She says she hates politics. She's also been on the White House lawn with the FDA commissioner, helped pressure food companies to drop artificial dyes, and is now one of the most influential voices within the Make America Healthy Again movement.

Vani Hari, better known as the Food Babe, built a massive following pressuring food companies to ditch controversial ingredients long before MAHA was a thing. How did she go from an activist food blogger to one of the most dominant forces in food policy?

Note: This interview originally aired on Forked, the food politics podcast Helena co-hosts with Theodore Ross with the Food and Environment Reporting Network. Helena and Ted spoke with Vani in late January — before the glyphosate executive order dropped and before Vani announced a rally at the Supreme Court.

Highlights:

– The glyphosate fault line - why the Trump administration’s alignment with Bayer in a Supreme Court case has infuriated MAHA advocates, and what Vani thinks should actually happen

– The farm lobby is a much harder target than Big Food, and what that means for MAHA's agenda

– MAHA's political future may hinge on what happens at the EPA before the midterms

– Comparing American food ingredients to their European counterparts has become a potent political argument

Where to find Vani Hari:

Food Babe website

Vani Hari on Instagram

Mentioned in this episode:

Forked podcast

Trump executive order on glyphosate/Defense Production Act

New Dietary Guidelines

Stay in touch:

Sign up for Helena’s must-read weekly newsletter: Food Fix.

Follow American Dish on Instagram and YouTube.

Send ideas and feedback to info@foodfix.co

Check out Forked, the food politics podcast Helena co-hosts with the Food & Environment Reporting Network.

Credits: This episode was edited by Adrienne Cruz. Original music by David Bottemiller.