Food Slain

Welcome to the Season Three Finale!

In this episode, we're talking rising food prices and global food shortages. It's already happening and we're not out of the COVID-19 weeds yet.

There are a variety of reasons why we should be more concerned about these important issues, than some of the other irrelevant stuff we are being distracted by.

Countries are hoarding food, the shortening of growing days and extreme weather events have already impacted farmers yields with rice, wheat and corn crops, and lockdowns are expected again this winter. So what will that mean for us?

Well, that’s what we’re going to talk about in this episode. Listen in here or on foodslain.com, share this episode with someone you love and let's continue the conversation on the socials and in Season Four - starting November 13th.

Happy Halloween and I'll see you on the other side of the plate.

Chow.

In this episode, my guest, colleague and fellow podcast host, Alfredo Gonzalez Valenzuela joins me to talk shop about building resilience through food.

He is a community organizer, facilitator, and artists, and loves engaging youth in environmental educational programs that get them excited about exploring their relationship with nature.

Alfredo is also the host of his own podcast, Climate Front Line, so make sure to listen in to his episodes.

https://www.climatefrontline.com/

Thanks for listening in, and I'll see you on the other side of the plate.

Chow.

In this episode, Mchezaji "Che" Axum shares some very interesting and insightful information about the nutrient density of our food and why it is so important, especially right now, during a global pandemic.

Che is a leading Agronomist in Washington, D.C., he's an urban agriculture researcher and consultant, and he's writing a book about the origins of sustainable agriculture.

The most interesting parts of this interview revolves around nutrient dense varieties and Che's trials with growing rice. Did you know, there are heavy metals in some of the rice we are consuming and feeding to our children? Yeah...

Anyway, I hope you listen in and share this episode with someone you love. Make sure to get your nutrient dense foods in and boost your immunity. We're not "out of the weeds" with this global pandemic, and we're entering "flu season"...so there's that!

I thought it would be a good idea to look into a food most of us eat every day, bread. More specifically though, we're digging into an additive called Potassium Bromate and Azobicarbonomide (ACA).

These are chemical additives used to make plastics AND they are used to strengthen flour and bleach dough. Potassium bromate is an additive that is used to accomplish a few things. It helps breads rise higher, it acts as a dough conditioner and it makes baked breads appear lighter in color.

Sadly, this additive also accomplishes a few things that take the joy out of eating bread for some of us, namely disrupting genetic information in the cells of the body.

And if that’s not enough of a bummer, potassium bromate is banned in many countries around the world on the basis that it is a possible carcinogen, but it is not banned in the United States.

So, I bet you’re thinking….if it’s banned in other countries around the world, why hasn’t it been banned in the US?

That’s a good question. And that’s what we’re digging into today. Thanks for listening.

In this episode, I'm speaking with biochemist and researcher, Dr. David Killilea and we're digging into the half truths behind whole grains and whole wheat.

His extensive research has revealed that we're not always getting the nutritional density that we think we are getting when we opt for whole grain and whole wheat products. Why is that a problem?

Well, the problem is two-fold. First, the marketing behind the promotion of whole wheat and whole grain products is massive, and we're told to eat more foods with whole grains because it's "healthier". But the whole wheat and whole grains we are being fed, are not nutritionally dense in most cases.

Second, the way wheat and whole grains are processed, diminish the nutrient density and flavor profile.

Listen to Dr. David Killilea, PhD. dig into the half truths behind whole wheat and whole grains and learn more about what you can do to help build a local grain economy where you live!

In this episode, we’re talking about fake honey and honey laundering. And honestly, I wish this wasn’t a thing because in reality, buying adulterated honey is a matter of national food security.

There's no doubt, this is a sticky issue. Not just for beekeepers, but for us, as consumers. There are many brands of honey out there, both little known and very well known, that are cut and adulterated with cheap grain and sugar syrups, like sugar cane, corn and rice syrup, and beet sugar. In many cases these other sweeteners go undetected and end up in your cup of tea.

The cold, hard truth is, there’s fraud happening, honey buns. And it’s happening around the world. It is particularly egregious in Australia. However, for all my listeners down "unda" - you’re not the only ones. And the impact isn’t just economic, there are health implications, as well as environmental ones that we just don’t think about when we buy honey!

And these things are threatening our national food security. So, that’s what we’re going to talk about in this episode.

In this episode, we’re talking about the adulteration of one of the most popular spices used around the world, turmeric. Specifically, we’re talking about dried, ground turmeric not the fresh root.

This spice is so popular that it has been one of the top selling spices in the world, but it has been adulterated with lead since the 1980's. Crazy, right?

And there is NO safe level for lead consumption in the United States, so even with all the snazzy packaging, and the inundation of marketing telling us how healthy turmeric is, it all seems to be going to our heads. Literally.

Lead accumulates in the body, the brain, the liver, kidneys and bones and it can have major impacts on the health of pregnant women, infants and children, especially.

There have been several recalls of turmeric over the years. One in 2011, one in 2016 and even as recent as the summer of 2019. So, even with all this, we're still finding lead laced turmeric on our plates, in our cups and in our skin care products.

If you use ground turmeric or know someone who does (I mean, we all know someone who puts this stuff in their smoothies), make sure to listen to this episode and share it with someone you love.

Why, is the question we're posing to West, May and Nevin, three Generation Z youth in this week's episode.

Why would these three 19 year olds want to learn how to grow their own food?

Call it circumstance or destiny, but the impact of Covid-19 is playing a huge role in their decision to learn these valuable life skills, heal their bodies and minds and build relationships with the plants, the environment and the people around them.

Listen in to the episode to learn more about WHY they consciously decided to leave college and take responsibility for their lives.

EPISODE TIME STAMP

02:08 - West : Self Sufficiency Skills For Feeding Oneself

05:16 - Cultivating the Skills to Provide for Yourself

06:57 - May : The Healing Impact of Growing Food

09:09 - We ALL Want To Heal Our Bodies & Minds

11:06 - Nevin : Connecting to What’s Around Us & Building Relationships

13:53 - The Quality of Our Relationships - with Food, with Soil and with Each Other

This week, we're talking to "Dr. Food", Dr. Julia Mason about Vitamin D and the coronavirus. She's a pediatric physician who sees deficiencies in this very important fat soluble vitamin in her patients frequently, and in this episode we're talking about how being deficient in Vitamin D can impact your health outcomes - especially when it comes to immunity and "the rona".

Did you know that most of us don't get enough Vitamin D everyday? Do you know how the body makes and stores it? Do you what foods you can eat to get enough of it?

Listen into this week's episode to find out how you can boost your immunity and protect yourself as we enter "flu season". As if, we haven't been in flu season all year!!!!

As usual, we're digging deep into the food supply chain, and in this episode we're talking about cereal grains and beans, and why both of these foods are being tested and found to contain high levels of glyphosates. Why does this chemical keep showing up in our food supply?

The bigger question is, what can we do to stop it from being in our kids' breakfast and in our favorite healthy snacks like hummus?

Listen in to this week's amuse bouche style, short format "appetizer" podcast episode designed to give you a taste of reality. :)