Forked, presented by REAP/SOW

In this episode, Helena and Theodore do a … Roundup … of what people who don’t have time to come up with better nicknames are calling “glyphogate.” It’s an in-depth conversation about the power of Big Ag and why MAHA may not get the regenerative agriculture future they thought RFK Jr. promised. We’re also taking a close look at the Senate testimony of Casey Means, nominee for Surgeon General, and whether the “nation’s doct...

In this episode, Helena and Theodore take the show on the road, talking many things MAHA and more with Jerusha Klemperer, host of the What You’re Eating podcast, from FoodPrint, a nonprofit dedicated to research and education on food production practices. This is a big-picture discussion, trying to figure out if MAHA is a political movement, whether it will last, and most importantly, is it doing any good? Helena focuses o...

This episode explores whether MAHA momentum in the states translates into actual policy change nationwide. Helena and Theodore host the first episode of Forked recorded in front of a live audience in Washington DC with two special guests: Summer Barrett, a self-described MAHA Mom – and influential lobbyist – in West Virginia who led the state’s charge to ban food dyes; and Scott Faber, from the Environmental Working Group,...

In this episode, Helena and Theodore look at the federal government shutdown and what it means for SNAP. Also, the Truth Social post from President Trump to America’s ranchers, calling on them to lower their prices, has spurred an America First maelstrom. And finally — peanuts are back! (Or, research shows that introducing children to peanuts and other potential food allergens at a young age actually helps prevent serious ...

Theodore and Helena discuss a kind of chaos that is almost becoming normal: painful layoffs and firings at a federal agency, which are then mostly undone not long after. This time it was the CDC, with the nation’s “disease detectives” going out the door and then back in before it even closed (among other layoffs.)  The context here is the shutdown of the federal government, which means talking about what’s getting support ...

Veteran food policy journalist Tom Philpott, one of the hosts of the Unconfined podcast from the Center for a Livable Future at Johns Hopkins University, joins Helena and Theodore in a unique collaboration. Unconfined is a monthly interview show focused on the public-health implications of industrial meat production. They talk about why RFK Jr. rejected the UN Declaration on Noncommunicable Diseases, how the MAHA movement ...

The MAHA Commission has made big promises about what it would do to fix the nation’s food system and health. Its new strategy document includes 128 proposals for change – but little evidence that those changes can be made real. Helena and Theodore go through the report and ask: Did RFK Jr. bow to pressure from Big Ag? Is he more interested in cracking down on vaccine injury than high-fructose corn syrup? Also: Whole milk i...

The impact of the Trump Administration’s immigration crackdown is starting to show up in new preliminary census data, and that poses major problems for all parts of U.S. society, but particularly in our food system: Nearly half the country’s food system workers are immigrants. In this episode, Helena and Theodore go through the numbers, and explain why the chances of immigration reform are going down. Also: FoodNet gets a ...

In this episode, Theodore and Helena discuss why the (non-vaxx) ideas of the MAHA movement are popular, but the movement itself is less so.. That split presents a major problem for Democrats, who can’t resist the Trump administration when it’s pushing for things they want. Also, does Coke taste better with cane sugar or high-fructose corn syrup? The answer: they taste about the same, and people prefer Pepsi (as long as the...

The major companies that produce and sell ultraprocessed foods are making big changes, or at least they are promising to. The Trump administration has celebrated “wins” over companies as varied as PepsiCo and Steak ‘n Shake. It’s not clear whether decisions from these companies to change their products – out with synthetic dyes and in with beef tallow – are coming from pressure at the federal level, new state laws, changes...

Helena and Theodore explain why Alaska senator Lisa Murkowski flipped to cast the deciding vote on Trump’s Big Beautiful Act: an exemption that rewards her state’s highest-in-the-nation SNAP error rates. They also take a look at how the law creates barriers to food assistance and healthcare, with paperwork, work requirements, and pushing administrative costs to the states. Finally, RFK Jr. has talked a big game about banni...

In the “Double Take,” Helena and Theodore have Trump whiplash on the threat of mass deportations in the food system. In “Forks and Knives,” the discussion turns to the historic cuts to food assistance for low-income Americans that are playing out as the “One, Big Beautiful Bill” makes its way through Congress. And for “Good Vibes,” the federal Dietary Guidelines may drop recommendations for how much Americans should drink....

American food politics are a mess. The traditional forces driving policy in agriculture and nutrition have been wiped away, and ordinary people are struggling to figure out who is in charge, what they’re up to, and why. Every two weeks, Forked hosts Helena Bottemiller Evich of Food Fix and Theodore Ross FERN's Editor-in-chief cut through the confusion, providing context and analysis, hopefully leaving you feeling less… wel...