We all witness, in advertising and on supermarket shelves, the fierce competition for our food dollars. In this engrossing exposé, Marion Nestle goes behind the scenes to reveal how the competition ...really works and how it affects our health. The abundance of food in the United States--enough calories to meet the needs of every man, woman, and child twice over--has a downside. Our over-efficient food industry must do everything possible to persuade people to eat more--more food, more often, and in larger portions--no matter what it does to waistlines or well-being. Like manufacturing cigarettes or building weapons, making food is big business. Food companies in 2000 generated nearly
In an article that forms part of the PLoS Medicine series on Big Food, guest editors David Stuckler and Marion Nestle lay out why more examination of the food industry is necessary, and offer three ...competing views on how public health professionals might engage with Big Food.
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DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
"There is no one better to ask than Marion, who is the
leading guide in intelligent, unbiased, independent advice on
eating, and has been for decades."--Mark Bittman, author
of How to Cook Everything ...Let's Ask
Marion is a savvy and insightful question-and-answer
collection that showcases the expertise of food politics powerhouse
Marion Nestle in exchanges with environmental advocate Kerry
Trueman. These informative essays show us how to advocate for food
systems that are healthier for people and the planet, moving from
the politics of personal dietary choices, to community food issues,
and finally to matters that affect global food systems. Nestle has
been thinking, writing, and teaching about food systems for
decades, and her impact is unparalleled. Let's Ask Marion
provides an accessible survey of her opinions and conclusions for
anyone curious about the individual, social, and global politics of
food.
The coronavirus pandemic reveals an urgent need: the marketing of ultra-processed "junk" food must be stopped. Until now, the food industry has gotten away with pushing consumption of high-calorie, ...highly processed products-as often and in as many places as possible, and in increasingly large amounts-all in the name of profit.1 In this business-first food environment, obesity and its associated type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, and, these days, severe outcomes from COVID-19, are collateral damage.2 Because poor health more strongly affects the most vulnerable members of society,3 public health advocates ought to be demanding immediate, forceful government action to discourage food industry production and marketing of unhealthful products.Ultra-processed foods are those constructed from industrially produced ingredients unavailable in home kitchens and formulated to be "addictlvely" delicious ("you can't eat just one").4,5 Box 1 gives my working definition. Familiar examples are carbonated soft drinks, flavored chips, children's cereals, chicken and fish "nuggets," and products with long lists of additives.We have the evidence: ultra-processed products promote excessive calorie intake and poor health. Many recent studies associate frequent consumption of ultra-processed foods with elevated risks of chronic disease and overall mortality.4 And, in what I consider to be the most important nutrition study done in decades, a clinical trial conducted in a controlled metabolic ward at the National Institutes of Health compared the effects of consuming two nutritionally similar diets differing only in their degree of processing.6 The result: when study participants were offered ultra-processed diets, as opposed to diets constructed of minimally processed foods, they consumed an astonishing average of 500 more calories a day and gained commensurate amounts of weight. Participants judged the diets equally palatable and were unaware of overeating when presented with ultraprocessed foods. These findings make a strong case for regulation.
This commentary introduces a special section of
on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the US government's largest antihunger program and third-largest antipoverty program. SNAP ...demonstrably lifts adults, children, and families out of poverty, thereby constituting a vital component of this nation's public health safety net.Despite its well-documented benefits, SNAP is under political and budgetary siege, mainly from congressional representatives and lobbying groups opposed to a federal role in welfare. In part, SNAP is protected from total annihilation by its unusual authorizing legislation-the Farm Bill.This commentary provides a brief overview of the political history of SNAP and its Farm Bill location as background to the deeper analyses provided in this series of articles.
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