Andy Bellatti became a card-carrying member of the American Dietetic Association (now Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics – AND) as soon as he completed his training as a registered dietitian.
It wasn't long before Andy realized something was very wrong.
The AND, it turned out, was less interested in nutritional science than scoring promotional dollars from industry. Their campaigns receive funding from a Who's Who of Who's Poisoning America:
Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nestlé, General Mills (purveyors of Lucky Charms and Cookie Crisp breakfast cereals), Kellogg's (home of Tony the Tiger and Sugar Frosted Flakes), Kraft, Unilever (whose brands incluce Good Humor, Dove, Breyers, Popsickle, Klondike, and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter), the National Dairy Council, the National Cattleman's Beef Association, and so many more.
That funding comes with interesting strings attached. Andy found that he could receive continuing professional ed credits by taking courses from the Hershey Center for Health & Nutrition, the Coca-Cola Company Beverage Institute for Health & Wellness, General Mills Institute of Health and Nutrition, Nestlé HealthCare Nutrition, and ConAgra Food Science Institute.
The upshot of all this influence: no foods are considered “bad,” and everything is OK in moderation, and Kraft American Singles were the first product given the AND's “Kids Eat Right” seal (retracted shortly thereafter due to an entirely predictable public relations nightmare).
Disgusted by the conflicts of interest, Andy and several other members petitioned the AND to reject funding and influence peddling by the companies whose products collectively kill more Americans than wars, homocides, suicides, and car accidents combined.
No luck.
So Andy started agitating and organizing within the AND rank and file, calling upon other dietitians whose professional integrity was offended by the foxes decreeing nutritional policy for the henhouse. They formed Dietitians for Professional Integrity to combat that industry taint. From their website:
We are a group of concerned dietetics professionals looking to advance the dietetic profession and credential through advocating for greater financial transparency and ethical sponsorships within the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
This website was created to let you know more about who we are and why we do not think Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Kellogg's, and other Big Food giants should sponsor the country's largest nutrition organization.
Our efforts are guided by professional integrity. We believe the American public deserves nutrition information that is not tainted by food industry interests. Those of us who co-founded Dietitians for Professional Integrity are nutrition experts first and foremost; we went to school to help people achieve better health through food, not to help multinational food companies sell more unhealthy products.
I met Andy through Dr. Garth Davis, who recommended him as a source of recipes for our book Proteinaholic (due out October 6, y'all :). Once I discovered his activist roots and encyclopedic knowledge of nutrition, I knew I had to invite him as a guest on the podcast.
In our conversation, we cover:
- the AND's role in “healthwashing” some of the worst food in America
- the current controversy over Coca-Cola's “advertorial” claiming that you can exercise away all your sugary beverage calories
- why the industry tactics are so sophisticated (no “amateur hour” here)
- the complete lack of scientific basis for the concept of “no bad foods”
- how the AND subtly undermines and ostracizes those who disagree with its self-serving policies
- nutritional fads (like juicing) and how to stay safe in a confusing world
- how to identify and protect yourself from sneaky industry front groups
- and much more…
Enjoy, add your voice to the conversation via the comment box below, and please share – that's how we spread our message and spread our roots.
Links
AndyBellatti.com
Dietitians for Professional Integrity
Dr Howie Jacobson
This podcast is a labor of love and a way to give back to the world that has given me so much. That's why there aren't any sponsors (except me :).
My day job is helping leaders and their teams master their mindsets to remove all obstacles to heart-centered high performance.
Here are three gigs that I do:
1. Trigger-Free Leadership: Executive and Senior Leadership Mentoring and Facilitation
I work with high performing executive teams in organizations — and executive teams that need to become high performing. My focus is mindset mastery, because it’s our mindsets that either support high performance or get in the way.
At this level, everyone’s got the skills and experience to excel and contribute at the highest level. What holds people back is mindset stuff: specifically the triggers that get them out of creative engagement and into fight-or-flight defensiveness.
My practice is all about teaching people to respond differently to those triggers by updating old maps — essentially removing the glitches that the triggers grab onto.
