Skip to main content

October 16, 2020
Public HealthFood Policy Program

Follow the Data Podcast: The Politics of Food

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed virtually everything about the way we live – including how we eat.

The pandemic has drastically increased the number of people around the world who are food insecure, while obesity and other diet-related conditions like diabetes and hypertension increase the risk of hospitalization and  severe illness from COVID-19.

Improving the quality of our diets and building resilient food systems is critical to public health – which is why Bloomberg Philanthropies is investing another $250 million over the next five years in order to accelerate progress toward creating healthier food environments globally.

On this episode, Dr. Neena Prasad, who leads Bloomberg Philanthropies’ food policy program, sits down with Dr. Marion Nestle – the Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, Emerita, at New York University, and a Visiting Professor of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell. She recently wrote Let’s Ask Marion: What You Need to Know About the Politics of Food, Nutrition, and Health, a series of essays around food politics.

Neena and Marion join the podcast this World Food Day to discuss why food is political; the connection between hunger, obesity, and climate change; and how the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the need – and opportunities – to create a healthier and more socially just food system. This is the first episode in a mini-series around food policy.

To learn more about Marion Nestle’s work, you can read her blog, Food Politics, here.

You can listen to the podcast and past episodes in the following ways:

More episodes from our coronavirus series include:

Disclaimer