AMart
Diamond Member
- Dec 29, 2020
- 12,795
- 13,217
- 2,288
They never stop with this garbage. It almost hilarious.
By Kate Gardner Burt, Lehman College, City University of New York, Bronx, NY Corresponding author: Kate G. Burt, PhD, RD Assistant Professor in the Dietetics, Foods, and Nutrition Program at Lehman College, City University of New York. Mailing Address: 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, G-431, Bronx, NY, 10468. Email Address: [email protected] ORCID: 0000-0002-6115-6450 Abstract The Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet) is widely accepted as a gold standard diet, yet its adoption and promotion as the healthiest cultural diet reflects systemic racism and inherently biased research rather than evidence-based science. This analysis establishes that while the Mediterranean region is multi-cultural and multi-ethnic, the MedDiet is a white diet. It also asserts that a lack of causal research and other methodologic issues in research about the MedDiet has resulted in a hyperfocus on the MedDiet over other cultural diets. Ultimately, promoting the MedDiet as a gold standard marginalizes people from non-white cultures by maintaining white culture as normative. In order to better serve and include Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, dietary recommendations need to become as diverse as the US population. Doing so will also improve cultural humility among professionals, beget anti-racist dietary research, and promote a more evidence-based dietary perspective.
By Kate Gardner Burt, Lehman College, City University of New York, Bronx, NY Corresponding author: Kate G. Burt, PhD, RD Assistant Professor in the Dietetics, Foods, and Nutrition Program at Lehman College, City University of New York. Mailing Address: 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, G-431, Bronx, NY, 10468. Email Address: [email protected] ORCID: 0000-0002-6115-6450 Abstract The Mediterranean Diet (MedDiet) is widely accepted as a gold standard diet, yet its adoption and promotion as the healthiest cultural diet reflects systemic racism and inherently biased research rather than evidence-based science. This analysis establishes that while the Mediterranean region is multi-cultural and multi-ethnic, the MedDiet is a white diet. It also asserts that a lack of causal research and other methodologic issues in research about the MedDiet has resulted in a hyperfocus on the MedDiet over other cultural diets. Ultimately, promoting the MedDiet as a gold standard marginalizes people from non-white cultures by maintaining white culture as normative. In order to better serve and include Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, dietary recommendations need to become as diverse as the US population. Doing so will also improve cultural humility among professionals, beget anti-racist dietary research, and promote a more evidence-based dietary perspective.