Book Club

We are so excited about our JULY Book Club for two reasons:
1. We picked an article not a book this year.  
2. We are featuring an article by Lexi Endicott RD LD and the To Taste Team!

This topic is extremely relevant and very well written. Let's read it and discuss it.  

Full link:
https://totaste.com/diversity-in-dietetics/

Discussions will be cross posted to our Instagram @odomrd and Facebook pages www.facebook.com/odomrd

Here is an excerpt from the article: 

Diversity (well, lack thereof) in Dietetics

94% of registered dietitians are females. 85% of dietitians are white; 3% of dietitians are Black (1). All of my nutrition textbooks were written by white women. All of my nutrition professors were white women. There’s never been any question that there’s a lack of diversity within our field.

As a company and as individuals, we certainly aren’t blind to issues concerning cultural and racial differences and disparities. We’ve seen it throughout our careers and internships in schools, hospitals, and communities. Despite recognizing these disparities, we admit that we were also not actively pursuing solutions to resolve these differences. 

As we have listened and learned over the last several weeks in response to the increased Black Lives Matter movement, we have realized to a greater extent the necessity to use our voices to advocate for change within the field of dietetics. 

During our dietetic training, we are trained to “apply the principles of cultural competence within [one’s] own practice” (2). However, this core competency doesn’t necessarily translate into creating and encouraging a more diverse field of practitioners.

There are numerous barriers that Black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) face when entering the field of nutrition. High cost, unpromising return on investment, lack of exposure to the field, social stigma, weight bias, and countless other microaggressions are factors that deter BIPOC from pursuing dietetics as a career (3).

As a profession, we NEED diverse voices. We need health and nutrition professionals from diverse backgrounds so that we can collectively create better and more connected communities. Founders of Food Heaven Made Easy, dietitians Wendy Lopez and Jessica Jones said it well:

“Our communities are disproportionately affected by chronic illness, and it’s important that they see people who look like them educating them” (4).