Episodes
Did you know that gas stoves pose health hazards, especially to vulnerable populations? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Mark Vossler, M.D., cardiologist, and President-elect of Physicians for Social Responsibility. Vossler discusses the unhealthy air pollution from gas stoves, related health risks, including causing and exacerbating asthma, vulnerable populations, and ways to mitigate risks.  Related Websites: Rewiring...
Published 11/15/24
Published 11/15/24
Did you know that in September, the Appalachian region was surprisingly hit by Hurricane Helene which destroyed mountain communities and farms, disrupted their water infrastructure, and impact their tightly-knit, well-connected regional food system.  Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Molly Nicholie, Executive Director of the Appalachian Sustainable Agriculture Project. Nicholi will discuss the impact of Hurricane Helene on the...
Published 11/08/24
Did you know that community networking is key to taking steps toward mitigating climate change? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Marianne Krasny, Ph.D., Professor and Director of the Civic Ecology Lab at Cornell University and author of In This Together: Connecting with your Community to Combat the Climate Crisis. Krasny explains “network climate action” - the power of our social networks in making collective lifestyle changes...
Published 11/01/24
Did you know that agroecology offers a holistic approach to agriculture? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her conversation with Alexis E. Racelis, PhD, Professor of Agroecology at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.  Racelis discusses the impact of climate change on agriculture in his unique geographical region in south Texas, and the potential benefits of agroecology and regionalized food systems. Related Websites:...
Published 10/25/24
Did you know there are probably millions of cases of foodborne illness every year in the U.S.? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her conversation with Don Schaffner, PhD, food microbiologist, Distinguished professor, and Extension Specialist at Rutgers University. Schaffner discusses Covid -19 and food’s unlikely route of Covid exposure, handwashing specifics (time and water temp.), and specific foods he avoids and why.  (part 2 of 2) Related...
Published 10/18/24
Did you know that pregnant women should avoid deli lunch meats due to the risk of listeria-related foodborne illness? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Don Schaffner, PhD, food microbiologist, Distinguished Professor, and Extension Specialist at Rutgers University. Schaffner discusses his research on handwashing, characteristics of listeria and the recent Boar’s Head lunch meat recall, and food safety related to power...
Published 10/11/24
Did you know that there are efforts to weaken the organic label? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Max Goldberg, MBA, Founder and Editor of Organic Insider newsletter covering the organic industry, and administrator of the Organic Food Industry group on LinkedIn.  Goldberg discusses gene editing, regenerative agriculture, and food labels consumers can trust. Related Websites: www.organicinsider.com 
Published 10/04/24
Did you know that organic farming is both regenerative and climate smart? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Thelma Velez, PhD, Research and Education Program Director at the Organic Farming Research Foundation. Velez explains USDA’s organic label, and how organic farming practices benefit planet and people. She shares challenges faced by organic farmers, confusion over the “regenerative” label, and describes OFRF’s new tool kit...
Published 09/27/24
Did you know that food is the most important “school supply?” Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Stephen Ritz, award-winning science teacher and founder of the Green Bronx Machine. Ritz teaches in the poorest school district in the nation but has turned children’s lives around with food and love. He explains how food injustice is racial injustice, and that the cheap and convenient foods readily available in his students’...
Published 09/20/24
Did you know that Midwestern industrial agriculture influences our national food system?  Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Audrey Tran Lam, MPH, Environmental Health Program Director at the Center for Energy & Environmental Education, at the University of Northern IA. Tran Lam explains how increasing crop rotations and biodiversity could significantly reduce our dependence on expensive and harmful nitrogen fertilizers and...
Published 09/13/24
Did you know that indigenous food systems are based on cooperation? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with A-dae Romera- Briones (Cochiti/Kiowa), native Agricultural Food Systems Leader and Director of Programs for the First Nations Development Institute. She discusses the nature and history of indigenous foodways, food sovereignty, and the importance of how we tell the story of agriculture. She is a featured keynote speaker at the...
Published 09/06/24
Did you know that a good share of dairy farms and food processors employ migrant laborers? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Jim Goodman, M.S., retired third-generation dairy farmer, president of the National Family Farm Coalition, and farm activist. Goodman advocates for a farmer-controlled, consumer-oriented food system. He is a frequent contributor of thought-provoking articles on farming, food, politics, trade and labor for...
