In many of my online communities, it’s very popular to “healthify” recipes.
My mother in law regularly brings over banana bread, and proudly tells me that she used whole wheat flour. Because whole wheat flour is “better” than all-purpose flour.
It’s “healthier”.
Banana bread IS amazing, but you know what’s even more amazing???
Paleo banana bread.
Right? Riiiiiight?
How much does YOUR banana bread cost? Let’s just look at flour.
All-purpose flour – $0.28 per cup Organic sprouted whole wheat flour – $0.86 per cup Ground almond flour – $3.31 per cup
So, in flour alone, paleo banana bread will cost TEN times as much as regular banana bread. I have not even mentioned coconut oil.
On any given Sunday, I can make regular banana bread or whole wheat banana bread or paleo banana bread without thinking about it. Despite the tenfold difference in price.
The privilege is just that → not having to think about it.
Yet, here are the comments that I see whenever anyone brings up the issue of government, policy, privilege, social justice, or impact of socioeconomic status, in a community that is not directly centered around politics:
“Leave politics out of it!”
“Umm… I thought this was a group of nutrition. Let’s stick to nutrition.”
“Not here to get all political. Unfollowing!”
A friend recently posted about why it is inappropriate to respond to “Black Lives Matter” with “all lives matter”, and preemptively suggested that, no, it wasn’t a “political post”. Because “political” means having to do with the government or a particular party in politics.
Let’s see.
“Political”:
-- relating to the government or the public affairs of a country.
-- relating to the ideas or strategies of a particular party or group in politics.
-- interested in or active in politics.
-- motivated or caused by a person's beliefs or actions concerning politics.
-- relating to, affecting, or acting according to the interests of status or authority within an organization rather than matters of principle.
Whether or not I can afford to “not think about it” when I make paleo banana bread, while my neighbor cannot - is and always will be political.
I am part of conversations about food, stress, health, body image, confidence, starting a business, effective communication, sports nutrition, athletic performance, disordered eating - every single day.
I wrote a post yesterday, talking about how everything seems to boil down to politics (and math), eventually.
We cannot talk about paleo banana bread without acknowledging that it can cost ten times more than the regular banana bread.
Or, rather… we can. We have been.
But we shouldn’t.
Time for deeper conversations.