In Memoriam, Dr. Gretel Pelto

Dr. Gretel H. Pelto, Renowned Nutrition and Public Health Scholar, Dies at 85

(July 15, 2025) Dr. Gretel H Pelto, a pioneering and internationally respected scholar in applied nutrition, medical anthropology, and public health, passed away peacefully on July 15, 2025, at the age of 85.

A truly loving person, dedicated to the well-being of her family and friends, Gretel is survived by the “lights of her life,” her sons, Jonathan and Ari, her daughters-in-law, Nikki and Wendy, her stepdaughter, Dunja, and her beloved grandchildren: Mara, Aliza, and Alessio.  She also leaves behind her best friend and sister, Melanie Margolis, her brother-in-law, Sandy, and their children, Ellie and Sasha.

Gretel is also survived by her husband and longtime collaborator, Jean-Pierre Habicht, with whom she shared a deep personal and professional bond.  Gretel had literally hundreds of friends and close colleagues across the world, including her closest friends, who were known as the Gang of Five.  Her former husband, Pertti Pelto, who co-authored many of her earlier publications during their 30-year marriage, passed away in 2024.

Born and raised in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to Deana and Isaac Hoffman, Gretel graduated from high school early and began her academic journey at Bennington College at the age of 16, where she pursued her early passions for dance and literature. She went on to earn a B.A. in Sociology in 1963, an M.A. (1967), and Ph.D. (1970) in Anthropology, all from the University of Minnesota.

Over the course of her distinguished career, Dr. Pelto was widely recognized for her groundbreaking contributions to applied nutritional anthropology. Her many honors included the Lifetime Achievement in Global Nutrition Award from the American Society for Nutrition and the prestigious Bronislaw Malinowski Award from the Society for Applied Anthropology. In 1996, she received an honorary doctorate in nutrition from the University of Helsinki, in recognition of her work advancing the field in Finland.

Her academic appointments included long-standing faculty positions at the University of Connecticut and Cornell University, where she taught and mentored students in maternal and child nutrition, community nutrition, and applied medical and nutritional anthropology. In the 1990s, she also served with the World Health Organization in Geneva, where she played a critical role in developing and coordinating global initiatives focused on maternal and child health.

Dr. Pelto conducted extensive field research in developing countries throughout Latin America, Asia, and Africa, focusing on infant and young child feeding practices and household management of childhood illnesses. Through that work, she helped shape effective public health strategies worldwide.

In addition to authoring numerous influential books and hundreds of scholarly articles, she was a founding editor of the journals Medical Anthropology and Reviews in Anthropology. She was also instrumental in establishing the group that would later become the Society for the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition (SAFN).

Beyond her scholarly accomplishments, Dr. Pelto was deeply committed to mentoring students and collaborating with colleagues. She often said her most rewarding work came from these relationships. Known for her warmth, intelligence, and generosity of spirit, she inspired and helped shape a generation of scholars and practitioners.

Gretel had a lifelong interest in photography, cooking, and collecting cookbooks. In 2022, upon relocating from Ithaca to Connecticut, she donated a significant portion of her cookbook collection to the Syracuse University Libraries, thereby enriching one of the nation’s leading culinary archives.

Gretel had a truly extraordinary life, with eighty-five years of amazing experiences and stories.

Among her more remarkable stories was the fact that, at the age of 19, she befriended the 18-year-old Bob Dylan upon his arrival at the University of Minnesota in 1959.  Having learned to play many popular folk songs at Bennington College, she taught Dylan a number of songs, including “The House of the Rising Sun,” which he recorded on his first album in 1962 and is considered one of the greatest covers in music history. 

Following Gretel’s sudden marriage to their friend, David, in May of 1960, Dylan’s biographers explain that a devastated Dylan confronted Gretel on the street, yelling, “When you get a divorce, let me know.”   Dylan then hitchhiked to Denver to join the folk music scene but soon returned to Minneapolis.  Gretel’s sister, Melanie, who needed a ride to NYC in January 1960 to enroll in art school, then accompanied Dylan on his subsequent journey to NYC, where he soon found fame.

Rather than calling Dylan following her divorce a couple of years later, Gretel returned to school, focusing on what would become her incredible academic career.

Those who had the good fortune of knowing Gretel recognized that she was a very special person who lived an incredible life. She had the rare and infectious gift of experiencing and appreciating every detail in life in the most profound way.  Every experience, every encounter, was heightened, special, and extraordinary. 

Now, Gretel’s legacy lives on in the countless lives she touched through her work, her mentorship, and her love.

written by Jonathan Pelto and Ari Pelto