The Tudor Dixon Podcast: Breaking Big Food, MAHA Movement & America’s Health Crisis
2/16/202644 mincomplete
0:00This is an iHeart Podcast.
0:02Guaranteed human. Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who
0:08take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi -asset portfolio of stocks, bonds,
0:12options, crypto, and now generated assets, which allow you to turn any idea into an
0:17investable index with AI. It all starts with your prompt.
0:20From renewable energy companies with high free cashflow to semiconductor suppliers, growing revenue over 20
0:25% year over year. You can literally type any prompt and put the AI to
0:29work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one -of -a -kind index, and lets
0:32you backtest it against the S &P 500.
0:34Then you can invest in a few clicks.
0:37Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis,
0:42not someone else's. Go to public .com slash podcast and earn an uncapped 1 %
0:46bonus when you transfer your portfolio.
0:48That's public .com slash podcast.
0:50Paid for by Public Investing.
0:51Brokered services by Open to the Public Investing, Inc., member FINRA and SIPC.
0:54Advisory services by Public Advisors, LLC, SEC Registered Advisor.
0:57Generated assets is an interactive analysis tool.
0:59Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice.
1:02Complete disclosures available at public .com slash disclosures.
1:06Step into the future of music at the 2026 South by Southwest Music Festival and
1:11Conference, returning to Austin March 12th through 18th.
1:14Join artists, industry leaders, and fans from around the world for seven days of music
1:18discovery, connection, and unforgettable live performances.
1:22Unlock a 10 % discount on your music badge when you use code IHARTMUSIC.
1:26Discover the next big artist at sxsw .com slash IHART.
1:31Discount on badge price only.
1:32Not combinable. Terms apply. The rivalry that shaped football.
1:42The players who defined an era.
1:44Ronaldinho, Saviola, Rafa Marquez, Figo, Guti, Marcelo.
1:50Watch the Legends Series. FC Barcelona Legends versus Real Madrid Leyendas.
1:56Live in LA on February 22nd at BMO Stadium.
1:59Tickets start at $35. New sections now open.
2:02Get your tickets at wearehouseofheroes .com.
2:05Well, the holidays have come and gone once again.
2:08But if you've forgotten to get that special someone in your life a gift, well,
2:11Mint Mobile is extending their holiday offer of half -off unlimited wireless.
2:16So here's the idea. You get it now.
2:18You call it an early present for next year.
2:20What do you have to lose?
2:22Give it a try at mintmobile .com slash switch.
2:25Limited time, 50 % off regular price for new customers.
2:27Upfront payment required. $45 for three months, $90 for six months, or $180 for 12
2:31-month plan. Taxes and fees extra.
2:32Speeds may slow after 50 gigabytes per month when network is busy.
2:34See terms. Welcome to the Tudor Dixon podcast.
2:39You've all heard of Maha.
2:41And we say we're Maha, but we kind of wonder, how do you actually commit
2:45to Maha? I don't know.
2:47I feel that way. So today, we get to get that answer from Maha -inspired
2:53filmmakers Patrick and Ashley Sullivan.
2:55They have a new documentary, and it's called Breaking Big Food.
2:59And today, they're going to tell us, I think, not only how to break big
3:02food, but also how to break our addiction.
3:05I'm hoping how to break our addiction to big food, because as I was watching
3:10their documentary, which I tell you, you should go watch this, because it really does
3:15explain to you why you just can't eat one potato chip.
3:18You have to eat, like, a million potato chips.
3:20So without further ado, I want to bring Patrick and Ashley Sullivan in.
3:24Thank you so much for joining me today.
3:26Thank you so much for having us.
3:28Yeah, this is wonderful to be on your show, Tudor.
3:30Thank you. Well, actually, your movie starts out with, like, the discussion of why you
3:37guys decided that you wanted to open your own organic coffee shop and market in
3:43Scottsdale, Arizona. And that was really because you were diagnosed with cancer at a pretty
3:48young age. I'm also a cancer survivor.
3:51And something you said really struck me as you were like, they told me how
3:55I can get rid of it, but they didn't tell me how I got it.
3:58And that was a question I had so many times, like, how did you get
4:00breast cancer at 38? And I was like, I'll never know.
4:04But now maybe we do kind of know.
4:06I think that we have learned that our systems have been being bombarded for the
4:12last four decades. And it's faster than our systems can detox.
4:19I was the same age when I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, 38, maybe 39.
4:25And it was the worst feeling I think you can have.
4:29We, as a married couple, we were just stressed for months.
4:33Not because I felt bad, but this lingering, I have cancer, I have cancer.
