CHEF TETON – EATING RIGHT !

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Jason Schwartz sits with SUSAN TETON, author of a number of books on food and health. She has a number of cooking shows, and was one of the founder of a progressive Maui group, Aina First. Join in on this conversation about healthy food and what we can do to improve the quality of our lives. 2-24-2020

Summary & Transcript

[00:00 → 06:36]
Introduction and Background of Guest Susan Teton

• Host Jason Schwartz welcomes Susan Teton, a food author, cooking show host, and activist focused on food, environment, and health.
• Susan’s professional journey began in 1991, working with John Robbins, author of Diet for a New America, a pioneering book connecting food choices to environmental and health concerns.
• Susan authored the Healthy School Lunch Action Guide in 1995, still relevant today, aimed at improving the quality of food served in U.S. schools.
• The school lunch program is described as the largest feeding program in the U.S., surpassing military and prison systems combined, heavily influenced by federal and state policies and agricultural lobbies, especially dairy and meat industries.
• USDA guidelines govern school menus, but the USDA also supports farmers, creating a complex conflict of interest affecting nutrition standards.
• Susan and her partner conducted a year-long nationwide investigation into school lunch programs, focusing on improving nutrition and sustainability.
• They found that food service directors were often proud of their offerings but constrained by infrastructure and children’s food preferences.
• A key insight: educating children about environmental impacts of food (deforestation, pollution, soil depletion) motivated better food choices more effectively than traditional nutrition education.
• A formal study in three states (Florida, Ohio, California) showed a one-hour environmental-focused presentation led to better food choices by children than 16 weeks of nutrition education.
• The guide provided 50 bulk recipes and curriculum to help integrate healthier food into schools.
• [06:36 → 13:16]
  Challenges in Changing School Lunch Programs
• Despite the award-winning program, significant changes in school food quality have been limited due to entrenched systems, reliance on pre-prepared, microwaved meals, and limited cooking in most schools.
• Most school food is shipped in, often surplus USDA commodity food, with low nutritional quality.
• Hawaii’s school food system faces similar challenges with heavy reliance on shipped food and complex regulations involving unions and federal/state funding.
• Free or reduced-price lunches are critical for many children, being often their only meal of the day.
• The system also depends on ala carte convenience foods sold on campus, undermining efforts to promote healthier meals.
• Some smaller or charter schools manage to cook fresh food and embrace the healthier curriculum.
• Locally grown food is scarce in schools due to supply chain complexities and regulations.
• The dairy and meat industries have a strong influence, creating economic and political barriers to healthier school food offerings.
• [13:16 → 20:33]
  Economic and Systemic Barriers to Food System Reform
• Economic realities make it difficult for schools to adopt healthier, cooked-from-scratch meals because of budget constraints and existing subsidy frameworks.
• The cost of school lunches is extremely low (often around $1 or less), necessitating cheap, mass-produced food.
• Buying local food is identified as the most powerful lever for improving food quality and sustainability, especially in island contexts like Maui.
• Susan’s group had a detailed regenerative agriculture plan for Ina First farm, which was not adopted; instead, Mahi Pono acquired the land with a different vision, focusing more on export agriculture rather than local food sustainability.
• Regenerative agriculture, which improves soil health and reduces chemical use, is presented as a critical solution for climate change and food quality.
• The use of harmful herbicides like paraquat persists despite the known risks, illustrating resistance to change in agricultural practices.
• [20:33 → 30:08]
  Cultural and Behavioral Aspects of Food Choices and Agriculture
• Susan reflects on why chemical-intensive agriculture persists despite knowledge of better alternatives, comparing it to addiction—a system locked into its current practices.
• Changing agricultural practices requires education, consciousness, and economic adjustments, which are challenging to implement at scale.
• Large retailers like Costco and Walmart have begun offering more organic products, reflecting changing consumer demands.
• Some agricultural decisions prioritize export markets and ease of handling (e.g., easy-peel tangerines) over local food needs.
• The initial intentions behind acquiring agricultural land for sustainability may be overshadowed by commercial interests.
• Susan touches on the paradox of knowing better about healthy food choices but failing to act accordingly, highlighting the complexity of human behavior and convenience.
• [30:08 → 38:53]
  Practical Advice for Consumers and Community Engagement
• Susan recommends supporting local food systems by shopping at farmers markets and seeking out local produce, especially in Hawaii where most organic food is imported from California.
• She emphasizes the importance of family involvement in meal preparation to reconnect people with food sources and build community.
• The Hawaii Farmers Union United is a valuable organization supporting family farms, educating farmers, and fostering consumer-farmer relationships.
• Consumers have a crucial role in supporting local farms and influencing food systems by their purchasing choices.
• Community potlucks and educational events hosted by the Farmers Union foster connection and awareness around food issues.
• Susan encourages active participation in local food movements and legislative processes to create systemic change.
• [38:53 → 48:08]
  Health Implications of Food Choices and Food Industry Practices
• Susan discusses the profound impact of food on physical, mental, and emotional health.
• She shares personal experience with her son’s behavioral improvements after removing food colorings and preservatives from his diet, highlighting the neurological and developmental effects of additives and processed foods.
• There is a clear link between processed foods, chemical additives, and chronic illnesses including diabetes, cancer, and behavioral disorders.
• The food industry’s resistance to GMO labeling is driven by economic interests, limiting consumer choice and transparency.
• Susan advocates for eating whole, unprocessed foods “from the earth, not the factory” and minimizing consumption of processed and chemically-laden items.
• She praises recent trends toward organic and non-GMO products but notes the continued challenges posed by industrial agriculture.
• [48:08 → 55:39]
  Call to Action and Closing Remarks
• Climate change and food system sustainability are urgent and critical issues requiring collective action.
• Hawaii imports 90-95% of its food, a precarious situation that must be addressed through local food production and systemic change.
• Susan stresses the importance of voting and civic engagement to influence policies affecting food, agriculture, and environment.
• She encourages listeners to become informed, join local organizations like Maui Tomorrow and the Hawaii Farmers Union, and support sustainable food initiatives.
• Susan’s websites for further information and resources are:

Website	Purpose
chefTeton.com	Cooking education, wellness coaching
inaFirst.com	Regenerative agriculture and local food projects
MauiTomorrow.org	Local government watchdog and civic engagement

Health and wellness are interconnected with environmental health; improving food systems benefits both community and individual well-being.

