Mid – Manhattan Library welcomes Nicholas Freudenberg presenting an illustrated talk on his book Lethal But Legal: Corporations, Consumption and Protecting Public Health
Decisions made by the food, tobacco, alcohol, pharmaceutical, gun, and automobile industries have a greater impact on today’s health than the decisions of scientists and policymakers. As the collective influence of corporations has grown, governments around the world have stepped back from their responsibility to protect public health by privatizing key services, weakening regulations, and cutting funding for consumer and environmental protection. Today’s corporations are increasingly free to make decisions that benefit their bottom line at the expense of public health.
This illustrated lecture examines how corporations have impacted influenced– and plagued — public health over the last century, first in industrialized countries and now in developing regions. It is a current history of corporations’ antagonism towards health and an analysis of the emerging movements that are challenging these industries’ dangerous practices. The reforms outlined aim to strike a healthier balance between large companies’ right to make a profit and governments’ responsibility to protect their populations. It connects the dots between unhealthy products, business-dominated politics, and the growing burdens of disease and health care costs. By identifying the common causes of all these problems, then situating them in the context of other health challenges that societies have overcome in the past, Nicholas Freudenberg provides the insights needed to take practical and effective action to restore consumers’ right to health.
Date: Wednesday, November 12th, 2014
Time: 6:30 p.m. on the 6th floor
455 Fifth Avenue (at 40th Street)
New York, NY 10016-0122
(212) 340-0863
About the presenter:
Nicholas Freudenberg, DrPH, is Distinguished Professor of Public Health at Hunter College and at City University of New York School of Public Health. He is the faculty director of The New York City Food Policy Center. He studies the impact of corporate business and political practices on global health and the environment. His current work focuses on municipal policy responses to child obesity in various cities around the world including New York, London, Cape Town and Lisbon.
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