Today's episode is bringing back friend of the pod, Helena Bottemiller Evich, Founder and Editor-in-chief at Food Fix, one the sharpest food policy sources to exist. We're also joined by her colleague and policy wonk, Theodore Ross, Editor-in-chief of The Food and Environment Reporting Network. Helena and Theodore together have been monitoring RFK's MAHA movement, and we come back to check in on where MAHA is going, if anywhere. Turns out there may be a hint of policy thesis somewhere in there, and we try to tease it out. Also, we attempt to define the paradox that seems to be brewing in HHS that will eventually come to head. You can learn more about MAHA, food policy, and our guests on Helena and Theodore's very own pod, Forked. [https://thefern.org/podcasts/forked] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's guest marks the beginning of a limited series here on Food Truths where we will dive into the reality, frustrations, and misinformation surrounding ultra-processed foods. There's a lot of conflicting information, and we are going to speak to a variety of experts to understand what an UPF is and is not. The answers may really surprise you. Today, we kick things off with WISECode's Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Richard Black, award-winning nutrition scientist and Tufts University Professor. He tells the story of how the term UPF came to be, what they got right, wrong, and how he and his team have developed a new, more intuitive way to think about UPFs when you are at the grocery store. You can learn more about Richard here [https://www.linkedin.com/in/rblackwisecodeai/] and more about WISECode and the free datatsets and UPF app here [https://wisecode.ai/]. Tune in for more in-depth conversations about UPFs and the importance of knowing what is and what is not ultraprocessed in your diet in the coming weeks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's guest is Dr. Steven Lang, Vice President of Science and Technology for cultured chocolate company, California Cultured. Steve and his team are designing your favorite chocolate products and making them directly from cocoa cells rather than growing the entire tree. Yes, designing and making real cocoa powder directly from the plant cells of the cocoa tree, virtually no tree needed. Steve has worked in many different industries, first in making biopharmaceuticals, then making cultivated meat, and now designing cocoa from the cell up. We talk about what it's like to be a biologist in today's food world and why making drugs makes for better food production. You can learn more about California Cultured here, and about Steve here. https://www.cacultured.com/   &  https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-lang-b003406/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Climate journalist Mike Grunwald joins the pod today to walk us through his latest book, We Are Eating the Earth. Mike is an accomplished writer and and thinker about the world we feed today and what a fed world looks like tomorrow. Mike and I discuss the best and worst parts of our current food production system. There's a lot to love about how we make food (It's safe! It's abundant!), and what is rapidly hurting our future and our children's lives (like how we grow protein) and what what can and should be done to ensure a more verdant future. You can learn more about Mike and his work here [https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/We-Are-Eating-the-Earth/Michael-Grunwald/9781982160074] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's guest is Dr. Sydney Schreppler, Director of Product and R&D at Savor, a startup building edible fats directly from the molecule up. Sydney is a quantum physicist by training, a facet that makes for creative thinking and product design. We discuss the route she took from physics to foods, and how we can make a lasting impact on the world through our acts and deeds - not just our aspirations. Her inspiration, intellect, and drive make her a fascinating guest and scientist. If you'd like to learn more about Sydney or Savor check this link https://www.savor.it/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's guest is professor R. Alta Charo, JD, world expert in emerging biotechnologies (and most recently, bringing back extinct species like the Dire Wolf). Science is rapidly changing how we produce food and medicine. Alta is Warren P. Knowles Professor Emerita of Law and Bioethics at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, former Senior FDA Policy Advisor, a member of the National Academy of Medicine, and has worked with DARPA and Department of Defense. In her free time, she publishes paper after paper. No one has been more at the forefront of the ethical and societal changes more that Professor Charo. She has spent a career working in science policy, and she has is one of the few folks who tends to predict correctly more than not about new foods using science. In this episode, we discuss what led to her career choices, the unexpected findings in those choices, where food technology is going, and why bringing back the extinct Dire Wolf is a very good thing for food production. You can reach out to Professor Charo here [https://www.linkedin.com/in/r-alta-charo-6999341b9/] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's guest is Saam Shahrohki, Chief Technology Officer at cultivated fat producer, Mission Barns. Saam is one of the first people to make cultivated meat, and the first to release cultivated fat into the world. Recently celebrating their first-ever FDA approval for their cultivated fat, Saam reflects on what it took to bring a (not so) brand new food to market, how complex designing fat can be, what it's like working with FDA and USDA, and where he sees the food production world going. You can learn more about Saam and Mission Barns here https://missionbarns.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We begin a multi-part series digging into the history, the cost and efficiency, the scientific consensus, and the open questions regarding organic food production here in the US. Far from a take-down or a glow-up, this discussion is meant to start a 'base reality' discussion for any body wanting a practical guide as to what is true and what is debatable about organics. Joined by previous Food Truths guests, Daily Harvest CEO and scientist, Ricky Silver, and food journalist and book author, Larissa Zimberoff, we dive deeply into myths and truths. This is also not a 'conventional foods' vs 'organics' show, as you'll hear - they are both safe to eat and good for you. That said, there are nuanced differences and we tease them out on this first part. Tune in to future segments as we continue to understand organics. https://larissazimberoff.com/book https://www.linkedin.com/in/lzimberoff/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricky-silver-b4334115 https://daily-harvest.com/ https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/daily-harvest-rfk-jr-robert-f-kennedy-health-secretary-make-america-healthy-again/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's guests: Drs. Dennis Keefe and Robert "Bob" Merker are former FDA Food regulators. Together, they have over half a century of experience keeping America's food safe. We sit down for a rare conversation with them together to learn how they spent their careers building a safe and robust food supply while at FDA as well as what it was like working on the most cutting edge food technology. Drs. Keefe and Merker oversaw some of the most transformational change in the food supply - it was a pleasure to be able to hear the inside story of our food from the inside. You can find more information about Dr. Keefe here https://www.exponent.com/people/dennis-keefe and Dr. Merker here https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-merker-6125992b Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today my guest is Dr. Pat Brown, current professor at Stanford University and most well-known as the founder and former CEO of Impossible Foods, maker of the Impossible burger. We take some time to talk about how he came to a career in food science because, as you'll soon learn, he was doing very different science before. Pat was already a rockstar in the scientific world when he founded Impossible, and so we learn about what makes his creative mind tick, how he up-ended food science, and what he's trained his curiosity on these days. You can reach Dr. Brown at Stanford University [https://profiles.stanford.edu/patrick-brown]. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sometimes you gotta go back to go forward. Guest Danny O'Malley, the President and Founder of Before the Butcher, thematically breaks down how we build new products by listening to us, the consumers. Seems straightforward. It's anything but, as Danny explains in this week's episode. We discuss what has NOT been working when it comes to plant-based burgers, why you gotta actually listen to your customers and build what they really want (and why many folks pay lip service to this), and what it takes to survive the inevitable belt-tightening that happens in any food industry. You can find Danny here [https://www.linkedin.com/in/danny-o-malley-2638573a/] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we're joined by Greg Jaffe, noted food policy expert and advocate for biotechnology-driven food production. Greg has spent a life working in food, first at the Department of Justice and Environmental Protection Agency, then at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, and most recently at the US Department of Agriculture. He has since left government and launched his own agency to help others solve their emerging food tech issues. Greg is a deep thinker and thoughtful policy maker. If you ever wanted to meet the kind of person who makes food policy for a country, well, here you go! Greg and I have crossed paths over the years many times on numerous issues - we discuss biotechnology as necessary move forward for food, the challenges he's seen in getting through to consumers, and frankly, what we can do to build a healthy future. You can reach Greg here [LINK https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregory-jaffe-034b60232/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we're joined by noted author and food journalist, Larissa Zimberoff. We dig into food trends, who's paying for all these new food innovations, and the hype and realities of bringing foods to the grocery store. You can reach her on Linked in here. And her book, Technically Food, can be found here. https://larissazimberoff.com/book Her substack (great read) can be found here https://www.linkedin.com/in/lzimberoff/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we are joined by Dr. Susan Mayne, noted nutritional scientist, federal food safety expert, and former center director for the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at FDA. We discuss what it took to lead FDA's food work for two decades, her leadership philosophy, and where she thinks the FDA and our country is heading as we continue to learn more about our diets.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today Eric chats with Food Fix Founder and Editor-in-Chief Helena Bottemiller Evich, arguably the most plugged in journalist to RFK Jr and FDA Food Safety. We dig into the fundamental question: What is happening at FDA under RFK Jr's leadership? It's...a lot. Helena's reporting focuses exclusively on food safety and food safety policy. Her reporting has broken major stories on the failings of infant formula production, red tape slowdowns, and has been a champion of food innovation policy. Her weekly newsletter is the go to read for consumers and food industry, and she was the first to say that RFK would not be confirmed, but also the likely places he would begin to re-shape his department. You can more from Helena at Food Fix: https://foodfix.co/." Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today we discuss RFK Jr and finding ways to realistically make us healthier. Ricky Silver is the CEO of Daily Harvest, a leading fresh and nutritious whole foods company thinking about our health as a successful business. We discuss ways to work with the current administration, organic foods, and the ways you can be a smarter consumer at the grocery store. Ricky Silver: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ricky-silver-b4334115 Daily Harvest: https://daily-harvest.com/ Ricky's Op-Ed outlining his proposal for RFK's FDA: https://www.greenqueen.com.hk/daily-harvest-rfk-jr-robert-f-kennedy-health-secretary-make-america-healthy-again/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We welcome noted author, speaker, and food futurist, Jack Bobo, to Food Truths. Mr. Bobo is the current Executive Director at the UCLA Rothman Family Institute for Food Studies. He has worked previously for the US State Department as a biotechnology and food policy representative, for first-of-its-kind food biotechnology companies such as the first genetically engineered salmon and the first GE apple. He's a thought leader on food systems, food policy, and common sense branding and marketing of new foods. We discuss the importance of branding in food, the problems in the current food system, and how the heck we're getting out of the decade and beyond. You can reach Mr. Bobo @Jack_A_Bobo on X and jbobo@college.ucla.edu.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This episode of Food Truth features an interview with Paul Shapiro, CEO of the Better Meat Co. and author of "Clean Meat," who shares his journey from animal welfare activist to food tech entrepreneur, discussing his views on the food system and how technology can create a more ethical and sustainable future. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Food Truths - Teaser Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices