Food Sleuth Radio

Did you know that a former Marine has aerially documented hurricane damage to confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs) in Eastern North Carolina? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with photojournalist and Senior Advisor to the Waterkeeper Alliance, Rick Dove. Dove describes his brush with Pfiesteria Piscicida, repeated fish kills, coal ash spills, hog manure spills, the politics that protect the hog industry at the expense of citizens, and advocacy strategies for those who care about natural resources, public health, and a sustainable food system. A recent article about his observations was published in the Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2018/09/22/i-saw-florence-sending-millions-gallons-animal-poop-flooding-across-north-carolina/?utm_term=.f3998583936dRelated website:  https://waterkeeper.org/

Did you know that children are strategically targeted by manufacturers of fast and processed foods and sugary beverages? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Andrea Curtis, author of “Eat This! How Fast-Food Marketing Gets You to Buy Junk (and how to fight back).” Curtis discusses marketing strategies that are specifically used to trick kids (and convince their parents) to purchase unhealthy foods and beverages. Examples include product placement in video games, digital techniques, and commercialism in public schools. Curtis also gives suggestions and provides resources to protect children from powerful market forces that threaten their health and well-being.Related website:  http://andreacurtiskids.ca/books/eat-this/

Do you know the foods that are most likely to be mislabeled or incorrectly identified on menus and grocery shelves? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Larry Olmsted, author of “Real Food, Fake Food: Why You Don’t Know What You’re Eating & What You Can Do About It.” From dried grass clippings in oregano to cellulose in grated Parmesan cheese, Olmsted reviews some of the most common frauds in the food and restaurant marketplace. He reveals how consumers can avoid being tricked, and shares tips to find and enjoy “real” food.  Calling all foodies, sushi lovers, and olive oil aficionados.Related website:  www.realfoodfakefood.com

Did you know the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that about one in 59 children has been identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD)? And that food is at the heart of treatment? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Elizabeth Strickland, R.D. author of “Eating for Autism: the 10-Step Nutrition Plan to Help Treat Your Child’s Autism, Asperger’s or ADHD.” Strickland explains the power of food and nutrition in helping children and their families cope with challenges, including behavior, mood, sleep patterns, and the  ability to learn, concentrate, and focus.Related website:  https://elizabethsauls.com/book/

Did you know that Smithfield Foods is a $15 billion global food company and the world’s largest hog producer and slaughterhouse? (Smithfield slaughters 32,000 hogs per day; that’s 33 hogs per minute or 1 every two seconds.) Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Lynn Waltz, two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, assistant professor of journalism at The Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications at Hampton University, Hampton, Virginia, and author  of  “Hog Wild: The Battle for Workers’ Rights at the World’s Largest Slaughterhouse” (University of Iowa Press/2018). Waltz shares her extensive investigation into how the Smithfield slaughterhouse changed the landscape of eastern North Carolina and how and why workers fought and won the right to unionize. Waltz helps us understand the high costs of cheap meat, and offers hope and policy solutions for a more sustainable food system.Related website:  http://lynnwaltz.com/

Did you know that organic farming methods improve soil and water quality, and can help mitigate climate change? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Brise Tencer, Executive Director of the California-based Organic Farming Research Foundation. Tenser explains the meaning and benefits of organic food and farming, how certification, benefits farmers and consumers, and teh challenges facing organic farmers. Tenser shares highlights from recent organic research, and provides a review of OFRF resources, including frequently asked questions and webinars for farmers and consumers who want to learn more.Related website: www.ofrf.org

Did you know that a compound largely found in mushrooms could help prevent neuro-degenerative diseases? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Robert Beelman, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Food Science, and Director of the Center for Plant and Mushroom Foods for Health, at Pennsylvania State University. Beelman will describe the unique nutritional and medicinal properties of mushrooms, including epidemiological research their potential for reducing the risk of neurological diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinsons’ diseases. Beelman will describe the soil-nutrition connection, mushroom nutrition, especially ergothioneine, and it’s relationship to health.Related website: https://theconversation.com/how-the-lowly-mushroom-is-becoming-a-nutritional-star-88527

Did you know that supermarkets hold great power and influence over the farmers, producers and workers who supply their products? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Irit Tamir, J.D., Director of Oxfam America’s Private Sector Department. Tamir will discuss Oxfam’s new report, “Ripe for Change: Ending the human suffering behind our food” https://www.oxfamamerica.org/static/media/files/Ripe-for-Change-Ending-Human-Suffering-in-Supermarket-Supply-Chains-report.pdf and Oxfam’s new “Behind the Barcodes Campaign,” which assesses supermarket supply chains and how they score on human rights. Oxfam is a global organization working to end the injustice of poverty. Tune in to learn the stories behind our global food system, including CEO salaries, supermarket consolidation, and seafood supply chain working conditions; and, learn how to increase transparency and ethical sourcing.Related website:  www.behindthebarcodes.org

Did you know that “food touches everything?” Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Laura Titzer, community food organizer based in Seattle, WA, and author of “No Table Too Small: Engaging in the Art and Attitude of Social Change.” Titzer discusses her work history, defines food “activist,” and describes barriers to, and solutions for food justice.Related website:  http://thefoodcoup.com/no-table-too-small-the-book/

Did you know that labor union contracts help protect slaughterhouse workers’ health and safety? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Dennis Olson, Senior Research Associate and Policy Analyst for the United Food & Commercial Workers International Union. Olson describes how labor unions in poultry slaughterhouses help uphold safer line speeds. He also describes the Center for Good Food Purchasing (https://goodfoodpurchasing.org/) which uses collective buying power to drive market shifts towards fair labor practices, local economies, environmental sustainability, sound nutrition and animal welfare. Finally, Olson discusses the demise of Country of Origin Labeling and the loopholes of the “Product of USA” label. If you support fair meat labeling, a comment period on Product of USA labels is open until August 17, 2018. Learn more through the Organization for  Competitive Markets ( https://competitivemarkets.com) and American Grassfed Association (https://www.americangrassfed.org/news/ ); comment here: https://www.regulations.gov/docket?D=FSIS-2018-0024Related website:  www.ufcw.org