Food Sleuth Radio

Did you know that intermittent fasting can reduce breast cancer recurrence and improve overall metabolic health? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Dorothy Sears, Ph. D., professor of Nutrition at Arizona State U.’s  College of Health Solutions, and adjunct professor of medicine at the U. of CA – San Diego. Sears discusses her research...

Did you know that pesticides are not necessary to “feed the world,” and that American taxpayers pay for pesticide-related harm to our environment and health? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Kristin Schafer, Former Executive Director of the Pesticide Action Network of North America. Schafer discusses highlights of her 25-year career w...

Did you know that if pesticides are used anywhere in a community, those pesticides can end up in ground water shared by that community? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Nancy Alderman, Founder and President of Environment and Human Health, Inc. (EHHI), a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of human health from environm...

Did you know that U.S. consumers spend more on health care than they do on food? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Jeff Tkach, Chief Impact Officer at the non-profit Rodale Institute. Tkach describes the Rodale Institute’s new free, on-demand consumer course on regenerative organic food and farming.  He defines “regenerative organic ag...

Did you know that plastic breaks down in our environment and enters our water, air, food chain and bodies? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Gaboury Benoit, Ph. D., Environmental Chemist at Yale University, and author of “ Plastics and Microplastics: A Threat to the Environment and Health.” Benoit discusses the fate of microplastics, p...

Did you know that industrial agriculture and factory farms negatively impact rural communities’ water, air and quality of life?  Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Sherri Dugger, Executive Director of the Socially Responsible Agriculture Project. Dugger defines “socially responsible agriculture,” discusses industrial farming myths, and...

Did you know that what we eat can not only affect our own personal health, but that of our planet as well? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Dana Ellis Hunnes, R.D., MPH, Ph. D., dietitian and faculty member at UCLA https://ph.ucla.edu/faculty/hunnes who discusses her book: Recipe for Survival: What You Can Do to Live a Healthier and M...

Did you know that 50 years have passed since the first edition of Diet for a Small Planet was published? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Frances Moore Lappé, activist and author of Diet for a Small Planet . Lappe discusses her life’s work; the connections between democracy, world hunger, and our environment, and shares insights gaine...

Did you know that less than 10% of all the plastic ever made has been recycled? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Erica Cirino, science writer, artist, and author of Thicker Than Water: The Quest for Solutions to the Plastic Crisis (Island Press, 2021). Cirino describes her 24 day ocean voyage during which she witnessed extensive plast...

Did you know that January is National Human Trafficking Prevention Month, and in all likelihood, we consume the products of slavery every day? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Anne Ross, attorney with Charleston Pro Bono Legal Services, Charleston, S.C. Ross discusses human trafficking and forced labor in food and agriculture industri...

Did you know that food labels can mislead us into thinking processed and packaged foods and beverages are healthier than they might appear? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Eva Greenthal, MS, MPH, Senior Science Policy Associate at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Greenthal discusses the Food Labeling Modernization Act a...

Did you know that industries use a variety of tactics to manipulate public opinion about products that can harm our health and environment? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Laura Vandenberg, Ph. D., Associate Dean for Undergraduate Academic Affairs within the School of Public Health & Health Sciences, and Professor in the Departme...

Did you know that many physicians are joining with dietitians to help their patients eat well? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Dr. Reshma Shah, M.D., MPH, board-certified pediatrician, and co-author of the award-winning book, Nourish: The Definitive Plant-Based Nutrition Guide for Families , co-authored with Registered Dietitian, Bre...

Did you know that less than 10% of plastic is recycled? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Alexis Goldsmith, National Organizing Director at Beyond Plastics. Goldsmith discusses the myths of plastic “recycling,” plastic’s connection to climate change and how plastic creates global environmental and public health disasters.   Related web...

Did you know that the majority of farmers struggle to make a living? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Beth Hoffman, journalist and author of Bet the Farm: Dollars and Sense of Growing Food in America (Island Press, 2021). Hoffman describes the little known hard economic realities of farming and exposes myths we’ve been fed about Ameri...

Did you know that Danone North America, owner of Horizon Organic, dropped its contracts with 89 organic dairies in New England and Upstate New York? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Edward Maltby, Executive Director of the Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance. Maltby discusses the benefits of organic food and farming, the plight...

Did you know that our perceptions of how and what we eat are influenced by our culture? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Melanie Joy, PhD, psychologist and author of Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows . Joy specializes in the psychology of eating animals, social transformation, and relationships. She discusses her theory of car...

Did you know that child-targeted marketing and excessive screen time undermines kids’ health? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Josh Golin, Executive Director of the non-profit , Fairplay: Childhood Beyond Brands (formerly the Campaign for a Commercial Free Childhood). Golin describes the mission and recent activities and concerns of F...

Did you know that human, animal, plant, environment and ecosystem health are all connected? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Laura Kahn, MD, MPH, MPP, co-founder of the global One Health Initiative. Kahn is a physician and research scholar with experience in medicine, public health, and public policy. She fosters systems thinking, tak...

Did you know that the stories behind our favorite distilled spirits are largely hidden, and rarely presented on bar menus? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Shanna Farrell, expert in “cocktail culture,” and author of A Good Drink, In Pursuit of Sustainable Spirits. Farrell delves into labeling, ingredients, production, and why and how...

Did you know that the benefits of probiotics are strain specific? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her part 2 interview with Anthony Thomas, Ph. D., nutrition researcher, scientific consultant in the dietary supplement industry, and director of Scientific Affairs at Natreon Inc., a nutraceutical ingredient innovator. Thomas was formerly the Director of...

Did you know that the microbes in and on our body significantly contribute to our health? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Anthony Thomas, Ph. D., nutrition researcher, scientific consultant in the dietary supplement industry, and director of Scientific Affairs at Natreon Inc., a nutraceutical ingredient innovator. He was formerly the...

Did you know that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , 98 percent of Americans have trace amounts of PFAS (per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances) in their bodies? And that PFAS reduce vaccine effectiveness? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Sydney Evans, MPH Science Analyst, Environmental Working Group. Evans disc...

Did you know that black currants were once illegal to grow in the U.S.? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Greg Quinn, owner of Walnut Grove Farm in Clinton, NY where he grows and produces a variety of black currant products. Once a “forbidden fruit,” Quinn describes the steps he took to make it legal to produce currants in NY State, an...

Did you know that global palm oil production is decimating rainforests, polluting water and harming farmworker health? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and registered dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn, for her interview with Jocelyn C. Zuckerman, former deputy editor of Gourmet magazine , and James Beard award winning feature writer, who discusses her book, Planet Palm: How Palm Oil Ended Up In Everything...