Food Sleuth Radio

Did you know that in the past, Alcoholics Anonymous advised alcoholics to use sugar to help alleviate their cravings for alcohol? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Nicole Avena, PhD. Associate Professor of Neuroscience at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, and Visiting Professor of Health Psychology at Princeton University. Avena describes her research on food addiction, dopamine, and the abundance of sugar in our food system. She explains that not only sugar, but artificial sweeteners, and ultra-processed foods can be addicting. She helps us rethink the definition of “food.” She also discusses ways to curb excess sugar intake from her latest book, Sugarless, which covers the latest science on sugar addiction and how to overcome it.

Related Websites: Gustavus Adolphus College Keynote: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lMZv1wuA4c

Did you know that climate change is having a devastating effect on farmers’ ability to produce food, and consumers’ ability to have access to it? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Steve Ela, MS, 4th generation certified organic farmer, and owner and manager of Ela Family Farms, in Hotchkiss, CO. Ela served on the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB), and joined the National Organic Coalition as the NOSB Specialist to promote organic integrity. He discusses the societal benefits of organic farming, including helping mitigate climate change, protecting our ecosystem and the health of farmers, farmworkers, and their children. He also explains how shifts in research, health and agriculture policy could help support organic farmers and our planet..

Related Websites: https://elafamilyfarms.com/about-us/bios/

Did you know that carcinogens are allowed for use in food, despite legal prohibitions? For example, the same chemical used to strip paint is used to decaffeinate coffee. Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Maria Doa, PhD, Senior Director of Chemicals Policy at the Environmental Defense Fund, and author of “Disease by a Thousand Cuts: How a daily barrage of chemicals in our food makes us more likely to get sick over time.” Doa dives into the failure of the Toxic Substances Control Act and Delaney Clause in protecting U.S. citizens from hazardous chemicals, and the corporate capture at the FDA and EPA. (part 2 of 2)

Related Websites: Analysis: 25 carcinogens allowed for use in U.S. food, despite legal prohibition: https://library.edf.org/AssetLink/02128n6uroe23n3t0006q1gal6c5676w.pdf

Did you know that our Environmental Protection Agency is changing science due to corporate capture? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Maria Doa, PhD, Senior Director of Chemicals Policy at the Environmental Defense Fund, and author of “Disease by a Thousand Cuts: How a daily barrage of chemicals in our food makes us more likely to get sick over time.” Doa spent 30 years at the U.S. EPA and describes changes in the agency during the current Trump administration, including the dismantling of scientific programs. She also discusses the roles of the EPA and FDA re how chemicals are assessed for safety.
(part 1 of 2)

Related Websites: EPA’s Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-know Act: https://www.epa.gov/epcra

Did you know that there are many more species of fish living in our oceans than are available to consumers in the marketplace? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Niaz Dorry, Coordinating Director for the North American Marine Alliance. Dorry discusses the benefits of “calculated inefficiencies” in our food system, the importance of scale, and the impacts of climate change on seafood sustainability. (Part 2 of 2))

Related Websites: https://www.namanet.org/

Did you know that land farmers and fishermen and women face similar challenges resulting from corporate concentration in our food system? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Niaz Dorry, Coordinating Director for the North American Marine Alliance. She’ll discuss “bluewashing,” and how to find truly sustainable seafood in the marketplace through localcatch.org and their sustainable seafood guide.

Related Websites: https://www.namanet.org/

Did you know that pesticides can drift for miles from where they were applied on agricultural fields, lawns and golf courses? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Kim Erndt-Pitcher, MS, Director of Ecological Health at Prairie Rivers Network. Erndt-Pitcher discusses the widespread ecological damage from pesticide drift/ chemical trespass and reviews the Prairie Rivers Network’s recent reports and webinar titled: Pesticide Drift in Public Spaces. PRN’s research shows there are wide ecosystem impacts from chronic pesticide drift exposure on bird and insect populations, air quality and public health, reduced nutritional quality of fruit and nuts, and the economic and emotional toll of lost trees, crops and plants.

