Food Sleuth Radio
Dietitian Melinda Hemmelgarn helps listeners “think beyond their plates,” connect the dots between food, health and agriculture, and find food truth.
Latest episodes
May 23, 2019 • 28min
Jeff Jones, 4th generation family farmer and president of Friends of Responsible Agriculture, describes his fight against the expansion of a 10,000 hog CAFO, and the effects on his rural community.
Did you know that industrial agri-business rhetoric hides the truth about the environmental and social impacts on rural citizens living near concentrated animal feeding operations? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with 4th-generation family farmer Jeff Jones from rural Callaway County (MO) who has been embroiled in a fight to prevent a concentrated hog operation housing 10,000 sows from expanding next to his farm and home. (See local press coverage: https://www.columbiamissourian.com/news/local/government-eases-up-on-cafos-as-residents-fight-their-expansion/article_22a3786c-9c10-11e8-978c-cf45e8085be8.html ; http://www.newstribune.com/news/local/story/2018/jun/29/ground-broken-future-callaway-farrowing-site/732520/ )Rarely do we hear the voices of rural citizens who struggle to fight expansion of corporate livestock operations. Jones describes his family farmer values, and the impact of industrial farms on rural communities – from air and water pollution, to the destruction of friendly neighbor relationships. Despite forming a citizens’ network - Friends of Responsible Agriculture- to fight encroaching CAFOs, political support for industry has allowed them to expand, with grave consequences.Related website: https://sraproject.org/
May 17, 2019 • 28min
Barbara Storper, dietitian, describes her use of live theater to teach children healthy eating habits.
Did you know that “live theater” is a fun and effective way to teach children healthy habits? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Barbara Storper, Registered dietitian, Founder and Executive Director of FoodPlay Productions, a nutrition education organization that brings the power of live theater to turn kids on to healthy habits. FOODPLAY’s live theater shows have reached more than five million children across the country with evaluations showing dramatic improvements in children’s eating and physical activity habits. Storper is the recipient of numerous awards including an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Youth and Family TV Special.” Related website: http://foodplay.com
May 10, 2019 • 28min
Linda Booker, producer of the documentary film, “Straws,” helps us rethink single-use plastics.
Did you know that at least 520 million plastic straws are disposed of each day in the U.S.? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Linda Booker, film maker, director and producer of “Straws,” one of the featured documentaries in the Wild and Scenic Film Festival, and identified as one of the leading documentaries to help us rethink single-use plastics. Booker documents the enormous quantity of plastic waste in our environment - how it harms wildlife and people, and the heroic individuals working to reduce plastic use, save animals and protect human health. Related website: www.strawsfilm.com
May 3, 2019 • 28min
Matt Willey, artist, explains why and how he is painting 50,000 bees on murals across the world.
Did you know that 50,000 bees are necessary for a healthy, thriving hive? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Matt Willey, artist, who is painting 50,000 bees on murals across the world in order to raise awareness of the plight and the importance of bees in our food system. Willey describes the course of his project and his process. He explains: “Through the simple act of painting a symbolic healthy hive of 50,000, one bee at a time, we intend to inspire an unstoppable movement of necessary change toward balance between humans and the natural world.” Related website: www.thegoodofthehive.com
Apr 26, 2019 • 28min
Brenda Davis, dietitian and author of “The Kick Diabetes Cookbook” describes how high fiber plant foods can help reverse type 2 diabetes.
Did you know that eating a high fiber diet is key to reversing Type 2 diabetes? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Brenda Davis, R.D., author of “The Kick Diabetes Cookbook: An action plan and recipes for defeating diabetes.” Davis describes the critical role plant fibers play in nourishing the microbiome and protecting health, including reversing Type 2 Diabetes. She explains the “grain hierarchy” and the benefits of whole intact grains vs. processed, refined carbohydrates. Related website: www.brendadavisrd.com
Apr 19, 2019 • 28min
Patty Lovera, Assistant Director of Food & Water Watch, defines and discuss biotechnology applications in food and agriculture and the new “bioengineered” food labels.
