Health Starts at Home

Food, Fluoride & the Fallout of ‘Healthy’ Headlines | Ep 37

• Holly Jean Mullen

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Welcome to the first “Health & Home Brief” — your monthly round-up of news that matters for real-world wellness.

This episode unpacks headlines most people miss but every health-aware family should know. From Oklahoma’s new “Food is Medicine” Medicaid law to toxic schools and polluted rivers, we’re connecting the dots between policy, pollution, and your personal environment.

Inside:

  • Why SB 806 might be a food freedom breakthrough… or the beginning of nutritional control
  • What RFK Jr.’s visit to Oklahoma really signals about the future of wellness policy
  • The true cost of Inola’s aluminum plant (spoiler: it’s not just jobs)
  • How a Supreme Court ruling empowers states like Oklahoma to fight for cleaner air
  • A decades-long poultry pollution battle heating back up
  • Why the asbestos ban rollback is more dangerous than you think
  • And how schools built on toxic land reveal a deeper crisis of environmental justice

Health doesn’t start in a hospital—it starts at home. Tune in as Holly Jean Mullen breaks down what’s happening in our neighborhoods, government halls, and backyards—and why it matters more than ever.

Your home should help you heal—not hold you back.
If you’re ready to explore how your environment could be impacting your energy, mood, sleep, and overall wellness, you’re in the right place. The Health Starts at Home Podcast is here to help you rethink health from the inside out—starting with where you live.

Curious about your symptoms or feeling “off” at home?
My free Body Wisdom Journal is still available and now includes prompts to help you track not just food and mood—but also your environment. Because sometimes, it’s not you... it’s your house.
→ Download Your Free Body Wisdom Journal Here

Connect with me on Instagram @hollyjean.healthandhome for real life, red flags, and wellness real estate tips you won’t hear anywhere else.

New episodes drop weekly—subscribe, share, and leave a review if this show speaks to you.

Because health starts at home—and yes, that includes yours.


© 2024 Holly Jean Mullen

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Health Starts at Home podcast, where we explore the connection between our health and the home environments we live in. I'm Holly Jean Mullen, functional wellness practitioner turned real estate pro, here to help you rethink how your space impacts your sleep, stress, hormones, mood and everything in between. No topic is too taboo, from hidden toxins and frequencies to healthy building design and smarter home buying. We dive into what most people aren't talking about, so you and your loved ones can feel better in the places you spend the most time, whether you're health conscious, health curious or just exploring the rabbit holes of why you might be feeling off. You're in the right place. No pressure, no perfection, just real conversations about things that matter, because health starts at home, but it doesn't stop there, so let's get to it. All right. Welcome back, guys.

Speaker 2:

We are starting a brand new segment on the show. I'm calling it the health and home brief. Each month, I want to start digging into the headlines and connecting the dots between national news, local developments and how it all impacts our everyday health, our home, our habits. We used to do something like this on Real Health Conversations and I loved it so much, and there have been a lot of things happening in the news that affect our lives, and I think we need to talk about them. So think of it as your smart, slightly sassy friend who reads the news so you don't have to. But I'm also going to be looking at it with a lens of someone who cares about a clean environment and safe schools and real food, and not letting industry or government quietly make health decisions for our family. So, whether you're scrolling with coffee or folding laundry while half listening, hello my people, let's just take a few minutes together and talk about what actually matters, those things beneath the buzzwords.

Speaker 2:

This first episode of this kind, I think, might be a little bit on the longer side. I don't think they'll normally be this long, but a couple things happened in previous months that I need to talk about to kind of like set the stage, because we've got some stuff going on and we are going to start with this one and I know it's July, but we're rewinding to May because something major passed in Oklahoma. It passed quietly, kind of. I feel like we're not talking about it as much as we should be, but that is Senate Bill 806, and it was signed into law. It was officially put together to integrate medically tailored meals and produce prescriptions into Medicaid. So this means that Oklahoma is now the first state to formally treat food as a reimbursable medical intervention at the state level. So food is being written into health healthcare policy like a prescription drug.

Speaker 2:

Yes, you heard that. Right On the surface. This is groundbreaking. I mean beyond the surface is groundbreaking. It's groundbreaking in a lot of levels, but let's look beyond the surface because, well, we'll look at it. Surface level First.

