Sound Off Sunday is a new series here. It won’t be as frequent as Soften Saturday and may, in fact, be in direct contrast to my Saturday posts. Sometimes I have a tiny rant that needs to be shared. I’ll do that on Sundays. I’m not going to become one of the inflammatory, Negative Nancy/Ned bloggers. There are plenty of those out there. I just needed a place for an occasional rant as it relates to all things food, travel and adventuring.
This was originally posted on the In Johnna’s Kitchen Facebook page. Because Facebook shares my posts with a whopping 0.5% of you who have pressed the “like” button, I know many of you didn’t see it. I’m posting it here so you can all see it. Alright, here goes…
Today several folks asked me what I thought of this news story. (If you haven’t read it, essentially a lovely blogger who had been eating a vegan diet has decided to transition to a more inclusive diet after becoming ill eating her version of a vegan diet. It was not well received by many, she even received death threats.)
I wanted to address the questions I was asked today.
First up, how do I feel about this as a vegan? Well, newsflash: I’m not vegan. I write recipes that are vegan. I also write Paleo recipes. Sometimes one recipe is Paleo and vegan. The same food works for many. I label recipes so folks can find what fits best for them. The diet I follow is the Johnna-Diet. I eat what works for me. I love that the writer is following her own path to health. We aren’t all the same, no one diet will work for all of us.
Second, do I worry about becoming orthorexic? (Orthorexia is an eating disorder, an extreme or excessive preoccupation with avoiding foods perceived to be unhealthy.) If you’ve read my “about me” page, you know I come from a place of disordered thinking about food. I had a similar affliction to orthorexia that I refer to as CalorieCountitis and had a less healthy relationship with food after major weight loss than when weighing 300 pounds. I’ve spent much time working through food issues. If you need the number of a great therapist, I might know of one. (So no, I don’t worry about orthorexia. But if you do, PLEASE reach out for help.)
Third, what do I think about the judgment folks have shown toward this blogger? I think it’s ridiculous. Everyone is welcome in my kitchen. We don’t all eat the same way and we are all gonna be okay about it. Otherwise, move along. If you want to cast judgment on anyone’s diet, this isn’t the place for you. There are surely other pages where you can be with like people who want to hate. Only love here, y’all.
Did I miss anything? Care for my opinion on anything else related to being mean to a blogger who shares her recipes and journey for absolutely no charge to you? Nope? Didn’t think so. 🙂
I love you for a lot of reasons, but this post is going to make the list. xoxo.
Aw, thanks! Sending big hugs to you.
I agree with Bree! Beautiful job on commenting on this situation and sharing your own feelings, Johnna. Once a month, my support group members come together for a meal and several times a year, including the retreat where blogger friends like you join in, I get together with friends who eat all different ways. We eat together with delight and without judgment. I learn how much I love dishes like Jackfruit Barbecue (thank you, dear!), vegan nut cheese, etc. and the vegetarians/vegans in our group appreciate naturally vegetarian/vegan recipes I have made and look to some other dishes to see how they might re-make them vegetarian or vegan. It works wonderfully well! I think that should be the model for behavior for food preferences/beliefs, food intolerances, etc. Live and let live and celebrate each other and each other’s food! I really hope the blogger in question finds peace and happiness and can leave those folks behind, but it makes me sad she had to endure that. Nothing good ever came out of hate like that. 🙁
Shirley
You are so right, Shirley, no good comes from hate like that. You are such an inspiration to me–being at a retreat in your home really showed me that it is possible for everyone to eat together, without judgment, regardless of our food choices or needs. I’m on a mission to make it this way in many more places!
Awww, thanks on the retreat comment, dear. I don’t think you really needed that example though. You already had that mindset, but I appreciate your sweet words. You are doing a great job with educating folks and making them think a little (hopefully A LOT) differently on food judgment!
Johnna, I’m so glad you posted this here. I love your take on these things. Pretty sure there will be no shortage of material for Sound Off Sunday.
Thanks, Linda! I agree with you, no shortage of material. 🙂