Related Websites: https://prairierivers.org/

Did you know that Will Harris’ White Oak Pastures regenerative farm provides 170 jobs to people in his community? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Will Harris, fourth generation cattleman at White Oak Pastures, and worldwide leader in humane animal husbandry and environmental sustainability. Harris discusses “regenerative” vertical farming, a farm’s potential to be a rural economic engine (as opposed to data centers), trends in beef imports over time, corporate consolidation, and his meeting with President Trump.

Related Websites: www.whiteoakpastures.com

Did you know that Slow Food is a global movement dedicated to promoting good, clean, and fair food for everyone? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Fred Plotkin, MS, author and expert on Italian food culture. Plotkin discusses his relationship with Carlo Petrini, father of the Slow Food movement, Italian culinary history, food culture, and his philosophy on eating and living as a “pleasure activist.”

Related Websites: https://www.slowfood.com/

Did you know that as national environmental agencies and regulations are whittled away, states may hold the key to protect public health? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Susan Kaplan, JD, Research Assistant Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, and author of A Healthy Union: How States Can Lead on Environmental Health. Kaplan provides case studies of bi-partisan action where communities and states took the lead on protecting public health through environmental policies. She discusses how “making the invisible visible” is key to raising awareness about toxic chemical use. She also discusses the history of public health and why environmental health is not a strong component of medical education. Her book sprung from an earlier article: https://theconversation.com/which-state-you-live-in-matters-for-how-well-environmental-laws-protect-your-health-200393

Related Websites: Susan Kaplan's A Healthy Union: How States Can Lead on Environmental Health

Did you know that some local governments make it illegal to have vegetable gardens or greenhouses on residential properties? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Ari Bargil, senior attorney with the Institute for Justice where he leads the Zoning Justice Project, and spearheaded Florida’s and Illinois’ passage of the Right to Garden Act —a reform that makes it unlawful for local governments to ban residential vegetable gardens.

Related Websites: https://ij.org/legislation/vegetable-garden-protection-act/

Did you know that Michigan is “ground zero” for the cyclospora outbreak affecting multiple states in the U.S.? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Amanda Maria Edmonds, MS, sustainable food systems consultant and faculty member in the University of Michigan’s Program in the Environment. Edmonds discusses food system resilience in light of our industrial food system’s push for “efficiency” and resulting vulnerability. Edmonds invites us to join food system discussions as part of Food Literacy for All: https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/sustainablefoodsystems/foodliteracyforall/

Related Websites: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/michiganders-case-investing-local-food-systems-amanda-maria-edmonds-cxlxc/

Did you know that we have a “cyclospora season” in the United States? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Don Schaffner, PhD, food safety microbiologist at Rutgers University. Schaffner discusses the nationwide cyclospora outbreak, cuts to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s FoodNet, and what is likely multiple outbreaks of cyclospora. Schaffner has been widely interviewed and discusses the topic on his podcast, Risky or Not: https://www.riskyornot.co/

Related Websites: https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/investigation-9-state-outbreak-cyclospora-illnesses-iceberg-lettuce-july-2026

Did you know that Arkansas is the only state that requires breastfeeding education in K-12 curriculum? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Lauren Dinour, PhD, RD, professor of nutrition, lactation consultant and advocate for “first food justice.” Dinour discusses the multiple benefits of breastfeeding, and her research looking at breastfeeding education in K—12 schools, breastfeeding images and how they inform cultural norms, and why and how workplace support of breastfeeding is critical to public health. They also discuss how breastfeeding is key to sustainability and resilience. In honor of National Breastfeeding Month (August) and World Breastfeeding Week (August 1-7), the two discuss how society supports or makes more difficult a mother’s ability to feed her infant human milk, and the multitude of benefits breastfeeding provides to infants, children, maternal and planetary health. See: https://worldbreastfeedingweek.org/

Related Websites: Breastfeeding Education in Kindergarten Through 12th Grade: A Content Analysis of United States Health Curriculum Standards: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/josh.70173

Did you know that the Agricultural Justice Project (AJP) has worked to promote farm and farm worker justice for nearly three decades?
Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Jon Magee, farmer, organizer, researcher and lead author of AJP’s sunsetting report, “A Season for Solidarity.” Magee shares key components and barriers related to farmer and farmworker justice. The Project will be closing, but their report and toolkit can carry their critical work forward. See: https://agriculturaljusticeproject.org/toolkit/

