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 games.

Related Websites: https://www.cspinet.org/advocacy/nutrition/food-marketing-kids
Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/video/national/junk-food-ads-are-everywhere-online-and-kids-are-watching/2023/10/17/943efe83-941f-45e9-bf8d-a53296b6de89_video.html

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 challenges of science communication, promoting public health and preventing pandemics.

Related website: https://yourlocalepidemiologist.substack.com/

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 citizen action and public policies.

Related website: www.lisakaasboyle.com

More Drinking Fountains, Fewer Plastic Bottles: https://law.tulane.edu/news/law-alumna-more-drinking-fountains-fewer-plastic-bottles

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 vulnerable populations, especially children, from heavy metal contaminants (lead, mercury, cadmium and arsenic) in our food, with an emphasis on fish and seafood.

Related website: “Advice About Eating Fish and Shellfish:”https://www.epa.gov/choose-fish-and-shellfish-wisely/epa-fda-advice-about-eating-fish-and-shellfish
https://www.fda.gov/media/102331/download?attachment
“Closer to Zero: Reducing Childhood Exposure to Contaminants from Foods:” https://www.fda.gov/food/environmental-contaminants-food/closer-zero-reducing-childhood-exposure-contaminants-foods

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 of national farm policies to support public health.

Related website: Food as Medicine: https://www.healthaffairs.org/content/forefront/five-food-problems-why-current-food-medicine-solutions-falling-short
The Farm Bill: A Citizen’s Guide: https://islandpress.org/books/farm-bill#desc

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/

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 changes in farm policy that would contribute to improvements in both environmental and public health.

Related website: https://blog.ucsusa.org/omanjana-goswami/did-you-know-that-soil-health-affects-human-health/ ; Waste Deep: How Tyson Foods Pollutes US Waterways and Which States Bear the Brunt https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/waste-deep

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 “ultra-processed” foods, and explains the importance of the U.S. Dietary Guidelines.

Related website: Food Systems Based Dietary Guidelines: https://openknowledge.fao.org/server/api/core/bitstreams/20b9fd77-47f5-46f0-bdd9-94f798620368/content
Tisch Center: https://www.tc.columbia.edu/tisch/
Mary Swartz Rose Memorial Lecture: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkU1D-z2jXw
(Koch starts at 18:09)