4:39This, like... It's so scary.
4:41Absolutely scary. So I wish I could say that after I got the thyroidectomy, which
4:47is where they removed the cancer surgically, that I then woke up the next day
4:52and changed my life. But that's not really the story.
4:55The story is I kind of buried that whole time period because it was so
5:01stressful. And I don't even think we really started to change our diets and our
5:05approaches until a couple of years ago, really two years ago, where we just kind
5:12of had a new reckoning, a new wake -up call, and decided, you know, we
5:18really do need to start cleaning up our food, start cleaning up our diet.
5:22And that was part of the inspiration for this movie.
5:24breaking big food. It's interesting the way you described that because when I was diagnosed
5:29it was it's kind of similar you go through months of just kind of this
5:33fog of like okay what's next how do I get rid of this how do
5:38I make myself healthy again but your whole I don't know if you had this
5:42experience like I remember going to the grocery store a few days after I was
5:46diagnosed and feeling like cancer was printed across my forehead like I'm a different person
5:51now I'm changed and I'm broken and there's something wrong and I feel different even
5:55though I don't physically feel different like there's a lot of emotions that go along
5:59with that and I say that because I think it's so important for people to
6:03know that this is more common now than ever before we're seeing higher rates of
6:09cancer in younger people and that feeling doesn't have to be there but then there's
6:14also other numbers that are terrifying 50 percent of teens are overweight 38 percent have
6:20pre -diabetes 38 percent of teens and and the way your documentary talked about it
6:26was like we used to call this adult onset diabetes and now we call we
6:31just call it type two because so many young people are getting it so I
6:36think that being in that category of broken with cancer is just really broken with
6:43chronic disease now for so many of us.
6:46Yes and the foods I mean the foods that they that we are getting marketed
6:51to when you go to the grocery store you know 80 percent of the store
6:55has a seed oil in it and we had no idea how inflammatory and toxic
7:02our food really was and nobody really taught us how to read nutrition labels I
7:06used to shop for the household and I would buy hummus I would buy you
7:11know protein drinks and all kinds of things that I saw how it were healthy
7:15salad dressings that I'm like oh well these are healthy I'm doing my best I
7:19had no idea how to tell wait a minute there's like all kinds of inflammatory
7:24ingredients in here and things that my body doesn't recognize and my gut certainly doesn't
7:28recognize so it's just it wreaks havoc on your body in so many ways.
7:32Because seeds are are from nature I mean that's how I think I'm like why
7:36is a seed oil bad you know it comes it's a seed a seed came
7:40from nature but these are all the things that we have to decode and that's
7:44where I feel like I'm overwhelmed by this is if if something called a seed
7:49oil which sounds healthy is bad how do I know what's bad?
7:54Gosh what a great question um you know if you think about it seeds they
8:01have a sort of bias towards not being eaten because their offspring they want their
8:07seeds to make it into the ground so those seeds are actually not good for
8:12humans like us because the plants don't really want us to eat them um and
8:18once you start like thinking a little bit more along those lines uh you'll understand
8:23why just recently uh RFK Jr.
8:26and the HHS USDA uh flipped the food food flipped the food pyramid upside down
8:33I almost said pooed pyramid that's kind of what the old one should have been
8:37called I think clip that put that as a that's going viral uh and they
8:42flipped it upside down to promote proteins dairy full fat dairy by the way healthy
8:49oils like olive oil avocado fruits and vegetables in wide variety and then put grains
8:56all the way at the bottom of the pyramid and I think the crazy thing
9:00is the original food pyramid created in 1992 really had a lot of industry like
9:07here's what we need to sell we you mean lobbyists were involved yes you think
9:12ding ding ding that's oh and that's where I think people don't understand that there
9:18are a lot of people that go to government so you make a great point
9:22government puts out that food pyramid but you have a lobbyist that come around big
9:27government you've got big government you've got big food you've got big pharma there's all
9:32of these big industries that have taken over I mean honestly I went to a
9:37doctor just recently and my doctor's office is like we don't we can't get you
9:41in we're going to send you to this other doctor's office and they're in the
9:44same group as us but it's so it's so so gigantic now big health big
9:51pharma big food you're no longer a person you as a person are no longer
9:57seen I feel like even government I don't feel like my representative sees me it's
10:04whatever the politics are that they're driven by you know when do you see the
10:08individual person and how do we break this cycle of individuals having no voice absolutely
10:15and you know that's why in our documentary you know the name is breaking big
10:19food but the subtitle is how the American food system went rotten and how it's
10:24being revived we really wanted to shine a light on the local companies the the
10:31the people at a community grassroots level that are doing it differently doing it better
10:35and encouraging people that really to to make change in your life you have to
10:40you have to make better choices we can't wait on government we can't wait on
10:44big food to make all the right changes we have to do that at home
10:48on a community level we've let this happen I mean, I think somewhat through convenience
10:55and just the confusion of mom and dad both working, life is so busy, all
11:01of these things felt like they were good conveniences at the time as these industries
11:06began to grow. And then I heard in your documentary someone saying, we're the greatest
11:11country in the world, we shouldn't have secondhand food.
