Excluding Cultural Food in Your View of Health Is Harming Clients���

y People must be willing to have the uncomfortable conversations even if they have different life experiences in their journeys to become dietitians� y Historically Black Colleges and

Universities’ dietetic programs are being cut due to lack of funding and support - we could

contribute to these programs.

y Include dietitians from all

ethnic groups in leadership and other visible roles.

y Do not only reach out to people of color regarding expertise in cultural diversity and inclusion but also regarding their expertise

in specialties of nutrition such as diabetes, oncology

or eating disorders, etc� y Get involved with member

interest groups (MIGs) to see what other strategies are in process and become actively involved in volunteering� y Contribute more substantial resources to Africa American student interns beyond existing scholarships or even fund a student’s attendance to FNCE® or fund their RD exam cost� y Last, create sustainable partnerships between MIGs and DPGs related to the work of the D & I Committee and the Diversity Task Force�

REFERENCES:

1 Office of Disease Preventions and

Health Promotion� Healthy People 2020� Social Determinants of Health� healthypeople�gov/2020/ topics-objectives/topic/ social-determinants-ofhealth� October 8, 2020�

Jasmine Westbrooks is the co-founder and program director of EatWell Exchange Inc�, a nonprofit organization that provides nutrition education to low socio-economic populations with a focus on culture� Her nonprofit teaches communities how to make sustainable changes furthermore respecting and maintaining their culture� Jasmine’s specialties include diabetes education, healthy cooking, meal planning, childhood obesity, community nutrition and heart disease� Her interest in nutrition blossomed from health problems dominating her family's life that could have been corrected through preventive diet measures�

BRIANNA THEUS

RDN, CDN

We often tell clients and patients not to vilify their food choices� We tell them that all foods fit and there’s no such thing as good or bad foods� A client comes in to see you and tells you that they would like to start eating “better” (whatever that means to the client)� What do you tell your client? Do you tell them to start adding in more fruit, vegetables and fiber? Do you give the client examples? Do the examples reflect how your client eats or do they reflect how you eat?

I have had many clients come to me saying that they met with a dietitian and were told to remove foods from their cultures and start incorporating things that they don’t typically eat because they are not part of their heritage� When I hear that, I’m not surprised� I, like I’m sure many of you, was taught in school the typical way that everybody “should” eat� If you’re eating white rice, you should switch to brown rice OR you should have quinoa instead of rice altogether� Now we hear from influencers, friends and family that we should only eat cauliflower rice or rice made from some other vegetable� Just in those suggestions alone, white rice, which is a staple ingredient in so many cultures, has been vilified and the perpetuation of a food being “bad” continues� When people see their foods represented as unhealthy, it seems like they have a choice to make between eating their cultural foods and being healthy�

Our traditional nutrition education is not inclusive of other cultures and it’s affecting our clients�

So what do we do now?

The first step is to realize that food

is more than just nourishment. Food is culture� Food is family� Food is memories and so much more� Food is not meant to be something that’s stressful or causes a moral dilemma� When we counsel clients and tell them to start incorporating foods that are not typical for them, this increases stress and the feeling that they need to change who they are and what they do in order to fit in with American standards�

That leads to my next point: there’s

more than one way to eat. The way you eat is not the way I eat� The way I eat is not the way my clients eat� Ask your clients what they typically eat before giving suggestions� If you want them to start adding in more vegetables, ask them what vegetables they’re familiar with instead of telling them exactly which ones to add� Do your own research and don’t expect your client to give you all the answers� However, when clients are telling you something, listen to them� Try the foods for yourself� Remember that there’s more to a culture’s food than the Americanized restaurants that you see� Taco Bell and Chipotle do not represent Mexican food�

Do more. Do better. Research and listen. There’s more to food than what you know.

Brianna Theus is a registered dietitian located in Connecticut� She is the owner of The Celestial Life where she works with BIPOC who struggle with eating disorders and disordered eating to help them learn to develop a relationship to food, their bodies and their culture