The idea that some foods are better than others originates in “systems of oppression” and “fatphobia,” food activist Kera Nyemb-Diop said in a video posted to Instagram last week.
THE QUOTE
The Los Angeles Parent Union, an advocacy group for people with children in the Los Angeles Unified School District, drew attention to the video Monday, claiming it had been shared by the district’s Department of Human Relations and Diversity’s official Instagram account.
The video, first posted by activist Blair Imani, opens with a skit in which a woman rebukes her friend for expressing chagrin at a plate of donuts with the comment, “You’re judging my food choices based on a false standard of health again, aren’t you?”
- “Diet culture, fatphobia and systems of oppression have created false hierarchies of food and it shows up everywhere,” Nyemb-Diop explains.
- Anti-fatphobia activist Maya Finoh added her own explanation: “The only foods that are bad for you are foods that contain allergens, poisons, and contaminants or food that is spoiled or otherwise inedible.”
- Social media users quickly pointed out that, according to her LinkedIn profile, Nyemb-Diop works for snack food conglomerate Mondelez and so may not be entirely selfless in promoting “fat identity.“