THE WEIGHT OF OZEMPIC: What happens when we no longer care about food?
The ramifications of new weight loss drugs on the pleasure of the table, the health and food industries, polices, and nutrition.
A virtual panel hosted by Les Dames d'Escoffier International San Francisco Chapter
Tuesday, March 26th, 9:30 am - 11:00 am PDT
Watch the Recording Here!
The San Francisco LDEI chapter hosts a provocative and timely online Table Talk panel addressing the wide-ranging implications of GLP-1 agonists, such as Ozempic, Wegovy, and others. We’ll discuss what happens when food is no longer a pleasure for the many people expected to be on these drugs in the future when they are more readily available and affordable; what happens to the deeper meanings of the shared meal, to treasured food traditions and cuisines; and how the food and health industries will adapt as these drugs rise in popularity.
Don’t miss this compelling panel moderated by Dame Kara Nielsen and featuring Marion Nestle (molecular biologist, nutritionist, and public health advocate), Laura Reiley (former Washington Post business of food reporter), and Shaun Chavis (content manager at Found Health and an Ozempic user).
Zoom link will be provided after registering.
About our panelists:
Shaun Chavis is a health and food journalist who's struggled with obesity since she was seven. In 2022 she had bariatric surgery and started taking weight loss medication, and today she's lost 135 pounds. She is currently content managing at Found Health, a weight management company. She's worked or written for Serious Eats, Time Inc. Books, Real Simple, Health, Sharecare, How Stuff Works, AllRecipes, SouthernLiving.com, and CookingLight.com.
Dame Marion Nestle is Paulette Goddard Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies and Public Health, Emerita, at New York University as well as Visiting Professor of Nutritional Sciences at Cornell. She earned a Ph.D. in molecular biology and an M.P.H. in public health nutrition from the University of California, Berkeley. She is a Dame d’Escoffier with the New York chapter.
Marion is the author of several prize-winning books, most notably Food Politics: How the Food Industry Influences Nutrition and Health (2002). Her research and writing examine scientific and socioeconomic influences on food choice and its consequences, emphasizing the role of food industry marketing.She is working on an updated and thoroughly revised edition of What to Eat for Picador Press (currently scheduled for September 2025).
She blogs daily (almost) at www.foodpolitics.com. Her X account, @marionnestle, has been named among the top 10 in health and science by Time Magazine, Science Magazine, and The Guardian, and has more than 140,000 followers.
Dame Kara Nielsen is a food and beverage trend expert who translates trends for strategic brand growth and innovative product development. She has held a number of positions as a trend insights leader, most recently as Director of Food & Drink at UK-based trend forecasting agency WGSN, and is frequently cited in national press on food trends. She earned a Master’s degree in Gastronomy at Boston University and is a board member of the LDEI-SF chapter.
Laura Reiley, former Washington Post reporter, writes about the business of food, addressing and detangling topics such as food ethics and safety, sustainability and food waste, GMOs, the challenges of small farmers and inequity in farm subsidies, climate change, fragility of the food chain, and on disparities in access. Her WaPo article, “Food is one of life’s great pleasures. Will weight-loss drugs end that?” inspired this program.
A graduate of the California Culinary Academy, she was a Pulitzer-prize finalist in 2017 and a James Beard award finalist in 2017, 2019, and 2022. She previously was the food critic at the Tampa Bay Times, San Francisco Chronicle, and Baltimore Sun.
This virtual panel discussion is part of Les Dames d’Escoffier International’s month-long Table Talk series in March; for a full listing of events, visit TableTalksLesDames.com.