• Susan highlights the necessity of starting with small changes: eating local, cooking at home, eliminating processed foods, and advocating for better food policies.
• The show concludes with gratitude and an invitation to continue exploring food, health, and environment topics via the Neutral Zone’s archives.
  • • Key Insights
• School lunch programs are deeply entrenched in a complex, federally-supported system that prioritizes cheap, mass-produced food over nutrition and sustainability.
• Educating children on the environmental impact of food choices leads to better eating behaviors than traditional nutrition education alone.
• Economic and political barriers, including agricultural lobbying and subsidy structures, restrict meaningful reform in school food programs and local food systems.
• Regenerative agriculture offers a promising path toward healthier soils, food, and climate resilience but faces resistance from established chemical-dependent practices.
• Consumers wield significant power through their purchasing choices, especially by supporting local food and demanding transparency (e.g., GMO labeling).
• Food additives and processed foods have substantial negative effects on physical and mental health, particularly in children.
• Community engagement, including participation in organizations like Hawaii Farmers Union and Maui Tomorrow, is crucial for systemic change.
• Small, practical steps — shopping locally, cooking at home, eliminating processed foods — can collectively create a healthier food culture.
  • • Timeline Table of Key Events Discussed

Year	Event/Development	Notes
1987-1991	John Robbins publishes Diet for a New America	Pioneering food-environment-health connection
1995	Susan publishes Healthy School Lunch Action Guide	Curriculum & recipes for schools
Early 1990s	Susan’s nationwide investigation of school lunches	Study across FL, OH, CA shows impact of education
30 years ago	Environmental education leads to improved school food choices	Still relevant today
Recent years	Growth of organic and non-GMO product availability	Response to consumer demand
Ongoing	Challenges with pesticide use and conventional agriculture	Resistance to change persists

Organizations & Resources Mentioned

Organization	Description	Website/Contact
Hawaii Farmers Union United	Supports family farms, educates farmers, community potlucks	Search online for local chapter
Maui Tomorrow	County government watchdog, civic engagement	MauiTomorrow.org
Edible Hawaiian Islands Magazine	Quarterly publication on local food and culture	Search online
INA First	Regenerative agriculture project on Maui	InaFirst.com
Chef Teton	Susan’s cooking education and wellness coaching	chefTeton.com

Summary

Susan Teton brings over three decades of experience as a food activist, author, and educator focused on improving the health of people and the planet through food. Her work highlights the complexity of the U.S. school lunch program, revealing economic, political, and systemic barriers that prevent healthier, sustainable food from reaching many children. Through research and education, she demonstrated that connecting children to the environmental impact of their food choices is a powerful motivator for healthier eating.

She advocates for regenerative agriculture as a vital solution to rebuilding soil health, combating climate change, and producing nutritious food locally—especially critical in island communities like Maui that import the vast majority of their food. Susan stresses the role of consumers in demanding transparency, supporting local farmers, and making conscious food choices to drive systemic change.

Health impacts from processed foods and chemical additives are significant, particularly for children’s development and behavior. Susan’s personal experience underscores the transformative power of diet on well-being. She encourages community involvement, supporting organizations like the Hawaii Farmers Union and Maui Tomorrow, and taking small but effective actions such as shopping locally, cooking at home, and advocating for food system reform.

The conversation ultimately is a call to action: to realize that food is not just sustenance but a cornerstone of environmental, physical, and social health, and that collective, informed effort is essential to build a thriving, sustainable future.

Transcript

00:00

good morning everyone Aloha it’s Monday at 11:00 I’m Jason Schwartz your host and this is the neutral zone welcome to our show we have a terrific guest today we have Susan tonight he’s real interesting [Music] well no better man soul [Music] make damn sure the car watch this hand [Music] nature good morning everyone Aloha I’m Jason Schwartz your host and this is the neutral zone now a neutral zone calm you can find us on Facebook live you can find us at kak u fm on Facebook you can find us at ikkaku

01:33

where they have a stream of this show you can find it the next day at Maui neutral zone dot-com along with all our shows we have a special guest today many of you know Susan but some of you don’t and today you’re gonna get to meet her Susan tea time welcome to our show hey thank you Jason great to be here and we’re cold in here jackets okay I carry it in my car and air conditioning they keep it cold in here they want to make sure that we’re on our toes this I got some warm coffee here

02:04

Susan how would I describe you and I was gonna start and say okay let me see this woman is a author she has this Organa how would you describe you all things food that’s what I say sometimes yeah yeah my books are about food my website and all my cooking shows are you know teaching cooking cooking shows and website why don’t you show us a couple of things so people can get an idea well I first started out being a foodie a long long time ago but I became a professional foodie in 1991 when I went

02:41

to work for John Robbins he was the author of diet for new America right and several other books after that but this is the first book I wrote and it kind of is the healthy school lunch action guide healthy school lunch action guides available to everyone actually it is but it you know it was published in 1995 but still available well that means you still have readers and people that consider it still current and it’s talking about so what is what is that about well what happened with John’s book and

03:12

diet for a new America people were like oh my god it was the very first book that was written that tied our food choices to the environment and to our health at the same time the the mimicry and and in the environmental issues and our bodies and so he was the first person to kind of open that door in a big way so for you out there that may or may not know John Robbins was an author of a book called diet for new America and he was the heir to baskin-robbins so many of you John Robbins the son he kind

