Roundup,” causes a type of cancer called non-Hodgkin lymphoma? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Carey Gillam, investigative journalist, Research Director at U.S. Right to Know https://usrtk.org/, and author of “The Monsanto Papers: Deadly Secrets, Corporate Corruption, and One Man’s Search for Justice” (Island Press, 2021). Gillam describes her research into Monsanto, and discusses the links between pesticide exposure and cancer, and failure of regulatory agencies to protect public health. Gillam also gave a presentation on these issues at the 2021 Beyond Pesticides Forum: www.beyondpesticides.org. Her first book about Monsanto, “Whitewash: The Story of a Weed Killer, Cancer and the Corruption of Science,” won the Rachel Carson Book Award from the Society of Environmental Journalists in 2018. Related website:   www.careygillam.com 

Did you know that now is the critical time to facilitate a just transition of land to the next generation of farmers?  But the next generation of farmers who want to grow nutritious “table food” cannot afford land that is constantly under pressure from housing development or commodity crops. Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Suzan Erem, co-founder and Executive Director of the Sustainable Iowa Land Trust (SILT), a statewide non-profit organization that permanently preserves farmland to grow healthy food.  Erem describes how SILT is creating a whole new way to permanently preserve farmland and truly “feed the world” nutritious, health-supporting food, while supporting economic development in rural communities. For more information on the principles of a healthy, sustainable food system, see: https://www.planning.org/nationalcenters/health/foodprinciples.htm Related website:   https://silt.org/silt-launches-circle-our-cities-campaign/

Did you know that the commonly used fungicide, fludioxonil may cause oxidative damage to human cells? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Tristan Brandhorst, Ph.D., Senior Research Scientist, University of WI – Madison who discusses his investigation into the toxicity of the commonly used fungicide fludioxonil. Brandhorst has researched the fungicide’s mechanism of toxicity and its effects on off-target organisms – from earth worms to humans. Brandhorst has been studying the physiology of pathogenic fungi for 20 years with research into fungal metabolites, toxicity factors, and mechanisms of virulence.  His research group stumbled upon evidence that the fungicide fludioxonil did not work by its widely accepted “safe” mechanism, and has published his findings that fludioxonil acts on a sugar-metabolizing enzyme common to all cells. His research indicates that the complexity of pesticide effects on cells and enzymes in the body, and organisms generally, are not understood to the extent that they should be. To find out where you might find residues of this fungicide in your food, see The Pesticide Action Network’s What’s On My Food? https://www.whatsonmyfood.org/pesticide.jsp?pesticide=B23. And to hear Brandhorst’s presentation at the 2021 Beyond Pesticide Forum, see: www.beyondpesticides.org Related website:   www.youtube.com/watch?v=GICBdP8bQGQ&list=PLkjxw2sUkRMOtImBlXkgW1pgw1ZZOQTWS 

Did you know that fast food is heavily marketed to young children? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Jennifer Emond, Ph.D., MS, Assistant Professor in the departments of biomedical data science and pediatrics with the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College. Dr. Emond discusses her research on fast food marketing targeted to children, and the potential negative health impacts on children’s food preferences, dietary intake, and weight gain. She also provides example of how the fast food industry does not comply with current voluntary advertising regulations. Related website:   https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/147/6/e2020042994