How Food Politics Led to Nourishing Results

WP_Nestle-FeeneyPlease listen to my recent interview on Mrs. Greens World with Marion Nestle.When I was in graduate school I read Marion Nestle's book, Food Politics. Reading this book was a pivotal turning point in my nutrition career and her work has continued to inform my perspective on food and nutrition. Among many, many things, I have learned from Nestle's work that:

  • Food politics have a significant impact on the availability of healthy foods in grocery stores and on restaurant menus;
  • Unconscious food choices are made based on intentional food marketing;
  • Lobbing by the food industry significantly influences government health guidelines, and often changes public health nutrition messages.

After reading Food Politics I realized how much our food is controlled by the food industry; personal choice is actually only one small part of the health of our nation. Food politics has a much more significant role in our health. Without addressing the politics of food and fixing our broken food system, we as individuals are faced with a pretty steep hill to climb to find truly healthy foods to eat.When Gina Murphy-Darling, Mrs. Green, of Mrs. Green's World asked me to be on her show with Marion Nestle, I emphatically agreed! I am honored to share the podcast with you and encourage you to learn more about food politics and how it affects you.Listen now! Click this link and then the green "Listen Now" bar on the left side of the screen.During the interview Gina asked me what I believe the biggest threats to our health are. I believe that our broken food system, which subsidizes unhealthy foods and heavily promotes these foods to us, creates an unhealthy food environment. This food environment then collides  with our current culture of stress, inadequate sleep and poor coping skills and complicated by our false belief that you must be thin to be happy and healthy, results in a great amount of confusion and difficulty maintaining healthy lifestyle changes.My mission in life is to help you sort all this out! That's what I do! Whether it's talking to you one-on-one or doing a grocery tour or discussing meal planning strategies, I help you figure out how to eat in our current food environment to best meet your nutritional needs.What am I doing to change our world of food? I let my voice be heard that we need a change. For example, I speak up in the Dietitian world against things like junk food sponsorship of Continuing Education for Dietitians. This blog is also one of the ways I feel like I can contribute to changing our food system.And don't forget that we ALL Vote With Our Forks!vote-with-your-fork_designEvery food purchase you make sends a message regarding your food philosophy. Your choices speak volumes regarding your beliefs about food. You have a voice  with every food choice you make. What messages do you send to the food industry with your food choices? Check out the podcast of the interviews with Marion Nestle and myself. Nestle covers the first 30 minutes and I wrap up the second half hour. Photo credits:Nestle/Hana-Mrs. Green's WorldVote with your Fork-PlenticultureMaterial on this blog is provided for informational purposes only. It is general information that may not apply to you as an individual, and is not a substitute for personalized nutrition or health advice or healthcare. Never disregard medical advice or delay seeking medical care because of something you have read or accessed through this website.

ArticlesHana Abdulaziz Feeney, MS, RDfood politics