Latest from Food Politics: Weekend reading: Fighting for New York

Nick Freudenberg.   Fighting for New York: Activism for Health and Social Justice.   Columbia University Press, 2026. I wrote a blurb for this book, happily: A roadmap for health activists, Fighting for New York illustrates each step needed for ...

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By Marion Nestle July 10 2026 Weekend reading: Fighting for New York Nick Freudenberg.  Fighting for New York: Activism for Health and Social Justice.  Columbia University Press, 2026. I wrote a blurb for this book, happily: A roadmap for health activists, Fighting for New York illustrates each step needed for successful advocacy through campaigns conducted by a wide range of city-based community organizations since the 1960s.  These stories should inspire any reader to join the movement to make health justice a reality. It’s about groups in New York City that worked or are still working on campaigns to improve health or achieve other social objectives, what they did that worked and did not work, and why such campaigns are worth doing.  Some of the campaigns he discussed are about food, some not.  All have lessons to teach. Some excerpts. On why these campaigns are worth studying: Campaigns such as Lunch for Learning’s win in making school lunches free for all public school students in New York or the Committee to End Sterilization Abuse’s successful advocacy for new rules to protect women from sterilization abuse in the city’s public hospitals, launched coordinated activities carried out over time with the goal of changing specific policies, programs, practices, or ideas that widened health inequities. By considering these campaigns as an appropriate subject of study — a useful unit of analysis, in the language of researchers — activists and scholars can define characteristics of more and less successful campaigns. (p. 37) On getting kids fed in schools: School food campaigns also strengthened democracy and civic engagement. Thousands of parents and children participated in rallies, signed petitions, and learned about city politics, with the added benefit of winning their goal of free lunches throughout the school system and showing that activism could make a difference. Lunch for Learning also taught a lesson in government accountability. When Mayor de Blasio hesitated to implement universal free lunches in 2017, activists widely distributed a video of de Blasio endorsing universal free lunches at a 2013 Mayoral forum on food policy organized by CFA and other food justice organizations. This message reminded the Mayor that his 2017 re-election campaign might benefit from support from parents of school children and activists supporting universal free lunches. (p. 162) On strategies: More broadly, urban health justice movements could bring together activist groups working across issues to identify the common beliefs that encourage or deter activism for health and to design coordinated multi-faced strategies to build support for more favorable attitudes. Right wing movements and their patrons in the United States have used this strategy successfully in recent decades. (pp. 288-9) More on strategies: How could urban health justice movements provide a framework for making wise strategic and tactical choices on aligning health, social justice, and democracy?  I suggest three ways to help activists answer these questions. First, activists should root their campaigns and messages in people’s daily lives. Lead poisoning, for example, is experienced as a health problem for children. It is also experienced as a social justice problem. The parents of lead poisoned children may have difficulty getting a landlord to follow the law that requires cleaning up the apartment or testing for lead to prevent poisoning in the first place. Other tenants in the building may resent landlords’ failure to clean up buildings where children have previously been poisoned or the city’s failure to enforce housing laws. Between 2017 and 2022, New York failed to collect $1.07 billion in fines from landlords for housing law violations and unpaid property taxes, a sum that could have repaired thousands of apartments to prevent poisoning. _____________________ Pub date is September 8. Pre-orders through UC Press get a 30% discount. Use promo code UCPSAVE30. The post Weekend reading: Fighting for New York appeared first on Food Politics by Marion Nestle      Related Posts Weekend reading: Flagstaff anti-hunger efforts Official announcement: Sugar Coated Weekend reading: It’s all your fault   Now Available: What to Eat Now My new book, What to Eat Now, is officially out! It's both a field guide to food shopping in America and a reflection on how to eat well—and deliciously. For more information and to order, click here. You can explore the full archive of this (almost) daily blog at foodpolitics.com, where you'll also find information about my books, articles, media interviews, upcoming lectures, favorite resources, and FAQs. Visit the Site » ​​​​​​​ Marion Nestle Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, Emerita © Marion Nestle. You're receiving this email because you've signed up to receive updates from us. If you'd prefer not to receive updates, you can unsubscribe. 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Latest from Food Politics: Microplastics: research and commentary

I’ve been collecting items on microplastics, for which research is finding increasing evidence for harm to human and environmental health.   Here are some relatively recent examples of what’s out there on this topic. Should we be worried about ...

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By Marion Nestle July 09 2026 Microplastics: research and commentary I’ve been collecting items on microplastics, for which research is finding increasing evidence for harm to human and environmental health.  Here are some relatively recent examples of what’s out there on this topic. Should we be worried about microplastics?   How big a problem are microplastics? The first global study of its kind quantifies the problem in the food and drink industry… Read more Microplastics and plastic bottles: How worried should we be?  The issue of microplastics and nanoplastics are increasingly coming into consumer consciousness… Read more How do microplastics get into food? Research: Ultra-processed foods are a key driver of the global plastics pollution crisis: Rob Ralston, Katherine Sievert, Kim Anastasiou, Joe Yates & Jennifer Clapp. Comment | 09 April 2026 Nature Food 7 | doi:10.1038/s43016-026-01341-0. Microplastics are ‘widespread’ in cheese: here’s how this happens: Cheese is ripe in microplastics, a groundbreaking study revealed… Read more BBC News: Study Identifies Microplastics in Majority of Commercial Pet Foods: Researchers at the universities of Sussex and Exeter found microplastics in 16 of 19 pet food brands, with higher exposure linked to feeding patterns. The findings highlight potential food system contamination and prompt calls for regulatory testing. Read More What’s needed? Food and Water Watch: 250+ Health Professionals Call on EPA to Monitor Microplastics in Drinking Water:  Over two hundred and fifty doctors, nurses and other health care and public health professionals and organizations sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) urging the agency to add microplastics to the Sixth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 6) and monitor for these contaminants in our drinking water. IFT’s Food Technology Magazine:  Can Food Packaging Go Plastic-Free? The authors detail the environmental drivers, emerging materials, and research priorities shaping the transition from fossil-derived plastics to bio-based and circular solutions for food packaging. Read More Beverage Daily: 6 ways to keep microplastics out of food and drink: Microplastic contamination poses significant risks for consumers… Read more And what is the EPA doing about this?  Nothing, alas. EPA Fails to Take Meaningful Action on Microplastics: Food & Water Watch condemns EPA for failing to include microplastics in proposed drinking water monitoring program. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has released a draft of the Sixth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 6), which sets forth which contaminants the agency will require monitoring for in drinking water. The draft rule shows that EPA does not plan to require monitoring for microplastics over the next five years. The post Microplastics: research and commentary appeared first on Food Politics by Marion Nestle      Related Posts Greenpeace finds microplastics in baby food pouches The new microplastics initiatives: steps in the right direction Industry-funded study of the week: Kimchi   Now Available: What to Eat Now My new book, What to Eat Now, is officially out! It's both a field guide to food shopping in America and a reflection on how to eat well—and deliciously. For more information and to order, click here. You can explore the full archive of this (almost) daily blog at foodpolitics.com, where you'll also find information about my books, articles, media interviews, upcoming lectures, favorite resources, and FAQs. Visit the Site » ​​​​​​​ Marion Nestle Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, Emerita © Marion Nestle. You're receiving this email because you've signed up to receive updates from us. If you'd prefer not to receive updates, you can unsubscribe. Safely Unsubscribe • Archives • Preferences • Contact • Subscribe • Privacy

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