03:47

of rebelled against what was going there and was very conscious of food wrote this book and so what was missing there was are just a revolution in this book because it had so much heart – he brought in you know the ritual of the table and who we are and we’ve lost our connection to food and so it was any animal welfare and it just you know brought attention to things people didn’t know were happening well here was this roughly night in that well in 1989 was the documentary on it but it was in

04:18

the early nineteen nineteen ninety-one and nineteen ninety okay so I read the book and it changed my life years ago yeah how could that be you were a little girl I know I was a teenager so anyway I I was hired on their organization to write a book about getting healthier food in schools because people would write letters all the time and said what why can’t we get better food in schools why you know I keep trying I keep talking to the food service director and I just can’t get anywhere so my partner

04:52

and I went into schools across the country for a year and investigated this extremely complex program called the school lunch program it is the largest feeding effort in the u.s. it out spins the military and prison systems combined it has a lot to do with agricultural practices and policies because you’ve got like 45 million guaranteed sales every day just for a little carton of milk so you can imagine the dairy industry you know the dairy lobbyists trying to keep the the procedures and the policies and the infrastructure of

05:30

the funds so anyway it’s a very complicated program and it’s federally funded and state-funded and the food comes from wherever it comes from yes mostly the meat and dairy industries and then the guidelines are written by the USDA the dietary guidelines and they’re written by the USDA and the USDA is an administrative arm of the government and they help farmers too so they kind of have a dual mission it’s very complicated like I said but the action guide and I think what’s key here it

06:05

might be excuse me really fun for your listeners is that we couldn’t get kids to eat better you know we would go to schools and they would say we really want you to serve healthier food and it’s almost like walking into a restaurant and then saying excuse me I really think your food is very good would you serve something better you know they would get a little offended you know because they were proud of what they did the food service directors and they said we tried to give the kids healthier food but they won’t eat it and

06:36

so we said let us talk to him so we took on the same education platform that John did in his book and we told the kids about how their food choices affected the air water and soil rain forests top soil depletion you know is that me I think there must be a feel sorry yeah that’s all right it’s just a little vibration um like the Beach Boys yes and so we went into schools and we we did a formal study in three schools in the US we did one in three different states Florida Ohio and California and we gave

07:11

a one-hour classroom presentation to the kids and showed them where their food comes from how it affects the environment how it affects water pollution how it affects deforestation and all of these things that kids didn’t know about but they care about the environment they don’t care about themselves you know you’re not gonna say you’re gonna be healthier and they’re like I feel fine you know they don’t they don’t get that and so we had a ha we did a formal study like I said that

07:36

was very expensive and we had a higher behavior rate with kids choosing better food options than 16 weeks of nutrition education and all we did was do one-hour classroom presentation but the kids who were so moved when they were connected to their world to their environment to the aina kind of like now people are kind of waking up in the young yeah the youth are awakening they are yeah that’s great yeah they’re understanding this was 30 years ago yeah so the book really gave community members the the curriculum

08:14

that we wrote it gave 50 recipes that are bulk recipes for for schools to cook and and a lot of other information to really understand the school lunch program so they weren’t beating their head against the door they didn’t get delivered did you see changes happening on now the school no some some some charter schools yeah I mean it’s really kind of sad because the the book was award-winning the program was award-winning but things really haven’t changed too much in schools because of

08:42

this tight infrastructure and most schools don’t cook anymore except for smaller schools yeah a little confused school and the feds the federal regulations tell you what you can serve at lunch correct the menus are designed locally or they design most of them don’t cook most the food is for the we’re talking the majority of schools in the u.s. the food is shipped and warmed in cellophane you know wrappers they don’t do too much cooking so I remember when I was a kid that was our din foods they’re probably

09:21

still around or someone bought him that was probably a food service service and they deliver the these meals to the school that’s right yeah but these most of these have come from surplus too from the USDA so so even the quality of what’s coming through is all crappy that’s crappy and it’s microwave your heated in this plastic container so we have that year in Hawaii yeah yeah and it’s really difficult to change because the school I have a friend he’s in charge of food service now I could be a little bit so

09:59

I’m wrong I’m gonna be interesting talk to him because yeah he’s always very conscious of he’s got people working hard deliver good quality food and he’s a conscious guy well forgive me if I’m incorrect because there are some schools that do cook and they they do a really good job of it I know a John Cadman up at King K school he was he was doing great up there cooking and he had a full staff and you know he just knew how to handle it under their food sources are often not local as the part that was

10:32

yeah well we ship in ninety five percent of our food this is sickening here in Maui we ship in food like yeah I said once I was talking to a colleague of mine when we were I had a big group looking at the school lunch program here and I said why it because there’s all these regulations and laws for unions as well like you can’t cut the apple this many times and all of these kind of things really and I said to somebody why not why don’t we just get the money and tell them to keep the food you know and

11:01

we’ll create our own but when you you have an infrastructure here that’s pretty tangled so you’ve got your unions and you’ve got the USDA and then it’s got state funding and federal funding and some kids qualify lower income qualify for this free lunch and the free lunch is what’s reimbursed by the government and many of these children this is the only lunch they get or the only meal they get for the day whereas if other children have money in their pocket they Alyssa’s mostly junior

11:34

high in high school they’ll go to the little store and by lockhart foods this is the way it mostly was in the US and so the school really depends on these ala carte foods it’s because it’s their little convenience store inside the school and yeah so it’s complicated and it’s different everywhere but there are smaller schools like charter schools that can cook and a lot of them did take on the program and they loved it and they loved the curriculum and they started a lot of science teachers took