11:14And I'm like, how do we have secondhand food?
11:17I was thinking we had the best food, you know, we have the best farms,
11:20we have the best of everything.
11:22But then as I was running for office, when I was running for office here
11:26in Michigan, I'm hearing from family farms saying, we can't compete with the big food
11:31farms. The big food farms get all of this money from government, government is protecting
11:37them, and the family farms are dying off.
11:40But then there's nobody that's actually just like the family doctor is dying off, and
11:45they're part of the big health conglomerate, and they don't care about who I am.
11:49My farmer is just selling to the other big industries.
11:54They're not selling to me anymore.
11:56So how do we fight back against that?
11:59I think we in Phoenix, where this documentary is mostly focused are seeing a revival,
12:06a revival, because people are wanting to scratch their own itch, and realizing that they
12:12weren't eating healthy, that the eggs they were getting were not healthy, the ground beef
12:17they were buying wasn't healthy, the milk they were getting from the big grocery store
12:22chains, etc. Even that wasn't great.
12:25And what you're finding is this local revival, which I think is happening across the
12:31country, why wouldn't it be of communities cropping up to support each other, where you
12:38have the food producer, you have the consumer that is now becoming more knowledgeable saying,
12:44gosh, it sure would be nice to get all that stuff.
12:47But I don't have time to drive around to all these places.
12:49And then you have the middleman, the markets, these micro markets that are sourcing from
12:54all these great places, farms from around their community, for people from around their community.
13:00Amazon's not involved, free shipping isn't involved.
13:03It's about going to the store.
13:06One of the places in particular that really inspired this film was in our neighborhood
13:11of Fountain Hills, Arizona, Good Living Greens, Jill and Jeremy Keefe, featured in the documentary,
13:17started buying all these things for themselves and had their neighbors saying, would you pick
13:21some up for me? And so they said, well, why don't we just start a
13:24shop? And that was part of what inspired Ashley and I to make this film
13:28and then at our business in Scottsdale to open up one of those suites and
13:33turn it into Firefly organic coffee and market.
13:37Because there needs to be tens of thousands of markets around the United States that
13:44are sourcing for consumers from local regenerative farms.
13:49I think it's possible. It's going to take time, but I do think it's possible.
13:52Let's take a quick commercial break.
13:53We'll continue next on the Tudor Dixon podcast.
13:58Hey, Ben Ferguson here for the next 60 seconds.
14:01Can you hit pause on your life and just think about this every day?
14:05Millions of children face a crushing reality, a constant defeating message echoes in their empty
14:11stomachs and their desperate eyes.
14:13It is that you don't matter.
14:15Poverty doesn't just steal food and shelter.
14:17It steals hope, dignity, and the fundamental belief that they are love.
14:21But there's another message, one of boundless love and hope.
14:25Through Compassion International, you can change the child's story forever.
14:29You can sponsor a child just like I do.
14:31You can introduce them to a loving heavenly father.
14:34You can equip them with education, health care, and the support to overcome poverty.
14:39This isn't just about one child.
14:41It's about transforming families, revitalizing communities, and changing nations.
14:46It's about proving that every child truly matters.
14:50So help give a child of future.
14:52Give them hope. Visit Compassion .com today.
14:56That's Compassion .com. Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those
15:02who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi -asset portfolio of stocks,
15:06bonds, options, crypto, and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into
15:11an investable index with AI.
15:13It all starts with your prompt.
15:14From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over
15:1920 % year -over -year.
15:21You can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work.
15:24It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one -of -a -kind index, and lets you
15:27backtest it against the S &P 500.
15:29Then you can invest in a few clicks.
15:31Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis,
15:37not someone else's. Go to public .com slash podcast and earn an uncapped 1 %
15:41bonus when you transfer your portfolio.
15:43That's public .com slash podcast.
15:45Paid for by public investing.
15:46Brokerage services by Open to the Public Investing, Inc., member FINRA, and SIPC.
15:49Advisory services by Public Advisors, LLC, SEC Registered Advisor.
