Heartland Stories Radio

Did you know that 90% of the food in Hawaii is imported? And that Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders experience significantly higher rates of diet-related chronic illness than the state average, including a 130% higher incidence of diabetes? Listen to Dr. Albie Miles of the University of Hawai'i, West O'ahu as he describes:

- The history and transformation of the food system in Hawai'i.

- MA'O Organic Farm and its program of empowering youth to succeed in college and secure sustaining careers by growing organic produce that yields individual and communal vitality.

- The Ike 'Ai Consortium on Sustainable Food Systems that aims to transform the food system of Hawaiʻi to model sustainability and human and planetary health while building climate change resilience by 2050.

- COVID-19 and lessons learnt.

In honor of mother's day week we are revisiting this inspiring interview with Mackenzie Feldman.

In this new episode Theresa chats with Mackenzie Feldman, Founder and Executive Director of Herbicide Free Campus, an organization that supports student groups who want to eliminate synthetic herbicide use on their campuses. Mackenzie's activism was inspired while growing up in Hawaii witnessing and being part of the fight against GMO food. Listen to her incredible story, her passionate work, how COVID-19 is changing her organization's work, the witnessing of the Lee Johnson trial and much more.

"This movement is about a cultural shift in the way we manage landscapes and tend to the soil. For the sake of future, generations we must do better." Mackenzie Feldman

Listen to Chef Ann Cooper speak with Theresa about her own story and her long life passion of providing better food for all children. With schools going virtual all across the country, high unemployment rates, and 1 in every 5 kids in the US being food insecure, every school have to make sure that their food is being distributed to all children in need. Tune in to listen more about:

- Challenges and opportunities for school lunch programs in the current pandemic.

- Chef Ann Foundation and their valuable resources for both schools and parents and their Hero Highlights, where school lunch professionals are being honored for their work to ensure that no child goes hungry.

- Mental health issues for both parents and children during the pandemic.

- How food and cooking habits are currently changing.

If you would like to honor your school lunch professional submit their story to https://www.chefannfoundation.org/knowledge-center/covid-19/hero-highlights.

Theresa is talking today with Dr. Michelle Perro, a veteran pediatrician with over thirty-nine years of experience in acute and integrative medicine. Dr. Perro has transformed her clinical practice to include pesticide and health advocacy more than fifteen years ago. She is also the co-author of "What is making our children sick" book as well as Executive Director of the non-profit scientific website "GMO Science". Tune into this episode to learn more about:

- the gut health/microbiome

- the links between COVID-19, the gut microbiota and glyphosate

- what parents can do to keep their children's microbiome healthy

- the GMO science website (www.gmoscience.org)

" You are what you eat", "Food is medicine", "The soil health and your gut health are linked together", are just a few of Dr. Perro's quotes from this interview. She advises struggling parents with sick kids to eat chemical-free organic regenerative food, while also paying attention to the nutrient content of the food and making sure to add probiotic food early on.

Dr. Landrigan is a pediatrician and epidemiologist, as well as Professor, Director of the Global Public Health Program and of the Global Pollution Observatory at the Schiller Institute for Integrated Science and Society at Boston College. Tune in to learn more about:

- Pesticides and children's health

- Fetal programing, epigenetics & windows of vulnerability

- What parents can do to protect their children's health

- The Heartland Study

Dr. Landrigan urges parents to "Vote for children", by asking their representatives what they are doing to protect their children from the rising health issues that a lot of them are facing like autism, learning disabilities and childhood cancer.