“Her presentation empowers agriculture to tell its story with credibility, respect, and impact. Michele helped me navigate tough conversations with compassion for the urbanites who have little connection to where their food comes from.”
- Jeannette Andrashewski, Canadian Canola Farmer
What drives Michele to write? ▶ Bridging the gap from farm to food with story and science.
"You are a gift to agriculture – you do an amazing job connecting non-ag folks to agriculture in a relatable and logical way that's welcoming and opens the door to a deeper understanding.”
- Lana Frantzen, PhD, RDN, DairyMAX
We’ve all seen the ads for pet food featuring happy dogs with happy owners who buy the very best food for their furry family members. But is that food better? How do you know what is best for your pet? Does grain-free dog food make sense or are you being food bullied into buying a boutique brand that offers less nutrition? Our guest, veterinarian Tammy Lons, gives us the scoop on the facts about pet food.
Did you know popcorn is an entirely different crop that the sweet corn you enjoy on the cob? Eliz didn’t! Michele and Eliz welcome Brian Scott to talk about popcorn, sweet corn, field corn, GMOs, and why seeds are intellectual property.
“Feed your body 80% of the time and your soul 20% of the time” Too often, people receive lots of unsolicited, non-science-based advice about what they should and shouldn’t eat to get rid of cancer. Patients will run with advice, even if it is not supported by science, just to have some action to take. Unfortunately, that advice can make them miserable and can interfere with their treatment. Julie Lanford sheds light on the truth about cancer treatment and food.
What role does disgust play in our fear of disease? Why should we be careful about the language used to describe disease, such as COVID-10? Dr. Tyler Davis is back to discuss how exotic foods are associated with “otherness.” Neophobia (fear of new things) creates stigmas. These stigmas can lead to food bullying, whether related to COVID-19 or technology used in farming.
Neuroscientist Tyler Davis on fear
Misinformation such as the “Dirty Dozen” list scares people away from buying produce. Produce is nutrient rich and essential. Food security is national security in and human security. We need to focus on nutrition not just calories. The nutrition panel for produce is the same regardless of how it is grown. It is all healthy.
The Produce Moms on choosing the right produce
Ever wonder if that tasty sound bite on the news about what you eat is true? Our guest, Emmy award winning journalist Kate Delaney, shares how to vet what you hear and why a sensational headline is more likely to get media attention.
58 episodes have flown by and here we are, a year into the Food Bullying Podcast! Michele and Eliz reflect on the first anniversary of the podcast with a look at some of their favorite episodes. Listen for more information on nutrition, neuroscience, farming, exercise, GMOs, healthy eating, hormones, science, and wellness.
Social media memes and marketing messages often ring nostalgic for how things used to be on the farm. But were the “good old days” really better? In this episode we chat with fruit and vegetable expert Gene McAvoy about how farming used to work (and how it still works in some parts of the world) and how research has made farming better. He also explains how Florida agriculture lost half a billion dollars over six weeks due to the pandemic in spring 2020.
Gene McAvoy
“Have good resources, be a good neighbor and check in with farm families” says Jolene Brown, a real “Farmer Brown.” From Eastern Iowa, she’s an internationally known professional speaker in agriculture. Her consultations in family business earned her the reputation as the “Dr. Phil of Agriculture.” In this episode, she’s shares experience, insight, and tools to help make a good family business even better.
What’s with the claims about glyphosate in hummus & cereal? Why is there so much blame and fear about agriculture and the environment? What can we do to eat better when we are eating dorm food? In this special behind-the-scenes episode, Michele and Eliz welcome Callie (Eliz’s daughter) for a wide-ranging Q&A session. Callie Greene is about to begin her second year at Lawrence University, where she studies psychology and harp performance.
Food shaming puts undue stress on parents, especially as kids go back to school. Amy Reed is a pediatric dietitian who teaching parents how to advocate for the needs of their kids. Whether your child is labeled as a “picky eater” or has significant challenges receiving nutrition, parents who aren’t confident in what they feed their kids are susceptible to food shaming and bullying. As a pediatric dietitian, Amy evaluates how well a child is growing and how their nutritional status is helping or hurting their growth.
Did you know there is a science dedicated to teaching cooking skills? How and what we serve at our table makes a big difference in our health. Our guest shares why she teaches medical students about nutrition. Dr. Jacque Nyenhuis is a chef, dietitian, professor of medicine, and farms on the side. She offers a unique perspective on food, medicine, and comfort of knowing nutrition.
