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Friday, September 25, 2026

Latest from Food Politics: Weekend viewing: food politics art on the High Line

By Marion Nestle

September 25 2026

Weekend viewing: food politics art on the High Line

When my children, Rebecca and Charles Nestle, visited last week, we took a walk on the High Line in Manhattan, spotted this water fountain at 23rd Street, and I took this picture.

Here’s what the sign says:

Ximena Garrido-Lecca
The Golden Crop, July 2026 – June 2027

The High Line press release explains:

Ximena Garrido-Lecca uses sculpture and installation to highlight the complex relationship between Indigenous knowledge, colonial history, and modern technological and industrial systems.

For the High Line, Garrido-Lecca presents The Golden Crop, a nine-foot corn cob water fountain, made of bronze. Corn holds a central position in pre-Columbian mythology and was considered the origin of humanity by the Aztecs and Maya.

It also is one of the most important crops in the global economy, and is often genetically modified to tolerate pesticides like glyphosate. Glyphosate has sparked debates for its effects on human health and the environment, such as river contamination.

Garrido-Lecca dyed the water that trickles down the corn and between the kernels to have a neon yellow hue, a reference to the toxic chemical and its effects on runoff water sources, particularly those that communities use for drinking, fishing, and recreation. The artist also highlights the way industrial farming and GMO corn have impacted the existence and strength of native varieties, risking the erosion of cultural heritage associated with these crops, ultimately, challenging the viewer to reconsider the social, health, and environmental costs of our interconnected modern world.

Indeed. It seemed appropriate to post this at foodpolitics.com.

The post Weekend viewing: food politics art on the High Line appeared first on Food Politics by Marion Nestle

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Marion Nestle

Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University, Emerita

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Thursday, September 24, 2026

Latest from Food Politics: Where is country-of-origin labeling for beef when we need it?

By Marion Nestle

September 24 2026

Where is country-of-origin labeling for beef when we need it?

Everyone should read Eric Schlosser’s op-ed, Why Did Trump Order Up 660 Million Pounds of Mystery Meat? We have country-of-origin labeling for fresh produce. But because of Big Meat lobbying,

Beef and pork are notable exceptions to these laws. And that may help to explain why President Trump signed a proclamation last month that will allow the duty-free importation of about 660 million pounds of inexpensive beef.

If American consumers knew where that beef was coming from, they might not want to eat it.

As he explains, this beef is trimmings, possibly stored frozen for years, intended to be added to ground beef to adjust the fat content.

He lists the food safety scandals around such trimmings.

China rejected two shipping containers of beef from Uruguay after finding residue of an anti-parasitic drug in the meat.
China rejected beef from Argentina reportedly because it tested positive for a banned antibiotic that can cause serious blood disorders.
Brazilian federal police raided nearly 200 meatpacking plants after allegations that government inspectors and politicians were being bribed to allow the sale of contaminated beef.

As for why President Trump allowed this, against the wishes of the US beef industry:

“Regime Change,” the recent book by the Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, contains an interesting clue: a White House meeting last November between President Trump and Joesley Batista, whose family controls JBS…Mr. Batista gained the White House meeting last November, Ms. Haberman and Mr. Swan wrote, because of his friendship with Melania Trump. In addition, a JBS subsidiary had donated $5 million to Mr. Trump’s second inauguration, the largest gift from any individual or corporation.

Eric Schlosser discusses this and other such matters on Democracy Now.

Comment

We need country of origin labeling for beef, for sure. We have it for produce. Congress made beef exempt. Bring it back.

Food safety lawyer Bill Marler wants more USDA inspection and more transparency, as he says in 660 Million Pounds of Trimmings — The Part of Eric Schlosser’s Op-Ed I Would Underline. His advice to hamburger eaters:

The one thing that makes a hamburger safe is 160°F, measured with a thermometer. Buy from your butcher if you want to know where your beef came from. Then cook it to 160 anyway.

And then, of course, there’s what’s happening to beef prices. You might feel better about this if you knew the beef was raised here and was safe.