Garrett Broad
@garrettbroad.bsky.social
Faculty at Rowan University. Researcher & teacher focused on food systems/sustainability, media/technology, public opinion/social movements, animals/alternative proteins. Philly/South Jersey guy. Soft pretzel aficionado. Opinions mine. garrettbroad.com
The EU depends on imported #fertiliser, as shown again by the war in Iran. But manure—suggested by some as solution—cannot replace mineral fertiliser because the #livestock sector itself is a net consumer of it. Scaling up #manure “production” would increase fertiliser use: doi.org/10.1111/1746... +
NEW PUBLICATION: "Understanding caregiver perspectives to improve food security screening in healthcare settings: A focus group study." Out now in @jafscd.bsky.social! www.foodsystemsjournal.org/index.php/fs...
Understanding caregiver perspectives to improve food security screening in healthcare settings | Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development
JAFSCD: Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development. Publication of the Thomas A. Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems
foodsystemsjournal.org
NEW PUB: Plant-based meat brands like Impossible Foods said their INNOVATIVE TECH would change the world. As the market stalled, a big question lingered -- do consumers want to EAT innovation? Our focus group study aimed to find out more. OPEN ACCESS 1/ www.frontiersin.org/journals/sus...
Frontiers | Consumer perceptions of plant-based meat innovation: a focus group study on food technology
Novel plant-based meat products that aim to mimic the taste and texture of conventional meat have been proposed as a key tool to encourage sustainable dietar...
frontiersin.org
NEW PUB: Plant-based meat brands like Impossible Foods said their INNOVATIVE TECH would change the world. As the market stalled, a big question lingered -- do consumers want to EAT innovation? Our focus group study aimed to find out more. OPEN ACCESS 1/ www.frontiersin.org/journals/sus...
Frontiers | Consumer perceptions of plant-based meat innovation: a focus group study on food technology
Novel plant-based meat products that aim to mimic the taste and texture of conventional meat have been proposed as a key tool to encourage sustainable dietar...
frontiersin.org
"For the most part, the only statistically meaningful ill health effects come from ultra-processed foods that contain the things we already know are bad for us: too much salt, sugar, and fat."
Jan Dutkiewicz@jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 4mo agoNew legislation proposed in California would certify foods as not being ultra-processed. It's a bad idea. We should be using the regulatory state to improve diets, but by focusing on the specifics of nutrition and not on broad generalizations. My latest for TNR. newrepublic.com/article/2086...
Who hates cultured meat?? I wrote about the diverse coalition opposed to cellular agriculture, from reasonable critics to outright conspiracists. It's part of a book on "Cell-Based Meat in the European Union and Beyond" - OPEN ACCESS! link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
Who Hates Cultured Meat? Examining Public Opposition to Cellular Agriculture
Despite its limited availability as a consumer product, recent years have witnessed significant scepticism, concern, and outright rejection regarding the emerging science and industry of cultured meat...
link.springer.com
Who hates cultured meat?? I wrote about the diverse coalition opposed to cellular agriculture, from reasonable critics to outright conspiracists. It's part of a book on "Cell-Based Meat in the European Union and Beyond" - OPEN ACCESS! link.springer.com/chapter/10.1...
Who Hates Cultured Meat? Examining Public Opposition to Cellular Agriculture
Despite its limited availability as a consumer product, recent years have witnessed significant scepticism, concern, and outright rejection regarding the emerging science and industry of cultured meat...
link.springer.com
Waking up thinking about this headline for no particular reason...
One reviewer said I didn't understand nutrition science and focused too much on social science issues. The other reviewer said I didn't understand social science and focused too much on nutrition science issues.
Garrett Broad@garrettbroad.bsky.social · 5mo agoJust got back reviews for a comprehensive annotated bibliography on "Ultra-Processed Foods" I was invited to write for Oxford. Paraphrasing: R1: "The author is biased -- he clearly supports the UPF concept." R2: "The author is biased -- he clearly opposes the UPF concept."
