Every Bite You Take - with Dr. Zahra Kassam

Plant-based diets are not only better for you but could significantly change our trajectory on climate change.

This week on Green Street, Patti and Doug talk about the health hazards of wildfire smoke and how to stay safe, the effort by the United States to undermine a global plastics treaty ahead of the UN conference in Geneva, and the new report showing that Americans are getting a majority of their calories from ultra-processed foods. Then Dr. Zahra Kassam, radiation oncologist and founder of Plant Based Canada, talks about her work educating the public and her patients about the many health and environmental benefits of a plant based diet. 

Every Bite You Take - with Dr. Zahra Kassam

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Links from the Interview

The website of Plant Based Canada: https://www.plantbasedcanada.org/

Links from the News

Wildfire smoke is hazardous to everyone: https://www.npr.org/2025/08/04/nx-s1-5492448/health-michigan-canada-smoke-minnesota-air-quality-wildfire

The United States undermines a global plastic treaty: https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/trump-administration-memo-urges-countries-reject-plastic-production-caps-un-2025-08-06/

Most Americans are getting their calories from ultra-processed food: https://www.ehn.org/most-u-s-calories-now-come-from-factory-made-foods-cdc-report-finds

Dr. Zahra Kassam

Everything Has to Change - with Dr. Kyla Bennett

We can't continue on our current lifestyle trajectory and expect the human race to survive.

This week on Green Street, Patti and Doug talk about how painting roofs white can significantly reduce urban heat, and a new study showing that chemicals from tires are ending up in almost all of our lettuce and other parts of our food supply. Then Dr. Kyla Bennett, Science Policy Director for Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER) talks about the fate of humans in a world challenged by climate change, plastic pollution, and chemical toxins. Her conclusion: everything has to change!

Everything Has to Change - with Dr. Kyla Bennett

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Links from the interview:

• Kyla Bennet and PEER:https://peer.org/author/kyla-bennett/

• Sewage sludge carrying PFAS:https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2024/02/08/pfas-sewage-sludge/

• Wild mammals only make up 4% of mammals on earth:https://ourworldindata.org/wild-mammals-birds-biomass

  
  

Links from the news:

• Saving cities from extreme heat:https://www.route-fifty.com/infrastructure/2024/07/surprisingly-simple-way-cities-could-save-people-extreme-heat/398073/:~:text=So%20scientists%20and%20urban%20designers,more%20passive,%20simple%20cooling%20techniques.

• Car tires shedding dangerous chemicals and plastics:https://civileats.com/2024/07/16/tracking-tire-plastics-and-chemicals-from-road-to-plate/#:~:text=Tire%2Dderived%20microplastics%20are%20a,the%20environment%20via%20tire%20microplastics.

Playing with Fire - with Denise Snyder

Outdoor grilling may be easy and fun, but grilling meat can be hazardous to your health.

This week on Green Street, Patti and Doug talk about how rising temperatures around the world are impacting our health, and how the Trump administration is terminating the research on PFAS in bio-solid fertilizer used in agriculture. Then Denise Snyder, Associate Dean for Clinical Research at Duke School of Medicine, talks about grilling food and how cooking meat on an open flame can be hazardous to your health.

Green Street - Playing with Fire with Denise Snyder

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Links from the Interview

Information from Boston University about safe grilling: https://www.bu.edu/articles/2025/how-to-prepare-grilled-meats-safely/

Fact sheet from the National Cancer Institute: https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/diet/cooked-meats-fact-sheet

Links from the News

Extreme heat is a killer: https://www.cnn.com/2025/07/09/climate/europe-heat-wave-death-toll-global-warming

Trump administration stops research on PFAS-laden fertilizer on farmland: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/11/trump-pfas-research-funding-farms