The 90-year-old public health specialist expressed her gratitude for the honor, highlighting the significance of being part of FCNAUP's 50th-anniversary celebrations. "I am overwhelmed. I want to thank the Faculty of Nutrition and Food Sciences of the University of Porto [FCNAUP] for this enormous honor. Being part of the 50th-anniversary [celebration] means a lot to me," confessed Marion Nestle in her acceptance speech.
The title, the first Honoris Causa proposed by FCNAUP, was awarded to the researcher globally known for her work on the influence of the food industry on dietary choices. Marion Nestle also thanked the "three Pedros" – Pedro Nuno Teixeira (Rector of U. Porto), Pedro Graça (Director of FCNAUP), and Pedro Moreira (ceremony sponsor) – and Maria João Gregório, who delivered the eulogy.
Visiting Porto for the first time, the specialist shared how she fell in love with the field of Nutrition and public health, describing it as "the most wonderful way to teach Biology to students. Or to teach anything, because everyone eats. And I've always loved food," she revealed.
Marion Nestle lamented that in the 1990s, the debate on childhood obesity focused on how mothers fed their children poorly, without addressing the food industry's marketing. "Most of my work focuses on advocating against conflicts of interest in public health. To see that recognized in this way is a surprise to me," she concluded.
On the sidelines of the ceremony, she reiterated that food should be a human right and that anything contributing to its promotion is "wonderful".
Emeritus Professor at New York University (NYU), Marion Nestle is the author of "Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health," a work that analyzes the influence of the food industry's economic interests on scientific knowledge production and nutritional policies.
Maria João Gregório, a lecturer at FCNAUP and director of the National Program for the Promotion of Healthy Eating (PNPAS), highlighted the influence of Nestle's thinking on the evolution of Nutrition Sciences, changing the questions about food and health: "It was no longer enough to ask: 'Why don't we change, even though we know?' It became necessary to also ask: 'Who has the power to determine what we eat, under what conditions do we do it, and which interests prevail over public health?'".
The Rector of U.Porto, Pedro Nuno Teixeira, praised the honoree's contribution, emphasizing that the field of nutrition "has grown and acquired great significance, not only from a scientific point of view, but also socially, economically, and politically".
Pedro Graça, Director of FCNAUP, considered the awarding of the Doctor Honoris Causa to Marion Nestle a "particularly symbolic" way to mark the celebrations, being "the best way, almost at the end of the year, to have one of the most important figures in nutrition worldwide with us".