Just got back reviews for a comprehensive annotated bibliography on "Ultra-Processed Foods" I was invited to write for Oxford. Paraphrasing: R1: "The author is biased -- he clearly supports the UPF concept." R2: "The author is biased -- he clearly opposes the UPF concept."
Totally agree with @jandutkiewicz.bsky.social that we should stop demonizing industrial food. Demonize crap food, by all means! But not all industrial, or even ultra-processed food is crap, and some crap has only ingredients your grandmother would recognize.
Jan Dutkiewicz@jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 6mo ago"The policy tools exist to minimize the harms and maximize the benefits of a system that provides food, much of it healthy, in abundance. But first we need to stop demonizing industrial food, and instead think about how to make it better." Gabe & I for @nytimes.com www.nytimes.com/2026/02/08/o...
I didn't know Dan personally but felt like I knew Dan pretty well. His knowledge of offbeat Philly sports culture minutiae was unmatched, and his hoagie mouth landed like ASMR in my ears. He will be missed.
Defector@defector.com · 6mo agoDan McQuade, 1983–2026: defector.com/dan-mcquade-...
This is the most astonishing graph of what the Trump regime has done to US science. They have destroyed the federal science workforce across the board. The negative impacts on Americans will be felt for generations, and the US might never be the same again. www.nature.com/immersive/d4...
"Slashing regulations, firing federal workers, and wrecking the basic capacities of government officials to do their jobs guarantees the bad government it purports to fix and creates the conditions for the fraud and corruption that tough-talking politicians pretend to abhor."
Jan Dutkiewicz@jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 7mo agoThe recent spate of seafood heists in New England may seem comical, but it shows just how under-regulated freight is in the USA ... and how important regulation are for an abundant and healthy food system. Myself and @gnrosenberg.bsky.social for @newrepublic.com. newrepublic.com/article/2050...
Despite the characteristic bluster from the Trump/RFK admin, the new dietary guidelines are really not that different from the last 20+ years. Biggest shift is definitely more positive emphasis on meat and full-fat dairy. But otherwise pretty status quo...
Andrew McGuire@agronomistag.bsky.social · 7mo agoHere's the new food pyramid if you look at the actual # of recommended servings and not at the graphic. bsky.app/profile/hhso...
Since launching in 2013, Falling Fruit has mapped over 4,000 different species of edible mushrooms and plants across almost 2 million publicly accessible foraging spots in cities around the world. @gracehussain.bsky.social reports:
Urban Foragers Are Mapping Edible Plants Around the World
The nonprofit Falling Fruit’s interactive, crowdsourced map helps communities find food-bearing plants in cities around the world.
buff.ly
We’re joining other newsrooms in the Climate News Task Force to offer a shared place to sign up for all our newsletters. It’s a new way to make climate coverage easier to find — and to support the reporting that holds powerful industries accountable. buff.ly/IrWLrrX
Get the Climate News Task Force newsletter bundle
Twelve climate newsrooms joined forces in 2025 to create the Climate News Task Force, to increase and improve climate journalism collaborations and innovate new solutions to current challenges.
buff.ly
A new article in The Lancet on ultra-processed foods summarizes the main thesis and evidence regarding effects on health. The definition of UPFs is 736 words long. www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...
Ultra-processed foods and human health: the main thesis and the evidence
This first paper in a three-part Lancet Series combines narrative and systematic reviews with original analyses and meta-analyses to assess three hypotheses concerning a dietary pattern based on ultra...
thelancet.com
The concept of "ultra-processed foods" (UPFs) was supposed to IMPROVE conversations about food systems, nutrition, & the environment. I wrote about why that has NOT been the case -- for the 25th anniversary issue of @gastronomica. 1/ online.ucpress.edu/gastronomica...
"At no other point in human history could someone opt for the meat of their choice for three meals every day, without getting any blood on their own hands, and then post about it on social media to claim they are living like their ancestors."
