by Marion Nestle
Sep 4 2020

My editorial with Nick Freudenberg

The American Journal of Public Health has just published an editorial I did with Nick Freudenberg, who directs the Urban Food Policy Institute at the CUNY School of Public Health.

“A Call for a National Agenda for a Healthy, Equitable, and Sustainable Food System” [it’s open access and you can read it at that link]

Here’s the abstract:

In less than a month, US voters will choose their next president and Congress, creating the opportunity for food, farm, and social justice activists to shape a new federal food agenda. Whether Democrats sweep the election or Republicans retain the Senate or White House, the devastation wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic, the deepening economic crisis, and the continuing disruptions from climate change demand rethinking how federal food policies can contribute to improved human and planetary health. (Am J Public Health. Published online ahead of print August 27, 2020: e1–e3. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2020.305926)

Our goals:

  1. Reduce hunger and food insecurity
  2. Dismantle systemic racism in the food system
  3. Make healthy affordable food available to all Americans
  4. Reduce burden of diet-related diseases
  5. Support agricultural practices that reduce carbon emissions and other forms of pollution
  6. Protect food workers
  7. Promote food democracy