Dr. Jacque Nyenhuis on teaching nutrition to doctors
Agronomist Kevin Hoyer joins the podcast to talk about his experience helping farmers diagnose and treat their plants and soil as well at traveling the world looking at food production in other countries. As a “doctor for crops,” he says “you can be thankful and trust that the product you buy are at the highest level of safety possible. America carries the highest standards found anywhere in the world.”
Sugar gets the blame for many of our health issues. Should we avoid sugar? Are there good sugars and bad sugars? Our guest, Melissa Joy Dobbins is a registered dietitian and diabetes expert. She brings a common sense approach to eating well and says “if people with diabetes can have sugar, you can too!”
How do we honor the people who produce our food when most of us never set foot on a farm or ranch? Our guest this week suggests the key is educating yourself about the benefits of food and choosing what you want without giving into what other people may think. Joe Anderson, an Idaho farmer, talks gluten, GMOs, and getting firsthand perspective.
How do we honor the people who produce our food...
There is no singular right way to raise...
Life on the farm may be a mystery for those of us in urban and suburban areas. One of the best ways to understand where food comes from is to meet the people who grow it. Meet our Food Bullying Podcast editor and find out about her life as a farm kid. Farm kids balance school, sports, service clubs, and helping on the farm. She shares what she’s learned showing dairy cattle in 4-H, including how stubbornness and leverage can move a ton.
How does price impact how we feel about the value of a product? Does how you feel about a cut of steak or whether it is labelled “natural” impact how much you enjoy it? Our guest, Dr. Mark Miller shares his research on consumer beef preferences and how labels influence what we choose to eat.
What if we cared for the people of agriculture the same way we do with the products we grow? We often adopt an attitude of “let’s not talk about it” when it comes to mental health, embracing the idea of “pull yourself up by your bootstraps.” Data clearly shows that’s not working in the face of a global pandemic, constantly changing markets, weather problems, and all of the pressures piled on farmers and ranchers. You’ve likely read about suicide rates; the people of agriculture need to do better at self-care so we quit losing loved ones.
Did you know that people can use food to threaten others? When it comes to food allergies, food CAN kill! Our guest in this episode has great advice on how to truly welcome everyone to your table AND avoid killing someone (or making them sick) with the food you serve.
Tracy Stuckrath on how to avoid making people sick with food
Do you know how labels, ads, and menus are designed to make you buy? The job of a marketer is to get you to choose their item and sell more. Our guest, branding expert Gerry O’Brion shares how giving people a rational reason to choose a product is the key to influencing buying behavior.
This episode’s guest and her husband are millennials and third generation dairy, beef and crop farmers in Michigan. They are working hard and using technology, including robots, to secure the future of their farm. Ashley Kennedy shares insights on being a working mother, fostering a positive attitude toward food, and what exactly robots are doing on their farm.
We are likely to stand in line to get the latest smart phone technology — so why do we fear technology in food? Dr. Kevin Folta makes Eliz and Michele roar with laughter and sheds light on genetics, technology, and how to he’s working to make strawberries taste better. We discuss how science is working to solve important problems for people and the environment.
Do you feel guilty for not being able to afford the “better” food label? Food Science Babe is back for a rousing game of “Guess What I Saw in the Grocery Store?” Super foods, non-GMO, and other food bullying labels cause unnecessary guilt. “Food doesn’t have morals – food isn’t good, food isn’t bad.” Erin, a chemical engineer and a food scientist joins us for an eye-opening discussion about food labels, guilt, and her experience as a mom feeding a child with special needs.
In this special Mother’s Day edition, Michele and Eliz are joined by Grace Greene, Eliz’s daughter. In a nod to the West Wing Weekly Podcast, Grace leads a “Big Block of Cheese” format to turn the tables on her mom and Michele. To peals of laughter, Grace asks questions on a range of topics including how her mom was a food bully, GMOs, selective breeding, the non-GMO butterfly, and using your own food standards.
Two moms and one daughter talk food
Navigating through unsolicited advice as a new mom is hard enough. Imagine the complexity of bringing a child into the world hours after receiving a breast cancer diagnosis! Brooke Taylor is an Oklahoma ranch girl who has lived in various cities, while working with agricultural organizations through ad agencies. While juggling life as a full-time, self-employed business woman, Brooke welcomed her first baby into the world six hours after she was diagnosed with breast cancer.
Having a child with different dietary needs opens the door to bullying. Parents have to make the choice about what is right for their family. We need to respect the choices and the benefits of science.
Heather is married to a second-generation farmer, a professional in agriculture, and mom to three sons, ages 7, 4 and 1. Their oldest son was diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder four years ago and their middle son was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes almost one year ago.
