Ep62: Beth Machnica - Food as Medicine, Blue Zones, and Fixing Buffalo’s Health

John sits down with Beth Machnica, Director of Health and Wellbeing at Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and registered dietitian whose big hairy audacious goal is to make Buffalo a blue zone. Beth grew up in Cheektowaga on pizza, wings, and Hamburger Helper, started a cooking blog at 16 after a high school nutrition class exposed how badly she was eating, and has spent the decade since bringing $1 million in grant funding to Buffalo’s East Side, building a coalition of 180 organizations, and running a Food as Medicine symposium that has made Buffalo a nationally recognized model.The conversation covers the 13-to-20-year life expectancy gap between Buffalo zip codes, the difference between a food desert and a food apartheid, what the 40 Days to Wellness program actually did for 108 chronically sick East Side residents, and why the number one cause of death and disability in America is food - before smoking, before genetics, before anything else. Beth also shares her unfiltered take on GLP-1s, the sugar industry’s manipulation of decades of research, why the tobacco industry now owns most of the food supply, and what food as medicine actually looks like when it’s being practiced in health systems today.Enjoying the episode?Subscribe, leave a review, and share Angles with John Richmond with a friend.🎧 New episodes every week.Visit www.richmondvona.com/angles-podcast/ for more📱 Follow us on Instagram:@anglesjohnrichmond@johnrichmondlaw@richmondvona🎥 Follow us on TikTok:@richmondvona@johnrichmondesq📺 Watch on YouTube: @angleswithjohnrichmondFollow us on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61576886611238Disclaimer: This episode is for informational and educational purposes only. The views and opinions expressed by the guest and host are their own and do not constitute medical, legal, or professional advice. Angles Podcast does not endorse any specific health claims, products, services, or treatments mentioned in this episode. Listeners should consult qualified professionals for advice tailored to their individual circumstances.