FUSION’S AWARD-WINNING JOURNALIST NELUFAR HEDAYAT JOINS CELEBRITY ACTIVISTS TO UNCOVER THE SHOCKING TRUTHS OF THE GLOBAL FOOD INDUSTRY IN
REVELATORY NEW DOCUSERIES, 'FOOD EXPOSED WITH NELUFAR HEDAYAT’ PREMIERING TUESDAY, MARCH 27 @ 8PM ET/PT
Upcoming Episodes Feature Nicole Richie, James Cromwell, Jordana Brewster, Dominic Monaghan, Amy Smart, Jeremy Irons and Moby
Caption (L to R): Host Nelufar Hedayat talks with Nicole Richie, Dominic Monaghan and Moby in “Food Exposed”
Watch Teaser HERE
“Food Exposed with Nelufar Hedayat” will premiere Tuesday, March 27 at 8:00 pm ET/PT on FUSION. In this eye-opening series, Hedayat, an award-winning journalist, pulls the curtain back on what we don't know about the water we drink or the food we eat. The series examines how our appetites shape our world, investigating the global food chain and the origins of our favorite ingredients as she travels the world, and reveals the true cost of food to people, animals and the planet. The series will cover topics such as fish, dairy, water, GMOs, superfoods, palm oil and pork, and also features dedicated celebrity activists Nicole Richie, James Cromwell, Jordana Brewster, Moby, Dominic Monaghan, Amy Smart and Jeremy Irons as they voice their concerns about corruption, environmental destruction and collusion between governments and big business. For episode descriptions, please see below.
Premiere Episode – Waste (Airing Tuesday, March 27 at 8:00 pm ET/PT)
In the premiere episode, Nel joins freegans on a New York Trash Tour – an event that highlights how much food is being dumped by retail establishments every single day. In trash bins across Greenwich Village, Nelufar pulls out perfectly good albeit slightly blemished produce, frozen foods, astonishing amounts of unopened and edible sushi, bags full of baked goods, and smoothies still frozen, all moments away from a future in a local landfill. And she speaks to a mother who confesses how much of the produce she buys at the local farmers market gets tossed, week in and week out. In Los Angeles, Nelufar meets up with an environmental organization, Feedback, and actor/activist Nicole Richie, to participate in a Feeding the 5000 event in LA’s Pershing Square. Here, volunteers cook up a feast made entirely from food that otherwise would have gone to waste. And thousands of miles away in Guatemala, Nel learns of the tragic reality that while some are surviving by scavenging food from Central America’s largest trash dump, farmers just 50 miles away are rejecting almost half their produce because it fails to meet the West’s stringent cosmetic standards.
Episode 2: Fish (Airing Tuesday, April 3 at 8:00 pm ET/PT)
Some of the most elite eateries in the world are fish restaurants, where exotic catch is served in the most opulent surroundings. Nelufar meets actor and eco activist, Dominic Monaghan (“LOST”) in DTLA’s massive sushi market, to talk about where our fish actually come from. With fish stocks plummeting, are we on the brink of an environmental catastrophe hidden deep under the waves? Nelufar’ s investigation brings her to the shores of China, the world’s fishing powerhouse, and to the coast of West Africa, where fish stocks are in freefall and local people are being priced out of their own food by fleets of foreign vessels. As commercial fishing fleets plunder the oceans for profits, are we facing a future without any fish?
Episode 3: Dairy (Airing Tuesday, April 10 at 8:00 pm ET/PT)
Got milk? Got trouble! Milk is one of our most celebrity-endorsed products, but behind these smiling stars lurks a reality which is far less glamorous. Nelufar travels across North America to see what goes on behind the scenes in the largest dairy industry in the world, where cows have become commodities and farms are factories. Perhaps most alarmingly, milk consumption in the U.S. is falling dramatically, but these farms are still producing more and more milk each year. While farmers are forced to dump millions of excess gallons of milk, the dairy industry is soaking up the surplus by pumping more and more cheese into our favorite fast food products. At animal refuge Farm Sanctuary, Nelufar meets with founder Gene Baur and superstar supporter Moby, who explain that there are practically no laws in the US to protect farm animals, and the shocking practices they endure are all legal. As the country grapples with an obesity epidemic, are the government and the dairy industry colluding to maximize profits, at the expense of our health?
