NYAM Author Night: Why Calories Count

Date: June 11, 2012
Time: 6:00 PM - 7:30 PM

Calories--too few or too many--are the source of health problems affecting billions of people in today's globalized world. Although calories are essential to human health and survival, they cannot be seen, smelled, or tasted, and are therefore abstract and difficult to understand. In Why Calories Count, Marion Nestle and Malden Nesheim explain in clear and accessible language what calories are and how they work, both biologically and politically. As they take readers through the issues that are fundamental to our understanding of diet and food, weight gain, loss, and obesity, Nestle and Nesheim sort through a great deal of the misinformation put forth by food manufacturers and diet program promoters. They explain the political stakes and show how federal and corporate policies have come together to create an "eat more" food environment. The book gives readers the information needed to interpret food labels, evaluate diet claims, and understand evidence as presented in popular media.  The authors offer some concluding advice: Get organized. Eat less. Eat better. Move more. Get political.

About the Speaker(s)

Marion Nestle is Paulette Goddard Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, which she chaired from 1988-2003. She is also Professor of Sociology at NYU and Visiting Professor of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell. She earned a PhD in molecular biology and an MPH in public health nutrition from University of California, Berkeley. Previous faculty positions were at Brandeis University and the UCSF School of Medicine (Associate Dean). Her research examines scientific and socioeconomic influences on food choice, obesity, and food safety, emphasizing the role of food marketing.  She is the author of three prize-winning books: Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health; Safe Food: The Politics of Food Safety; and What to Eat.  Why Calories Count: From Science to Politics (co-authored with Malden Nesheim) is her most recent book.  She writes the Food Matters column for the San Francisco Chronicle, blogs daily (almost) at www.foodpolitics.com, and tweets @marionnestle. In 2011, the University of California School of Public Health at Berkeley honored her as Public Health Hero.

Registration Information
Cost: Free, but advance registration required
Register»    Print      Subscribe

See all events »