Plastic, MAHA, and a New Congress with Chef Johanna Hellrigl
November 5, 2026 · 1 hr 17 min
Why listen
A chef four blocks from Congress explains why food policy is decided at your dinner table.
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In this episode
- Why bipartisan support is the only path for lasting food legislation
- How farm bill votes get flipped and what new committee leadership changes
- Why states may be the real engine of food policy reform
- A practical rule for keeping plastic chemicals out of your cooking
About this episode
Voters just sent Washington a message. Chef Johanna Hellrigl will be watching what happens next from four blocks away.
Johanna is a James Beard semifinalist, food-systems advocate and chef-owner of Ama, a restaurant built on farm-direct organic ingredients and a kitchen she has worked to pull plastic out of. She knows a bill backed by only one party usually goes nowhere, and that every fight in Congress eventually reaches someone's dinner table. In this episode, she and Jeff talk about what it would take for food policy to reach the people who need it most, whoever holds power.
- Why she says "you can't defund and deregulate and make America healthy again," and still sits down with MAHA supporters to ask how they got there
- The farm bill votes she says she helped flip, and what new leadership on the agriculture committee could change
- The FRESH Act, and why she believes states should keep the power to lead on food policy
- What a shutdown or surprise recess does to a restaurant that depends on Congress being in town
- Heat, fat, acid, and time: her rule for keeping plastic chemicals out of your food
This episode is for the parent decoding labels in a grocery aisle at 7 p.m., and anyone waiting to see whether a new Congress changes what ends up on their plate.
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