“Food Exposed with Nelufar Hedayat” is a FUSION Original Series produced in conjunction with Lightbox. Executive producers are Simon Chinn, Jonathan Chinn, Sam Collyns, and Suzanne Lavery for Lightbox and Keith Summa, George Lansbury, and Daniel Eilemberg for FUSION.
Nelufar Hedayat is a correspondent for FUSION. In 2016, she hosted the network’s award-winning series “The Traffickers” which followed illegal trades of precious minerals, counterfeit drugs, endangered species and even people around the globe. Most recently, she reported on the domestic crisis and human rights issues surrounding the shocking maternal mortality rates in the U.S. for the one-hour FUSION documentary, “The Naked Truth: Death by Delivery.” Having fled war-torn Afghanistan as a child herself, Nelufar’s work has often focused on cultural upheaval experienced by women, children and families in conflict ridden societies.
The unique way the series covered a bold range of subjects with incredible depth of research and investigative efforts heralded the team a raft of awards and nominations. These included International Affairs award at the Association of International Broadcasters 2017 and Best Investigation at the Asian Media Awards 2017 and also the coveted Reporter/Correspondent Gracie Award (the Alliance for Women in Media) and Journalist of the Year at the Asian Media Awards. Individual episodes including Killed for a Horn and Fake Parma were finalists for awards including the Edward J. Meeman Award for Environmental Reporting at the Scripps Howard Awards 2017 and the Livingston Awards. As a result of her reporting in Organs for Sale, Nelufar Hedayat was invited to the Vatican, to the Summit of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences to report on her findings and as a signatory on the Resolution on Organ Trafficking, which has recently been ratified by the Council of Europe.
Prior to her work with Fusion, Nelufar worked across the BBC, Channel 4 and The Guardian. Her work has often focused on the cultural upheaval experienced by women, children and families in conflict zones and hostile places. In 2015, Nelufar was nominated for Journalist of the Year at the British Asian Media Awards following her Unreported World report, Vaccination Wars, which was also nominated in the Best Investigation category. In this eye opening film she met the health workers risking their lives to vaccinate children against polio in Pakistan, where the Taliban actively target and kill polio health workers. In her first Unreported World, Vietnam’s Dog Snatchers, she investigated how dog thieves are making millions in the highly lucrative and illegal dog meat trade and are stealing thousands of pet dogs from family homes to meet demand. Nelufar was also a reporter for Channel 4 News, covering domestic issues for the programme. In the six years Nelufar worked for the BBC, she presented, co-produced and wrote documentaries for television and radio, including the award winning Women, Weddings, War and Me, Shot for Going to School and Music, Money & Hip Hop Honeys. She also presented and hosted the flagship live news programme Newsround which is aimed at younger audiences for 3 years, winning an award for her short film The Kids of Kabul made for the programme.
Nelufar has produced and written radio documentaries and features for BBC Radio 4 on Afghan child suicide bombers and on faith and marriage for BBC 1Xtra and the current refugee crisis in Syria and Lebanon. Nelufar speaks four languages including Farsi, Hindi and Dari.
ABOUT FUSION
From going deep on cultural obsessions to telling impactful stories that inspire and connect us, FUSION is a network that serves up a unique blend of programming that reflects the passions and shared values of America’s diverse youth. FUSION’s Creative Board is made up of a cross-section of marquee talent including award-winning actors, filmmakers, academics, and musicians who share the network’s commitment to seeking out the next generation of creative talent and emerging voices. Henry Louis Gates Jr. serves as the Chairman of the Creative Board. FUSION is available to audiences across a range of platforms including cable television (find out where to watch), FUSION.net, and various OTT providers such as Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, PlayStation Vue, among others. Follow the network on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. FUSION is a part of Fusion Media Group (FMG), which has put some of the web’s most beloved brands under one roof including Gizmodo, Deadspin, Jezebel, Kotaku, Jalopnik, Lifehacker, The Root, and Splinter as well as The Onion, The A.V. Club, and ClickHole. FMG is one of the leading digital publishers in the U.S., serving over 100 million readers a month—more than one-third of all Americans. FMG produces long-form content through FMG Studios, which includes Story House Entertainment and Onion Studios. More at theFMG.com.
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