Speaker 2:

It's acknowledging that what we eat affects how we heal. It offers a practical lifeline for people who are managing chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease. It gives them resources and education and access to healthy food, which is critical, and it puts preventative care on the map in a big way that big pharma really never will. However, some extra context here, some extra context here. This all kind of goes hand in hand with rfk jr's visits, because he visited back in may when this was happening. He just visited again from the outside. This looks like it could be the start of a wellness revolution. So, yay, cue the applause, because this is what we've been working for, this is what we've been wanting. This is a win for preventative health. However, I'm kind of watching it cautiously. I'm cautiously optimistic because it can potentially maybe open the door for potential overreach.

Speaker 2:

If government can prescribe food, does that mean they can also control it If food becomes medicine because we've always been saying food is medicine, but now food is actually becoming medicine who gets to be in charge of the prescribing? Who is playing pharmacist here? If food can be prescribed, does that mean it could also be restricted? And who gets to define what counts as medically medically appropriate and what science, or whose science, is medically appropriate based on like? Who are these? Who is going to be defining the terms of what distinguishes or what defines food as medicine? There's a whole lot of other questions now we need to be asking and we need to be paying attention to. Will we see algorithms and insurance plans dictate what someone on Medicaid is allowed to eat? It's a beautiful idea.

Speaker 2:

I really, really do love it. I have so much hope for it. The last few years have shown us just how fast healthcare policy can become a tool of control instead of empowerment, so I love that we're moving in this direction. I hate that I have to even second guess or give pause and question the motives, but I do really like that we can have the right conversations, we can have these conversations. Food should be a tool for healing and, like I said, I just hate that. I have to immediately flip it over and feel like I need to read the fine print, because we need food freedom, not food gatekeeping. So if this is a step closer to the potential for there to be gatekeeping and restriction, then this could turn sour. This could be sour grapes y'all, but right now this could turn sour. This could be sour grapes y'all, but right now it's happy, I like it. I like it.

Speaker 2:

If we let the same systems that subsidize our junk food also dictate what counts as our healthy food, then we're really not liberating public health here. We're kind of just outsourcing it, maybe to the highest bidder. So I guess the bottom line for wrapping up this segment of the segment is that it's a step in the right direction, but we need to stay diligent, we need to stay awake and we need to keep paying attention while we walk through how this plays out. I don't want to see us slip down a slope to somewhere we don't want to go. So let's champion the policies that support access to real healing food.

Speaker 2:

Absolutely yes. Let's keep supporting the grassroots organizations like FreshRx here in Oklahoma that has been working so hard and with heart and passion for serving the community and bringing their message of fresh food and access to fresh, healthy food to everyone. Like I know their hearts in the right place. So let's continue supporting those organizations and giving them the resources they need to continue their mission and let's celebrate this win for health and community. But let's also keep our heads on a swivel y'all, because once you medicalize food, it stops being about nourishment and it starts being a little bit more about power. So let's just pay attention. But, moving into this next part, we had a cowboy or Kennedy in cowboy country, I think he's kind of a cowboy.

Speaker 2:

He's a little bit. He's a little bit cowboy-ish. So RFK Jr visited Governor Stitt last week and he was here to promote a new initiative, the Make Oklahoma Healthy Again. Yes, that is the actual name, mo moha. I can't keep them all up, keep them straight, but um. So he was here. They were promoting the actual signing of sb 806, the um food as medicine act, and it actually goes into effect july 1st, so this week, and they tou's Meals, which is a company that provides medically tailored meals for people with chronic conditions. They announced some new health policies. That's including removing soda and candy from SNAP, like food stamps, and banning artificial dyes and state-funded meals, like school lunches, and ending state promotion of fluoride in drinking water.

Speaker 2:

So, okay, good things. I like these. These sound like good ideas to me. I did not dive into the fine print of these things either. Dive into the fine print of these things either. But yeah, let's remove the chemicals.

Speaker 2:

Sure, speaking of neurotoxins, that takes me to the next story. Enola is getting a new aluminum plant. With this new aluminum plant, like, this is big news and it's been like all over. So if you are local to Oklahoma, the Tulsa area, you may have heard this already. But yes, the town of Inola is getting a huge move for industry. We are getting an aluminum plant with. It is going to bring jobs and growth and of course, there are some people asking at what cost. Industrial zoning in rural areas can feel like a good idea. It can feel like we're setting up the right safety things and checks and balances. Of course we want to believe that we are. We just got to be careful that we are looking into air and water and the quality data to make sure that we are monitoring those things. So what's actually happening? So the company is Premium Power Products. They are launching this major aluminum manufacturing facility and it is expected to bring jobs, attract regional economic growth. They are taking over the former Sofidel paper mill I think that's how you pronounce it and of course, the project is being welcomed by officials as a win for rural revitalization. It's a win for bringing jobs back to America. We want to start having domestic product. Yes, yes, we want these things.

