Author Marion Nestle has a collection of cereal boxes.
“First of all, just in case anybody’s worried it’s just the boxes, I don’t keep what’s in them,” she says. “They have so much information about the current regulatory status of food labeling. I want to see the whole box because I want to see not only the nutrition facts information, but also what kinds of things are being promoted: what the health claims are, what kinds of things the company is saying about what the cereal does for health or the environment, or whatever.” However, Marion says new boxes aren’t nearly as fun as they used to be. “They look they look pretty much the same from year to year, and you can hardly find a health claim beyond heart disease on Cheerios.”
Marion Nestle joined us on A Public Affair to talk about her box collection and her new memoir, Slow Cooked: An Unexpected Life in Food Politics. The book looks back on Marion’s later-in-life career as a nutrition policy advisor, food researcher, and author of numerous books.
Marion Nestle is the Paulette Goddard Professor, of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health, Emerita, at New York University. Slow Cooked is the 15th book Marian has written or coedited. Her books include Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health, Soda Politics: Taking on Big Soda (and Winning), and Pet Food Politics: The Chihuahua in the Coal Mine.
