Food Sleuth Radio

Did you know that food dyes in popular drinks and children’s foods can increase risk of hyperactivity and ADHD? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Aurora Meadows, M.S., R.D., Staff Nutritionist with the Environmental Working Group, who will discuss recent research on the detrimental effects of food dyes and additives on children’s behavior and health. Meadows also introduces us to the Environmental Working Group’s new “Food Scores,” and helps us navigate food labels, ingredients, and explains how organic food can be affordable and beneficial to our health. See: https://www.ewg.org/research/organic-within-reach Related website:   https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news/california-agency-acknowledges-synthetic-food-dyes-link-hyperactivity-and

Did you know that health insurance and child care are intricately related to community access to nourishing, fresh food? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Shoshana Inwood, Ph.D., Rural Sociologist and Associate Professor at the Ohio State University. Inwood discusses her decade-long research on family farmers’ struggles with access to health insurance, health care and child care – critical social needs for those we depend on for food and nutrition security. Related website:   https://theconversation.com/family-farms-are-struggling-with-two-hidden-challenges-health-insurance-and-child-care-159542 

Did you know that prison labor may be used in producing some of the food products you purchase at the supermarket? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with H. Claire Brown, award-winning journalist and senior staff writer for The Counter. Brown dives into her three-part investigative report on the prison labor that is used in our food system. Related website:   https://thecounter.org/essential-and-exploitable-prison-factories-stayed-open-during-pandemic/ 

Did you know that excess sodium in the American diet is estimated to cause as many as 100,000 deaths and many billions of dollars in avoidable health-care costs each year?  Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Michael Jacobson, Ph.D, co-founder and long-time Executive Director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest (www.cspinet.org) and author of Salt Wars: The Battle Over the Biggest Killer in the American Diet.  Jacobson explains that an abundance of research going back more than half a century shows high-sodium diets lead to hypertension and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. He calls out food industry lobbyists who have downplayed sodium’s role in a variety of ills. Jacobson says salt is everywhere in our diets—in packaged foods, fast foods, and especially meals at table-service restaurants, and he shares tips to reduce our intake. Related website:   https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/salt-wars 

Did you know that climate change impacts water quality and foodwebs?Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Sarah Nelson, Ph.D., Director of Research at the Appalachian Mountain Club. Nelson discusses climate change impacts on environment and public health https://hubbardbrook.org/sites/default/files/pictures/HBRF/Why%20It%20Matters.jpg, and  weather whiplash: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1029/2019EF001224. 

Did you know that food is our most intimate, powerful connection to each other, to our cultures and the earth? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Navina Khanna, co-founder and the Executive Director of  HEAL (Health, Environment, Agriculture, and Labor) Food Alliance, a national alliance of organizations building collective power for transformed food systems across race, sector, and geography. Ms. Khanna discusses racial injustices in our food system and larger society, key messaging strategies (see: ASO Communications - https://asocommunications.com/) and creating a food system where land and workers are valued and respected. Related website:   https://healfoodalliance.org/ 

Did you know that organic methods of livestock production offer widespread benefits to animals, people and planet?  Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Guy Jodarski, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, who compares conventional vs. organic and sustainable livestock practices. Jodarski’s work has focused on dairy cattle health, benefits of grazing, and disease prevention. He also speaks to the wider impact of agriculture on community health. Jodarski holds an MS in Physiology and DVM from the Univ. of Wisconsin-Madison and has been in practice for over 30 years. He also serves on the One Health Committee https://www.cdc.gov/onehealth/index.html of the Wisconsin Veterinary Medical Association (WVMA). Related website:   https://grassworks.org/ 

Did you know that organic farming in the rural Midwest is becoming increasingly difficult due to chemical and genetic drift from “conventional” farms? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Angela Jackson Pulse, organic farmer, inspector and auditor based in Vermilion, South Dakota. Jackson Pulse describes her on-farm experiences, loss of organic status, crops, adverse health effects from pesticide exposure, and how we can protect public health through pesticide policy reform (FIFRA – The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act ). Pulse will be speaking at the Beyond Pesticides annual Forum on June 1st.  For more information on the Forum, see: www.beyondpesticides.org Related website:   https://prairiesunorganicfarm.com/ 

Did you know that time spent in nature has therapeutic value? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Gabrielle Mack, Registered Physical Therapist and Licensed Occupational Therapist. Mack describes the physiological benefits derived from time spent in nature, and gardening. She explains how “green time” benefits both our central nervous system and mental health. Gardening is especially therapeutic for those who have survived trauma. As Mack explains, there is a physiological explanation for why we feel better after spending time outside or having our hands in the soil. Related website:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjkDnqZYSiA 

Did you know that ”alternative” meat products are a $1 billion (and growing) market in the US? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Bryon Wiegand, Ph.D., Professor of Animal Science at the University of Missouri, State Meats Extension Specialist, and Associate Division Director in Animal Science. Wiegand defines and explains the science and technology behind alternative meat products, including lab-based, cultured, and plant-based, as well as how these products are labeled. Related website:   https://alt-meat.net/