The move to academia, particularly in a Public Health dept, doesn't surprise me as he seems to have a fairly longstanding interest in communication in this area.
13 minutes ago, cakewalk said:nothing he has done in the past has any connection to any academic course of study
I'd say that depends on how you define a course of study. Prior to the Purple Carrot, he did a 6 month stint as a visiting fellow at UC Berkeley where he lectured and contributed to the production of a food-centric video series titled, "California Matters" in conjunction with the Berkeley Food Institute and UC's Global Food Initiative.
This last move is less surprising to me than the Purple Carrot gig.