Is knowledge actually power like they used to say in Schoolhouse Rock? This week on Let's Get Real, Erica Wides is taking on the the burden that comes with food knowledge and education. How can you order food at a restaurant when you know that every item on the menu has been tainted by foodiness? Erica explains that this condition, called orthorexia nervosa, is actually one of the best eating disorders to have! And ultimately, wouldn't you rather know what you're putting into your body? You know what they say, "Ignorance is bliss...until you get diabetes." This episode has been brought to you by Whole Foods.

"Is knowledge about the food you're being fed necessarily, actually empowering? I actually think too much knowledge is paralyzing. Knowing too much is making my head hurt and spin and makes me freeze up in a vortex of indecision!" -- Erica Wides on Let's Get Real

The end is near on this episode of Let's Get Real. Erica Wides is talking about the apocalypse, and how our entire food system is reliant on the grid. When a blight destroys all of our crops because of a lack of genetic diversity, how are we going to eat fruit snacks or yogurt in a tube? Solar flares, crop failure, and irradiated food are all very possible, if not probable, causes for the end of society as we know it. What to do next? Erica gives some helpful tips on how to survive an apocalypse (hint: eat your next door neighbor). This program has been brought to you by Whole Foods.

"The point is that even my culinary students who sign up and pay a lot of money to got to school to have me teach them how to be chefs are utterly clueless as to where their food comes from. It's like going to medical school and being shocked that medicine actually has something to do with human bodies." -- Erica Wides on Let's Get Real

Ever wonder whats really inside those chicken nuggets that you love so much? On this week's Let's Get Real, Erica Wides is here to tell you that it's...well, not chicken! Maybe it comes from a chicken, but, hey- what is chicken these days? Is it a bird? A flavor? Or a finger? Tune into this episode to learn more about what goes into so many "chicken-esque" products these days. Erica also explains why buying a whole chicken from your favorite market (super or not) is essential in connecting food and agriculture in people's minds. And don't believe the hype about white meat! Learn how foodiness and fat-phobic propaganda has led America to only eat certain parts of a chicken instead of the whole bird. This program has been brought to you by The International Culinary Center.

"Dark meat poultry is infinitely better for you. It has much higher mineral content, it's a better form of protein, it just tastes better for you. The fat content is minimally higher than the white meat, and eat the skin! Chicken fats are really good for you." -- Erica Wides on Let's Get Real