I hate food culture in America. I just want to say that up front because I’ve been thinking about it lately. I re-read posts on Ask A Manager, and I’ve been absorbed in one about a nonprofit charity that deals with people with a certain chronic disease (and how to help them eat healthily*. That wasn’t what the letter was about. The letter was from someone who worked there who asked how to implement a:
healthy eating policy that is respectful and non-judgmental.
My immediate response on re-reading that question was, “There isn’t. Next?” Which, to be fair, many, many, many people pointed out. But, reading the comments reminded me again about how deeply endemic these issues are in our society.
To be clear. The vast majority of people were against the policy as it stood. Oh, the policy would be…not even sure, but something about eating similar to what they’re pushing their clients to eat? I don’t know, but the letter writer, named QuestionSubmitter, elaborated in the comments. They were shamed for bringing chocolate into the office so ended up eating it in their car. They said in their letter that there were people who ran their food program who were frustrated that they “had” to police their coworkers food choices. I put had in quotes because they didn’t have to. They were doing it all of their own volition. What’s more, there wasn’t support from the uppers in this push for ‘healthy’ eating. The uppers wanted cupcakes at meetings, which did not bode well for a policy.
Alison’s response was wonderful and hit most of the important points I had in mind. It was interesting to see how people pushed back, though. There was a woman who compared a food policy to a dress code, which, no. I mean, I think most dress codes are ridiculous, too, but in most cases, you can’t get sick from those restrictions. The same woman said something like we can all agree that certain foods aren’t healthy–like Skittles. Several people pointed out that Skittles were perfect for diabetics who needed a quick hit of sugar.
Other people said it was getting into not everyone can eat sandwiches territory (adhering to the very special/rare cases), but it’s not because a blanket policy will affect many different people in different ways. In the comments, people were giving their specific dietary restrictions such as several needed to eat more salt than was recommended. Another could not eat leafy greens. Then there were those who were celiacs and/or had Crohn’s disease. The point being that what was healthy for some was not healthy for others.
Other people said it’s easy to eat healthy by societal standards (lots of vegs and fruits), but they included a lot of meat beacuse they lift weights. Somebody pointed out that lots of meat would be considered unhealthy by many doctors, which is true. It was discouraging that a very vocal minority wanted to dismiss food deserts as a problem.