What is the history of olive oil?

On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with Tom Mueller, the author Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil. When did human beings start using olive oil? How did it become an integral part of so many cuisines? Join us at 10 or email feedback@yourcallradio.org. Is olive oil an important part of the culture you come from? Do you have a memory of cooking with olive oil you'd like to share? It's Your Call, with Malihe Razazan and you.

Guest:
Tom Mueller, a staff writer for the New Yorker

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What's it like to live on food stamps?

On the next Your Call, we'll talk about who is living on food stamps and how they are making ends meet. 15% of Americans receive food stamps, which allocates an average of $4 per day. And the number of people relying on food stamp programs has risen with the recession. So how does this system work? Can you stay healthy on $4 a day? Join us at 10 or email us at feedback@yourcallradio.org. If you're on food stamps, how are you meeting your needs? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar, and You.

Guests:
Paul Ash, executive director of the San Francisco Food Bank

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How does diet impact our health?

On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about the documentary film Forks Over Knives. Two out of every three of Americans are overweight. Cases of diabetes are exploding, especially among the younger population, and about half of us are taking at least one prescription drug. So what can be done to reverse these alarming statistics? Join us live at 10 or email feedback@yourcallradio.org. How has your diet affected your health?

Guests:

Matthew Lederman, physician and co-founder of Exsalus Health and Wellness Center, Los Angeles, California

Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, director of cardiovascular disease reversal and prevention at the Cleveland Clinic

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Do slaughterhouse videos influence you?

Do slaughterhouse videos change your opinion of how animals should be treated? On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about undercover investigations into how animals are slaughtered for food. Have you been influenced by amateur videos and how? Join us live at 10 or send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org. There have been efforts in many states to make these videos illegal. What do these videos reveal about how we treat animals? And should they be legislated? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Tom Laskawy, a contributing writer on food and agriculture for Grist Magazine

Nathan Runkle, the founder and executive director of Mercy For Animals

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How are food banks faring?

On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation about the challenges facing food banks and the services they provide. Individual donations to food banks are down, but demand is on the rise. Some food banks are actually expanding and hiring. They're also providing fresh produce to the community. How are they doing it? Join us live at 10 or send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org. From food banks to community gardens--what is the best way to meet our community's food needs? It's Your Call with Holly Kernan and you.

Guests:

Sue Sigler, executive director of the California Association of Food Banks

Willy Elliott-McCrea, executive director of Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Cruz

Brian Higgins, communications director for the Alameda County Community Food Bank

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What is the most powerful way to change the American diet?

On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with John Robbins, author of Diet for a New America and The Food Revolution. If what we eat is connected to personal and environmental health, how do we shift our collective habits? Is it getting more nutritious food in schools? Increasing organic options at Walmart? Join us live at 10 or send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org. What determines your diet? And how do we change our nation's food system? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar, and you.

Guests:
John Robbins, author of Diet for a New America, The Food Revolution, and The New Good Life

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What is the future of wild seafood?

On the next Your Call, we'll have a conversation with Paul Greenberg, author of Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food. A few decades ago, most of the seafood we ate was wild. But we may be the last generation to enjoy wild fish, if we don't change our practices. How can we help restore fish populations through our food choices? Join us live at 11 or send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org. What factors do you consider when you buy fish? It's Your Call, with Sandip Roy and you.

Guest:
Paul Greenberg, author of Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food

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How does our food system reflect our society and our history?

On the next Your Call we'll talk to the authors of Empires of Food: Feast, Famine, and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations. With climate change, population growth, genetically modified organisms, market globalization, and corporate consolidation--what is happening to our food systems? And to us? Is the modern agricultural machine that feeds the world also destroying it? Join us live at 11 or send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org. Could local food systems be a solution to global food crises? It's Your Call, with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Andrew Rimas, a journalist and the managing editor at the Improper Bostonian magazine

Evan Fraser, adjunct professor of geography at the University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada and a Senior Lecturer at the School of Earth and Environment at the University of Leeds in the UK with a focus on farming, climate change and the environment

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Are we on our way to healthy food for kids?

On the next Your Call we'll talk about school food. In a unanimous vote, the Senate approved $4.5 billion to increase the number of free meals and improve the quality of food served in schools nationwide. How significant a victory is this for the campaign to improve school food programs? What's next on that movement's agenda? Join us live at 11 or send us an email at feedback@yourcallradio.org. Have you seen menu changes in a school near you? It's Your Call, with Hana Baba and you.

Guests:
Janet Poppendieck, author of Free For All: Fixing School Food in America

Zenobia Barlow, cofounder and executive director of The Center for Ecoliteracy

Jennifer LeBarre, nutrition services director for Oakland Unified School District

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Your Call 043008 The Vitamin Quandary

Are the vitamins you’re taking helping or hurting? On the next Your Call we’ll talk about recent nutritional research that has shown limited benefits to taking dietary supplements and vitamins. With the FDA not testing the health claims of the manufacturers and peer reviewed studies casting doubt on their efficacy, what do we know about vitamin and mineral supplements? What can they do? Are they ever necessary for people who eat a relatively healthy diet? It’s Your Call with Sandip Roy and you.

Guests:
Dr. Stephen Barrett in Chapel Hill
Retired psychiatrist and co-author and editor of 50 books including the textbook Consumer Health: A Guide to Intelligent Choices. He is the founder and editor of quackwatch.org.
 
Dr. Lisa Bero in San Francisco
Professor of Clinical Pharmacy at UCSF and Co-Director of the United States San Francisco Cochrane Center. Dr. Bero is a pharmacologist with primary interests in how clinical and basic sciences are translated into clinical practice and health policy.

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Your Call 031308 The Commons Series; Seeds

How do we care for the things we share? On the next Your Call, we continue our series on the global commons. This week we’ll discuss the nuts, grains and seeds that form the nutritional basis of human civilization. Our seed stock is at risk because of a growing imbalance between private and public imperatives. Last week, Norwegian scientists built a seed vault deep within an Arctic mountain. Is this enough to guarantee that the food we eat today will be available in the future? It’s Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guests:
Brewster Kneen in Ottawa, Canada
Is the publisher of the Ram’s Horn, a monthly journal of food systems analysis. He is a farmer, scholar and the founder of The Forum on Privatization and the Public Domain.  

Claire Hope Cummings in Santa Rosa
Author of Uncertain Peril: Genetic Engineering and the Future of Seeds.

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Your Call 020708 In Defense of Food

Why is it so hard to figure out what we should eat? On the next Your Call we welcome back Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food. In his celebrated book The Omnivore's Dilemma, Pollan traced what it was we were eating. In his new book, he lays out his theory why a country obsessed with eating healthy is failing so utterly at the task. Could eating for pleasure be the key to a healthy body and a healthy environment? It's Your Call with Rose Aguilar and you.

Guest:
Michael Pollan
Author of In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto.

Click to Listen: In Defense of Food