Ken Cook Is Having Another Episode EWG

When buying or eating food, we don’t often think about the chemicals used in weed killers…but we should. In today’s episode, we go in-depth with Carey Gillam, Managing Editor of The New Lede, EWG’s journalism initiative, and the widely used commercial toxic pesticides found in weed killers. Ken and Carey discuss their link to Parkinson's, non-Hodgkin Lymphoma, and childhood leukemia, and her ground-breaking investigations that have exposed corporations like Monsanto and Syngenta that have concealed health risks from the public for decades.

Earlier this month, EWG partnered with California assembly member Laura Friedman to introduce Assembly Bill 1963 which would end the use of Paraquat on fields and orchards in California by January 2026. The passing of this bill could enormously impact the lives and the health of California’s farmworkers, their families, and agricultural communities across the state.

For decades the American people have been exposed to toxic forever chemicals known as PFAS with no protection from our government. Until now… In today’s monumental episode, Ken travels to Fayetteville, North Carolina to join the EPA as they announce the first-ever legal limit on PFAS in the drinking water of tens of millions of Americans. In anticipation of this announcement, Ken spoke with environmental attorney, Rob Bilott, who has worked tirelessly for 25 years to make this legal limit on PFAS possible.

Each individual’s journey with food is unique. At 19, Moby confronted the contradiction of loving animals but consuming a bacon double cheeseburger, leading him to embrace veganism. Andrew Zimmern believes that our food systems are entirely broken, questioning the industrial food production practices in the U.S. and the dying art of small-business fishmongering. How can we change the public’s moral framework in regards to meat and food consumption without finger-wagging…?

Erin Brockovich is synonymous with environmentalism, which is why she is our inaugural guest. She is an environmental activist, author, and subject of the self-entitled Oscar-winning Steven Soderberg film, Erin Brockovich.

Erin joins Ken on today’s episode to discuss the state of U.S. drinking water and why many toxic contaminants are allowed to flow from taps at levels that are legal, but nowhere near safe.

Despite the promise of the 1974 Safe Drinking Water Act, woefully inadequate regulation persists 50 years later. Join Erin and Ken as they have an episode.

Want a deeper dive on today’s episode? Check out the links below:

What are PFAs Chemicals

Safe Drinking Water Act

Erin Brockovich’s website

EWG’s national tap water database

Ken Cook Is Having Another Episode every other week.

@kencookspodcast

www.ewg.org

@environmentalworkinggroup

Join Founder and President of Environmental Working Group Ken Cook as he helps folks connect with their inner environmentalist. Through conversations with diverse innovators and disruptors, Ken delves into the challenges we face and the solutions available to address them.

Everyone on Earth has an intrinsic desire to breathe clean air, drink clean water and eat clean food. So in reality, everyone already is an environmentalist, but not all of us are aware of it…yet.

Ken Cook Is Having Another Episode every other week.



@kencookspodcast www.ewg.org



@environmentalworkinggroup