Food Bullying Podcast

Pick a pumpkin - but what kind?  A self-proclaimed Professor of Pumpkinology, John Ackerman is the owner and operator of the farm bearing the same name that has been in his family for over a century.  And while you may hear "pumpkin" and think of the jack-o-lantern variety, he and his wife grow an astounding number of breeds. While Ackerman has opened his farm to the public each fall for the past...

"A little sugar is not always a bad thing!"   Kevin Herman is a diversified farmer who grows crops you may have not heard much about, but his biggest crops are figs.  And yes, there are more than one variety. He likens fig varieties to wine varieties - each with a distinct flavor and pairing opportunity.  A nutritional powerhouse of fiber, calcium, and potassium, Herman views figs as a great repla...

Is "wild" fish somehow better for you than the farm-raised variety? Mike Freeze, owner of Keo Fish Farm, conservationist, environmentalist, and naturalist, offers his perspective based on years of fish farming. "For a variety of health reasons people need to consume more seafood and since we are fishing the oceans at maximum sustainable levels, only farmed seafood offers the possibility to increas...

Named after and guided by her parents, Jerry and Linda, Alise Sjostrom's Jer-Lindy Farms produces award-winning cheeses.  A graduate of the University of Minnesota and Vermont Institue for Artisan Cheese, Sjostrom is quick to point out the biggest misconception about her line of work - that being lactose intolerant means you can't enjoy the fruits of her labor. "Cheese is actually quite low in lac...

With back to school in full swing, Michele and Nicole talk with Katie Pratt and Amanda Radke on the latest podcast episode.  While each of these women wears many hats (farmers, mothers, and pillars of their respective communities), they both work to increase literacy about food, farming, ranching, and nutrition in the classroom. As misinformation can spread early in life, Pratt keeps an open door...

"All actions have some sort of impact on the system, but at times, people can assume reducing animal protein can have a vast and meaningful impact without considering other important tradeoffs that should be considered." Passionate about leaving the planet better than she found it and ensuring access to nutrient-dense foods including nutrient-dense animal proteins, Dr. Kim Stackhouse-Lawson works...

There is a farmer behind everything you choose in the grocery store. Even sugar. "Pesticides, GMOs, roundup, the word natural....fear-mongering in the grocery store needs to stop. People are guilted into paying more for equally safe food due to a meaningless label." As a full time farmer (she grows sugar beets, corn, wheat, rye, and dry edible beans) and mom in the thumb of Michigan, Rita Herford...

"Herd health is our #1 priority."  Alli Fender left her corporate vet technician career to pursue her dream of being her own boss as a direct-to-consumer beef producer and black angus breeder.  Not only does she juggle that dream alongside motherhood, showing and breeding Australian Shepherds, and sharing her beef story via flyingranch.org , Fender also records conversations on all things small bu...

"The work ethic and pride most farmers have in what we do everyday is second to none. Family farms take care of the environment and land we use to make sure it is better for the next generations" points out a Michigan farmer responsible for the beans in your can. Black beans, navy beans, bean soup, amino acids in beans, bean recipes...Greg Ackerman is a farmer who is glad to talk beans. Ackerman &...

"The biggest misconception comes in when organic options are pushed as healthier than conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables." As operations manager for her family's strawberry farm in Florida, Michelle Williamson shares concerns that the Environmental Working Group's Dirty Dozen and similar activist groups  unnecessarily create fear around the food she and her family have been growing for fiv...

A dairy farmer who is just shy of ONE MILLION followers on Facebook , Derrick Josi survives on coffee and sarcasm while dispelling B.S. on social media. He says "doesn't put up or ignore idiots online because to do so makes them feel justified and entitled to stay ignorant."  This candid conversation covers everything from Josi and Nicole's mutual disdain for certain food labels and love of ice cr...

"Translating the science to the table does not mean we slide over the science." Connie Diekman, M.Ed, RD, CSSD, LD, FADA, FAND is a Food and Nutrition Consultant in St. Louis, Missouri, and a former President of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Always on top of cutting-edge research, she recently co-authored  Misinformation and Disinformation in Food Science and Nutrition: Impact on Practic...

