Food Sleuth Radio

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