Marion Nestle argues that food and politics are now inseparable. When she published Food Politics in 2002 people still questioned the link; today that question has disappeared. She is particularly alarmed by recent moves in the Trump administration to cut or withhold SNAP benefits, a reminder of how precarious many families’ access to food remains. Roughly 42 million people in the U.S., including about 16 million children, depend on a government safety net that covers only part of their food needs and often leaves households short.
Nestle’s decades of studying the food industry have shaped a clear diagnosis of why food can be hard to afford. Supermarkets are designed to maximize sales and profits: the more visible and accessible a product, the more it sells. End-cap displays, eye-level shelving and checkout placement are typically paid-for positions; manufacturers pay slotting fees that can amount to thousands or hundreds of thousands of dollars. That system favors big brands and high-margin, highly processed foods while shutting small producers out.
Her 2006 guide What to Eat showed how marketing, placement and policy steer consumer choices. The new edition, What to Eat Now (updated for 2025), continues that consumer-facing approach and pushes a public-health message she calls a “triple-duty” diet: eat real foods, minimize processing, and emphasize plants. That single approach, Nestle says, helps prevent hunger, reduce obesity and lower climate impact.
On retail trends: dollar stores expanded into food by offering cheap, ultra-processed items—chips, sugary cereals and other low-quality groceries—often adding just a handful of poor-quality produce items to meet SNAP stocking rules. As larger grocers left many neighborhoods, dollar stores proliferated, undercutting local retailers and making inexpensive, low-nutrient options the most available choice. Higher-end chains like Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods rely on affluent customer bases to survive, so they are less likely to fill gaps where lower-income shoppers live.
On waste and agricultural policy: the U.S. food system produces roughly 4,000 calories per person per day—about double typical needs—so overproduction and waste are built into the system. Federal subsidies, which are often tied to volume rather than need, encourage excess production and contribute to environmental harm.
On policy hopes and disappointments: Nestle was initially encouraged by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s early statements about removing toxins, addressing ultra-processed foods and protecting children’s health. The first Make America Healthy Again report suggested a serious agenda, but later materials retreated from many of those commitments, leaving her disappointed.
Why the system needs big change: Nestle argues for systemic reform rather than only individual adjustments. She calls for agricultural policy that prioritizes food for people over feed crops and fuel, electoral change that makes public-health-minded officials more electable, and economic reform so markets reward corporations for social and health commitments. These are ambitious goals, she acknowledges, but she insists advocacy is essential: individual shopping behavior is constrained by a system built to promote the most profitable foods, so collective action—organizing, setting public goals and pressuring institutions—matters.
Her practical advice remains consistent: choose minimally processed, plant-forward real foods when possible, and support policies and organizations that push the food system toward equity, health and sustainability. Small individual changes help, but political and economic shifts are required to make healthy, affordable food the norm.
Interview production and adaptation credits: interview produced and edited for broadcast by Therese Madden and Anna Bauman; adapted for the web by Bridget Bentz, Molly Seavy-Nesper and Meghan Sullivan.