When food policy, nutrition and public health topics are being debated and making headlines, the news media turn to Dr. Marion Nestle, one of the world’s most influential voices on these topics. Dr. Nestle is the Paulette Goddard Professor Emerita of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, which she chaired from 1988 to 2003 and officially retired in 2017. She is also a visiting professor of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell University. Dr. Nestle’s where her longtime research has focused on the socioeconomic influences on food choices, from nutrition to obesity to food safety and policy.
From 1986-88, Nestle was senior nutrition policy advisor in the Department of Health and Human Services and editor of The Surgeon General’s Report on Nutrition and Health. She holds a Ph.D. in molecular biology and an M.P.H. in public health nutrition from the University of California, Berkeley. She holds honorary degrees from both Transylvania University in Kentucky (2012) the City University of New York’s Macaulay Honors (2016).
Dr. Marion Nestle. Photo by Peter Menzel
She is author of numerous award-winning books including Food Politics: How the Food Industry influences Nutrition and Health, What to Eat, Safe Food: The Politic of Food Safety, Why Calories Count: From Science to Politics, Eat Drink, Vote: An Illustrated Guide to Food Politics, and Soda Politics: Taking on Big Soda and Winning. Her newest book (co-authored with Lisa Sutherland) is Sugar Coated: Unboxing the Hidden Forces Shaping America’s Favorite Breakfast Food. She has also written two books about pet food, Feed Your Pet Right and Pet Food Politics: The Chihuahua in the Coal Mine. Her Food Politics digital newsletter should be required reading for anyone following these topics.
Dr. Nestle’s many honors and accolades include the John Dewey Award for Distinguished Public Service from Bard College in 2010. In 2011, the University of California School of Public Health at Berkeley named her as Public Health Hero. She received the James Beard Foundation Leadership Award in 2013, and in 2014 the U.S. Healthful Food Council’s Innovator of the Year Award and the Public Health Association of New York City’s Media Award. In 2023, she was awarded The Edinburgh Medal for contributions to science and society.
Nestle celebrated her 90th birthday on September 10, 2026, but she has the energy of someone much younger and is prolific with her writing and publishing. During an August 25 Zoom interview entitled, “The Wisdom of 90 Years: Dr. Marion Nestle on Food and Living Your Best Life,” Dr. Nestle was interviewed by Dr. Charles Platkin, Founder and Executive Director of the Center for Food as Medicine & Longevity. Dr. Platkin asked Dr. Nestle about her secret to longevity. She made it clear that “It is no secret.”
Keeping active in mind and body, a healthy diet, staying busy writing and speaking and living in the moment are just a few ways Dr. Nestle remains vibrant and full of vitality. She said she is busier than ever thanks to the numerous public health policies in play with the federal government, food safety issues and both the general public and media growing interest on “you are what you eat” and longevity.
Dr. Nestle proves that aging is mind over matter. Her biological age really should not matter when you have a mind as sharp as hers. She says that she is looking forward to her 90th birthday and to many fun celebrations! As former New Yorkers and Melanie and Marion both being longtime members of Les Dames d’Escoffier International, our paths have crossed many times. So much has happened in the world of food, nutrition and food policy since Dr. Marion Nestle joined us on the Connected Table in April 2015 for the tenth anniversary of her seminal book, Food Politics. Watch our September 9 2026 show with the at the links below.
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