12:07

took on the curriculum and history teachers because it’s a need a curriculum is to educate the kids more about the environment yeah we’re into the environment exactly where their food is coming from and what does it really mean like I mean there’s 40 acres of rainforest burned and clay cleared like every hour every minute I can’t remember this statistic just for cheap meat you guys many of you guys are aware of that people who watch my show be aware yeah it seems but and if you’re unready

12:41

you’re not watching by the way we’re on K aku 88.5 FM the voice of Maui with Susan Teton I’m Jason Schwartz you know when I think about all that you’re talking about I’m the school lunch program I haven’t gone in myself to see myself but I really find that this guy in the West they do cook at this is I’m sure yeah I’ll just about ham yeah but the quality of food and whether this stuff is of good quality I’m really gonna try to look but there’s masses of kids all over this country that are

13:16

getting these pre-prepared heated up lunches right that have questionable nutritional value and I only say question will be because I’m judging and that people that are in the position to choose aren’t really up on what’s going on that you know we’ve had some question about different appointments and you know this presidential regime but this has been going on for as long as you remember now it’s been going on for a long time what change what good kind of influence would make a difference and

13:55

make that change well economically it’s very difficult and I learned being an activist from some government officials that it’s really hard for them to make changes that don’t make economic sense so if you’ve got a school which mostly there don’t have a lot of money most schools don’t and they’ve already got a program in place that they get these subsidies reimbursed where they going to find the money to start cooking really great lunches every day you know your private schools do it you know it’s a if

14:29

they get the money from the feds in the state right they don’t have the money to make another choice right they sir have to serve what they’re given and also I mean they’re I think the cost of a lunch in a school is like has to be a dollar or less so it has to be very cheap low-quality mass-produced food so like you know what’s the answer here like we’re on Maui and we’re in the Hawaiian Islands and and therein lies the reason that our local food consumption we have to as as as humans and citizens on on

15:02

this island the single most powerful thing we can do is buy any local food local food and that also product just by nature of what it is healthier much healthier much healthier well depending on who grew it and where they grew it that’s another whole story for Mother’s Day we can’t help but avoid in our local newspaper you know over here mahi pono was the man named we’ve all heard they bought the land from a and B and there was another group looking to buy it before that we all heard about

15:39

what they beat you to the punch punch that was ina first was the name of our company and yeah they beat us to the punch but that’s what you really need is a way I had a beautiful plan right a beautiful farm plan to for regenerative agriculture and which was really very doable and not only regenerative but you know different crops enough that we could actually I mean that land is like the breadbasket of the Hawaiian Islands and it does have the potential to feed us well you know I I don’t want to go to a

16:16

subject but I can’t help it because regenerate regenerating the ground and doing something with soil they’ve made toxic that can be done you know we had a guest here a couple of weeks ago you guys have probably heard me touting the fact that this guy Michael Smith and regenerating the land yeah but if we can do that and my pono will be here my PO knows everyone’s talking about their potatoes they just grew and yet they had someone told me it was paraquat they used it alright that’s what I understand

16:50

how do you guys maybe you younger people don’t know the name paraquat but when they wanted to get rid of marijuana in Mexico they were spraying paraquat oh really I didn’t know when I heard the word paraquad I thought yeah so it’s a tool so why is that being you always wonder why are they using these you know I was thinking that on the way here it’s like why when you when you have higher yields with regenerative AG and the quality of the soil is much better the quality of your body when you

17:20

eat it and the quality of our air water and soil all of it is so much better without pesticides and herbicides so why the land had set fallow for almost three years which means it was void of you know pretty much void that doesn’t mean it was vibrant and it had a lot of vitality to grow food but that could have easily been done as you learned from Michael – there are there are ways and the technologies are astounding what’s coming out of the science and these entrepreneurs and and designers to

17:53

really regenerate – so it because we know for climate change that the single most powerful thing we can do is is revitalize our soil I hope all of us hear that and all of you home farmers and all of you guys yeah all these pesticides we’ve got to get rid of and there are so many things we can do that’s for another day so you wrote this book then 30 years ago it’s still current you’ve been doing things between that and now I know now sometimes I didn’t know your first name because

18:22

everyone called cause my teach on a chef tea time yeah well I kind of got you know my my life really changed after I left Earth save and that’s another story and that’s in my memoir actually eating as a spiritual practice that’s my other book eating as a spiritual yeah that’s my memoir but what I did is I found that when I did lectures all over the country people would say I don’t know what to do with vegetables teach how do I eat healthier and that sounded silly but I knew how to do that so I decided I would

18:53

create cooking shows and at the time the Food Network was a big deal but nobody made their own home you know cooking shows yet now everybody does oh so anyway I created a six set DVD series on raw food cooked food and fermented foods and so that’s what I did and I started a website called Chef Teton and started selling my courses and teaching people how to cook and then I also coach you know I’m a wellness coach and a yoga teacher so you know being an activist I think it’s a lot of us it’s like where

19:27

do you put your energy and sometimes you just want to dive into the community and give people the resources because you know we can all learn what to do but we don’t always know where to go to do it or how to do it in our own communities and I and I do believe food has so much to do with our environmental health and our physical health that and and I believe that a healthy community is really revolved around a healthy agriculture system I mean that’s what builds our really vibrant and not not

19:57

just physically but socially as well because we’re all working together and were connected to the aina I’m with you so let me let me just sort of revisit for a moment if I don’t know if it’s revisit you guys were just slow on the financial why did you lose out to the my pono people I believe that they were already under way because when we really tried to connect with a and B they kind of first they entertained us but you could tell they weren’t really and I don’t think they took us seriously

20:33

and then they shut the door but we we kept on yeah because I’ve seen the plans that you guys had isn’t that al Perez had this plan that someone did oh well that was Maui tomorrow which they did a beautiful rendering on regenerative AG and it was just really about regenerative AG just in general yes yeah and a beautiful first start yeah but you guys had a specific plan we had a farm planner yeah we spent a good year and a half two years on it and we were well supported by the community but we’re not

