The future of climate-smart ag and the hot politics of your dinner plate

Degrees: Real talk about planet-saving careers

Helena Bottemiller Evich, founder and editor in chief of Food Fix, which has rapidly become one of the go-to premium newsletters for anyone and everyone with a stake in food policy, from White House Staffers to famous chefs. Previously, she led coverage of food and agriculture issues at POLITICO for nearly a decade, winning numerous awards for her work, including a George Polk Award for a series on climate change and two James Beard Awards for features on nutrition and science. In 2022, she was a James Beard Award finalist for a deep dive on diet-related diseases and Covid-19.

Before launching POLITICO’s food policy coverage in 2013, Helena was the Washington correspondent for Food Safety News, where she covered deadly foodborne illness outbreaks and the run-up to Congress passing the most significant update to food safety law in a century.

Born and raised in Washington state, Helena attended Claremont McKenna College, where she studied government. She now lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband, toddler and tabby cat.

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Resources

• See Helena accept the prestigious George Polk Award for her year-long series exposing the USDA for suppressing its own research on climate change.
  “The stories examined how the Trump administration failed to promote its own research about the dangers of climate change; devoted a minuscule portion of its budget to climate adaptation; buried a study warning of lost nutrients in rice, the leading source of nutrition for 600 million people; and led farmers to feel frustrated by the lack of government help in tackling climate-related problems.”
  — Politico
• I’m standing here in the middle of climate change: How the USDA is failing farmers, Helena Bottemiller Evich, Politico, 10/15/2019
• What the Inflation Reduction Act means for food policy, Food Fix, 8/9/22
• Dr. Ayana Johnson’s TED Talk: How to find joy in climate action

Book Giveaway

To win a copy of Speed & Scale, rate and review Degrees: Real talk about planet-saving careers on Apple Podcasts, Podchaser or Spotify. Take a screenshot of your review and share it with us on Instagram @environmental_defense_fund. Use the hashtag #DegreesPodcast. We’re giving away up to five books per episode!

Who makes Degrees?
Yesh Pavlik Slenk is Degrees’ host. Amy Morse is our producer. Podcast Allies is our production company. Tressa Versteeg is senior producer; Rye Taylor is our audio engineer; Elaine Grant is CEO of Podcast Allies and Tina Bassir is project manager. Our music is Shame, Shame, Shame from Yesh’s favorite band, Lake Street Dive. Degrees: Real talk about planet-saving careers is presented by Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).
How to find Yesh

Follow Yesh on Twitter at @yeshsays, and stay up to date with us on Instagram @environmental_defense_fund.

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