Dr. Marion Nestle
Biography
Marion Nestle is one of the country’s most hysterical anti-food-industry fanatics. The New York University nutrition professor is the author of Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health, in which she writes: “Sellers of food products do not attract the same kind of attention as purveyors of drugs or tobacco. They should.”Nestle’s vision of a brave new food world includes the notorious “Twinkie tax,” federal price controls on high-calorie foods and beverages, restricted food advertising, print advertisements that warn consumers of calorie content, and nutritional labeling on fast-food restaurant packages. She believes that “food is too cheap in this country.”
To accomplish her radical goals, Nestle has worked with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the uncontested leader among America’s dietary scolds. When an interviewer asked Nestle if CSPI is her “covert ally,” she replied: “Overt is more like it. I was on CSPI’s board for five years, then slipped off quietly, but I’m a big supporter of what they do. By and large, they’re the major game in town.”
Speaking to the New York Times in 1996, Nestle made it very clear that her primary agenda is not pro-nutrition, but instead anti-corporate: "I like it better when Mike [Jacobson of CSPI] takes on the big corporations like McDonald's," she said. "I like it less well when he takes on mom and pop outfits like Chinese restaurants."
Nestle is so obsessed with blaming corporations that she doesn't believe parents can exercise responsibility over their children's diets or that adults are able to regulate their weight. When Nestle said she eschewed such common sense on CNN, an incredulous Kristin Nolt of the National Restaurant Association asked her, "You don't support balance, moderation and exercise?" Nestle responded, "Only in theory. Only in theory."
In 2003, Nestle addressed an event sponsored by the Socialist Caucus of the American Public Health Association (yes, the APHA has a "Socialist Caucus"). She also spoke at the 2003 "Socialist Scholars Conference." And she was a keynote speaker at the June 2003 trial-lawyers' conference "intended to encourage and support litigation against the food industry."
Nestle’s attacks on the food industry have recently branched out to include scare-mongering about food safety. Her latest book is called Safe Food: Bacteria, Biotechnology, and Bioterrorism. She took brazen advantage of an isolated mad-cow case to call for a boycott of US beef.
Background
Former board member, Center for Science in the Public Interest; Chair, New York University Department of Nutrition and Food Studies; author, Food Politics and Safe FoodAssociated Organizations and Foundations
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