Jan Dutkiewicz@jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 9mo agoMyths about our ancestors' meaty diets animate modern politics and culture wars about food and identity. But the history of human diets tells a different story about food's past and lets us be more rational about its future. @gnrosenberg.bsky.social & I for @vox.com www.vox.com/future-perfe...
The concept of "ultra-processed foods" (UPFs) was supposed to IMPROVE conversations about food systems, nutrition, & the environment. I wrote about why that has NOT been the case -- for the 25th anniversary issue of @gastronomica. 1/ online.ucpress.edu/gastronomica...
Prediction markets have Sherrill at around 85% to win NJ governor, but I gotta say it feels much more like a toss-up/lean Ciattarelli based on my unscientific observational drives through South Jersey. Absolutely no enthusiasm for Sherrill...
Poll Tracker 📊@polltracker.bsky.social · 9mo agoCo/efficient poll New Jersey Governor 🔵 Mikie Sherrill 48% 🔴 Jack Ciattarelli 47% Undecided 5% 10/23-10/27 coefficient.org/new-jersey-s...
A useful rejoinder to the Consumer Reports study on lead in protein powders...
Jan Dutkiewicz@jandutkiewicz.bsky.social · 10mo agoYou may have read that your protein supplements are giving you lead poisoning. That's not the case. If you want to have protein shakes, that's fine. But whether you need to and whether they're safely regulated is a different story. My latest for @vox.com. www.vox.com/future-perfe...
You may have read that your protein supplements are giving you lead poisoning. That's not the case. If you want to have protein shakes, that's fine. But whether you need to and whether they're safely regulated is a different story. My latest for @vox.com. www.vox.com/future-perfe...
No, your protein powder isn’t poisoning you
New testing finds two-thirds of popular protein powders exceed lead limits — especially plant-based brands. What you need to know before your next scoop — and why the reality is different.
vox.com
Also, they don't report the primary registered outcome (sperm DNA methylation, which they say they will report in a future paper), and they don't say why. And it doesn't seem to occur to them that sat fat, sugar, and fiber, rather than processing, might be the issue. HT @garrettbroad.bsky.social
tldr on the latest ultraprocessed foods experiment -- turns out a diet with "elevated levels of saturated fat, cholesterol, refined grains, added sugars, & dairy products & lower amounts of fiber" can lead to bad outcomes. Sorry but this is not a shocking finding about the harms of food processing!
Garrett Broad@garrettbroad.bsky.social · 10mo agoAnother RCT on ultra-processed vs minimally processed foods came out! The headline from this one -- despite matching diets for calories, the UPF diet impaired cardiometabolic and male reproductive health, independent of caloric intake! But let's read closer... 1/ www.cell.com/cell-metabol...
Another RCT on ultra-processed vs minimally processed foods came out! The headline from this one -- despite matching diets for calories, the UPF diet impaired cardiometabolic and male reproductive health, independent of caloric intake! But let's read closer... 1/ www.cell.com/cell-metabol...
Effect of ultra-processed food consumption on male reproductive and metabolic health
This randomized controlled nutrition intervention conducted in males of reproductive age shows that, compared with an unprocessed diet, consumption of ultra-processed foods impairs metabolic and repro...
cell.com
One of our reporters had a source back out, worried they might lose their federal funding depending on the coverage. The story was about a rewilding project (the benefits are not controversial!) but it didn't matter. @gracehussain.bsky.social wrote about it here: sentientmedia.org/journalism-h...
Journalism Has Become More Challenging, for Reporters and Sources
Researchers are more reluctant to give interviews since Trump returned to the White House.
sentientmedia.org
I recently had a chance to ask EPA's Region 2 Administrator about the drastic cuts to his agency, which he brushed off as mostly eliminating programs that were not aligned with their core mission. He came across as a talented and effective bullshitter, which seems to be the main job requirement.
Don Moynihan@donmoyn.bsky.social · 10mo agoGood breakdown of how shutdown affects different agencies. (Also a good example of the type of in-depth factual communication that traditional media still does better than alternative media). www.nytimes.com/interactive/...