Published 08/29/24
Did you know that farm soil is increasingly becoming a reservoir for plastic? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Grey Moran, award-winning journalist and staff writer at Civil Eats, where their writing focuses on climate change, the food system, public health, and environmental justice. Moran discusses “plasticulture” and the increasing use of plastic in agriculture, and how the Fair Food Alliance is working around FL law which...
Published 08/23/24
Did you know that trial attorneys work to protect farmers against harms they experience from the use of agricultural chemicals? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Daniel Hinkle, J.D., lawyer, lobbyist and Senior State Affairs Counsel at the American Association for Justice. Hinkle describes the role of trial attorneys in helping farmers receive compensation from harm related to pesticide use, and the agrochemical industry’s...
Published 08/15/24
Did you know that the sugar alcohol xylitol has been linked to increased risk of blood clots? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her interview with Tod Cooperman, M.D., President and Founder of ConsumerLab.com,  the leading national independent reviewer of food products and dietary supplements. Cooperman reviews his recent reports on the potential harms from sugar substitutes and artificial sweeteners, and potential benefits of olive and fish oils,...
Published 08/09/24
Did you know that food and beverage companies spend nearly $2 billion dollars each year marketing food to kids and the vast majority of these foods are unhealthy? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her conversation with Katie Marx, policy associate with the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Marx discusses food industry tactics for marketing ultra-processed foods and beverages to children, including the use of influencers in mobile apps and...
Published 08/01/24
Did you know that climate change is fueling the spread of bird flu?  Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Katelyn Jetelina, MPH, PhD., epidemiologist, data scientist and science communicator who serves as a scientific consultant to the White House and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Jetelina publishes the popular “Your Local Epidemiologist (YLE)” newsletter, and will discuss bird flu, raw milk risks and myths, the...
Published 07/25/24
Did you know that plastic is made from fossil fuel, and has deleterious effects on planet and people?  Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Lisa Kaas Boyle, JD, environmental attorney, cofounder of the Plastic Pollution Coalition, and executive producer of the documentary film, Overload: America’s Toxic Love Story. Boyle describes the injustice of fossil fuel and plastic pollution, the myth of plastic recycling, and the importance of...
Published 07/19/24
Did you know that the mundane advice dietitians give to “eat a variety of foods in moderation” is actually critical to both reaching nutritional adequacy and protecting us from contaminants in foods? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Kellie Casavale, RD, PhD., Senior Science Nutrition Advisor at the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Casavale discusses ways to protect...
Published 07/11/24
Did you know that our nation’s agricultural policies (the Farm Bill) largely subsidize crops that don’t support “food as medicine?” Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Christina Badaracco, MPH, Registered Dietitian, and co-author with Dan Imhoff of The Farm Bill: A Citizen’s Guide. Badaracco discusses her entry into healthcare transformation through nutrition, “culinary medicine,” the value of teaching kitchens, and the importance...
Published 07/04/24
Did you know that 80 to 90 percent of all agriculture globally is based on annual grain crops? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Evan Craine, Ph.D., Research Associate at The Land Institute, who discusses the ecological benefits of perennial agriculture. Related website:  www.landinstitute.org https://kernza.org/new-kernza-food-drink-products-proliferate/
Published 06/28/24
Did you know that U.S. farm policy values corporate profits over human health?  Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Omanjana Goswami, Ph.D., Interdisciplinary scientist in the Food & Environment Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists. Goswami discusses the connection between soil and human health; and water pollution from Tyson meat processing plants. She describes the impacts of nitrate pollution on human health and key...
Published 06/21/24
Did you know that teaching children how to cook improves their motivation and ability to eat well? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Pam Koch, Ed.D, R.D., Mary Swartz Rose Associate Professor of Nutrition and Education, and Faculty Director at the Tisch Center for Food, Education & Policy at Teachers College, Columbia University, New York. Koch describes her decades of research working to improve children’s nutrition, defines...
Published 06/13/24
Did you know that our brains play an important role in regulating appetite and food intake? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Marc Cornier, MD Professor of Medicine and Director of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolic Diseases at the Medical University of South Carolina. Cornier shares his research on the neurocircuitry related to appetite. He emphasizes that obesity is a chronic disease, and discusses the...
Published 06/07/24