Melinda Hemmelgarn was born in 1956. She earned a B.S. (1978) in Dietetics from Florida State University and a M.S. (1984) in Human Nutrition and Food Systems from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She worked as an Extension nutrition specialist at the University of Missouri-Columbia from 1987 to 2002. There, she founded and directed the Nutrition Communications Center. In 2004, she received a two-year Kellogg Food and Society Policy Fellowship which enabled her to focus on media and food system literacy. From 1989 to 2009 Hemmelgarn wrote a weekly Food Sleuth™ column for the Columbia Daily Tribune and since 2009 she has hosted the Food Sleuth Radio show on KOPN in Columbia, Missouri. In 2011 Food Sleuth Radio became nationally syndicated through Pacifica, and Public Radio Exchange in 2012. Dan Hemmelgarn, Melinda's husband and project partner, produces the show.
In 2009, Dan and Melinda Hemmelgarn received the Farmers' Market Champion award from the Missouri Department of Agriculture for their “Farm Hands” calendar, celebrating the farmers at their local market in Columbia, Missouri. In 2009, Food Sleuth Radio was ranked among the Top 11 Green Radio Shows by the Mother Nature Network, and in 2011, Food Sleuth Radio was awarded first place in the radio interview category by the National Federation of Press Women.
In 2014, Melinda Hemmelgarn was identified as one of the “Ten Incredible RDs Making a Difference,” by Today's Dietitian magazine. In both 2007 and 2015, she received Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics awards for Excellence in Hunger and Environmental Nutrition.
Hemmelgarn speaks and presents at national conferences, and conducts media literacy workshops. Her professional memberships include the Association of Health Care Journalists and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Hunger and Environmental Nutrition Practice Group. She writes for the Organic Valley farming cooperative's Rootstock blog, ACRES USA, and Natural Awakenings magazine, and serves on the boards of the Organic Farming Research Foundation (OFRF), the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service (MOSES), and Beyond Pesticides.
More information on Food Sleuth Radio can be found on its website.
