Marion Nestle PhD, MPH PhD, MPH ’86 is Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, Emerita, at New York University, in the department she chaired from 1988-2003. Her research examines scientific, socioeconomic, and marketing influences on food choice, food systems, food safety, and chronic disease. From 1986-88, she was senior nutrition policy advisor in the Department of Health and Human Services and editor of the 1988 Surgeon General’s Report on Nutrition and Health. She is the author of six prize-winning books about food policy and politics, wrote the ”Food Matters” column for the San Francisco Chronicle from 2003-2010, blogs almost daily at foodpolitics.com, and tweets @marionnestle.

On public health and the challenges we face

The biggest public health nutrition challenges affect everyone in the world: food insecurity, obesity and its health consequences, and the environmental impact of the ways food is produced and consumed.

“Berkeley moment”

It’s hard to pick just one but Shelly Margen’s honesty, integrity, and warmth stands out.

A change to one U.S. policy that would transform public health

If poverty is the root cause of public health problems, let’s do something to make sure everyone has an adequate income.