The Burden of Eating in ‘America’
Centuries of colonialist practices have severed the connection between Indigenous people and what we consume Listen to this article It’s difficult for me to celebrate food. When I think about my connection to food, many of my first thoughts are rooted in trauma. The constant societal pressure to be thin began a lifelong struggle with disordered eating at only 8 years old. I later developed severe chronic pain and autoimmune diseases with symptoms that are made worse by gluten, soy, and dairy. Being diagnosed as diabetic in my early 30s sent me into months of extreme food restrictions that left me ill. Then there are adult years of being food insecure, either through a lack of money for food or a lack of help accessing food and preparing meals. The stress and humiliation of standing in the grocery store in a body coursing with pain, counting my grocery costs down to the penny — because EBT is never enough to survive on — has never left my psyche. Eating now is a complex proc...
