Food Politics by Marion Nestle

In September 2025, I was invited by the Flagstaff Family Food Center to give a talk on “Anti-Hunger Politics 2025: Planting Seeds for Resilience.”  This is an organization in Northern Arizona doing outstanding anti-hunger work. The Center has just produced its 2025 Northern Arizona Food Equity Report.  The online copy is here.  It is well worth […] The post Weekend reading: Flagstaff anti-hunger …

I was riveted to come across this item. Coked-Up Salmon Go Speeding Upstream: Have you ever wondered whether the cocaine you snort ends up giving Atlantic salmon the zoomies? It turns out it does—at least to a certain extent. Welcome to the Salmonopolis 500. No.  It never entered my mind. But now there is a study:  Cocaine […] The post Do salmon really get high on cocaine? And will you if you eat…

My forthcoming (September 8) book with Lisa Sutherland, Sugar Coated: Unboxing the Hidden Forces Shaping America’s Favorite Breakfast Food, discusses Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) efforts to remove potentially harmful artificial colors from the food supply. I just bought the first cereal that dropped those colors and replaced them with vegetable dyes. The company did […] The post A MAHA Win? …

I don’t usually host guest posts here, but I read food safety lawyer Bill Marler’s blog and obtained his permission to reprint it.  It should be obvious why I thought you should read it. We’re Turning Off the Smoke Detectors on America’s Food Supply By Bill Marler on June 6, 2026 Posted in Case News The people who find […] The post Food safety in peril: a post from Bill Marler appeared first on F…

Last week on my way home from the Washington, DC, launch of the ultra-processed papers from the American Journal of Public Health, I was corresponding with Richard McCarthy (Think Like Pirates) about our mutual sadness about the death of Slow Food founder, Carlo Petrini. Richard said our conversation inspired him to ask the free ChatGBT to […] The post The wonders of AI: a cubist portrait appeare…

The International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems has released its latest report, The New Geopolitics of Food: Navigating policies for resilient self-reliance. The report focuses on how “how wars, trade disputes, aid cuts, climate shocks, and weakening international cooperation are pushing up food prices, deepening hunger, and reshaping global food security.” It draws on […] The post…

Nutritionists like me cannot understand why people think they need more protein, so much so that the food industry is putting protein into everything. Most Americans consume close to twice the amount of protein needed, and practically anyone who consumes enough calories gets plenty.  Protein is in lots of foods and it’s really hard not […] The post The eye-rolling protein craze: some thoughts app…

The American Journal of Public Health has just published a series of papers on ultraprocessed foods to which I contributed this editorial.  These papers are released today as part of the launch of new initiative, Fed UP! aimed at establishing policies to help reduce consumption of ultraprocessed foods and prevent their harm to health. Press […] The post American Journal of Public Health series on…

The True Health Initiative held its 2nd Annual Global Health Misinformation Symposium, in which I participated.  The papers from the symposium have just been published in the American Journal of Health Promotion.  They are available under the heading “Knowing Well, Being Well” on the journal’s site.  All are open access.  My contribution is here. Food […] The post American Journal of Health Promo…

I learned about this one first from a reader, Kevin Mitchell, and later from Leslie Raabe of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. Beef vs. Chicken: Surprising Results From New Prediabetes Study A new randomized controlled trial (RCT) offers insight into one often-debated question: does eating red meat worsen metabolic health in people already at […] The post Industry funded study of…

I usually do posts about conflicts of interest on Mondays, but wanted to acknowledge the death of Carlo Petrini right away this week.  So here’s the Monday post. David A Cleveland, Research Professor in the Department of Geography, and Environmental Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, sent this one: Skimming through this I found an […] The post Weekend reading: Industry influenced o…

The FDA says artificial sweeteners are safe at current levels of use.  It has established Acceptable Daily Intakes for most of them.  These levels are much, much higher than anyone is likely to consume in a day. But: The benefits and risk of these sweeteners continue to be debated. The Benefits? Rethinking sweetness in an […] The post Artificial sweeteners: risks vs. benefits? appeared first on F…

Yes, I know baby food pouches are convenient and let babies feed themselves without making a mess. But I can think of so many reasons not to use them.  Baby food pouches: Contain foods that are generally too sweet. Contain homogenious textures. Do not teach babies about the color, taste, and texture of real foods. […] The post Greenpeace finds microplastics in baby food pouches appeared first on …

It’s impossible not to notice all the reports of declining food sales.  I’ve been talking about four existential threats to the food industry: Robert F. Kennedy Jr (“The food industry is poisoning America”) Ultra-processed foods (dietary guidelines advise eating less of them) GLP-1 drugs (they reduce food intake) Inflation (people can’t afford to overeat) To […] The post Is Big Food in trouble? …

Carlo Petrini and Slow Food acolytes in Turin, 2016.   As a member of Slow Food USA, I received its notice about the death of its founder, Carlo Petrini, at age 76 in Bra, Italy. A visionary leader and public intellectual with a profound commitment to the common good, human relationships, and the natural world, […] The post RIP Carlo Petrini: a huge loss to the food world and to humanity appeared…

When I wrote about dogs getting stoned on cannabis edibles last week, I had no idea this was a thing. From Bill Nesheim (my sort of son-in-law): This has been a fairly big problem for hikers in New Hampshire.   I’ve seen a number of situations where dogs needed to be rescued from the mountains due […] The post Dogs and cannabis edibles: readers weigh in appeared first on Food Politics by Marion N…

You might think of GLP-1 drugs as miracles of modern medicine, but the food industry views them as a threat. Why?  Eating less is bad for business. The Threat Data: Alarming new research reveals threat GLP-1s pose to food and drink sector: New research has revealed that as many as 8% of Britons now use weight […] The post The effects of GLP-1 drugs on the food industry: A collection of recent ite…

While we are on the subject of stocking standards for grocery stores, take a look at what’s happening in Scotland. Less sugar, more pressure: Scotland’s HFSS rules force a food industry rethink:  With Scotland’s HFSS restrictions arriving in October, food manufacturers are under mounting pressure to reformulate products without sacrificing taste, texture or brand identity… […] The post Scotland’s…

The USDA has announced that retailers who serve SNAP recipients will now have to carry more real food.  As of fall 2026, Retailers authorized to accept SNAP benefits must now carry seven varieties of items across four categories of staple foods: protein, grains, dairy, and fruits and vegetables. This change more than doubles the requirement […] The post USDA expands stocking standards for retaile…

Navid Teimouri, who is at the School of Public Health, University of Queensland, sent me his team’s recently published analysis of meat industry sponsored nutrition studies and their outcomes: Is Meat Industry Affiliation Associated With Study Conclusion in Nutrition Research? A Meta-Research Review. This is a classic study of what the late Sheldon Krimsky called […] The post Meat industry: the f…