Did you know that genetically modified foods will be required to bear labels identifying them as “bioengineered” by January 1, 2022? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Patty Lovera, M.S., Assistant Director of Food & Water Watch, a non-profit advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C. Lovera defines and discuss biotechnology applications in food and agriculture, explore press coverage (and bias), and USDA’s new GMO food labels that use the term “bioengineered” rather than "GMO." Related website: https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org
Apr 12, 2019 • 28min
Gary Paul Nabhan, Ph.D., the “father” of the local food and heirloom seed saving movements discusses his new book, “Food from the Radical Center: Healing Our Land and Communities.
Did you know that food can reconnect us to our cultural roots and heritage, and create stronger communities?Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Gary Paul Nabhan, Ph.D., Kellogg Endowed Chair at the University of Arizona’s Southwest Center. Nabhan is an agricultural Ecologist, ethnobotanist, Ecumenical Franciscan Brother, and recipient of a MacArthur Genius Award. He is considered the “father” of the local food and heirloom seed saving movements. He will discuss his new book, “Food from the Radical Center: Healing Our Land and Communities,” and share his thoughts on how food is at the healing center of strong communities. Nabhan describes the economic disparity at the U.S. - Mexican border, the importance of healing food, and his philosophy about how restoring our environment can restore cohesiveness in our communities. Nabhan was involved in the first Earth Day in 1970. Related website: https://www.garynabhan.com/food-from-the-radical-center/
Apr 5, 2019 • 28min
Northeast Arkansas Beekeeper, Richard Coy, describes how the use of the herbicide Dicamba is killing the plants his bees need to survive.
Did you know that the herbicide Dicamba, used on genetically modified soybeans, is killing the plants bees depend on for survival? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Richard Coy, beekeeper with Coy’s Honey Farm, Inc., the largest beekeeping operation in Arkansas. Coy explains how and why he is being forced to leave Arkansas and move his hives to southern Mississippi and near the Canadian border to escape Dicamba drift. Coy emphasizes that beekeeping (and organic farming) are not compatible with “modern” farming that is dependent upon chemicals. Related website: https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2019/jan/05/honey-seller-faults-dicamba-in-closing-/
Mar 29, 2019 • 28min
Formerly incarcerated Anthony Travis describes his life changing experience participating in Catherine Sneed’s Horticulture Project at the San Francisco County Jail.
Did you know that the San Francisco County Jail’s Horticulture Project reduced recidivism rates by 75%? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Anthony Travis, formerly incarcerated in the S.F County Jail, where he participated in the Horticulture Project, a training program for inmates widely recognized as a milestone in prisoner rehabilitation founded by Catherine Sneed. Travis credits Sneed and gardening to turning his life around. Travis describes his childhood, why he turned to selling drugs, and the prison food environment. Today, Travis is fully employed by the city of San Francisco’s Public Utilities department. The United States Department of Agriculture hailed Sneed’s work as “one of the most innovative and successful community-based crime prevention programs in the country.” It has since lost funding. Related website: https://www.gardenproject.org/about_us
Mar 22, 2019 • 28min
Shelly McGuire, Ph.D., discusses the “human milk microbiome,” – and the miraculous relationship between a lactating mother and her baby.
Did you know that human breastmilk is a complex living nourishment? And that breastfeeding offers protection from contraception? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Shelly McGuire, Ph.D. professor of nutrition at the U. of Idaho - Moscow. McGuire discusses her research into the “milk microbiome,” the role of microorganisms in breastmilk in protecting infant health, and the miraculous relationship between a lactating mother and her baby. McGuire explores how a lactating mother’s diet might impact her milk microbiome, and other factors affecting lactation and milk composition. McGuire reviews the presentation she gave at the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics meeting in Washington DC in October, 2018, titled: Feeding and Seeding: Human Milk’s Composition Impact on the Infant MicrobiomeRelated Related website: https://www.uidaho.edu/cals/family-and-consumer-sciences/our-people/shelley-mcguire
