The Politics of Food with Dr. Marion Nestle
How do you change the food environment so that it becomes easier for people to make healthy choices? Today’s guest, the glorious dynamo of food and nutrition Dr. Marion Nestle, joins us to discuss how the United States food system is causing more harm to our health than good, and what we can all do to start changing that. Unfortunately, we have a for-profit healthcare system, healthy foods cost more than their unhealthy counterparts, and the agriculture system has been captured by corporations. Marion has focused her career on policy shaping and food education and is the author of multiple books and a daily blog that deals with the politics of food. We all have to eat, and most of us love food, but how much do you really know about the system behind it all? Tune in today for real food education.
Key Points From This Episode:
Marion shares what piqued her interest in the field of food politics.
A brief overview of Marion’s career.
Structural barriers that contribute to our society’s unhealthy relationship with food.
The Department of Agriculture’s main purpose, and the impact it has on society’s health.
What an ideal food system would look like.
Problems with the Farm Bill.
Why the US food system is particularly dysfunctional.
How you can contribute to fixing food policy (yes, individuals really can make a difference).
The role of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the major challenges that it faces.
Why food labels are often very difficult to understand.
How food guidelines have changed over time.
Sugars that you should and shouldn’t be worried about.
The issue with food marketing.
Tweetables:
“One of the reasons why I wrote Food Politics was I never wanted to go to another meeting on childhood obesity and not hear something about food industry marketing. And that has certainly happened.” — @marionnestle [0:03:44]
“I love nutrition for its dependence on science, its dependence on social and cultural factors, its dependence on politics for that matter. Any major problem in society that you can think of has something to do with food.” — @marionnestle [0:05:52]
“We don’t have a healthcare system that focuses on prevention and that focuses on trying to make disease not happen because there’s no profit in it. We have a for-profit healthcare system that is just exactly what you don’t want.” — @marionnestle [0:08:06]
“In a rational society, you would link agricultural policy to health policy and make sure that healthier foods were cheaper and more available to everybody, but that’s not how the system currently works.” — @marionnestle [0:13:15]
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
Food Politics by Marion Nestle
PrimaFoodie Email