Nierenberg has authored and contributed to several reports and books, and written for many publications. She is the winner of the 2020
Julia Child Award,[3] which celebrates leaders who are impacting the world through food. She was also awarded the
2022 Food Policy Changemaker Award from The
Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center[4] for making significant strides to create healthier, more sustainable food environments and using food to promote community and
economic development.
Nierenberg is also one of
NYU Steinhardt’s 2022 Scholars in Residence, a program that welcomes distinguished academics, artists, advocates, and other thought leaders to our community to share their expertise.[5]
After she completed her education at Monmouth College, Nierenberg joined the
Peace Corps as a volunteer in the
Dominican Republic[10] and worked with farmers and urban school kids.[6] Since then, she has been working to highlight how the
food system can become more sustainable.[7] Following her volunteer work in the Peace Corps, she matriculated at Tufts University and then joined
Science and Environmental Health Network as an intern. Later on she joined
Worldwatch Institute.[6]
According to Nierenberg, she has been focused on raising awareness about food quality and availability because she "is obsessed with food." She wants "to know what she's having for dinner at lunchtime."[7] She is a reviewer for the Africa Chapter for the
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change WGII AR5 First Order Draft[11] and serves on the Advisory Group for The Zero Hunger | Zero Waste Foundation.[12] In 2013, she joined the Young Professional's Platform for Agricultural Research for Development (
YPARD) Steering Committee.[13] Nierenberg is also a member of the
UN Environmental Programme's Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity Steering Committee.[14]
In 2001, Nierenberg joined the Worldwatch Institute as its Food and Agricultural Senior Researcher, where she managed several research projects on emerging infectious diseases related to the food system, gender and population, climate change and agriculture, the global meat economy, and innovations in sustainable agriculture.[15]
In 2009 she co-founded the Nourishing the Planet project housed at the Worldwatch Institute and became its director.[16] This post involved overseeing environmental research, communications and development for the Nourishing the Planet project, as well as leading the Nourishing the Planet Advisory Group. As part of this role, Nierenberg spent 18 months in
Sub-Saharan Africa, looking for solutions to poverty and hunger in 30 different countries.[17] While working there, she managed a grant of US$1.34 million to assess the state of agricultural innovations.[15][18]
Nierenberg produced
State of the World 2011 with the help of 60 international authors. She also organized The State of the World Symposium in January 2011. She left Worldwatch Institute and Nourishing The Planet in 2012.[15]
In 2022, Food Tank convened an official listening session in the lead-up to the
White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health. Exploring the theme "Dismantling Silos to Strengthen Nutrition and Food Security Research," the session's key takeaways were compiled into a formal report for the White House's consideration as they develop a strategy to end hunger, increase healthy eating and physical activity, and eliminate disparities.[35]
Food Tank joined a coalition of non-governmental organizations and institutions including the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic, WeightWatchers International Inc., Grubhub and the Natural Resources Defense Council[36] to help build bipartisan support for the
Food Donation Improvement Act, which was signed into law in January 2023.[37] Food Tank's efforts included convening an
event on Capitol Hill in partnership with WW, Bread for the World, the Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic (FLPC), and The Healthy Living Coalition where lawmakers, policy experts, and advocates fighting food waste called on Congress to pass the legislation.[38]
Food Tank also partnered with all official food pavilions at the U.N. Climate Conference (COP27) in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, including the
Food4Climate Pavilion with A Well-Fed World, Compassion in World Farming, FOUR PAWS, IPES-Food (International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems) and ProVeg International;[39] the
Food Systems Pavilion with Clim-Eat and 15 other partners;[40] and the
Food and Agriculture Pavilion with CGIAR, the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization, and The Rockefeller Foundation.[41]
Nierenberg's first book was titled Correcting Gender Myopia: Gender Equity, Women's Welfare, and the Environment and was published by the Worldwatch Institute in 2002.[55] In 2005, she wrote Happier Meals: Rethinking the Global Meat Industry, presenting the effects of the growth of
factory farming and cataloging the harmful effects it can have on the world, especially in developing countries.[56] In 2012, she wrote Eating Planet 2012, which was presented during an event at the
Literature Festival in Mantua in September.[57]
In partnership with the
James Beard Foundation, Nierenberg and Food Tank publish an annual Good Food Org Guide, a directory of non-profit organizations working for a better food system[58]