21:09

done ina first and it has not done so we have a new project which will be really fun to pronounce yeah regarding our climate change and maybe in the next few weeks well you’re always welcome back here thank you yeah for sure yeah well you know this is it used to be when I would talk about environmental things I was called radical yeah my man him for years they thought I was radical and now they just realized no the R is right it’s called reasonable rational I know this is what my family would say Oh Susan and

21:43

her stuff yeah but now everyone has seen all these things going on with everyone they know and every third person has cancer and every fourth man has all kinds of problems and they roll it all back and they go back to oh that’s because of corn syrup that’s another whole movie yeah corn syrup itself is its own movie in fact if you go to Amazon right now there’s a show that just got added called hunters about Nazi hunters without Pacino I don’t know what’s interesting in there I don’t want

22:17

to give the whole thing away but it’s what they add to the foods that slowly kill people over the generations it’s pretty extraordinary yeah the things that we see added to our food is destroying the help of these of everyone and then we have to fight just to get back to zero it really great seems crazy it’s pretty crazy I mean you you wouldn’t cook a nice meal and then spray roundup on it before you ate it no and that’s exactly kind of what’s happening so why are we doing it to the soil like

22:50

I mean really why you know I don’t understand why all you guys out there have to really realize we need your voice to stand up we all think that and we stand around and we think why isn’t that happening but all the elections where you get out a chance to vote get out and vote when you have some decision to make at the school as a parent get out and make a voice okay you know I’d like to say give a couple of plugs for a couple of organizations number one Maui tomorrow because a lot of people don’t

23:25

know what’s going on in the county council all the time and and I understand it’s really difficult to understand all the issues but all you have to do is become a member and get on the mailing lists of Maui tomorrow because they’re your watchdog they will pay attention for you and you’ll know when you need to vote on something and why you know so that’s one I also brought edible Hawaiian Islands magazine and this is just another issue but you can google edible Hawaiian Islands

23:51

magazine and didn’t I have a couple oh yeah I have a couple here but what I really love about this magazine is it’s all about the food in Hawaii and there’s wonderful articles that are you know really about our culture here and of how food got started there’s great recipes and there’s a farmers market guide in here so this is a great little resource and you can become a member and get a copy sent to you every year or you’ll see them around the magazine’s around to so that’s a really great

24:25

resource and then the third one would be to go to ina first.com yeah I first comm AI and a fi RS yeah and sign up for our newsletter so that we can tell you about what’s coming if you’re interested yeah so you guys remember it again ina first comm you’re gonna tell everyone in there what’s coming over the horizon good yeah and then if you want to go to my website and learn how to eat healthy and it’s chef Teton comm for those of you that are on radio at CH EF de gon dot Grand Tetons are you from

25:07

there where were you from yeah that’s another story another story yeah so uh we are gonna take a break for some sponsors my current sponsors are common alone cash for gold and Harry eager who was business writer for the Maui news for 25 years come on it’s interesting how we became friends and nice know people it’s very interesting when the long ago I was perceived as radical people that know me know that I am really not radical at all right and I’m really happy to see that the world has grown up in our direction

25:41

but it’s time to really race to the pedal to the metal here because our timing you know as a planet well you know I don’t think it’s really clear to people how urgent this really is now well you know dr. Willett he says you know when people say it’s radical that you’re you know eating really well you’re making these foods choices he says I’d say cutting open your chest and doing you know opening up your chest and cleaning out your arteries debt that’s radical that’s radical

26:12

so we’ll be back with Susan teton I’m Jason Schwartz hang on here we go the neutral zone with me Jason Schwartz would like to sincerely thank David Bryan for his support David was founder and head of school at New Road School in Santa Monica California and as the board chaired the Ojai Foundation and on the board for brave new films the neutral zone has heard live Mondays at 11:00 a.m. here on Kak you 88.5 FM the voice of maui and again on saturdays at 7:00 a.m. as well as on TV and on Maui neutral zone

26:48

dot-com do you have a non-profit event coming up that you would like the public to know about is there an important social issue for each would like to raise awareness you can connect to get the word out you can come in and record a one-minute public service announcement for the subject of your choice at no cost to you slots are available Mondays and Wednesdays between 1 & 3 remember it’s free so call eight seven one five five five four and reserve your spot today I’m probably okay to have one more drink

27:21

before I Drive home probably okay I open the window to stay alert probably Oh kids pop some gum in my mouth step out of the car please I probably made a mistake probably okay isn’t okay when it comes to drinking and driving if you see a warning sign stop and call it have a car or a friend buzzed driving is drunk driving a message brought to you by Nitsa and the Ad Council Saturday night at 8:00 and Sunday night at 9:00 on Kak you 88.5 FM we experienced dead air not that kind of dead air we’re talking Grateful Dead

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Grateful Dead music for an entire hour Saturday night at 8:00 and Sunday night at 9:00 with me Cory Daniels on kak u 88.5 FM well is a nice one we’re at 88.5 FM the voice of Maui I’m Jason Schwartz here with Susan teton on the neutral zone Maui neutral zone calm you know when I get on this show we sometimes we come up with a laundry list of things that we want to talk about and sometimes we just sort of organically talk I think what I think about why I was having you on I thought I was having you on because

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I thought you were a conscious being but know about food but also in this recent period I’ve been just looking at our food scarcity problem we talk about food scarcity when we could solve these problems right now we have a big group here that’s planting their yield could be greater there is there any reason that you see why they’re using chemical pesticides I mean it can’t be any doubt in everyone’s minds they don’t want it why would they be doing it just something it’s a really really good question

