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Food Politics

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Winner of the James Beard Foundation Literary Award  “[From] one of the influential framers of the modern food movement.”—The New York Times  The 25th-anniversary edition of Marion Nestle’s seminal classic reveals how the food industry...
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  • April 6, 2027
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Winner of the James Beard Foundation Literary Award
 
“[From] one of the influential framers of the modern food movement.”—The New York Times
 
The 25th-anniversary edition of Marion Nestle’s seminal classic reveals how the food industry uses marketing, science, and political power to shape what we eat—and why it matters for our health.
 
We all witness—in advertising and on supermarket shelves—the fierce competition for our food dollars. In her engrossing classic, Marion Nestle goes behind the scenes to reveal how that competition really works, how the food industry plays politics, and what this means for our health. Celebrated for its accessible and balanced account, Food Politics forever changed the way we understand food industry marketing practices. For this twenty-fifth anniversary edition, Nestle has written a new preface and afterword that further expose how food companies spend vast sums on marketing, enlist scientific experts, and lobby policy makers to protect sales of their products. Nestle’s pathbreaking work illuminates more clearly than ever how the food industry influences our food choices and health.
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Price: $24.95
Pages: 536
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Series: California Studies in Food and Culture
Publication Date: April 6, 2027
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9780520436022
Format: Paperback
REVIEWS Icon
"Combining the scientific background of a researcher and the skills of a teacher, [Nestle] has made a complex subject easy to understand."


"Nestle berates the food companies for going to great lengths to protect what she calls "techno-foods" by confusing the public regarding distinctions among foods, supplements, and drugs, thus making it difficult for federal regulators to guard the public. She urges readers to inform themselves, choose foods wisely, demand ethical behavior and scientific honesty, and promote better cooperation among industry and government. This provocative work will cause quite a stir in food industry circles. Highly recommended." 


“Hard-hitting, revealing. . . . Challenges us to consider the political environment in which the science of food and nutrition exists.”


— Barara O. Schneeman

“Essential reading for anyone seriously interested in addressing the nutritional dilemma facing the United States."


— Walter Willett

"A courageous and masterful exposé."



"Provocative and highly readable."



"An excellent introduction to how decisions are made in Washington—and their effects on consumers."


— Ian Williams

“Thought-provoking. . . . Voting with our forks for a healthier society, Nestle shows us, is wihtin out power.”



“Examines... the industry's manipulation of America's eating habits while enumerating many conflicts of interest among nutritional author-ities.... A telling book.... It's hard to argue with Dr. Nestle's point that food is above all political.”


— Marian Burros

“In her widely acclaimed book, Nestle explains why the wealthiest nation in the world is eating itself to death. Based on meticulous research, Nestle's book exposes how the naked self-interest of the American corporate food industry compromises nutrition policy, as well as our government's regulation of food safety.”

Marion Nestle is Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, Emerita, at New York University and author of many books about the politics of food, nutrition, health, and the environment.

CONTENTS

Foreword by Michael Pollan

Preface to the Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Edition

Preface to the First Edition

Introduction: The Food Industry and “Eat More” 

PART ONE

UNDERMINING DIETARY ADVICE 

1. From “Eat More” to “Eat Less,” 1900–1990 

2. Politics versus Science: Opposing the Food Pyramid, 1991–1992 

3. “Deconstructing” Dietary Advice 

PART TWO

WORKING THE SYSTEM

4. Influencing Government: Food Lobbies and Lobbyists 

5. Co-opting Nutrition Professionals 

6. Winning Friends, Disarming Critics

7. Playing Hardball: Legal and Not 

PART THREE

EXPLOITING KIDS, CORRUPTING SCHOOLS 

8. Starting Early: Underage Consumers 

9. Pushing Soft Drinks: “Pouring Rights” 

PART FOUR

DEREGULATING DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS 

10. Science versus Supplements: “A Gulf of Mutual Incomprehension” 

11. Making Health Claims Legal: The Supplement Industry’s War with the FDA 

12. Deregulation and Its Consequences 

PART FIVE

INVENTING TECHNO-FOODS 

13. Go Forth and Fortify 

14. Beyond Fortification: Making Foods Functional 

15. Selling the Ultimate Techno-Food: Olestra 

Conclusion: The Politics of Food Choice 

Afterword: Food Politics: Twenty-Five Years Later and Onward

Appendix: Issues in Nutrition and Nutrition Research 

Notes 

List of Tables 

List of Figures

Index