2. Executive Coaching: Quick Wins for High Performance
I work with individual executives and leaders, one on one. The program is called Quick Wins for High Performance, and what we do is, we work strategically on one or two areas that are holding you back and keeping you from performing at your best.
We reverse engineer the presenting problems — too much work and not enough time, underperforming employees and teams, maddening organizational inefficiencies, etc — and identify and rewire the suboptimal mindsets that are behind those problems.
The work is all about updating your mental maps so your actions and responses are always appropriate, proportionate, and strategic.
3. High Stakes Conversations for Fast Growing Small Business Teams
I help small business teams have high stakes conversations with skill, humor, and grace. When people feel safe, they can do their best, most creative, most collaborative work.
So that's what I do. If you'd like any of those results, drop me a line and tell me about yourself.
You CAN Change Other People!
Well, that's what Peter Bregman and I claim in our provocative book of that title.
What we really mean is, you can bring out the best in the people around you. If you think you're powerless to help people change, it's because you've been going about it the wrong way.
Discover our straightforward, replicable process here: You Can Change Other People.
Music
The Plant Yourself Podcast theme music, “Dance of Peace (Sabali Don),” is generously provided by Will Ridenour, a kora player from North Carolina who has trained with top Senegalese musicians.
It can be found on his first CD, titled Will Ridenour.
You can learn about Will, listen to more tracks, and buy music on his website, WillRidenour.com.
Gratitudes
Thanks to Plant Yourself podcast patrons – Kim Harrison – Lynn McLellan – Brittany Porter – Dominic Marro – Barbara Whitney – Tammy Black – Amy Good – Amanda Hatherly – Mary Jane Wheeler – Ellen Kennelly – Melissa Cobb – Rachel Behrens – Tina Scharf – Tina Ahern – Jen Vilkinofsky – David Byczek – Michele X – Elspeth Feldman – Leah Stolar – Allan Kristensen – Colleen Peck – Michele Landry – Jozina – Sara Durkacs – Kelly Cameron – Janet Selby – Claire Adams – Tom Fronczak – Jeannette Benham – Gila Lacerte – David Donohue – Blair Seibert – Doron Avizov – Gio and Carolyn Argentati – Jodi Friesner – Mischa Rosen – Michael Worobiec – AvIvA Lael – Alicia Lemus – Val Linnemann – Nick Harper – Bandana Chawla – Molly Levine – The Inscrutable Harry R – Susan Laverty the Panda Vegan – Craig Covic – Adam Scharf – Karen Bury – Heather Morgan – Nigel Davies – Marian Blum – Teresa Kopel – Julian Watkins – Brid O'Connell – Shannon Herschman – Linda Ayotte – Holm Hedegaard – Isa Tousignant – Connie Haneline – Erin Greer – Alicia Davis – Heather O'Connor – Carollynne Jensen – Sheri Orlekoski of Plant Powered for Health – Karen Smith – Scott Mirani – Karen and Joe Crabtree – Kirby Burton – Theresa Carrell – Kevin Macaulay – Elizabeth Rothschild – Ann Jesse – Sheryl Dwyer – Jenny Hazelton – Peter W Evans – Dennis Bird – Darby Kelly – Lori Fanney – Linnea Lundquist – Emily Iaconelli – Levi Wallach – Rosamonde McAtee – Dan Pokorney – Stephen Leinin – Patty DeMartino – Mike and Donna Kartz – Deanne Bishop – Bilberry Elf – Marjorie Lewis – Tricia Adams – Nancy Sheldon – Lindsey Bashore – Gunn Marit Hagen – Tracey Gulledge – Lara Hedin – Meg from Mamasezz – Stacey Stokes – Ben Savage – Michael K – David Hughes -Coni Rodgers – Claire England – Sally Robertson – Parham Ganchi – Amy Dailey – Brian Tourville – Mark Jeffrey Johnson – Josie Dempsey – Caryn Schmitt – Pamela Hayden – Emily Perryman – Allison Corbett – Richard Stone – Lauren Vaught of Edible Musings – Erin Hastey – Sean Owens – Sagar Naik – Erika Piedra – Danielle Roberts – Michael Leuchten – Sarah Johnson – Katharine Floyd – Meryl Fury – for your generous support of the podcast.
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