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you know I mean I was thinking about it on the way here and it almost made I came up with the word addiction you know it’s like the soil is addicted to the pesticides and so rather and it’s almost like when people are addicted to a drug or coffee or whatever it is that it just keeps this thing going the same as it always is going but you have to change things financially you have to get new education it’s almost like going on a diet you know when people really want to change they have to learn these skills

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they have to have a new level of understanding and consciousness and education and then they have to rearrange their schedule and I know I’m just kind of guessing here it’s like why don’t they I don’t know I don’t know I mean I mean I think that we’ve all watched Costco learn they learned that if you don’t have organic products all the people that are going to buy from you gone somewhere else so they’ve been more and more conscious in delivering better quality food you see it at some

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of the large food giant’s yeah even Walmart well yeah yeah yeah but you know maybe their business plan or when they bought the company they might have had a particular projection that they thought that they would make money from which I know was exporting you know when they hired the first farm manager he really wanted to make these little tangerines or oranges that he was quite famous for and they peel really easy and so then they can sell them to the school lunch programs and big foodservice

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conglomerates because it’s easy for people to peel when we get those little skinny ones you know kids are not going to take the time so I know that that was one particular crop that they already had set up and maybe they’re not visionaries yeah export exporting yeah maybe there aren’t visionaries who didn’t see another way well didn’t we we wasn’t the purpose of purchasing the land to provide food so we could be sustainable I don’t think that was their purpose no but wasn’t that all of our

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purpose isn’t that the way yeah constantly news yeah we had hoped I mean it wasn’t that oh yeah that was just a PR thing but as I’ll ask you this Jason then why do why do people do the same thing when they know they shouldn’t eat you know bad foods and they know they’re bad they know you know and some people say well some foods are good and something I don’t like to say bad and good you have to have a little balance and I’m like yeah whatever but when you they know better but don’t

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do better why when they know they might get ill they might get heart disease they might have liver problems they you know might be diabetic and yet they continue to eat a ton of sugar why so then again really radical or are we reasonable we’re being reasonable we know all these things we smile I mean you know the old thing about it’s your purchasing dollar that that dictates what they’re going to do so do you think we could do that locally here you think people cared enough if people cared enough and I

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think a lot of people are just so busy and I don’t want to make that excuse because they just grab what they can right away you know so I mean I’m still kind of blown away myself personally I know I’m gonna you know sound a little idealistic here but I’m blown away that people eat at McDonald’s especially people that are older you know and and then are feeding their kids but I get I get that it’s difficult for them but that food is really not hardly good quality at all if you were down in Kihei

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you would see the life of a location that was right next to 7-eleven which isn’t down there anymore there was a Kentucky Fried Chicken for years and years and then it got replaced by this place called delights fast food healthy meals uh-huh didn’t make it yeah may can prices are too high and prices are high you know so yeah because we have to ship everything over here and it’s it’s it’s turning around but it’s like I said earlier when things don’t make economic sense you can’t just yank

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it and change it there’s a whole infrastructure that’s in place and you know the dollars are flowing from the shipping to the you know to the cost of like what’s going into the schools everything’s budgeted the it’s planned years in advance and you can’t just yank it away because it just would create a collapse and and maybe that’s what has to happen you know but it does you know if you take it to the big picture you’ve got you know mahi pono and the big piece of land here and if you take it down to

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the family that’s in their home there they’re both big changes the family is very budgeted they don’t you know they have a certain amount of time and they’re seeing parents that are both working and their kids is given get them some food and get them out the door you know so let’s get the fastest thing and I help some people because I coach them that really I get i get how difficult it is for them and then other families that have more resources you know they might be able to buy better food hire a cook

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so it is hard for people and if there’s something there that’s affordable and available and it’s quick they’re gonna do it and worry about tomorrow tomorrow so but even one day or you know making small changes is really important it’s you know you have to start somewhere so give us a place to start yeah what about parents that are many parents preparing lunches for their kids still at school I don’t know yeah I really don’t know well what and I think a good place to is to go to your local farmers markets

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go into your your supermarkets and say you know where’s your local food most of its from California so your farmers markets well excuse me let me back that up most of the organic food in the in the markets are from California so if you can go somewhere where we’ve got local food go to the farmers markets on Saturday there’s a couple of them up country on Wednesday and Saturday and then down in Kihei there’s a farmers market there and maybe just one night a week or you know get your family

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involved together and bring them together to make a meals for each other and connect back to the table you know because it’s such socially it’s so important for our health to to be together and be connected to where food comes from I mean my gosh you put it in your body it goes through your head you know entire system it’s pretty intimate and so most of us a lot of us myself included at times shoveling down a meal well you know you’re going so it’s important to connect and I think

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families if they can bring their kids in at least even if it’s only once a month but to connect and go out to some farms and the Farmers Union you definitely should become a member of the farmers union Hawaii Farmers Union United and they have a couple of pot Luck’s on the island you know once every month and they’re so fun to go to and everybody brings amazing food amazing amazing food and they always have a speaker and it’s community and that’s a really big part of it we need to come together in

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community over the issues that we’re trying to change well can people join the Hawaii Farmers Union if they’re not farmers oh absolutely yeah because farmers aren’t going to do well without consumers so I mean at the engine level there the Farmers Union yeah it’s not really a union for workers it’s not like that it’s it’s just like there’s the Farm Bureau here because they put on the AG fest and but they’re they’re more lay lean more toward conventional agriculture

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it’s an organization that’s been here for years and so the farm union is also a National Organization but at what wasn’t represented in the islands so a group of people started the Farmers Union here and it’s it provides its focuses family farms and small farmers and educating them and helping them make a make a living at farming because it’s difficult for them can you imagine farming all day and then having to find a market for it right you know it’s it’s difficult so the more

