Food Politics

Hello Ms. Nestle,
Over the past few years, I have become quite invested in understanding the choices people make in terms of food and what influences their decision-making, and your book Food Politics has been very insightful. I have marked my calendar and look forward to hearing you at Mann Library!
All the best,
McKellen

It’s not much of a surprise that calorie counts are inaccurate. What’s more surprising is that people continue to believe that calorie-counting is an effective weight-loss strategy, in the face of overwhelming evidence that most diets fail. But does that unwanted body fat mostly reflect a lack of will power, or a lack of political will?
The idea that weight gain results from consuming more calories than are expended — the energy balance model — is taking it on the chin lately as scientists are discovering causes of growing girth that are more intricate. Some of these have little to do with calories at all.