by Marion Nestle

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Dec 24 2021

Happy holidays! Sustainable Development Goals

I’m going to take next week off (unless some crisis occurs).  This will be my last post in 2021.  Stay healthy over the holidays.  See you on January 3 2022.

In the meantime, enjoy this announcement from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization: Rome’s traditional Christmas lighting illuminates SDGs.

The SDGs, of course, are the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, which I’ve written about previously.

FAO says:

The official ceremony to inaugurate the 25 meter high fir on Piazza Venezia in Rome’s historic city centre took place today as the Italian capital launched the initiative “Christmas in Rome – Let’s give the gift of a sustainable city

…Each gift package displays a QR code which, when scanned by visitors with their smartphones provides them with information compiled by FAO experts about concrete actions each of us can take to make our lifestyle more sustainable and start building a better future for the planet, our city and its people.,..Additional content is also accessible to visitors both in Rome and all around the world via a web App and through the FAO website.

How’s that for wishing us all a useful, productive, and optimistic holiday season.  May the new year bring us all peace, prosperity, and healthy and sustainable food systems.

May 11 2021

Whatever happened to GMO labeling?

Food Navigator reminds me that GMO labeling has not yet been implemented.

Compliance with the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard (NBFDS) – which requires firms with annual sales of $2.5m to label ‘bioengineered’ foods, beverages, and supplements – is mandatory from January 1, 2022. So is the industry up to speed? It’s a pretty mixed bag, according to labeling experts.

We know that corn, soybeans, and cotton are genetically modified (also canola and sugar beets).

But what about products that you might buy in supermarkets?  Those remain a mystery.

The FDA lists “completed consultations” for genetically modified foods—effectively, approvals—here.  These include Fuji and other apples, potatoes, and squashes, but that doesn’t mean they are necessarily in supermarket produce sections.

Confusingly, the USDA has its own list.

It would be nice to have supermarket produce labeled, although the label, as I’ve written previously, is not as helpful as it might be.

I can’t wait to see if stickers like this actually appear on GMO squash, apples, and salmon.  The compliance date is coming soon!

May 9 2021

Happy foodie Mother’s Day!

Mar 18 2021

What’s happening with Brexit?

The UK’s departure from the European Union is now a done deal, but its impact is only just now becaming clear.  Here are some observations of what’s happening.

Feb 14 2021

Happy Valentine’s Day (I think)

Under the heading of “You can’t make up this stuff,” Kraft Foods, now part of Kraft/Heinz, has a Valentine’s Day surprise for you: pink, candy-flavored Mac and Cheese. 

Roses, anyone?  They, at least, don’t have calories (or artificial colors and flavors).

[Thanks to Esther Trakinski for this delicious example of food marketing in action].

Jan 13 2021

What’s happening with nutrition research?

I post often about conflicts of interest in nutrition research, mainly because I worry about how to  improve the quality of nutrition research studies.  Nutrition research is under attack for weaknesses well known to nutrition researchers, but recently rediscovered by critics outside the field who do not, unfortunately, propose meaningful alternatives (see this, for example).

Mainstream nutrition researchers have called for a new approach to nutrition research.

“The time has come for a national ‘moonshot’ on nutrition research,” said Dariush Mozaffarian, MD, DrPH, Dean of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University, chair of the session. “A strengthening of federal nutrition research has significant potential to generate new discoveries to improve and sustain the health of all Americans, reduce healthcare costs, improve health disparities, create new businesses and jobs, reinvigorate farms and rural communities, strengthen military readiness and optimize use of our natural resources.”

These researchers called for two priorities: a new authority for robust cross-governmental coordination of nutrition research; and strengthened authority and investment for nutrition research within the NIH.

It looks like they got it!  The NIH has proposed to transfer its existing Office of Nutrition Research into the NIH Director’s Office.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has proposed to transfer the Office of Nutrition Research (ONR) from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases to the Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives (DPCPSI) within the NIH Office of the Director. DPCPSI was created by Congress to enhance NIH-wide coordination of cross-cutting research topics.

This proposed move follows two reports from NIH about nutrition research:

And now NIH says it is doing this!

The response from the public and the nutrition research community was overwhelmingly supportive. Such a move was also supported by the Council of Councils, an NIH advisory group, during a special meeting on December 30, 2020.

