Marion Nestle

Marion Nestle
Photo by Bill Hayes
Residence	New York City
Citizenship	American
Institutions	New York University
Alma mater	University of California, Berkeley
Thesis	Purification and properties of a nuclease from Serratia marcescens (1968)
Known for	Public health advocacy, opposition to unhealthy foods, promotion of food studies as an academic field

Marion Nestle, Ph.D, M.P.H. (born 1936) is the Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University. She is also a professor of Sociology at NYU and a visiting professor of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University.

Biography

Education

Nestle received her BA from UC Berkeley, Phi Beta Kappa, after attending school there from 1954-1959. Her degrees include a Ph.D in molecular biology and an M.P.H. in public health nutrition, both from the University of California, Berkeley.

Career

She did postdoctoral work in biochemistry and developmental biology at Brandeis University and later joining the faculty in biology in 1975.^[1] Through this professorship, she was assigned a nutrition course to teach and she realized that there was no standardized nutritional requirements and kicked off her interest in nutrition.^[1]

From 1976 to 1986, she was associate dean for Human Biology and taught nutrition at the UCSF School of Medicine. From 1986 to 1988, she was senior nutrition policy advisor in the Department of Health and Human Services and editor of the Surgeon General’s Report on Nutrition and Health.^[2]

In 1988, she was appointed Chair of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, she held the position until 2003.^[3] In 1996, she founded the Food Studies program at New York University with food consultant Clark Wolf. She hoped that the new program of study would raise the public’s awareness of food and its role in culture, society, and personal nutrition. It not only succeeded but inspired other universities to launch their own programs.^[1] Her research examines scientific and socioeconomic influences on food choice, obesity, and food safety, emphasizing the role of food marketing.^[4][5] Through her role at NYU and her book, Food Politics, written in 2002, she has become a national influencer of food policy, nutrition, and food education.^[1]

She is the author of numerous articles in professional publications and is the author or co-author of nine books. Her latest book, Soda Politics: Taking on Big Soda (and Winning), was published in October, 2015.

Nestle wrote the "Food Matters" column for the San Francisco Chronicle from 2003-2010. She blogs at foodpolitics.com, and tweets from @marionnestle.^[6] She has appeared in the documentary films Super Size Me (2004), Food, Inc. (2008), Food Fight: The Inside Story of the Food Industry (2008), Killer at Large (2008), In Organic We Trust (2012), A Place at the Table (2012)^[7] and Fed Up (2014).^[8]

She received the John Dewey Award for Distinguished Public Service from Bard College in 2010 and in 2011, was named Public Health Hero by the University of California School of Public Health at Berkeley.^[9] She received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Transylvania University in Kentucky in 2012.^[10] In 2013, she received the James Beard Leadership Award and Healthful Food Council's Innovator of the Year Award and the Public Health Association of New York City's Media Award in 2014.^[9]

She currently resides in a West Village apartment, previously occupied by former New York City mayor Ed Koch.^[11]

Pronunciation

Her name is pronounced like the English verb to nestle,^[12] not like the name of the Swiss food giant, to whom she is unrelated. In 2011, Forbes listed Nestle as number 2 of "The world's 7 most powerful foodies."^[13]

Bibliography

• Nutrition in Clinical Practice. Greenbrae, California: Jones Medical Publications. 1985. ISBN 978-0-930010-11-9.
• Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health. Berkeley: University of California Press. 2002. ISBN 978-0-520-24067-4.
• Safe Food: Bacteria, Biotechnology, and Bioterrorism. Berkeley: University of California Press. 2003. ISBN 978-0-520-23292-1.
• What to Eat. New York: North Point Press (Farrar, Straus and Giroux). 2006. p. 611. ISBN 978-0-86547-738-4.
• Pet Food Politics : The Chihuahua in the Coal Mine. Berkeley: University of California Press. 2008. p. 219. ISBN 978-0-520-25781-8.
• Safe Food: The Politics of Food Safety (Updated and expanded. ed.). Berkeley: University of California Press. 2010. ISBN 978-0-520-26606-3.
• Nesheim, Malden C. (2010). Feed Your Pet Right (1st Free Press trade pbk. ed.). New York: Free Press/Simon & Schuster. p. 376. ISBN 978-1-4391-6642-0.
• Why Calories Count: From Science to Politics. Berkeley: University of California Press. 2012. ISBN 978-0-520-262881.
• Eat, Drink, Vote: An Illustrated Guide to Food Politics. Rodale Books. 2013. ISBN 1609615867.
• Soda Politics: Taking on Big Soda (And Winning). Oxford University Press. 2015. ISBN 0190263431.

See also

Food politics

References

1. "Marion Nestle on Her History With Food Studies and the Future of Food Politics". Village Voice. Retrieved 2015-11-17.
2. "Marion Nestle - Faculty Bio". New York University. Retrieved March 29, 2011.
3. "Marion Nestle | Big Think". Big Think. Retrieved 2015-11-17.
4. "Interview with Marion Nestle". Big Think. January 14, 2009.
5. "Interview: Marion Nestle". PBS Frontline. December 10, 2003.
6. "About Marion Nestle". foodpolitics.com. Retrieved March 29, 2011.
7. IMDB entry
8. Rosenberg, Martha (May 22, 2014). "Why Is the U.S. So Fat? Katie Couric Documentary Fed Up Seeks to Explain". Huffington Post. Retrieved May 25, 2014.
9. "Marion Nestle - Faculty Bio". steinhardt.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2015-11-17.
10. "Transylvania University: Expert nutritionist Marion Nestle receives honorary degree from Transylvania University". www.transy.edu. Retrieved 2015-11-17.
11. "How I Ended Up Living in Ed Koch's Famous Greenwich Village Apartment". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2015-11-17.
12. "Food Politics". BookBrowse. Retrieved December 14, 2014.
13. Pollan, Michael (November 2, 2011). "The World's 7 Most Powerful Foodies". Forbes. Retrieved December 14, 2014.

External links

• Foodpolitics.com
• NYU Faculty profile
• Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health
• Safe Food: The Politics of Food Safety
• What to Eat: An Aisle-by-Aisle Guide to Savvy Food Choices and Good Eating
• Marion Nestle at IMDB