How The Food Industry is Feeding you Lies with Vani Hari (Foodbabe) and Lewis Howes
What this video covers
Episode 757 of Lewis Howes’ School of Greatness, a 48-minute interview from February 2019. Howes introduces Hari as a New York Times bestselling author, blogger, and activist who investigates what’s in food, how it’s grown, and what chemicals are used in production — and credits her campaigns with pushing companies like Chick-fil-A and Kraft to change their ingredients.
The episode moves through Hari’s greatest-hits material of that era: how her efforts helped change big companies’ ingredients (around the 12-minute mark), how she dealt with attacks on her character (16:00), what she calls the “astroturf campaigns” that try to prevent change (18:00), her argument that the “coconut oil is bad” headline was a lie (20:00), her “Three Question Detox” (30:00), and her “48-hour Toxin Takedown” (36:00). Her through-line, as Howes summarizes it: consumers need to know all the ingredients in their food, whether they’re nutritious, and where they come from.
Key points
- Hari says her campaigns helped change the ingredients used by big companies including Chick-fil-A and Kraft.
- She describes weathering attacks on her character and what she calls industry “astroturf campaigns” designed to block reform.
- Hari argues the “coconut oil is bad” headline was a lie — her characterization of that media coverage.
- She walks listeners through her “Three Question Detox” and “48-hour Toxin Takedown” programs.
- Howes frames the episode as a lesson in the “lies the food industry tells us,” with Hari’s core demand being full ingredient transparency.