Prominent "foodie" and author Marion Nestle shared with her Elon University audience Tuesday night a brief history of American agricultural policies while suggesting ways for students to be advocates for better federal oversight of food production and marketing.
The deregulation of both Wall Street and the American agriculture industry starting in the 1970s has led to an obesity epidemic that doctors and policy makers struggle to contain, according to a nationally recognized expert in nutrition and public policy who spoke this week at Elon University.
Now it’s up to students to fight back by advocating for better regulations and, where needed, by sending new leaders to Washington.
Marion Nestle, an author of several widely acclaimed books on nutrition and a professor at New York University, delivered an evening lecture on Sept. 9, 2014, to a crowded McCrary Theatre where she shared recent statistics on health, obesity and food marketing before taking questions from students.
The talk, “Food Politics 2014: Beyond the Farm Bill,” looked at North Carolina trends showing a rise in obesity, notably among children, and higher rates of diabetes and hypertension among adults. At the same time, Nestle pointed out that one in six North Carolinians is eligible for federal food assistance.
Eighty percent of the $100 billion farm bill passed this year funds food assistance programs like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, better known as SNAP. Despite evidence that SNAP can help lift people from poverty and improve their health, Nestle said, it’s the first place politicians cut whenever the agricultural legislation comes up for reauthorization.
At the same time, tax breaks and other benefits for agricultural corporations don’t help citizens. “Most of the farm bill subsidies go to corn and other grains used to feed animals, so we have an agricultural policy that is not linked very well to promoting health,” Nestle said.
Financial and agricultural deregulation that began four decades ago pushed growers to produce more crop in money-making efforts that would satisfy investors, she said. More food on the market led to larger portion sizes and savvier marketing campaigns to convince consumers that bigger was better.
Anyone who takes on food manufacturers, including soda companies waging public battles in recent years against “soda taxes” and size limits, find themselves demonized by aggressive industry lobbyists.
“The government, in conjunction with the food industry, has created a food environment where people are encouraged to eat more than they need or want,” she said. “In that environment, eating less or eating better is really, really difficult to do.”
Nestle urged her audience to advocate for neighborhood access to food, a better safety net for the poor, more nutritious foods in schools, curbs on marketing to children, taxes and size limits on sodas, and corporate accountability.
“Food is a really great way to get involved in advocacy. You can make such a difference in a reasonably short time. Just get out there and do it,” she said. “Vote with your fork, and even better, vote with your vote.”
Nestle is the Paulette Goddard Professor at New York University as well as a consumer activist, award-winning author and scholar in the politics of food and dietary choice. Her research examines scientific, economic and social influences on food choice and obesity with an emphasis on the influence of food industry marketing, and her books explore issues like the effects of food production on dietary intake, food safety, and access to food and nutrition.
Her published books include “What to Eat,” “Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health” and “Why Calories Count: From Science to Politics.” She blogs at foodpolitics.com and engages more than 116,000 followers on her Twitter account. Nestle received the James Beard Leadership Award in 2013, the same year a 10th anniversary edition of her book “Food Politics” was released from UC Press.
Other awards and honors include the Bard College Prison Initiative’s John Dewey Award for Distinguished Public Service, the National Public Health Hero award from the University of California Berkeley School of Public Health and the Innovator of the Year Award from the United States Healthful Food Council.