Ever wonder whats really inside those chicken nuggets that you love so much? On this week’s Let’s Get Real, Erica Wides is here to tell you that it’s…well, not chicken! Maybe it comes from a chicken, but, hey- what is chicken these days? Is it a bird? A flavor? Or a finger? Tune into this episode to learn more about what goes into so many “chicken-esque” products these days. Erica also explains why buying a whole chicken from your favorite market (super or not) is essential in connecting food an...
Jul 10, 2012•37 min•Ep. 34
So now that you most certainly have orthorexia nervosa, Erica Wides finally tells you about something that’s safe to eat- ketchup! On this episode of Let’s Get Real, Erica explains why America’s favorite condiments – ketchup and mustard- are actually good for you. Tune in to hear about the rich history of ketchup, as well as the many alterations that have been made to the condiment over the years. Erica also talks about some new players in the condiment game- salsa and Siracha. Guess what? They’...
Jun 19, 2012•38 min•Ep. 33
It’s time to ‘get real’ about butter. Butter has been demonized in America because of its saturated fats. Erica Wides is here to tell you that the trans fats in margarine and vegetable shortening are the real enemies: butter’s ‘evil twin’. Butter is real food, made from agitating milk and cream, while margarine is the result of many factory processes including bleaching and steam cleaning. Tune in to hear about the decline of butter after World War II, and why margarine became the dominant subst...
Jun 12, 2012•39 min•Ep. 32
The end is near on this episode of Let’s Get Real. Erica Wides is talking about the apocalypse, and how our entire food system is reliant on the grid. When a blight destroys all of our crops because of a lack of genetic diversity, how are we going to eat fruit snacks or yogurt in a tube? Solar flares, crop failure, and irradiated food are all very possible, if not probable, causes for the end of society as we know it. What to do next? Erica gives some helpful tips on how to survive an apocalypse...
Jun 05, 2012•35 min•Ep. 31
In tonight’s episode – Super Foods Are Super F*ed Up – I get real about what foodiness has done to “super foods”; how icons of power foods like olive oil, which is laced with chlorophyll, blueberries, which are toxic with pesticides, soy which give you man-boobs, and sardines which give you mercury poisoning have been knocked off their pedestals by corruption like John Edwards, Lance Armstrong and John Travolta; how finding out that all the foods that separate the soy and sardine-eating “us” fro...
May 29, 2012•34 min•Ep. 30
Eat your veggies! Not veggie powder or veggie juice – but actual earth grown vegetables! Our fearless host Erica Wides encourages listeners to address their food fears and put down the fake organic snacks in favor of real produce. Learn about how you can find pre washed vegetables to make life easier for you and why even the packaged produce is better than foodiness junk. Let Erica guide you through Foodiness Conversion Therapy on Let’s Get Real. This program was sponsored by Fairway Market . “T...
May 22, 2012•38 min•Ep. 29
Is knowledge actually power like they used to say in Schoolhouse Rock? This week on Let’s Get Real, Erica Wides is taking on the the burden that comes with food knowledge and education. How can you order food at a restaurant when you know that every item on the menu has been tainted by foodiness? Erica explains that this condition, called orthorexia nervosa, is actually one of the best eating disorders to have! And ultimately, wouldn’t you rather know what you’re putting into your body? You know...
May 08, 2012•33 min•Ep. 28
This week on Let’s Get Real, Erica Wides is talking about multivitamins. Remember those Flintstone vitamins you used to take as a child, or that you give to your child? Erica is here to tell you that there is no proof that these vitamins improve your health in any way! Vitamin supplements are ultimate foodiness; taking the nutrients from food and marketing them as something you need separately from food! Tune in to hear about vitamin overdoses, the origin of vitamin supplements after World War I...
May 01, 2012•32 min•Ep. 27
Everyone knows that fish are a healthy alternative to meat, right? This week on Let’s Get Real, Erica Wides talks about some of the common misconceptions about our favorite oily fish, salmon and tuna. Do you know the differences between omega-3 fatty acids and omega-6 fatty acids? And did you know that ALL tuna contains mercury? Tune in to hear some of the healthier fish to eat instead of farmed salmon and tuna, the dangers of escaped farmed fish, and why smaller fish are inevitably better for y...
Apr 24, 2012•42 min•Ep. 26
This week on Let’s Get Real, Erica Wides talks about “the most important meal of the day” – breakfast. Specifically, Erica gets real about breakfast cereals, and the expanding waist line of the average American. Erica discusses the origins of “foodiness” and the anti-carnal propaganda of Kellogg’s cereals. Ever wonder how your grandparents stayed so fit eating eggs, bacon, and “fatty” foods for breakfast? Or why you crash after eating sugary cereals? All this and more in this week’s Let’s Get Re...
