Food Politics

Marion Nestle is the Paulette Goddard Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University and has been a member of the FDA Food Advisory Committee and Science Board. She wrote Food Politics How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health (2002) and What to Eat (2006). Her diaryfirst appeared in Global Agenda magazine. 

Caldwell, Melissa L. 2002. The Taste of Nationalism Food Politics in Postsocialist Moscow. Ethnos 67(3) 295-319. 

Nestle, M. 2002. Food Politics How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health. Berkeley University of California Press. 

Marion Nesde, Food Politics 186,190 (2002) (educational books) Federal Trade Commission, Marketirrg Food to Children and Adolescents A Report to Congress ES 4... 

Marion Nestle, Food Politics 368 (2002) National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling, Deep Water 56 (2011), (quote) Gareth Cook,... 

The immediate availability of biomass energy, in the form of forage and food, placed serious constraints on military operations before 1850. Feudal political aiTangcmcnts in Europe and Asia facilitated the growth of large armies capable of protracted war-... 

The complexity of the problems associated with future food packaging can be seen from these examples. We have focused on only one factor in one segment of the food industry—the effect of change in solid waste disposal. The present uncertainties in technical and political aspects of the disposal problem prevent a definite decision as to whether packaging changes should be made. All the industry can do at present is prepare itself for a possible major shift that would have to be made in a short time. 

However, the American consumer now seems ready to accept some reduction in cosmetic standards, provided pesticide use is diminished (47). Their concern about pesticide use is confirmed by the growing popularity of organic food stores and supermarkets that guarantee pesticide-free produce (48). Also, the "Big Green" initiative in California, although it didn t pass, signals that consumers are alarmed about pesticide use and are willing to take political action to make their views known. 

Over the past 30 years, the world food production has grown faster than the population, the major basis of consumption. The world food production increased at an annual rate of 2.4% (grain production increased at 2.7%), while the world population increase is now less than 2% (9). Research and improved technologies have contributed to an increase in food availability, which will continue if an appropriate political, social, and economic environment exists. The world population, now at 5.5 billion, is predicted to be 10 billion in the last quarter of the next century (9) and will place greater demands on the production and processing of food. 

FAO is not a relief agency. It does not purchase or distribute food products, although it is much concerned with food deficits and food surpluses. Neither is it a research agency, though it does try to enlist the interest of scientists in its fields and coordinate their efforts in the solution of pressing problems. Finally, of course, it is not a political organization, but operates as an international extension agency on a strictly impartial basis. 

There are serious questions about the effect of continued growth of the human population. We often focus on the matter of adequate food production, but large populations also affect the environment and our need for energy. Chemists can furnish the tools to help deal with the political and social questions. Some population growth occurs not because it is intentional, but because adequate methods for birth control are unavailable to people in poor countries. Thus one challenge for chemists is to develop better methods that would be safe, effective, and inexpensive and would enable all people to pursue their own decisions regarding population growth. 

It is not the aim of this memorandum to prophesy the moment at which the untenable situation in Europe will reach the stage of open war. The definitive solution of Germany s economic situation lies in an extension of our living space, i.e., an extension of the raw materials and food basis of our nation.. . Much more important [than "political leadership" solving the problem is to prepare for the war during the peace. 

Several countries have stockpiled a limited number of toxins. Their use on the battlefield has been alleged (e.g., Laos, Kampuchea, and Afghanistan) but not documented to the extent that it is universally accepted. Toxins have been used for political assassinations (e.g., 1978 murder of Georgi Markov with ricin) and terrorists have threatened the use of toxins, usually through contamination of food or water supplies. 

In our country we are not told the contents of any products, not even foods. When the democratic process started, the Ministry for Antitrust thought we should have disclosure of product ingredients so that people could supervise the quality of goods, especially the quality of food. But then, you see, the political situation changed drastically, so that ministry was banned. We don t know what we re using or eating. I can t drink milk in Belarus, because it s not really milk. It s a white, watery liquid with a horrible stinking smell. 

If public opinion shapes EU policy, then a certain amount of uncertainty surrounds the future of agri-food biotechnology. The lack of equilibrium between the EU and the US adds to the global uncertainty over the issue since both are powerful political and trade powers and have yet to find common ground. This section will interpret the consequences of this uncertainty as the national and industrial responses to changes in their economic interests. 

Consequences of environmental stress poverty, food insecurity, poor health conditions, displacement (migration or refugee movements) and disruption of the social and political institutions are regarded as the most important consequences from environmental stress, which then contribute to conflict under a certain set of unfavorable factors. 

Many believe in a simple solution increase exploration and drilling in other areas. There may be as much as 270 billion barrels of oil in the Caspian Sea region, a part of the former Soviet Union. To use this oil we would have to deal with countries in an unstable area. The U.S. would also compete against other nations of the world, all of which are thirsty for oil which is also essential for the production of food and the manufacture of many products. Beyond these problems is a rapidly growing world population and an area with contested borders and conflicting political and religious ideologies. 

The Political Economy of Diet, Health and Food Policy... 

The critical role of agriculture cannot be overemphasized as an obvious axiom of the policy of self-reliance, which is the ability to feed its own population. Political slogans such as "Agriculture as Foundation" and "Industry Must Aid and Serve Agriculture" are just some indications of the primary importance accorded to agriculture. (A separate Ministry of Food was established on June 12, 1979, with Zhao Xinchu—full member of the 11th Central Committee of the CCP—as its first Minister.) Agricultural development will continue to be viewed as the fundamental basis for economic modernization, and the point of departure for pursuit of import substitution policies. 

The bio-fuels industry development shows that transforming food into fuel could lead the world economy into the potential for social unrest, leaving the global economy in the hands of politics and not in the hands of the global market. 

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