"You have to do what's right, no matter how much it hurts." Dr. Kevin Folta is a molecular biologist who has worked with mRNA for more than 25 years. He is scientist in the genetics and genomics of small fruit crops, a recent farmers market president, and advocate for science communication. And although he's suffered significant personal and professional hardship for standing up for science, he co...

"The biggest hurdle for so many people pursuing health and wellness, including healing their relationship with food and being intentional about nutrition, has so much more to do with their mental and emotional state that we often realize. I believe that health should be pursued in a holistic approach, not sacrificing one aspect of health while in pursuit of another." Kiah Twisselman Burchett, bett...

"We're not 'dousing' our fields, we're not 'mining' our soil, and nutrients don't 'run off' the fields during normal rainfall."  As a dietitian turned full-time farmer on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, Jennie Schmidt has heard it all when it comes to misconceptions about how our food is raised.  Growing corn, soybeans, wheat, green beans, and wine grapes with her brother-in-law, Jennie is equally...

"Everyday life on the farm isn't always sunshine and roses." Nick Schweitzwer, a fifth generation farmer from the area known as "the ridge" north of Grand Rapids, Michigan. Roughly 60% of Michigan's apple production are grown in the area and Nick grows over 18 varieties on his farm.  He shares how there are many challenges unique to Midwest apple growers. Nick relishes the opportunity to share how...

"Go out and get the work done." If there's one insight to be gleaned from the 100th episode of the Food Bullying Podcast, it might be this one from co-host Michele. Or that she'd rather smell like her cows, while Nicole wishes to smell like Froot Loops. When Michele wanted to take the Food Bullying podcast in a new direction, she tapped a dietitian as a co-host.  But why one with zero background i...

If Hannah Craun and Levi Schiller are any indication, the future of farming certainly shines bright. Craun, a masters student at Virginia Tech focusing on cattle reproduction, and Schiller, an Ag Business major at The University of Nebraska, boast numerous awards and experiences in 4-H and FFA. They also share a concern about the misconceptions surrounding agriculture - and how fear and confusion...

Natalie Mariani Kling is a fourth generation family member of premium dried fruit company, which was started by her great grandfather in 1906 in what is now Silicon Valley. "My family and I are committed to 'inspire healthy living' and being a real solution for busy families trying to eat a little healthier every day." Natalie shares different perspectives in the medical and nutritional community...

Food prices rose 13% in 2022. Yet American's waste about $218 billion of food the U.S. and food is the single largest component taking up space inside of our landfills. RDN Rosanne Rust offers practical ways to reduce food waste in the home to save money and help the environment.  A prolific writer, she's published eight books, including several in the popular For Dummies® series, including her la...

How is soy a part of your diet? Maryland farmer Belinda Burrier talks about high oleic soybean oil, GMOs, international demand, the health benefits of soy, and so much more in the latest Food Bullying podcast.  Belinda farms soybeans, corn, wheat, and hay in central Maryland, just north of Washington DC with her husband and nephew. She married into farming 20 years ago, she and her husband have be...

Do you know the latest research on peanuts & allergens? Or that these protein essential grow in the ground? Or that the peanut plant is a legume that is rotated with other crops to help with soil health?  Case Cox Kerr is the sixth generation of her family to farm on the Flint River in south Georgia. Her family farm, Longleaf Ridge, produces sweet corn, peanuts, field corn, soybeans, and timber. S...

Take the gene as a sentence in a book. Copy that sentence (gene) into another book. Now scientists can put the gene into a specific paragraph. Farmer Paul Hodgen uses this example to explain genetic modification in food. He has worked with GMOs - genetically modified organism - in both the laboratory as an agronomist, as well as farming GMO corn and soybeans. He uses biotechnology to make his job...

"Avoid the center of the store...canned food isn't nutritious and filled with preservatives." These are examples of the negative bias put on the canning and processing community, according to our Food Bullying podcast guest Andy Russick. Reality is that canned vegetables and fruits can help you cut food costs, as well as get more nutrients in your diet. "I read and hear with frequency a suspicion...

Heather Barnes thinks the sweetpotato should wear a cape because it's such a nutrition powerhouse. And did you know the proper way to spell sweetpotatoes is without a space between the two words? Heather is a Marketing Specialist with the North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. She grew up in the city, but has spent more than 20 years working in agriculture. She is the mom...