15:51Generated assets is an interactive analysis tool.
15:53Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice.
15:56Complete disclosures available at public .com slash disclosures.
16:01Step into the future of music at the 2026 South by Southwest Music Festival and
16:05Conference, returning to Austin March 12th through 18th.
16:08Join artists, industry leaders, and fans from around the world for seven days of music
16:13discovery, connection, and unforgettable live performances.
16:16Unlock a 10 % discount on your music badge when you use code IHART.
16:20Discover the next big artist at sxsw .com slash iHeart.
16:25Discount on batch price only.
16:26Not combinable. Terms apply. Arsa!
16:30Arsa! Arsa! Arsa! The rivalry that shaped football.
16:36The players who defined an era.
16:38Ronaldinho, Saviola, Rafa Marquez, Figo, Guti, Marcelo.
16:45Watch the Legends Series. FC Barcelona Legends versus Real Madrid Leyendas.
16:50Live in L .A. on February 22nd at BMO Stadium.
16:53Tickets start at $35. New sections now open.
16:57Get your tickets at wearehouseofheroes .com.
17:01In the film, you even talk about, oh, in our coffee we have all of
17:06this mold. And in our regular coffee we're getting a bunch of junk.
17:10And I'm like, I would never have even considered that, you know.
17:15I am so used to just going to the grocery store and buying what's there.
17:19And then I get this panic about how much this costs.
17:22I mean, you go to a cheese farmer.
17:27He's a goat farmer in the documentary.
17:29And he makes the point, I know my customers are wealthy because they have to
17:34be able to pay me to make the best possible cheese.
17:37And I can't do it on a massive scale.
17:41I can't sell to enough people that I can make it really low cost.
17:45So what happens? I mean, we honestly then do have a huge health problem for
17:52people who can't afford this that are just going to continue to be sicker and
17:57sicker. Is it the idea that eventually you can't break big food?
18:02Is that even possible? A couple of different ways to handle that.
18:06In the film, Alex Clark of Culture Apothecary podcast, we featured her.
18:12And she made a great point about feeling overwhelmed as you learn about how to
18:19eat healthier. And one of the things that she says is like, step one is
18:24going from putting the Doritos down to, you know, ground beef.
18:29And if you can't afford organic, it's still better to have non -organic ground beef
18:37than to eat ultra -processed foods.
18:39Also, real food is generally less expensive because you're eating less of it.
18:47But you mentioned early on, I think when you were introducing us, the popular Lays
18:52commercial about no one can eat just one.
18:56And no wonder big tobacco took over big food in the 1980s and said to
19:03their scientists, hey, we need to sell more food, make them eat more of it.
19:08So wouldn't you know, they figured out how to make the food more addictive and
19:11less nutrient dense. So when you really start to look at pound for pound cost,
19:16and I think pound for pound benefit of switching to real food, which the new
19:21food pyramid heavily promotes, what you'll find is that it may not be as expensive
19:27as you think it is.
19:29I would like to believe that longer term organic is going to become less expensive
19:35simply because that's how markets always seem to work.
19:39The original plasma screen TV was $15 ,000, and now you can buy a 75
19:46-inch TV for $700, right?
19:48My hope is that innovation driven by consumer demand will, in fact, also lower prices.
19:57I don't think it's going to happen overnight, but I absolutely believe that we can
20:03get there. A hundred years ago, this is how everyone ate.
20:08Everyone didn't eat organic. It didn't have an organic label.
20:11It just was organic. It's like there wasn't such a thing as these big, giant
20:17food conglomerates. When you have kids, though, it does feel overwhelming.
20:22Like as I was watching your documentary, I'm like, I love what these people are
20:27doing. And I love the fact that there is a shop right there where people
20:30can go and they go, okay, here's all the ingredients I need.
20:34But if you don't live near a store like that, it does feel overwhelming.
20:38Like how do I, how do I avoid it?
20:41I mean, even last night I was thinking, okay, so I made pork tenderloin with
20:46this mustard sauce. And I'm like, do I know what was in the mustard?
20:49Like I made the sauce by my, you know, like from scratch, I think, but
20:55not really because I used mustard, you know, like what was in there?
20:58Was there, who knows? I should look at that and see.
21:00But it's like, then I feel like, oh my goodness, I'm so overwhelmed by the
21:04amount of labels I have to read and the distrust I have to have for
21:09the system. And I just, I'm concerned that it's so overwhelming that we can't break
21:15it. We have to, we really need support.
21:17How do you find that support locally?
