Guidelines for talking about eating habbits?

[southdown]

I have my head around the rules for talking about weight on the forum, but I am wondering if there are any guidelines for talking about eating?

(I'm thinking about starting a thread in the Concert Hall, but there is an eating-ish thing going on with me atm and I want to get an idea of whether this is just totes not the place for that element BEFORE I go and... put my foot in my mouth.)

[Azla]

Good question!

[Knitting Cat Lady]

I'd be interested in an answer to that as well!

[kathlynn]

They are vague. "No body shaming, body snarking, diet talk, mentioning specific weights or sizes, or posting what constitutes healthy or unhealthy eating."
I would also like clarification on this, because I've considered asking for advice on my milk allergy, but didn't want to break the rules. But I am probably over thinking things. I do that.

(edited to bold "diet talk", since my intent was to bold the food related part of the rule)

[boutet]

Just wanted to you let you all know that this question has been seen and will be answered!

[boutet]

Mod note:

Thank you for your patience!

To start with here are some links to previous Admin posts on this topic!:
http://friendsofcaptainawkward.com/foru ... f=6&t=8044 (cliff notes style recap of the rules)
http://friendsofcaptainawkward.com/foru ... f=6&t=6823 (a discussion about not using specific weights/sizes on the board)

Generally what we are referring to is that there is no universal "healthy" or "unhealthy" food/weight/activity/etc. A quick and easy example is yogurt. Yogurt is often put forward as a "healthy" food but I'm lactose intolerant. Yogurt gives me terrible life-disrupting cramps that can last days. So if a person posted about "I'm eating yogurt for breakfast, just trying to add more healthy food to my routine" that would be inappropriate by our rules, just as it would be inappropriate for me to post about yogurt being "unhealthy." The health value of a food is entirely dependent on the individual and the situation the individual is in. So rather than saying "healthy" or "unhealthy" we ask that users be very specific when they're talking about food.

So, "I want to eat more protein so I've started eating cashews," is fine. It's a specific food that is specifically valuable to the poster. "I want to eat more healthy so I'm eating cashews," is placing a general health value on the food. Cashews are not universally "healthy." In some cases cashews are deadly.

We also don't allow terms like "junk food" or "fast food" as a negative for the same reason. No food is universally "junk," and we don't allow foods to be judged as bad or shameful, because it also implies judgement of the person who eats it. Food is morally neutral and no person is a better or worse person for what they eat. "Healthy" and "unhealthy" often carry moral judgement with them, and that pattern in our society does real and terrible harm.

We have also made a decision about diet (in the sense of "weight loss dieting") that had to do with balancing conflicting needs. We do not generally host diet/weight loss talk in the way that it is popularly done elsewhere. This is to make this board a safer place for people who find weight loss/fat shaming culture triggering or detrimental to their mental health, and people who find this kind of talk negatively impacts their habits or physical health. There is a whole wide internet outside of the forum where diet and weight loss is discussed so we have prioritized the needs of the people who are harmed by society's view of weight and diet. The board can't be all things to all people, and we can not be a diet or weight-change support space.

If you do want to find an online support space for these topics I would recommend googling Health At Every Size and seeing what is available that might suit you.

[Thanksforallthefish]

Oh thanks boutet
From what you say, it sounds like you could have a concert hall thread where you say things like "I'm struggling with dairy so I'm trying a week without pizza, does anyone have advice regarding milk chocolate?" or some such thing and people who have also struggled with digesting dairy could weigh in with thoughts.
Does that sound right?

[Jane_the_chicken]

// mod hat on ///

Yep, Thanksforallthefish, that would be fine. "I'm trying to avoid this specific thing I have an intolerance to; does anyone have any advice?" is fine.

// mod hat off //

[DropTable~DropsMic]

One way I've dealt with this is by writing things like "healthy-to-me foods" or "foods that are in line with my health goals." I've asked about it in the past and been told this is ok because I'm making it clear I am referring to my own health and not the healthiness of the food in general. If you have a specific goal though it might be good to say so ("I'm trying to avoid dairy this week" or similar) and often you can do so in a way that doesn't imply any positive or negative judgement of the foods themselves.

[southdown]

Thank you to everyone who has given examples, and to the mods for putting together the guidelines!