On today’s episode, we have the food movement “fairy godmother”, professor and prize-winning author Marion Nestle. With a doctorate in Molecular Biology, Marion didn’t know she was signing up for a career dedicated to food. But when she was assigned to teach a class in nutrition, what she learned about the food industry and its impact on public health transformed her trajectory. In this conversation, Marion and Ashley deep dive into how food industry strategy impacts our consumption of ultra-processed foods, the driving forces of the obesity epidemic and debunking the narrative of personal responsibility, the evolution of Marion’s career, the personal and societal impact of her writing, the professional consequences of speaking “controversially”, and where Marion finds hope. This episode provides a plethora of food advocacy examples and resources for anyone looking to actively engage in food policy.
Marion Nestle is Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, Emerita, at New York University, in the department she chaired from 1988-2003 and from which she retired in September 2017. She is also Visiting Professor of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell. She holds honorary degrees from Transylvania University in Kentucky and the Macaulay Honors College of the City University of New York.
She earned a Ph.D. in molecular biology and an M.P.H. in public health nutrition from the University of California, Berkeley. Previous faculty positions were at Brandeis University and the UCSF School of Medicine. From 1986-88, she was senior nutrition policy advisor in the Department of Health and Human Services and editor of the 1988 Surgeon General’s Report on Nutrition and Health. Her research and writing examine scientific and socioeconomic influences on food choice and its consequences, emphasizing the role of food industry marketing.
Resources
Food for People, Not for Profit: A Source Book on the Food Crisis
Minnesota Starvation Experiment
Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us
Regulating the Food Industry: An Aspirational Agenda
Bite Back: People Taking On Corporate Food and Winning
Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System
Plugs
Twitter and Instagram: marionnestle