Apr 17, 2012•37 min•Ep. 25
This week on Let’s Get Real, Erica Wides takes on artificial sweetener addiction. Erica goes back in time and talks about the diet sodas of her youth- Tab and Diet Sprite, and how they made her feel outright unhealthy. She also talks about aspartame’s ugly history amongst the likes of Monsanto and Donald Rumsfeld, and why you should NOT believe it’s safe. Do you want to see what it’s like in artificial sweetener-infused foodiness hell? Erica urges you to quit your sweetness habit! This program i...
Apr 10, 2012•36 min•Ep. 24
You think you know bread, but think again. Tune in to this week’s episode of Let’s Eat In and hear how foodiness has hi-jacked the symbol and fabric of life. How did Wonder Bread ruin everything? What was bread like in the days of Moses? How did Julia Child’s matzah recipe help shape our fearless hostess’s life? Listen in and find out! This program was sponsored by Fairway Market . “How has the ultimate symbol of life been hijacked by foodiness?” “Wonder Bread is the least wonderful bread imagin...
Apr 03, 2012•40 min•Ep. 23
In this episode of Let’s Get Real, our hostess Erica Wides discusses how ‘foodiness’ is infantilizing our society. Tune in to hear about how processed food is removing decision-making from adults and creating a cycle of dependency. Erica touches on a range of subjects such as factory farming, technology and social media, and contemporary politics. This program was sponsored by Hearst Ranch . “There’s so much that infantilizes us, from devices that tell us where we are, to social media that tells...
Mar 27, 2012•34 min•Ep. 22
This week on Let’s Get Real, Erica Wides gets pumped up about “sports nutrition” foodiness. Hear a horrifying story about protein powder shakes turned kidney stones and learn more about why Superman wasn’t all cut up. Real food will make you “real” strong! What is industrial surplus milk whey? How does it factor into fitness food? Find out more about the muscle craved foodiness industry rabbithole on a scary episode of Let’s Get Real. This program was sponsored by Cain Vineyard & Winery . Se...
Mar 20, 2012•33 min•Ep. 21
This week on Let’s Get Real, Erica Wides reminds listeners that 7-11 does NOT sell food. What do they sell? Foodiness of course! Learn more about how bad our food options are on the road or at convenience stores like 7-11 and gas stations. How can you avoid the packaged trash at these stores and find real food wherever you are? Tune in and find out! This program was sponsored by Cain Vineyard & Winery . “We lose basically one third of our taste buds at [30,000 feet] in the air.” “Eating in t...
Mar 13, 2012•44 min•Ep. 20
This week on Let’s Get Real, Erica “Occupies” Big Food with special guest, food journalist and nutritionist Kristin Wartman. Tune in as they discuss everything from the problems with corporations that control our food supply to Rush Limbaugh’s recent attack on food justice fighter and author Tracie McMillan. Learn more about the problems we face as a nation when it comes to what we’re eating and find out what Erica and Kristin think we can do to reverse the tide. This program was sponsored by S....
Mar 06, 2012•35 min•Ep. 19
Let’s Get Real is back after a short 2-week hiatus and Erica Wides is here to tell you why real food is already “smart” and only foodiness advertises itself as smart. Find out about the origins of engineered foods and why we always assume that food can be improved upon. From science fiction dreams to realistic let downs, learn about the differences between what’s real, what’s fake and what’s just plain stupid. This program was sponsored by Cain Vineyard & Winery . “Corn was completely engine...
Feb 29, 2012•33 min•Ep. 18
This week on Let’s Get Real it’s time to break out our children that have been born in the matrix of foodiness and that’s just what Erica Wides is here to do. From chicken nuggets and Pediasure, kids foodiness is now present from birth and it put us into a perpetual cycle of bad eating which leads to bad health– from food dye causing ADHD to ‘organic’ foodiness making bad food seem real. Learn how you can break out of this food blockade and free your mind and body. This episode is sponsored by W...
Feb 01, 2012•35 min•Ep. 17
This week on Let’s Get Real it’s time to take the replacement out of meal replacements. From purees to shakes to powders we are assaulted every day by the promise of easy and convenient ‘food’ from Special K bars to Pediasure for kids. Tune in to find out what you’re really ingesting with those body building mixes (answer: it’s a lot of lead) and single serving Trader Joe’s meals and learn the simple things you can do to pull yourself out of this rabbit-whole of whole-meal replacement. This epis...
Jan 24, 2012•43 min•Ep. 16
This week on Let’s Get Real host Erica Wides dissects the mythology behind vegetarian/veganism and the people, like Oprah, who say that it is a “greener” and healthier living style. It’s time to break down the barriers behind the vegan-foodiness paradox: we like meat but we don’t want to eat it so we eat food that is so heavily processed to taste like meat it ends up being just as bad. So tune in and wake up as to how you can still be healthy and avoid this foodiness rabbithole that our decadent...