21:21Well, the first thing I like to say about the conversation of overwhelm, because I
21:25feel like it's, it's just so real and everybody feels it, especially when it's like
21:29kind of your first time hearing this message.
21:30And you start to then do look at the labels in your pantry and you're
21:34like, I have to purge everything I have to change.
21:36And it's like, hold on.
21:38That is the natural reaction.
21:40But I would recommend start slow.
21:43It's okay. Any improvement is a good improvement.
21:46Make small swaps now. that it's in your head though, next time you go to
21:49the store and you buy a salad dressing or you buy mustard or whatever you're
21:53looking for, you're going to look at the back and pretty soon it'll just be
21:56second nature to you. So I would just say, give yourself a break and don't
22:01stress yourself over having to do like this whole overhaul because stress is also bad.
22:06So, um, but it does seem like the system, I mean, you made the point
22:11that, that big tobacco eventually, you know, when big tobacco was told you can't advertise
22:16anymore, we're going to try to like, you know, get this out of the mainstream
22:21media that the smoking is okay.
22:23And they really, you know, that really ratcheted back their sales and their ability to
22:27market their products. And they said, we're going to buy up big food.
22:31And for those of us who weren't paying any attention, they were doing things like,
22:36okay, how can we make this more addictive?
22:38How can we make them buy more from their standpoint?
22:41It was just about selling more product.
22:43But from our standpoint, this has changed the chain, really changed American bodies.
22:50I just came back from Europe and I have to tell you, I did not
22:53see overweight people. I was in France.
22:55There was no one. Literally, I made the comment, look around us.
23:00There is not a single person here that looks like an American that - You
23:04see croissants every day. Yeah.
23:06Yes. I'm like, I haven't not seen a single thing that I would consider healthy
23:11food here. Like every corner has something that looks delicious on it, you know, and
23:16people are stopping at the cafe and they're having fresh bread and they're having a
23:22very tiny coffee. I'll say the coffee there is like this big.
23:25I was like, I'll have a latte.
23:27They give you a cup and I'm like, oh.
23:29You're like, keep them coming.
23:30Yeah. I was like, can I like 17 of these?
23:34But also I think, is this just an American thing?
23:37Do we just have this problem in America?
23:40Yes. I think it's a lot to do with the way most of the food
23:46is grown. We probably don't want to go too deep down the glyphosate hole in
23:51this episode, but that's starting to become a very popular topic on X, a trending
23:57topic. Something I've been aware of for a long time, but glyphosate is Roundup, the
24:03weed killer that, you know, most people will think of and think, oh yeah, I
24:06sprayed that. Well, glyphosate is sprayed on crops and wheat, especially to desiccate it, to
24:13dry it at harvest time.
24:15And that glyphosate likely is contributing in a very bad way to inflammation and other
24:22chronic diseases. And glyphosate is banned in most other European countries.
24:28So they're getting essentially cleaner food.
24:33One comment I will make in, I feel like we have hope for the first
24:37time in a very long time with RFK as the head of HHS.
24:42When he first came, when he first got the job, you know, spring of 2025,
24:47there were some discussions that they held with big food, some early meetings.
24:52And you may recall that one of the first topics they started to address was
24:56food dyes. Food dye is another thing that is generally outlawed in most European countries.
25:03And the topic here, at least the insiders were saying that these food companies were
25:09basically saying, Bobby, please regulate us.
25:12Please make these food dyes go away.
25:16Because the problem is, if Nabisco can use them, but Kellogg's decides that they're not
25:23going to, Kellogg's is now at this disadvantage of, okay, well, Nabisco has a brighter
25:28food and it's cheaper because they're using petroleum dyes.
25:32So the title of our food, Breaking Big Food, kind of sounds salacious.
25:37But all along, many times, I have said our hope is that big food will
25:41actually see the light, get some good regulations in place and start to actually pivot
25:48how they are making food, the ingredients that they're using and really start to improve
25:54the entire food system. Because Lord knows there's going to be a lot of good
25:59people working there and they have a lot of infrastructure in place to, you know,
26:05utilize. And if they just stop using food dyes as one potential example is that
26:11they stop using glyphosate, I think that we in America have a chance to rescue
26:16big food, for big food to rescue itself.
26:19So how did we get so betrayed?
26:21Because I feel betrayed by the FDA and not this FDA, by the FDA of
26:26the past. Especially when you say that, that even big food has been like, hey,
26:31we can't do one thing if everybody doesn't have to do that thing.
26:35And so therefore, we're willing to put something we know is unsafe into our products,
26:41because you're just letting us run amok.
26:43We I thought this was about safety.
