Author examines affect of advertising on food consumption

By Andrea Schpok, Executive Editor

You do not have to love nutrition to enjoy and benefit from reading Marion Nestle’s “What to Eat.” If you do however, you are in for a real treat (a healthy one). Nestle takes the reader on what equates to a narrated tour down grocery store aisles and provides in-depth examinations and explanations of products, industries, and the complicated workings behind the scenes which shape what the typical American will see served on a plate for dinner.

The book is a hefty one, but it is easy to skim through 524 pages in small parts, or flip to chapters of particular interest.
Nestle goes beyond the nutritional scope of the food products examined, and delves into the reasoning behind nationally supported products. “Got Milk?” and “Beef, it’s what for dinner,” slogans, she explains, promote an esteem for health value far above that the products actually contain. Dairy and beef industries are promoted because they are profitable.

If produce were able to bring in as much profit as dairy products, Americans might instead have been bombarded with slogans reading, “Got Veggies?” While in most cases increased consumption of dairy products may do help rather than harm, the promoted levels of beef consumption are well above ideal. “Eating a lot of meat,” Nestle writes, “is not so healthy for anyone.”

The book goes on to debunk numerous health myths and lays out which health claims are validly supported by scientific evidence, and which have yet to prove alleged attributes. Among such topics, Nestle examines soy foods, cereals, “healthy” drinks, organics, genetically modified, irradiated and politicized foods, and many others.

The book provides answers written in straightforward, easily understood language. Complicated ideas are broken down into manageable chunks so that no prior knowledge is necessary to benefit fully from the information provided. Nestle is also the author of Food Politics (2002) and Safe Food (2003).

She has received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the James Beard Foundation, and the Foundation’s book prize.
According to a recent article written by Kim Pierce for The Dallas Morning News, “Dr. Nestle holds the Paulette Goddard Chair of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health at NYU.” The article said that Nestle has also earned her doctorate in molecular biology and master’s degree in public health nutrition.