Food Sleuth Radio

Did you know that climate change is the most urgent challenge facing our food system and public health? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Surili Sutaria Patel, M.S., Deputy Director of the Center for Health Policy at the American Public Health Association (APHA). Patel explains that we are the first generation to feel the impacts of climate change but likely the last generation to do something about it. Join us as we discuss the food, nutrition, and health challenges related to climate change,  with messages of hope and action.2017 is the “Year of Climate Change and Health,” a 12-month APHA-led initiative with monthly themes meant to raise awareness of and mobilize action on the health impacts of climate change. In “The Human Cost of the Food We Eat,” http://www.publichealthnewswire.org/?p=18083 Patel describes climate change impacts on farm workers.Related website: https://www.apha.org/topics-and-issues/climate-change

Did you know that most meat animals in the United States are currently raised with the assistance of antibiotics? Eighty percent of the antibiotics sold in the U.S. are used in animals, not humans, and their use contributes to antibiotic resistance, which the United Nations calls “the greatest and most urgent global risk.” Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Maryn McKenna, author of  “Big Chicken: The Incredible Story of How Antibiotics Created Modern  Agriculture and Changed the Way the World Eats.” McKenna describes the extraordinary history of antibiotic use,  when the drugs were added to lipstick, ice, and painted on the outside of meat cuts, and the consequences we face today from not heeding warnings about the misuse of these precious drugs. Chickens were the first animals to get growth promoter antibiotics and they may be the first to be raised without them, thanks to growing consumer awareness and pressure in the  marketplace.Related website: www.bigchickenthebook.com

Did you know that 2017 has been designated “The year of climate change and health” by the American Public Health Association? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Georges Benjamin, M.D., Executive Director of the American Public Health Association, who describes the importance of community action, social determinants of public health, and health effects of climate change, including mosquito born diseases, and loss of cultural food and farming habits. Benjamin encourages us to look at climate change not through a political lens, but one of community response.  Climate change is “not just an inconvenience; it’s a societal issue.”Related website: www.apha.org/climate

Did you know that EPA’s “approval” of a pesticide does not equate with product safety? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Nathan Donley, Ph.D., Senior Scientist at the Center for Biological Diversity, and author of the report, “Toxic Concoctions: How the EPA Ignores the Dangers of Pesticide Cocktails.” Donley works on issues surrounding the increasing exposure of both people and wildlife to toxins and raises awareness about our flawed pesticide regulatory system. He explains how the pesticide approval process is narrowly focused on individual ingredients, and doesn’t take into account complex chemical combinations. He explains how many of the “other” or “inert” chemicals in formulations sold to the public change the properties of the active pesticide ingredient.Related website: https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/pesticides_reduction/pdfs/Toxic_concoctions.pdf

Did you know that what we eat shapes who we are and vice versa? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Laura Shapiro, culinary  historian, James Beard award-winning food columnist and book author who looks at the world, society, and women through food. Shapiro has written on every food topic from champagne to Jell-O in her decades-long career, and recognizes cooking as a basic survival skill. Shapiro discusses her work, including her latest book, “What She Ate, Six Remarkable Women & The Food That Tells Their Stories.” She shares highlights from her research into the peculiar eating and cooking habits of famous women, from Cosmopolitan’s Helen Gurley Brown to Hitler’s partner, Eva Braun.Related website: https://laurashapirowriter.com/

Did you know that consumer demand for organic food continues to grow, despite the struggle of U.S. farmers to keep up with demand? Do you understand what the organic label really means, and how organic certification works? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Abby Youngblood, Executive Director of the National Organic Coalition,  a national alliance of organizations working to provide a “Washington voice” for farmers, ranchers, environmentalists, consumers and industry members involved in organic agriculture.  Youngblood explains the value of the organic label and the need for vigilance in ensuring organic integrity. NOC advocates for strong, enforceable, and continuously improved standards to maximize the multiple health, environmental, and economic benefits of organic  agriculture. Consumers will find trustworthy label information at  www.greenerchoices.org  and can learn more about our national organic program rules and regulations at https://www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/organic/nosb.Related website: http://www.nationalorganiccoalition.org/

Guest Jim Riddle, MN-based certified organic farmer and internationally respected expert on organic farming systems and standards, policy and advocacy will discuss why farmers choose to farm organically and the hazards of pesticide spray drift.Beyond Pesticides

Did you know that we already produce enough food to more than “feed the world?” -- we just don’t provide adequate access to all.  Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for  her interview with John Reganold, Ph.D.,  Professor of Soil Science and Agroecology at WA State University in Pullman. Reganold is considered one of the founding and premier scientists in the world in sustainable and organic agricultural research. He discusses his research measuring the effects of organic, integrated and conventional farming systems on productivity, financial performance, environmental quality, and social wellbeing on five continents.His popular blog post for the Union of Concerned Scientists http://blog.ucsusa.org/science-blogger/organic-agriculture-is-key-to-helping-feed-the-world-sustainably discusses organic agriculture’s contribution to helping to feed the world sustainably. Reganold believes that we need a much broader conversation when we speak about “feeding the world,” including: population growth, and planetary boundaries, such as nutrient pollution, climate change, and land clearing. He also suggests ways the upcoming Farm Bill could support more sustainable farming practices. Related website:  https://www.researchgate.net/publication/293014068_Organic_agriculture_in_the_twenty-first_century 

Urvashi Rangan, Ph.D., environmental health scientist, Chief Science Advisor to the Grace Communications Foundation, and former executive director of the Food Safety and Sustainability Center for Consumer Reports, identifies food safety risks, trustworthy and questionable food labels, and green noise in the marketplace.Greener Choices

Guest Maya Shetreat, M.D., integrative pediatric neurologist and author of The Dirt Cure: Healthy Food, Healthy Gut, Happy Child, explains rising rates of childhood illness, and the critical but under-valued connection between health and our natural environmentMaya Shetreat-Klein, MD