The Trump administration says we're being poisoned by our food system. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. talks about ultra-processed foods, pesticides, and corporate capture of our health agencies. It's rhetoric that in many ways sounds like it came straight from the progressive food movement.

Marion Nestle helped build that movement — and so far she's not impressed.

An emerita professor at New York University, Nestle is 89, has written 17 books about food policy, founded the field of food politics, and writes the must-read blog foodpolitics.com.

She's earned the right to be blunt. And in this conversation, she is.

Highlights:

– Marion's career journey and how food politics became a field of study

– How to identify ultra-processed foods

– Why it took so long for UPFs to become part of the conversation

– The gap between MAHA rhetoric and policy reality

– GLP-1 drugs as an existential threat to the food industry

– The dietary guidelines' inherent conflicts (promoting agriculture vs. telling people to eat less)

– School food funding and why every school should have a garden

– What Marion would actually do if she were in charge of food policy

Editorial note: We recorded this conversation before the Trump administration released the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2025-2030.

Where to find Marion Nestle:

Sign up for her must-read daily blog at foodpolitics.com

Check out her latest book, What to Eat Now

Other books by Marion Nestle

Mentioned in this episode:

The Lancet series on ultra-processed foods

Kevin Hall's NIH research/clinical trials on ultra-processed foods

The latest MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) report

Marion Nestle's 2013 article about GRAS

GRAS reform proposal heads to White House for review

Stay in touch:

Sign up for Helena’s must-read weekly newsletter: Food Fix.

Follow American Dish on Instagram and YouTube.

Send ideas and feedback to info@foodfix.co

Check out Forked, the food politics podcast Helena co-hosts with the Food & Environment Reporting Network.

Credits: This episode was edited by Adrienne Cruz. Original music by David Bottemiller.