The Food Chain

Along the Food Chain with Michael Olson and ... Mandy Harper, Founder, CEO & Executive Chef, Wholesome Bakery /// At the Natural Products Expo its easy to see what is the latest trend in food. The last time I attended the Expo, which was a few years ago, the dominant trend among the 4,000 vendors was soy. It seemed like most every vendor of natural foods was infusing their natural foods with soy. This year it seemed that very few of the manufacturers of natural food products were adding soy. Gone!!! This year it seemed most all the manufacturers were adding protein ­– This with pea protein… that with hemp protein… and over there, whey protein… But as I cruised the exhibition halls, Wholesome Bakery of San Francisco caught my attention with a line of smartly packaged cookies. What caught my eye was Wholesome’s positioning statement: “What we leave out matters as much as we put in.”

Along the Food Chain with Michael Olson and... Sally Fallon Morell, Founding President, Weston A Price Foundation and Editor & Co-Author of Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats The food trend is obvious to anyone who attended the recent Natural Products Expo in Anaheim. Just add protein! This trend in natural foods leads us to ask: Do protein powders do a body good? I attended the recent Natural Products Expo in Anaheim to see what I could see about the trend in food, and of course, to find stories for the Food Chain Radio – Podcast. When I last attended the Expo, a few years ago, the dominant trend among the 4,000 vendors was soy. It seemed like every vendor of natural foods in the hall had somehow managed to infuse their natural food with soy. Soy was here… soy was there… soy was everywhere! This year I did not see a single mention of soy among the 4,000 vendors of natural food products. Gone!!! Most of what I did see, just about everywhere I looked, were “natural food” products that had been infused with added protein ­– This with pea protein… that with hemp protein… and over there, whey protein… Yes, it was pretty obvious to one and all that the dominant trend in natural foods is to… just add protein. That protein powders are now taking such a prominent role in the nation’s diet leads us to ask… Do protein powders do a body good?

Michael Olson with Dr. Jeff Lester, Director, Trilogy Medical Center for Integrative Medicine Best laid plans! When the government threw its food plate out the door and turned its food pyramid upside down, I called my doctor for his opinion on how the new food recommendations will affect our health. Instead, Dr. Jeff Lester took me on a fascinating tour of healing with homeopathy. And so I asked, How does one heal the intractable diseases of modern times with homeopathy?

There are approximately 12.35 million people employed in the restaurant and food service industry. Chances are good most of them, at one time or another, dreamed of owning a successful restaurant. This “Restaurateur Dream” leads us to ask: Which is most important in determining the long-term viability of a restaurant: food, service or location? The 1408th edition of the Food Chain Radio Podcast with Michael Olson features Erick and Brian Johnson, the father & son owners of the Erik's DeliCafe franchise restaurant chain that serves the South San Francisco and Monterey Bay areas. Topics include how father Erik built a small sandwich shop into a successful restaurant business; how that restaurant grew into a family-owned franchise chain; and how son Brian is building out the Erik's DeliCafe chain throughout the region.

The label on the meat package reads, “Product of USA.” But the meat in the package could have come from Australia, Brazil or China, and be from one animal or hundreds of animals. This leads us to ask: Should government be forced to accommodate local food farms? The 1406th edition of the Food Chain Radio Podcast with Michael Olson features Judith McGeary, Founder and CEO, Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance, for a conversation about the “Livestock Owned by Communities to Advance Local Foods Act” aka “Local Foods Act.” Topics include how the consolidation of the nation’s food supply chain has resulted in the diminishment of food quality and selection; why government supports the consolidation of food into ever fewer sources; and how government might be forced to accommodate local food farms.

On August 10, 2018, a California jury awarded Benecia public school landscaper Dewayne Lee Johnson $289 million for the non-Hodgkin lymphoma he claimed was caused by exposure to Monsanto’s Roundup weedkiller. That award leads us to ask: Should manufacturers be held accountable for the consequences of their pesticides? The 1404the edition of the Food Chain Radio Podcast with Michael Olson features Attorney Brent Wisner, whose firm, Wisner Baum LLP, won the $289 million Monsanto Roundup lawsuit on behalf of public school landscaper Dewayne Lee Johnson. Topics include what Wisner told the jury that convinced them to believe Johnson instead of Monsanto; how the pesticide industry is fighting back with House Appropriation Bill 453 to grant pesticide manufacturers immunity from lawsuits; and whether manufacturers should be held accountable for the consequences of their pesticides.

Guest: Mark Cushing, CEO of Animal Policy Group and author of Pet Nation Twenty years ago, Duke the Dog lived out in the backyard. Now he lives in the house and sleeps in a bed. And so we ask: How did the United States become a Pet Nation? Topics include a look at how animals became pets that fly on planes with us; how the transformation from working animals to pets was made; and how pets are now transforming the nation’s economy.

Michael Olson with Washington State Congressman Dan NewhouseChina is buying up America’s farmland… with the money we send it to manufacture stuff for us in their coal-burning factories. Some say this a good deal because we don’t have to work in those factories. Others say it’s a bad deal because we are selling out our future. And so we ask: Should China be allowed to buy up America’s best farmland? Topics include why China is having trouble feeding its people; how China is buying up America's farmland; and whether Congressman Dan Newhouse and fellow legislators can stop China from buying up America's farmland.