Did you know the term “sustainable” is used in food marketing to achieve price advantage, without any science backing the claim? In this Earth Day episode, Dr. Alison Van Eenennaam, a livestock geneticist at University of California, Davis, sheds light on why genetics is an important component of sustainability. She also warns that anytime breeding innovations are taken off the shelf (e.g., GMOs), the tradeoff a less sustainable food production system.
How do I know if my milk is expired? Should I throw out the can of fruit from my pantry that’s dated a month ago? Is my meat expired? How am I supposed to wash my groceries? These are all common questions I’ve heard from friends concerned about their food during a global pandemic.
How can you support people who are food insecure with dignity? Our guest, Community Network Dietitian Nicole Weeks, share how her organization uses the My Plate Model in choice food pantries. Nicole shares ways to help by, “Shopping with your wallet and having a voice, as well.”
As we all cope with stay-at-some orders due to COVID-19, cooking and grocery shopping have become more challenging. In this special episode, Registered Dietitians Alice Henneman and Liz Ward share tips for stocking your fridge, pantry, and freezer while sharing quick meal ideas.
Fancy shoes and cheap prices. Chicken breasts and hormone myths. Food snobbery and the hungry. Healthy food and fat. Cheap food and sustainability. “It’s really easy for us to look at a product that has a fancy name or claim and assign higher perceived value to it.”
The COVID-19 pandemic calls for agriculture to offer our neighbors reassurance about the stability of their food supply. Show compassion in the face of fear. Demonstrate resiliency by talking about coping with the very real struggles agriculture faces. Connect on a human level. Help build confidence in the food system. Isn’t now the time to offer hope and be a bright spot for someone else?
“Kids are dirty and if you’re worried about what you’re feeding them, you’re a good a mom.” says this millennial mom who prioritizes low-cost food at the grocery store. Brandi Buzzard Frobose is a rancher and environmentalist who offers insight on how the science of producing food is remarkable, along with the care that farmers and ranchers provide for the planet. She’s not a fan of the mud while she’s ranching in Kansas, but loves to go roping at the rodeo as a cowgirl.
If you are feeling unsettled, stressed, or have jangled nerves as we all weather changes due to COVID19, there is a good reason. Michele and Eliz discuss why your brain likes a predictable environment and how uncertainty creates stress. Eliz shares her research on stress and some tips to decrease the impact of these unsettling times. As always, there’s humor, real talk about food insecurity, bullying, and even Michele’s stress brought on by a drunk driver destroying her cattle fence.
Behind the scenes with Michele Payn & Eliz Greene
Did you know that nutrition programs are the majority of the farm bill? It’s one of the many ways agriculture and nutrition go hand-in-hand. That’s why the Food Bullying podcast is celebrating National Nutrition Month and National Agriculture Month with a joint release with the Sound Bites podcast.
Melissa Joy Dobbins, RDN, is the host of the Sound Bites podcast and she loves learning from farmers! She talks with Michele & Eliz about opportunities for agriculture and nutrition to work more closely together to address hunger.
RDN Melissa Joy Dobbins on nutrition & agriculture collaborating
Wine. Tomatoes. Green beans. Tofu. What may sound like a menu is actually what one farm grows. Jennie Schmidt shares how she produces so many crops, why her farm transitioned from organic to conventional to be more sustainable, and what food bullying terms like factory farming mean to her family farm.
When was the last time you judged or criticized yourself about food? National Nutrition Month is a great time to change the restrictive mentality we have around food and today’s guest will help you spend less energy worrying about food.
Are dairy farmers crazy? Maybe, but it’s because they always put their cows first. Derrick Josi, known as TDF Honest Farming, is an Oregon dairy farmer encouraging other farmers to bridge the gap with consumers – and understand the divide goes both ways. He talks about his little brown cows, while Michele accuses him of being a cow racist. Derrick shares the mental health impact of bullying by activists, how he actually cares for cows, and the work that goes into producing healthy milk.
Did you know that only 8% of males wash their hands after using the restroom? And those people might have picked up or touched the apple you just bought? Hygiene is important – both on your hands and in your kitchen. It’s a greater concern than the chemicals many worry about. Meat scientist Jennie Hodgen loves to talk about bacteria, meat cuts, cleaning produce, and keeping your food safe. “The food you’re getting has gone through quite a bit of rigor from a food safety stand point.” She helps us remember that food safety done well is invisible.
Are you leaving foods out of your diet? You can run the risk of creating health issues if you are leaving out major food groups, like carbohydrates. “Our bodies need a variety of nutrients, which are obtained from variety of foods in our diet” points out Neva Cochran, a registered dietitian nutritionist. When you eliminate most of the foods in your diet, you are not going to be adequately nourished and may not have enough calories. Great tips on balanced diet choices!