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Last Wednesday, the FDA released details on the agency’s first new rules under the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). The FDA now has the authority to detain food products for 30 days simply because it has “reason to believe” they pose a threat to food safety. Signed into law by President Obama this past January, the FSMA gave the FDA new authority to oversee facilities that grow and sell the nation’s produce, including the power to issue mandatory food recalls. As we have seen the FDA’s overzealous raids on raw dairy farms even prior to the enactment of the FSMA, this raises concerns for increased abuse of power.

We live in a global society that measures success on economic growth. But on a planet with limited resources, is that growth sustainable? Dave Gardner, documentary filmmaker of GrowthBusters, talks to us about taking on “City Hall, Wall Street, and The Pope as he questions society’s most fundamental beliefs about prosperity.”

A major aspect of becoming a sustainable civilization is having a reliable food supply. Dave discusses how the signs are present calling for dramatic change. Will we wake up and step up to the challenge before it is too late?

If you are not actively avoiding genetically-modified foods (GMOs), you are eating them every day. GMOs are in roughly 80 percent of packaged foods sold in the U.S. and Canada, according the Grocery Manufacturers Association. Studies indicate serious health risks are associated with GMO consumption, including infertility, accelerated aging, organ damage and birth defects. Want to know more? 

Francis Mangels, former USDA scientist and featured expert in the movie What In The World Are They Spraying?, joins us to talk about the controversial topic, chemtrails. Skeptics say that chemtrails are merely persistent contrails, but the conditions for which normal contrails to persist are very rare. Is something more going on? For years, geo-engineers have discussed using high altitude aerosol spraying to mitigate the effects of global warming. They just don’t admit that they are doing it. Francis states that geo-engineering is indeed occurring, and has the evidence to back it up.

Rick Thomas of Holistic Nutrition 4U joins us to talk about the recent deregulation of GMO Alfalfa and it’s potential impact on our food system. Rick holds a PhD in Holistic Nutrition and actively counsels and lectures across the country on nutrition and nutritional healing. He discusses the contamination we can expect from GMO Alfalfa, as well as the negative effects of GMOs on the immune system. Rick also highlights ways to become active in spreading GMO awareness in your community.

Think your BPA-free plastic water bottle is safe? A study in Environmental Health Perspectives shows that most of today’s plastics are still leaching hormone-like chemicals.

Just a few years ago, BPA was all over the news because it was revealed that the chemical mimics estrogen. Many plastic food containers contained BPA in the formulation, and studies showed this chemical leached into the contents over time. Companies rushed to replace their plastic formulations with new chemicals, many them with lesser-known effects.

It is still unknown the effects of these small amounts of estrogen-like chemicals on the human body, as most tests have been done on mice and lab rats. The study does not look into this, but focuses on revealing their presence in the products we purchase.

Four years ago, Larry Jacobs, President of Jacobs Farm/Del Cabo, received an unfortunate phone call from Whole Foods. The retail giant notified him that it was rejecting the organic dill he had sold the chain because the herb had tested positive for pesticides. Jacobs’ response was “that’s not possible…I haven’t sprayed pesticides since I got sick spraying pesticides 40 years ago.”  As it turns out, Jacobs’ 120-acre herb farm, just north of Santa Cruz in Wilder Ranch State Park, was the victim of a hard-to-detect but relatively simple scientific process: Pesticides applied in liquid form to nearby brussel sprouts later evaporated and were carried in vapor, through wind or fog, to Jacobs’ dill.