26:45So who betrayed us? I mean, is there any institution in the federal government right
26:51now that we are like, feel like we can trust?
26:55I mean, I know that there's a lot of people from the Trump administration working
26:58hard to fight and save these institutions.
27:02I would say that yes, another shout out to a great documentary that came out
27:06about a year ago called to die for D Y E.
27:11It's a story of a family whose young son was in the explosion.
27:15I mean, there are unbelievable, r is brainw yeah, love those youthppen, but it bugs
27:15and don't hit us outside and that do that for was ADD you know lots
27:18of different problems uh they heard from another family you should take out the red
27:23dye uh take out the red dyes take that yeah stop and within a couple
27:28of days his behavior started to change and so they made this beautiful documentary about
27:32it and one of the things that they like targeted on was so red dye
27:40was taken out of cosmetics in like the 90s because it causes cancer when it's
27:46on your skin but somehow when you ingest it it's fine it's like the contradictions
27:52that have existed for decades because i guess someone was not strong enough in the
28:00regulatory bodies to put their foot down until bobby came along i guess that's i
28:06guess that's the story sadly enough we we as americans have been betrayed tutor i
28:11think that is the right word well you talked somebody as i was watching your
28:17documentary somebody said they didn't feel well but they didn't know they i can't remember
28:23if it was you or who it was probably landon flowers because he was you
28:29know working out eating yes and he didn't even know he didn't feel well until
28:34he changed and i thought gosh are we just so used to not feeling well
28:39are we so used to chronic disease that we don't know that we've gotten sick
28:43maybe we are the boiled frogs yes yes exactly well and then the other interesting
28:50thing is the idea that chronic disease is reversible because i go back to also
28:55big health where it's like oh you have something let me add this medication let
28:59me add this medication let me add this medication and every medication it seems like
29:03has a domino effect if you're on this then you need this to counteract that
29:07and then you just end up on so many but then i watch your documentary
29:11and i hear well chronic disease is reversible wait what through food yes how i
29:19mean why aren't we aware of this why isn't this a discussion at the doctor's
29:23office so cali means who's in the first really two minutes of the documentary and
29:29then acts as somewhat the narrator throughout um he really inspired us when we saw
29:36him speak in the spring of 2024 spring summer of 2024 where he had just
29:42kind of put the pieces all together about how we got here cali was a
29:47former lobbyist he mentioned lobbyists and he saw sort of the backroom deals of coca
29:53-cola getting a blessing from the american diabetes association to say that like it's okay
29:59for kids to drink coke oh okay thanks american diabetes association he saw the betrayal
30:04yeah he well he's reformed and right right able to talk about how we got
30:12here and to me it was just an absolute like ash i think we were
30:18inspired to amplify the message and this was before either of us or i think
30:24really anybody had heard of maha that we started pre -production on the film and
30:29maha has kind of built as this was all happening we were like gosh i
30:34guess we caught this wave at just the right time and thank goodness well and
30:39keep in mind the health care system is i don't know the exact stats these
30:44days but it's like the number one source of revenue for the number one part
30:49of our economy yes so you know sick people help to fuel that economy i'm
30:55just saying yeah so where is the motivation and you know they always say follow
30:58the money and unfortunately a lot of times that turns out to be true whether
31:02it started as a bad intention or not or usually they start with good intentions
31:06and then you just kind of like make some compromises as you go along and
31:10then all of a sudden it's just out of control so i think the biggest
31:15message for americans is you are in charge of your health you have to make
31:20better choices for yourself and educate yourself for you and your family so that then
31:24your kids know what to do and they know what to do with their kids
31:27that's we have to take ownership and it starts with the food that's really what
31:30cali that's where i was going with the talk about cali is it starts with
31:36the food not with pills let's take a quick commercial break we'll continue next on
31:40the tudor dixon podcast hey ben ferguson here for the next 60 seconds can you
31:47hit pause on your life and just think about this every day millions of children
31:52face a crushing reality a constant defeating message echoes in their empty stomachs and their
31:58desperate eyes it is that you don't matter poverty doesn't just steal food and shelter
32:03it steals hope dignity and the fundamental belief that they are loved but there's another
32:08message one of boundless love and hope through compassion international you can change the child's
32:14story forever you can sponsor a child just like i do you can introduce them
32:18to a loving heavenly father you can equip them with education health care and the
32:23support to overcome poverty this isn't just about one child it's about transforming families revitalizing
32:30communities and changing nations it's about proving that every child truly matters so help give
32:36a child a future give them hope hope visit compassion .com today that's compassion dot
32:53com. Then you can invest in a few clicks.
