Ep. 37 - Public Health 2.0 ft. Le Greta Hudson

BrownTown listens, learns, and again converses about public health, this time in the education field, with Le Greta Hudson, registered dietitian, certified diabetes educator, and professor in Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at the University of Missouri. The team discusses the nuances, the disconnects, and aspiring symbiotic relationship between academia and the real world in building healthy communities, thus navigating poverty, food policy, access, transportation, and everything in between.Following up from the more geography-based conversation from Public Health 1.0 with Jessica Puri, BrownTown and Le Greta (yes, Caullen’s mom) move into the realm of education with the guiding question, how does one educate on individual-health while working within an equitable framework that places public policy at the cornerstone of a learning model for real life application? Like everything in our socialized world, health is not apolitical and we must demystify this notion as well as decolonize the larger field and industry in order to work towards a more liberatory and anti-oppressive future. As Black, brown, and female bodies are constantly under attack via rhetoric and policy and low-income individuals continue to struggle to make enough to support themselves and their families, we must be radical in our reimagining and re-implementing a fair and accessible public health system.Le Greta outlines how she came to this work from high school until now. The gang discusses the relationship between academia, community education, and health in addition to the role optics, culture, and systems of oppression play. As David explains his turn to health(ier) eating (shoutout oat milk and quinoa), Le Greta explains the difference between a registered dietitian and a “nutritionist,” adding how the field is requiring practitioners to be more credentialed. The team then dives deep into the poverty simulator, a physical experiential learning tool that sensitizes participants to the challenges of low-income individuals while identifying areas of change on a micro-, mezo-, and macro-level that directly impact the effects of poverty on individuals, families, and communities (download the brochure). Le Greta wraps up by stressing the importance of her field, her work, and the necessity for more people of color and low-income folks to not only be in certain roles, but cater towards disenfranchised groups. This extends to health and science public education in secondary and even grade school in effort to set every young person up for success. GUESTLe Greta Hudson, MS, RDN, LD, CDE is a registered dietitian, certified diabetes educator/clinical instructor, and professor in Nutrition and Exercise Physiology at the University of Missouri. She has previously been a clinical dietitian and community educator working on-on-one with communities and individuals as well as consulted with diabetes management companies. Most recently, she is now a Commissioner for the Commission for Dietetic Registration (CDR), the credentialing agency for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and looking into becoming a holistic cannabis practitioner. Follow LeGreta on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and the University of Missouri website.--CREDITS: Intro song Fried Chicken by Nas ft. Busta Rhymes and outro song Sing About Me, I'm Dying of Thirst by Kendrick Lamar. Audio engineered by Genta Tamashiro.--Bourbon ’n BrownTownFacebook | Twitter | Instagram | Site | PatreonSoapBox Productions and Organizing, 501(c)3Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Site | Support