Speaker 2:

We also want to be cautious. We want to have concern for the community, because we've also seen time and time again how these things also can have some negative consequences. A clean process it can release fluoride compounds, which is ironic, right, because we just signed that under the MOHO or whatever we're calling MOHA thing. We're talking about ending state fluoride in our drinking water, but here we are bringing in an aluminum plant and one of the byproducts of processing aluminum is releasing fluoride. So isn't it ironic?

Speaker 2:

But also sulfur dioxide, heavy metals these emissions, they affect lungs, brain function, cardiovascular health and especially, of course, in our vulnerable populations our kids, our seniors and we're just going to have to keep track of things. Let's try to make sure that our community has monitoring systems in place. Unfortunately, that's not always the case. Historically, across the country, rural communities often lack robust monitoring systems or the political leverage to fight permits or enforce compliance. So it's just let's pay attention. We need to be aware that Inola is part of the Verdigris watershed, the Verdigris River watershed.

Speaker 2:

Downstream effects could influence drinking water agriculture and I'm going to talk about this in a little bit. But there's the already contested Illinois River Basin, which has some issues, where poultry waste is a known issue. So there's that Add in aluminum runoff and now we have a cumulative exposure risk and this is a point that people that are speaking up against the project are making note of. This is a point public health advocates are raising. So, from a balanced perspective, if we want to really just look at this from a neutral standpoint and not to be alarmist, it's growth and opportunity matter. Yes, so does clean air. So does clean water.

Speaker 2:

We don't need to fear industry, but we do need to hold it accountable. We don't need to demonize development. Rural towns need economic wins, but we could also. I love this but and but also yes, let's also make sure we're getting transparency around emissions and byproducts and enforcement. Those are non-negotiables for the community around this plant. We need to know that proximity to schools and homes and farms that needs to be taken into account when zoning for this industry. And if we're going to be cheering for food as medicine and root cause wellness, especially championing initiatives at the state level, then we can't be doing that with one hand while in the other hand, we can't be ignoring what's in the air, the water and the soil around us. That just does not make sense. So I love a good community comeback story, but if it's quietly compromising the very things that make small town life livable and fantastic, then no, we can support industry without sacrificing integrity. We just have to ask the right questions and we need to be able to demand clear answers.

Speaker 2:

So next story is let's talk about a Supreme Court decision that didn't make big headlines, headlines but should have, because it affects the air we breathe, the water in your backyard and how much say your state has in protecting both of those things. So this is what's happening. Earlier this month, the US Supreme Court issued a key ruling classifying who has the right to challenge the Environmental Protection Agency, the EPA, on air quality standards. And until now these disputes, especially around the Clean Air Act these were typically handled in the DC Circuit Court, but the court just ruled that states like Oklahoma can now bring those challenges to their own regional courts, and in our case here that's the 10th Circuit. So this sounds like legal housekeeping, right, but the impact is that our local cases now get to stay local. So that means Oklahoma doesn't have to fight federal smog plans on the other side of the country. It means that we have more access to agencies, so state attorneys and the state attorney generals. They now have a more direct legal path to challenge the EPA rules, especially if they believe that they're unfair or unworkable. It also means less delay, more relevance. Arguments that are heard closer to home reflect more local environmental realities. It's not just federal projections. So this isn't really just a legal shift that's happening here. It's really a value shift in how we're looking at things are handled at the local and state level. It's about whether your town, your community, your kids' lungs matter enough to be heard where it actually counts and that's in our home states actually counts, and that's in our home states.

Speaker 2:

Of course, not surprisingly, there is a bit of a double-edged sword here. Yes, it makes it easier for states to fight for cleaner air, but it also means that states can fight against clean air rules. So, especially if they are aligned with industry over environmental health. So, like anything in politics, it also depends on who you have in office at your local level, at your state level, and what they are prioritizing. So there's that. So whether you're for big government or small government, it doesn't matter. Clean air really shouldn't be political and the power to fight for it should be local, because the air we're breathing is local. So we should be able to take that conversation to the table in our communities. So that's what that's all about.

