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 region’s food system, as well as recovery efforts.

Related Websites: asapconnections.org 

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 and instituting policies for mitigating climate change.

Related Websites: https://cals.cornell.edu/marianne-elizabeth-krasny
webinar series: https://www.civicecology.org/prd

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: https://www.rgvagroecology.com/
“Planet Hunger: Inside the Global Food Crisis,” by Jeff Goodell: https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/ukraine-food-crisis-1367826/
TX sugar mill closure: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMXbebDCnQw

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 Websites: https://www.riskyornot.co/
- Eating expired baby carrots: https://www.riskyornot.co/episodes/625-eating-expired-baby-carrots
http://foodsafetytalk.com/

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 outages.
 (Part 1 of 2)

Related Websites: https://www.riskyornot.co/
Historical perspectives on handwashing: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK144018/
Boar’s Head meat recall CDC updates: https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2024/s0828-listeria-outbreak-deli-meats.html

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 

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 explaining how organic farming is truly “regenerative.”

Related Websites: Organic Farming Research Foundation: www.ofrf.org
Organic is Regenerative Toolkit: https://ofrf.org/organic-is-regenerative/
National Organic Research Agenda (2022): https://eorganic.org/node/35366

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’ neighborhood are in reality, costly and deadly. He views children like seeds – full of potential. Ritz describes how his successful model of science education (growing food in the classroom) began and continues to thrive. Ritz, his students and the power of the Green Bronx Machine are featured in the documentary film, Generation Growth: https://generationgrowthfilm.com/

Related Websites: Americans Who Tell The Truth:
 https://americanswhotellthetruth.org/portraits/stephen-ritz/ https://greenbronxmachine.org/
Generation Growth: https://greenbronxmachine.org/generation-growth/

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 herbicides.  And, she describes the effects of climate change on agriculture, the connection between Midwestern agriculture and national food consumption, our environment and public health.

Related Websites: https://ceee.uni.edu/environmental-health-program
Farming for Public Health: https://farmingforpublichealth.org/
Industrial Farming and Public Health conference: https://sites.google.com/view/aaephconference/home

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 RAFI-USA conference (Sept. 30-October 1st 2024; see:  https://www.rafiusa.org/programs/cttt/2024-cttt-events/ )

Related Websites: https://www.firstnations.org/
Fighting for the Tastebuds of Our Children: https://www.foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fsj/article/view/760