Jan 17, 2012•33 min•Ep. 15
If there’s one thing Erica Wides wants you to know this week it’s that bacon doesn’t come from birds. It can’t. This week Let’s Get Real breaks down the food simulacra of ‘turkey bacon’. Not only is the “Franken-Foodiness” of turkey bacon and other products (see: Egg Whackers) not making you healthier, it’s probably going to make you more sick or kill you in the end. Tune in and find out why eating real is just better, if not tastier! This episode is sponsored by Hearst Ranch . “People forget th...
Jan 11, 2012•32 min•Ep. 14
Why do so many people insist on mixing their alcohol with sugar? Erica Wides addresses the growing epidemic of dessert flavored booze and asks why grown ups are drinking like toddlers. Is this a marketing ploy to get young people addicted to alcohol, or are we just that addicted to sweets? Find out on a boozy edition of Let’s Get Real. This episode was sponsored by S. Wallace Edwards & Sons . “We’re turning into overgrown overweight drunken toddlers.” “Nobody needs to drink chocolate vodka. ...
Jan 04, 2012•35 min•Ep. 13
We are programmed to enjoy sweets from birth, but how far do we have to go before crossing the line of sugar sanity? In today’s world of foodiness, white lines of refined sugar and artificial sweeteners surround us and the only way to escape is by getting clean. Eat grapes not grape fruit snacks! Drink seltzer and juice, not soda! Kick the habit and reclaim your health – most people lose weight after cutting sugar from their diets! This program was brought to you by Jones Family Farms. “Per-capi...
Dec 20, 2011•26 min•Ep. 12
This week on Let’s Get Real, Erica is joined by legendary real food fighter, educator, writer and activist Marion Nestle. Listen in and hear Marion’s thoughts on foodiness, corporate marketing and the dopplegangers we see on shelves imitating REAL food. Hear why she thinks Americans need to learn how to cook and what the future of the real food movement holds. This episode was sponsored by Cain Vineyard & Winery . “All you can do if you want to help America eat better is get the word out and...
Dec 14, 2011•34 min•Ep. 11
This week on Let’s Get Real get ready to take the pre- out of pre-prepared and pre-packaged because it’s time to get real. This week Erica Wides goes behind the scenes on the can-ification of America, from soup to nuts. From recent studies finding BPA in can liners to the real ingredients in condensed soup, find out why it’s worth it to go DIY with your soup. This episode is sponsored by Jones Family Farms. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://...
Dec 07, 2011•29 min•Ep. 10
Have we become spoiled by the idea that food that isn’t supposed to go bad and that leftovers are to be immediately thrown out? This week Erica Wides tells us it’s time to get real about expiration dates. And here’s the thing, if it’s something that doesn’t go bad, it’s probably bad for you. Tune in and find our why. This episode is sponsored by Cain Vineyard & Winery . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-i...
Nov 30, 2011•29 min•Ep. 9
How can Erica Wides afford two places to live? She doesn’t drink bottled water, or any other bottled beverages for that matter. Let’s Get Real is here to pull you out of that rabbit hole of foodiness, or in this case, drinkiness, that has been perpetuated by beverages that claim to make you smarter, faster, or are ‘enhanced’ with electrolytes and exotic flavors like ‘dragonfruit’. All of this, says Wides, is BS. Tune in for a debunking of drinks such as Gatorade, Neuro, Arizona Green Tea and bot...
Nov 23, 2011•34 min•Ep. 8
This week on Let’s Get Real, Erica sinks her teeth into some meaty discussion. Tune in and find out why humans are SUPPOSED to eat meat, not avoid it! Learn why vegetarians are guilty of the ultimate foodiness and why all healthy people should have at least some protein consumption in their diets! From the dark side of boca burgers and tofu to coming to terms with the fact that human’s are truly omnivores this episode will have you thinking about your eating habits, vegetarian and carnivore alik...
Nov 15, 2011•32 min•Ep. 7
Milk… it does a body good! Or does it? Tune in to an especially informative episode of Let’s Get Real with Chef Erica Wides. Why is Mongolian milk healthier than American milk? How do hormones get into our milk? Find out why hormone laced milk is so problematic and how you can avoid “foodiness” when it comes to milk. This episode was sponsored by Fairway Market . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info ....
Oct 18, 2011•35 min•Ep. 6
This week on Let’s Get Real, Erica Wides focuses on one of the most elemental food items of all time: eggs. Tune in and find out how to tell the difference between real and fake eggs. They may be advertised as cage free, but does that make them any better? Learn how to make the right decision when it comes to eggs and find out why NO chickens are allowed to be given hormones. This episode was sponsored by Heritage Foods USA . See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy...
Oct 11, 2011•34 min•Ep. 5