33:17Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis,
33:22not someone else's. Go to public .com slash podcast and earn an uncapped 1 %
33:26bonus when you transfer your portfolio.
33:28That's public .com slash podcast.
33:30Paid for by Public Investing.
33:31Brokered services by Open to the Public Investing, Inc., member FINRA and SIPC.
33:34Advisory services by Public Advisors, LLC, SEC Registered Advisor.
33:37Generated assets is an interactive analysis tool.
33:39Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice.
33:41Complete disclosures available at public .com slash disclosures.
33:46Step into the future of music at the 2026 South by Southwest Music Festival and
33:51Conference. Returning to Austin March 12th through 18th.
33:54Join artists, industry leaders, and fans from around the world for seven days of music
33:58discovery, connection, and unforgettable live performances.
34:02Unlock a 10 % discount on your music badge when you use code iHeartMusic.
34:06Discover the next big artist at sxsw .com slash iHeart.
34:10Discount on batch price only.
34:12Not combinable. Terms apply. The rivalry that shaped football.
34:22The players who defined an era.
34:24Ronaldinho, Saviola, Rafa Márquez, Figo, Guti, Marcelo.
34:30Watch the Legends Series. FC Barcelona Legends versus Real Madrid Leyendas.
34:36Live in L .A. on February 22nd at BMO Stadium.
34:39Tickets start at $35. New sections now open.
34:42Get your tickets at WeAreHouseofHeroes .com.
34:47You have someone who makes the point that if you're asked, would you give up
34:52your life for someone you love?
34:54And she talks about her nephew.
34:55You know, like, yeah, I would die for my nephew, of course.
34:57But will you live healthy for your nephew?
35:01And she goes, man, that was a way bigger choice.
35:04And it is a way bigger choice.
35:06But as I'm watching what you guys are doing, and so many people, what I
35:10loved about the documentary was that you were showing so many people were starting this.
35:15This is a bigger movement than we think.
35:16I live in a small town.
35:18We have a little market that just started.
35:20And they were in my head the whole time, like, oh, I got to go
35:24to CeCe's market and look at it through a different lens now.
35:27Because now I've seen what they're going through.
35:30But as I'm watching this, and I was watching even your farmer who was talking
35:35about, you know, this is expensive, I'm thinking to myself, how in a small town
35:40where we don't have a ton of businesses and people aren't extremely wealthy, you know,
35:45we're not in a big metropolis where people are going to, I mean, we don't
35:50have a Whole Foods or anything like that, where people are just used to spending
35:53that kind of money on food.
35:56How do you, A, start a market like this, and B, do you have to
36:02be, like, personally wealthy? Is it just a hobby that you're like, oh, I'm just
36:08going to bring food together for people to buy?
36:10Or do you make money doing this?
36:11Because to me, I'm like, how do they make money doing this?
36:16Well, we launched Firefly Organic Coffee and Market in May of 2025.
36:21We did lose money for about the first eight months, just like any new business
36:27trying to get the word out to bring more customers in.
36:30But we actually finally had, in January, our first month of profitability.
36:34Not much, but a little bit.
36:37And I would say, just like any business, like, profit motive is not greed.
36:44Profit motive is sustainability. And it's like, I'm trying to, Ashley and I are trying
36:53to find products that we want to use at our own house.
36:57And we're getting, we're sort of sending that signal out to others in the Scottsdale,
37:03Fountain Hills, Phoenix area of like, hey, we're finding and sourcing these products that we're
37:09using ourselves. If you want some, come and get it.
37:12Yeah, it's items you can't find at the regular grocery store or the raw milk,
37:16some fast fed beef, some farm fresh eggs that haven't been fed, you know, soy
37:20and corn and all the junk.
37:22But, you know, what's happened has been really beautiful is we've seen a community just
37:27bloom of people that have found out what we're doing that are also very passionate
37:32about this and that really want to support it.
37:34And they feel seen and understood.
37:36So it's like all of a sudden this amazing group of people that like it's
37:41spreading by word of mouth.
37:42And there are enough people that care that can like help to get it going.
37:47And then hopefully more and more shops like this pop up.
37:50And like Patrick was talking about, it's the supply and demand thing.
37:54So if you can support with your dollar, that is the best thing you can
37:58do. And then hopefully we can get prices down on some of these items, you
38:02know, as we move along in this process.
38:04I would say if you are interested in starting a market, step one is start
38:09looking at what kind of.