I’m pleased to share that this week, NIH has begun the official transfer of ONR to DPCPSI. This reorganization positions ONR to enhance engagement of the NIH Institutes and Centers in implementing the 2020-2030 Strategic Plan for NIH Nutrition Research to develop new collaborations and relationships focused on nutrition research within and outside NIH, and to ensure coordination of and leadership for nutrition research across the agency.

Will this strengthen the quality of nutrition research?  I certainly hope so.

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Jan 4 2021

Happy new year (let’s hope), and an (re)introduction to FoodPolitics.com

With a new year comes a fresh start, and I find myself reflecting on how long I’ve been writing this blog and what it means for me and for readers.

For starters, this is post #4174 since I started doing this on May 29, 2007.

On the blog’s tenth anniversary, I posted a self-interview on what it is about.  Here is an update.

What do you do on foodpolitics.com?

Usually, I post only once a day, Monday through Friday, with occasional lapses.  As a general rule (but there are lots of exceptions), the week goes like this:

  • Mondays: food company sponsorship of research or advertising
  • Tuesdays and Wednesdays: current news
  • Thursdays: collections of links to articles on a single topic
  • Fridays: Weekend Reading—a book or report of interest

I also post current information about my books (under the Books tab), upcoming talks (Appearances), and links to interviews on radio, TV, or in print (Media).  The About tab has information about my biography , c.v., and conflict-of-interest policy.

I’m not keeping up with the other tabs very well, alas.

How did you get started?

As I discussed in a previous post, the publisher of my book, What to Eat, asked me to be a guinea pig for use of social media to publicize books.  It set up the site with the understanding that I would try it for six months.  It’s gone through some iterations, but I’m still at it.

What does it do for you?

I’m still doing it because I find it useful and well worth the time.  It is:

  • An online file cabinet:  It ‘s quicker and less cumbersome than downloading paper and filing things in file cabinets.
  • A way to link to original documents: I can find them right away.  Sometimes the site is the only place to find certain documents online.
  • Tracing back history: WordPress has a superb search engine, so it is easy to find posts on specific topics right away.
  • Informative for reporters: They can see what I’ve written and don’t have to call me.
  • An incentive to keep up: It forces me to keep up with current topics in food and nutrition.
  • A gift to students: If students are writing papers about food politics topics and need help getting started, I can refer them to the site.
  • My private platform: I can say what I think.  I don’t have advertisers or sponsors to worry about.

You must have to spend a lot of time on it?

Not nearly as much as I thought it would take.  Once I figured out how to schedule posts, I tend to do them in odd minutes and set them up over the weekend for the entire week.

How do you know what to write about?

Food politics is a full-employment act.  There is always something.  I subscribe to a dozen or so daily newsfeeds.  Choice is a bigger problem.  Because I only post once a day, I pick the topic I find most interesting, outrageous, or funny.

Why don’t you allow comments?

I wish I could.  I would love to engage with readers—and used to—until the trolling got out of hand.  Readers insisted I stop the nasty personal comments about my age, looks, ethnicity, and opinions posted by anonymous writers who used false email addresses from IP addresses traced to a spam site.  I couldn’t think of a way to stop the incivility without stopping comments altogether.

Who pays for it?

Before I retired from NYU, the blog was part of faculty community service and I paid for it out of the fund that came with my Paulette Goddard professorship.  Now I pay for it myself out of retirement funds.

How do you handle the design and technological aspects?

As long-standing readers know, technology is not my long suit.  My site was designed and is managed by Rachel Cunliffe and Stephen Merriman of Cre8d-Design.com.   Their company is located in Auckland, New Zealand (of course!), but the time/date difference has never been a problem.   They are a pleasure to work with.

Is the blog useful to anyone else besides you?

This is for someone else to decide.  I certainly hope so.  I try hard to make it a worthy resource for everyone, but especially students.

Who reads it?

I don’t really know.  the statistics say it has a small readership of just a couple of thousand a day, but the posts go out over Twitter (@marionnestle) where I have 144,000 followers.  Readers tell me when I make mistakes, so I know someone must be reading it.

How long will you keep doing this?

I like doing it.  It’s become a habit, and an easy one to follow.  When it stops being fun to do, I’ll end it.

Tomorrow: back to food politics.

Dec 30 2020

Happy new year! (trying again)