Related Websites: A Season for Solidarity Report: https://agriculturaljusticeproject.org/pdf/AJP-Season_For_Solidarity-web.pdf

Did you know that AI data centers consume large volumes of water in their cooling systems and generate polluted waste water that requires treatment? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Kelly Hunter Foster, JD, Senior Attorney, Waterkeeper Alliance. Foster discusses water use, pollutants, and overall environmental and public health concerns from data centers. She also discusses externalized costs, the loss of agricultural land, critical protective policies, and discussion points to share with legislators and citizens faced with data center construction in their communities. For impact on rural communities, see the fact sheet produced by the MO Rural Crisis Center: Big Data Centers Make Bad Neighbors: https://save-our-farms.org/ and for the link between data center and PFAS compounds, see: Data Centers and PFAS: https://www.eesi.org/articles/view/data-centers-are-contributing-to-pfas-forever-chemical-pollution

Related Websites: Invisible, Unbreakable, Unnatural: PFAS Contamination of U.S. Surface Waters: https://waterkeeper.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Waterkeeper-Alliance-PFAS-Report-FINAL-10.14.22.pdf

Did you know that breakdown products of a widely used fungicide in the U.S. food system poses both environmental and public health risks? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Tristan Brandhorst, PhD, Senior Research Scientist, University of WI-Madison. Brandhorst discusses his research on fludioxonil, a widely used fungicide in agriculture which breaks down to form a PFAS compound, thereby posing harm to our environment and human health. Consumer Reports ranks fludioxonil one of the six most concerning pesticides on produce.

Related Websites: Breakdown products of the fungicide Fludioxonil may account for observed environmental impact: potential implications for human health: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42254677/

Did you know that the majority of Americans believe the burden of pollution is being shifted onto families through medical bills and long-term health consequences, and that by a 7-to-1 margin, Americans favor strengthening or expanding the EPA rather than weakening it? (See: What Americans — including Trump Supporters — Actually Want from the EPA: https://substack.com/home/post/p-200483632) Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Marc Boom, Senior Director of Public Affairs for the Environmental Protection Network, a non-partisan organization comprising more than 750 former EPA scientists, engineers and policy analysts. Boom discusses how EPA safeguards have been eroded, staff eliminated but still dedicated, and how citizens can get involved to restore regulations that save lives. He also describes EPN’s Safer, Not Sicker campaign: http://www.safernotsicker.org

Related Websites: http://www.environmentalprotectionnetwork.org

Did you know that there is a conceptual change in science that includes a broader understanding of how pollutants and our microbiome interact to impact the development of disease? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Robin Mesnage, PhD, toxicologist, Scientific Director at the Buchinger Wilhelmi Therapeutic Fasting program in Uberlingen Germany, and visiting research fellow in the dept. of Nutritional Sciences at King’s College, London. Mesnage spoke at the Glyphosate Symposium at the U. of WA-Seattle in March, 2026. He shares his insight into how glyphosate, and more specifically Round-up herbicide affects the liver and microbiome. He also discusses the challenges of living in a toxic environment, polluted with plastics and pesticides. Mesnage discusses how banning toxic substances (bis-phenol A, glyphosate) can lead to unfortunate substitutions with more toxic compounds. Finally, he speaks about the power of intermittent, and therapeutic fasting to combat common diseases that plague modern society.

Related Websites: https://www.instagram.com/robin_mesnage/

Did you know that people who are incarcerated typically receive poor quality food that contributes to poor mental and physical health? Join Food Sleuth Radio host and Registered Dietitian, Melinda Hemmelgarn for her conversation with Jessi Silverman, MPH, RD, Deputy Director in the Programs Department at the Center for Science in the Public Interest. CSPI and the Carceral Nutrition Project produced a report and webinar which explore the consequences of private food service companies taking over food services at prisons and jails. This report specifically focuses on Aramark, which has the largest share (35 percent) of the US correctional food services market. Aramark has also been a party to litigation regarding carceral food conditions in more than 500 cases since 2000. These cases reveal widespread allegations of nutritionally inadequate, unsafe, and contaminated food. Most legal claims have been brought under the Eighth Amendment, arguing that inadequate or unsafe food constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.

Related Websites: https://www.cspi.org/PrivateFoodPublicHarm-fullreport