🎧 Exploring Global Food Diversity and Nutrition with Dr. Anna Herforth
🎧 Exploring Global Food Diversity and Nutrition with Dr. Anna Herforth
Learn about the launch of the World Food Map!
Food is not just something we eat to fill our stomachs; there is diversity, culture, and nutrition in every bite! This week on the show, host Dr. Cassandra Quave speaks with Dr. Anna Herforth, senior research associate at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. They discuss the importance of understanding the diversity of diets worldwide from a nutritional perspective and how different cultures' eating habits impact health. Dr. Herforth shares insights into the Global Diet Quality Project, which aims to conduct the first-ever global survey of what people eat, the challenges faced in gathering such data, and the innovative methods used to achieve it. The conversation reveals surprising findings about food diversity, the process of tailoring food surveys to different cultures, and the initiative's broader implications for nutrition and epidemiology research. They also talk about the upcoming launch of the World Food Map, a collaboration with the Periodic Table of Food Initiative, aimed at cataloguing the most common foods in every country and understanding their composition beyond traditional nutrients, emphasizing the critical role of food diversity in health.
Happening this week (April 23-24), join Dr. Herforth and the PTFI team for a special symposium "Celebrating food diversity, scientific advances, and community innovation" (online or in person at New York Botanical Garden). More details and how to register at this link.
This podcast is sponsored by The Periodic Table of Food Initiative in association with the American Heart Association. The views and opinions in this podcast are those of the presenters and represent the synthesis of science. For more information on the Periodic Table of Food Initiative, please visit https://foodperiodictable.org/
About Anna
Anna Herforth, PhD leads initiatives to improve global food measurement. She is currently a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Global Health and Population at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and a Visiting Senior Researcher at Wageningen University & Research. Dr. Herforth is the Principal Investigator of the Global Diet Quality Project, the first ever global survey of what people eat. She is also the Co-Director of the Food Prices for Nutrition project, where she led the development of the “Cost and Affordability of a Healthy Diet” indicator, which is now annually reported by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization. In 2010, Dr. Herforth co-founded the Agriculture-Nutrition Community of Practice (Ag2Nut.org), a professional community of nearly 10,000 members from 130 countries that continues to thrive, helping people connect to improve nutrition from agriculture and food systems. These initiatives stemmed from a background in ethnobotany, agriculture, and nutrition, and experience working in Africa, South Asia, and Latin America, including with agricultural and indigenous communities; Dr. Herforth has over a decade of consulting experience with international institutions, including CGIAR agencies, the World Bank, and the United Nations.
Listen to the interview
Listen to the podcast on any of your favorite podcast streaming services. Subscribe to Foodie Pharmacology to access new episodes weekly! If you enjoy this and other episodes, let me know! Give is a 5-star rating on Apple Podcasts so others can find it and enjoy!
Watch the video
Available exclusively on the Teach Ethnobotany YouTube Channel, you can catch the full video version of this episode and others! Enjoy!
Yours in health, Dr. Quave
Cassandra L. Quave, Ph.D. is a scientist, author, speaker, podcast host, wife, mother, explorer, and professor at Emory University School of Medicine. She teaches college courses and leads a group of research scientists studying medicinal plants to find new life-saving drugs from nature. She hosts the Foodie Pharmacology podcast and writes the Nature’s Pharmacy newsletter to share the science behind natural medicines. To support her effort, consider a paid or founding subscription, with founding members receiving an autographed 1st edition hardcover copy of her book, The Plant Hunter.
Available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and e-book formats!