Speaker 2:

But now that Oklahoma has more legal footing to take action locally, the question becomes will we use it to protect what matters most, like our water our water, because there's something else going on. So let's zoom out here from air and drop into our water, specifically the Illinois River that I mentioned earlier, that we would come back to. So we're going to talk about the Illinois River and Lake Tenkiller, because these are two treasured spots here in Oklahoma, but they are also the center of a dirty, decades-long legal fight, and quite literally I mean dirty, as in water quality. The backstory is this is not a new story, really. It started back in 2005. Oklahoma sued several major poultry producers over pollution from chicken litter and the state alleged that phosphorus runoff from improperly managed waste was damaging the watershed. So fast forward to 2023, and a judge finally agreed, ruling that poultry operations were responsible for environmental damage. And then now, present day, june 2025, oklahoma's attorney general is reactivating enforcement, so he is saying that the state's done waiting. The water is still polluted and the poultry industry still hasn't cleaned it up, and the environmental and public health risk that this poses is real. Excess phosphorus feeds those harmful algae blooms in the water, those choke out ecosystems. They threaten drinking water supplies. This has economic impact because these waterways support our local tourism, property values, outdoor recreation. So in a nutshell, polluted lakes equals fewer visitors, equals lost revenue, equals fewer visitors equals lost revenue. And we really need some justice for the rural communities that are surrounding these watersheds, because many of the people that are living along these rivers and the lakes, they don't have the platform or the political clout to fight this themselves. So when the state acts, it is speaking for them, it is representing them, as it should.

Speaker 2:

So let's tie this into the previous segment that I was just talking about. This is exactly the kind of case that benefits from the Supreme Court's recent decision. So now Oklahoma can challenge the EPA responses or enforce environmental cleanup without being bounced across the country to DC courtrooms. It puts the power back in our region to protect our region. So it gets a little bit more personal. It brings it back home, it brings it to our front door, because it isn't just about water in theory. It's about well water on your property. It's about the lakes and the rivers that your kids swim in, like this is the river I float and fish in. You know, this is the river that feeds your local crops and our ecosystem here. So, even if you're not near the Illinois River, our ecosystem here. So, even if you're not near the Illinois River, the precedent that this case sets matters.

Speaker 2:

If corporations can pollute with no accountability in one watershed, then that signals to others that health and home come second to profit and politics, and that's not the message we want to be sending. So we need to remember that these waste management issues are just one layer. But if we're adding in agricultural chemicals, processing plant emissions and the proximity of rural homes to industrial zones, then you've got a perfect storm here, and that's not, that's not very healthy. So clean water isn't a privilege. It should be foundational. It should be, you know, a basic right. Holding corporations accountable doesn't make someone anti-business, you know. It makes us pro-people, it makes us pro-health, it makes us pro-future. If we want Oklahoma to grow in a healthy way, we've got to protect what we already have, and that starts with keeping the basics, like our air and our water, clean and safe.

Speaker 2:

So, moving on to the next topic and we're keeping with the theme here why is asbestos making a comeback Like this? Seriously the comeback no one asked for, so rewinding to something that should have been ancient history. Why, why, why asbestos? Why, in 2024, the US finally banned asbestos? It's like sorry, it's like a type of asbestos that I can't pronounce and I'm not even going to try, but it was the last form that was still legally used and that victory was decades in the making used, and that victory was decades in the making. But now fast forward to this year and that ban has been paused for a 30 month review due to economic impact concerns. What the heck does that even mean? But let's just let it sink in. We're talking about a known carcinogen that kills an estimated 40,000 Americans annually. It's still found in older homes pipe insulation, brake pads, chlorine production. And yet here we are. We're just stalling again.

Speaker 2:

And this decision doesn't just affect factories Like this is something that affects families, especially those living in older homes, older buildings near industrial sites. When I'm talking about healthy homes, I'm not just talking about air purifiers and non-toxic paint. I'm talking about materials in the walls and the pipes and the attics and the things we can't see. But the things we can't see absolutely impact long-term health. So no, we're not overreacting, we're underprotecting and this is stupid. Anyways, I'll tell you how I really feel. It's dumb, I don't know why we're going backwards. And then this one really upsets me the school in Louisville. In Louisville, what, ah sorry, cats are knocking things off my desk, as if we needed more proof that policy often lags behind protection. We're going to now leave Oklahoma. We're looking at Louisville because two brand new schools one open, one under construction were built on land that used to house tobacco factories and industrial operations.