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that consumers can play a part and this you we can’t wait for other people to do it for us we have to we have to jump in together that’s really important so all of you can be a very big part of this is by looking for local food and eating local food all right absolutely and the farmers union is a great place to do that because it’s every month you can bring your children you know you can eat good food you can learn about something that has to do with food or what’s happening on the islands yeah there’s

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one tomorrow night I’m always that’s right of country or yeah Makawao right yeah tomorrow night yeah you know we’ve had Michael speaking is he I don’t think he’s going up we just talked about it actually this morning oh I know no it’s Shan Shan Hodges oh that just put on the weekend retreat type of thing for looking for different types of investing which is really important too because here’s here’s a here’s a group of people that are looking at the bigger picture like everybody that’s got um not

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everybody but you know market investments you know are there got their their money’s in 501 KS or wherever their money stash they don’t really know who it’s supporting often and so they’re they’re looking at a refunding and structure so that people can know where to put those kind of things and money market accounts and things like that and I don’t explain it very well but that’s what it’s about well maybe we should have them on here you should yes definitely because

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they’re definitely part of a neutral song well you know the name the neutral zone came only because I was originally starting gonna interview politicians and then when I came to better understand that on radio you have to give equal amount of time to everyone running and so if there are nine people in the primary you got to give nine people time and I said no no I don’t want to do that I’m gonna do values so we’re word nice talk about values we’re gonna be a place where we can talk about everything and

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we’re not there slashing each other where they talk about possible solutions I mean if if for example there was someone here from someone that was a supporter of using pesticides that we want to really understand why I’m not here to read slash them I’m really here to understand the why come down to where at what level do we agree we all want quality food for our families right mm-hmm you know what we can start to get a grant that’s what this was a you know that’s really beautiful Jason because

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it’s duh it’s not we’re not victims here because we’re all playing a part and I think we need to see that and do whatever we can in all areas to shift things into a more healthier place in a more thriving community and where there’s wellness and happiness and we don’t matter each other now trying to get to a solution do you all want yeah especially on an island you think we could solve our problems down everywhere else right but there are other influences as the thing that we know is

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that it’s doable it is doable and and so what part can we all play and even getting ourselves healthy is is really important because if we’re not healthy we can’t work love or play now we’re not gonna tell you how old we are but we’re older folks you know I’m always looking at you look very very young we’re not talking about twenty and thirty years ago and we’re still young I have had a partner my partner Ariel I’ve been eating healthy for 25 35 years and so I can still do things right over

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at 70 almost here but when I watch a young people and I see what they’re eating I see with all the choices you’re talking about they’re the ones that are grabbing the fast food right their parents have had them in school and they’re getting the school lunches and now we have a whole community of people that really need this more than ever and it’s more than physical health it’s mental and emotional health as well and we are seeing a decline in the human race you know at a much earlier age I

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remember reading not just too long ago that they had to open a Cancer Center for children and Children’s Hospital on Oahu it just breaks my heart to see these young kids going through this but you know we are what we eat it builds our connective tissues our organs and everything you know how we function yeah I mean I’m hoping that this will to everybody out there be constantly aware of what you’re eating and be constantly aware that you can make the choices you don’t have to go for the fast food

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that’s why I asked what do parents provide you know I think that one of the single most powerful things you can do is get away from highly processed food and preservatives and chemicals if I was a parent that would be number one and there’s been too many studies done that show a radical difference in behavior of children when they are off these chemicals well food colorings like red dye number four can make kids jump through the walls and I have I have watched it I watched my own son which is

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the story in my book is that when he was 10 years old we put him on an elimination diet which means now my son is 50 now so this was 40 years ago and all we did was take what you just said she has a 50 year old son idea no one wants to believe you yeah now I’m 74 she has that amazing I mean that’s what I think it’s really a product of what you eat you are what you eat well it doesn’t mean we don’t have problems and it doesn’t mean we don’t we’re unscathed but there is a way to

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keep the body pretty vital yeah but what I want to say here did to kids because I think this is so important is all we did was take food colorings and preservatives and the chemicals that are in food now we have high fructose corn syrup and and GMO foods so this was before GMO okay and all we did was do that and I took like peanut butter and orange juice and some like foods that he could be allergic to easily dairy that was the biggest one because dairy is all pasteurized so when dairies pasteurized

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you can’t you you don’t it you’re taking away burning away heating away the very enzyme you need to digest it so it’s not digestible for a lot of people and so they get you know acne and allergies and all that so milk was the biggest one anyway he turned into a different human being within two weeks he could sit still he was calm he could sleep at night without snoring he could study he was pleasant I mean the difference is radical and people think it’s not that big a deal it’s that big a deal now

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somebody’s can get away with it but or think they’re getting away I think they’re getting away I think that’s the biggest thing yeah I’m just talking recently I may not notice it but it can be noticed yeah if you just you know that’s that’s what I would recommend for people is to start eating real food or read labels non-gmo and without preservatives and colorings you know artificial colorings that makes that to hit my trigger point here again when we were talking about GMO and

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non-gmo just the labeling would be a start to give people the choice why would someone want to fight labeling I mean that to me is like really really sad money there if they have this is what I used to go to all the industry trade shows if you have that non GMO label on there it almost guarantees you 15% or sales so that’s why they want it and that’s why the other guys don’t want it because then people will choose the non-gmo right and the decisions on what the labeling that’ll all boils back to

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who’s influencing a vote I mean that’s correct that’s correct yeah and we have to pay attention so the labeling the natural products industry is the trade shows that I used to go to because they’re all represented by these these groups that are fighting for the labeling you know so it’s important to pay attention get local food as much as you can and just start eating real food forget these diets should I be on the Paleo that this one that that one I dislike eat from the earth not the factory and take-out

