Ep. 14: Parenting Amidst Diet Culture with Virginia Sole-Smith & Amy Palanjian

About our guests: Virginia Sole-Smith is a journalist and author of The Eating Instinct: Food Culture, Body Image and Guilt in America. She is a frequent contributor to the The New York Times parenting section, and many other publications. Amy Palanjian, is a writer, editor and recipe developer. She is the founder of Yummy Toddler Food, a site filled with practical feeding advice, as well as Yummy Family Food, a site aimed at helping families lessen the stress around eating.

In this episode Elizabeth, Anna Lutz, Virginia & Amy discuss:

  • Evolving philosophies about food, particularly after becoming a parent
  • How being too controlling and obsessing over “healthy eating” typically backfires
  • The immense pressure from diet culture to be the “perfect” parent
  • How the culture of “clean eating” negatively affects our children
  • The connection between Orthorexia and Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID)
  • How taking pleasure in food is fundamental to the way kids eat and how we all interact with food
  • The danger of unqualified people sharing nutrition advice 

Links:

Virginia Sole-Smith

Amy Palanjian

Amy’s Forthcoming Cookbook, Food Play (Available Nov. 10th!)

Yummy Toddler Food

Yummy Family Food

Sunny Side Up Nutrition

Pinney Davenport Nutrition

Lutz Alexander Nutrition Therapy