Speaker 2:

Soil testing revealed lingering levels of VOCs and petroleum-based chemicals, even after mitigation efforts were installed. The school officials say everything's within acceptable limits, but parents and environmental advocates are asking acceptable, for who? Who's defining these acceptable limits? Children are more vulnerable to chemical exposure than adults. Period. Their brains, lungs, immune systems are still developing. They interact with their environments much more differently than adults do. They take in, they breathe in more air per pound of body weight. So when volatile chemicals are present in the environment, even at so-called safe levels, their impact can be far more serious. Schools built on brownfield sites aren't going up in wealthy zip codes, so let's just call that out right now.

Speaker 2:

This is BS. These are environmental shortcuts that tend to show up in underserved areas where families have the least power to push back. It's appalling, it's upsetting. It should not be happening. We're literally building our futures, our children, the next generation. We're building our futures on old mistakes and we're expecting our kids to pay the price. I don't think so. I will be following this story, because this story makes me mad, but it just goes to show that we need to be paying. So let's loop this all together.

Speaker 2:

What do asbestos, school site selection have in common? Quietly brushed aside, and often for the sake of convenience or cost, they're reminders that regulations alone don't keep us safe and that the people making decisions aren't always the ones who have to live with the consequences. In both cases, we are told the risks are minimal, but when we zoom out, we're seeing patterns emerge Vulnerable populations, children, low-income families, rural homeowners they're disproportionately exposed to these threats and instead of addressing the root cause, we just like slap another layer of compliance on and move, on, on, and move on. So what do we take from all this? From Oklahoma's food is medicine law to fluoride debates and aluminum plants, from court rulings on air pollution and industrial chickens fouling our rivers, asbestos making a quiet comeback, children learning on chemically compromised land it all is just pointing to a simple truth Health doesn't just happen in the body. It is happening in the systems, the spaces, the decisions and the political infrastructure that surrounds us and too often those decisions are made without our input. But they don't have to be.

Speaker 2:

Yes, these stories can be complex, some of them are heavy. I think they also provide invitations and opportunities for us to become more aware and to ask better questions and to advocate not just for ourselves, but for our families and our communities and for the generations that are coming after us. And I don't want to stir up fear, but I would like to stir up discernment and maybe make you a little bit pissed off, because I think people need to get more upset about things for change to happen. You know, I think there's too much apathy in our world where we just don't care, like if it's not directly happening to you, people aren't doing anything about it. So I want to inspire at least one person. You know, if I inspire just one person to see the bigger picture as to why it's so important to stop outsourcing our health and our food and our homes, or even our common sense, then I would consider me spending my time making this podcast a success, because our health and our homes and our families are just far more powerful than policy. So, anyways, that's it. That's my soapbox today, so I hope you liked this segment because I'm going to be doing them monthly.

Speaker 2:

The last week of the month. That will be my health and home brief. So, whether you are looking for your next home, planning a renovation, just trying to make sense of what's in your air, your water, your walls, your environments, just know this You're not crazy. I mean, I think sometimes we're all a little bit crazy, but don't ever let someone gaslight you into thinking you're crazy, because you're not. You're not overthinking it, you're paying attention, you're being smart, you're listening to your intuition, that little voice inside of us that the world tells us to ignore but that, my friend, is the first step towards building truly a healthy home and a healthy life and a healthy relationship with self. So thank you for tuning in and joining me on this first health and home brief. I will be back next month with more headlines, more context, more of what you really want to know, but next week we're back with a normal episode, so I will see you then.

Speaker 1:

Thanks so much for tuning in. If you found this episode helpful, please leave a review or share it with someone who needs it, and don't forget to subscribe so you never miss one of them. This podcast is not affiliated with any brokerage and is solely for me. All content is for educational and informational purposes. Nothing shared should be taken as professional medical advice, real estate guidance or legal counsel. Please always consult the appropriate licensed professional before making decisions about your health, your home or your finances. The views and opinions shared by my podcast guests are their own and don't necessarily reflect my views. So until next time, remember health. Health starts at home, but it doesn't stop there.

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Holly Jean Mullen

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