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processed foods as much as you can and you’ll be a big step ahead that’s a really big big thing yeah thank you for that you’re welcome see him if I say it yeah just laugh at me when you say it what do we say you have the experience and do you have everything to back it up I got a lot of years yeah and you know I mean really it makes such a big difference and even in our in our rehabs here with you know addiction you know rehabs they used to always they would give tons of coffee and sugar to these

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people that had been on drugs and their bodies were so void of nutrition and so starving for good nutrition and so they weren’t restoring the physiology of the body they were just trying to use talk therapy which is wonderful as a first step but there are rehabs now that really also address the physiology of the body so that the body is brought back to a vibrancy and then it makes a lot better decisions from a place of feeling good I hope all you administrators that are watching and thinking this dog yeah yeah schools

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would really have a big difference higher test scores of course yeah well again these we’ve gotten our world to a point where the things that we’re talking about now that we talked about so casually are critical right critical that means critical I mean we’ve okay imagine that our county council decided that it was important enough to create a climate action committee that’s got to be considered critical I don’t know how many people think that that’s kind of casual that’s critical it’s going to

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already have an environmental committee why do we need another climate action committee yeah because we’re building on the shores and we know that the waters are gonna rise 10 right what’s that about we know that there won’t be an already red and you know what is that or we’re building a Hilton you wonder if they’re gonna drive boats in an outdoor it’s really crazy so I’m so glad that we’re taking it seriously but we really I mean how long does it take well you said 5% food we we only create here

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ninety-five percent brought it I don’t they say 90 to 95 percent yes as this does make you crazy if you live here you’re like what what we’ve heard this again and again and again when somehow we figure down the road we’ll fix it down the road we’ll find it we are down the road we’re down the road this is down the road and it’s for our own selves too personally you know it’ll it did bring it right into your own family into your own home I mean there’s nothing more fun than having a great

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dinner together you know and we do have some wonderful stores and some you know we have you know down-to-earth and alive and well and and even Whole Foods has you know local food and I was in food land the other day and they had a ton of organic food and Safeway also I mean the vendors are really responding because they know it’s still from California but at least it’s organic and well with some of the things that you’re introducing and I’m trying to introduce you maybe we’re gonna radically make that

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shift well we’ll all do it together we’ll just keep turning the big boat well I don’t think we can encourage some of these large landowners by front tell them what we were going to do and the public to somehow respond to help them choose the right things that we will consume here alright it sure seems like we can do this I just I’ve always I’m amazed that we so many people talk a good game but when it comes down to it they don’t do a good game there are a lot of people that stand up and talk

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about being radical or or reasonable or whatever you want to call it but then when it comes down to it they’re also going to McDonalds and they’re also buying that quick food in the store instead of buying the right thing so we have to make this yes there are occasions yeah just even just start making small whatever you can do always yeah but being aware mostly and isn’t it Maya Angelou that said you know if we used to say this all the time you know if we knew better we’d do better but I

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find a lot of people know better but still don’t do better yeah so then you feel guilty and you don’t feel really good and you’re tired and you know and I don’t think that people really realize and this is just my experience with working with people one on one realize how powerful food is they think it doesn’t matter that much and it really does you ask anybody that’s changed their diet or gone off of certain kinds of foods or started eating healthier they just go oh my god I feel so much

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better I can think straight they just don’t think it’s quite as powerful as it is I don’t know if this is a good example but probably I know someone just told me a couple days ago there with their wife and she had cancer when they met and she was told she had less than two years to live and she changed their diet and it’s now thirteen years later and right so there’s real power in making these changes it’s sad that someone has to get to that point yeah to make the change but we can

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all make the change I keep thinking is the reason I’m healthy is because of all the changes I have a partner that’s been keeping me conscious of this yeah that’s amazing every time when she serves the dinner she always points out to me this was organic and this was organic yeah so we all have to be conscious of what we’re eating and not think of it as a backseat thing it’s in the front seat it’s important now and it’s important to ya to support people that are talking about wanting to get

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the land better and to grow things over here and we schuftis stop being on the sidelines and stuck being here in the front lines of all this stuff you know we only have a couple of minutes till we’re off the show can you imagine you’ve been talking an hour that’s been fun my favorite subject yeah well you know well I would like to give you a chance if there’s something that you would really like to deliver to our audience that you think you don’t want to make sure you don’t want to forget to tell

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them something that’s important you’ve told them a lot of employers yeah I I think my heart though mostly goes out to children that are not being fed well and fed may be fed more than that not just not well but they’re actually fed poison you know things that are affecting their nerves and their brain and development and I think that’s you know if any parents are listening to at least alleviate get that kind of food out of the diets and sodas and things like that because these are the things that really

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cause diseases you know like diabetes and you know sugary sodas and things like that yeah the body can handle it once in a while but it can’t be it you know a full-time thing let’s give your websites again can we sure chef Teton comm right I know first calm right and then we had Maui tomorrow I talked about tomorrow yeah and the wife and marry tomorrow is really great because they’re the legislators you know they pay attention to legislation which is kind of like ah that’s what I’ve actually had

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Alvarez on my Lucien here on my show anything yeah there’s some great people and then edible Hawaiian Islands magazine and this is where you learn all about local food and it’s fun and different chefs and great recipes all of this magazine comes out quarterly that’s all important to know yeah and then I said the Farmers Union the potlucks tomorrow night at maka well you can go on their website just say just Google in Hawaii farmers union kiss and I think it’s hif fu whatever yeah yeah you’ll find them but

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thank you everyone Thank You Susan thank Ian here at the show I thank all you listeners and viewers for keep checking back you know we have a library of shows here with great people like Susan and ghosts in there and start looking it’s like when you go to Netflix and there’s all kinds of stay there I hope that these shows live on and can become a valuable part of information for your future and people can feel free to write me if they have any questions I do complimentary consultations well thank

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you guys for joining us we are out of here the this has been a great thing thank you much Susan my pleasure thank you guys for being here [Music]