Marion Nestle is a nutritionist, consumer advocate, and academic whose research examines scientific and socioeconomic influences on food choice, obesity, and food safety, emphasizing the role of food marketing. She is the author of eight books, including Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health; What to Eat; Soda Politics: Taking on Big Soda; and, with Dr. Malden Nesheim, Feed Your Pet Right and Why Calories Count: From Science to Politics.

After completing a Bachelor's Degree in Bacteriology at the University of California Berkeley in 1959, Nestle went to earn a PhD in Molecular Biology in 1968 and an MPH in Public Health Nutrition in 1986, also from UC Berkeley. She is Paulette Goddard Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, which she chaired from 1988-2003. From 2008 to 2013, she wrote Food Matters, a monthly food column in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Nestle received an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Transylvania University in 2012, and a James Beard Leadership Award in 2013, among many other awards. She has appeared as an expert in numerous films, including Super Size Me, Food Fight, and In Organic We Trust. In 2011, the University of California School of Public Health at Berkeley declared her a "Public Heath Hero." In Forbes magazine, food writer Michael Pollan named Nestle the "the world's #2 most powerful foodie," calling her "an indispensable voice on the problems of the American diet and their roots in industry marketing and government policy." New York Times writer Mark Bittman has described Nestle as "the #1 foodie to be thankful for," calling her an "all-around heroine" and noting that "many of those involved in the food movement [started] with Marion Nestle."

She has run a blog and web site, foodpolitics.com, since 2006 and a twitter account, @marionnestle, since 2009.

Sources: http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/faculty/Marion_Nestle