38:10farmers you could potentially source from because those producers are almost always looking for more
38:20customers and so if you can rent a little space somewhere in your city be
38:25the person that goes to bring all those things together this is kind of the
38:29jill and jeremy keith good living greens model you are picking up stuff for your
38:34neighbors just the convenience of having it all in one place i think deserves a
38:39markup the convenience is always almost always a great way of innovating and uh then
38:45you you know kind of pass out flyers uh tell your friends at church you
38:50know go to the networking meetings let people know that the the market is now
38:55open and so maybe you have to drive a hundred miles to go get fresh
38:59eggs well you're doing that on behalf of your whole community like when you go
39:05to pick that up if you have to do that for for greens or you
39:09know something like that but being a purveyor is like essentially being a a curator
39:14that's step one you know can you how often do you turn over your product
39:19i mean i don't know anything about how long these eggs last or raw milk
39:25raw milk seems like in my mind i'm like well you'd better drink it that
39:28day i don't know anything about it you know uh well it's kind of funny
39:33we when we first opened the shop we ordered raw milk i mean we get
39:37everything delivered so that's nice we don't have to drive anywhere um but we ordered
39:4115 half gallons of raw milk and we were like i don't know how many
39:44people are going to buy this you know we're just opening we had no idea
39:46what to expect uh we didn't quite sell through them the first couple of weeks
39:50um and then today eight months in we're uh ordering about 95 i think this
39:55coming week and we sell out within five days so step one find purveyors step
40:01two buy some refrigerators and some freezers and eggs actually last quite a while but
40:06we sell through those very quickly as well so once the the word of mouth
40:09starts going people are like all right i'm going there interesting so is there a
40:13place people can go to kind of i mean i know that your journey is
40:16in the documentary but do you have any place where people can go just to
40:20get the advice because you you're doing something so successful where you are but i
40:25know you're right about the fact that people want to do this all across the
40:29country we haven't really put together a blueprint so to speak and i'm not sure
40:35that we i don't know actually just send send me an email if you're really
40:40interested i will type up the details and then once someone one person asks me
40:45then i'll publish it so patrick at jigsawhealth .com you can send me an email
40:49i mean or send an email to firefly .coffee shop we're happy to talk to
40:53anyone and share anything that we've learned we want to see more people doing this
40:57so we are absolutely happy to share our time and anything that we've learned so
41:01they have to watch the documentary so they understand how amazing this is so tell
41:05them tell our audience where they can see it it's called breaking big food and
41:10it has i mean it really takes you on this journey so you'll see a
41:14big portion of it in the documentary yeah and it's available right now on apple
41:19tv and amazon prime video thank you so much patrick and ashley sullivan you guys
41:25are doing amazing work thank you for being on today thank you for having us
41:29it was such a pleasure thanks to take care thank you and thank you all
41:33for listening to the tudor dixon podcast as always for this episode and others you
41:37can go to tudordixonpodcast .com the iheart radio app apple podcasts or wherever you get
41:42your podcasts and you can watch the whole video on rumble or youtube at tudordixon
41:46but make sure you join us and have a blessed day step into the future
41:53of music at the 2026 south by southwest music festival and conference returning to austin
41:58march 12th through 18th join artists industry leaders and fans from around the world for
42:03seven days of music discovery connection and unforgettable live performances unlock a 10 discount on
42:09your music badge when you use code iheart music discover the next big artist at
42:13sxsw .com slash iheart discount on batch price only not combinable terms apply the rivalry
42:26that shaped football the players who defined denaro ronaldinho sabiola rafa marquez figo gutti marcelo
42:35watch the legend series fc barcelona legends versus real madrid leyendas live in la on
42:42february 22nd at bimo stadium tickets start at 35 new sections now open get your
42:48tickets at wearehouseofheroes .com people at work supported me while i was going through treatment
42:54by not treating me like somebody who was going through treatment treatment sucks cancer sucks
43:00being engaged with work really helped to oh i just knew i was going to
43:06beat this day research shows there is a significant connection between the ability to continue
43:12to work and cancer recovery we can make work a better place for healing learn
43:17more and sign the pledge at workingwithcancerpledge .com new year new you begin at loseweightnow
43:24.co and make this the year you finally feel in control with orderly meds access
43:29proven glp -1 terzepatide starting as low as 149 a month it's simple doctor guided
43:36and delivered right to the next day your home so you can finally focus on
43:40feeling healthier and more confident.
43:42Get started today at LoseWeightNow .co.
43:45Individual results may vary. Visit LoseWeightNow .co and get started today.
43:49That's LoseWeightNow .co. This is an iHeart Podcast.
43:53Guaranteed human.