02/13/2026
Food neutrality can be a helpful first step in creating more peace in your food relationship.
The words we use to describe food can hold a lot of power. From diet culture, we learn to look at foods as black-and-white. For example, “clean eating”, this phrase implies any foods that do not fit in a clean eating pattern must therefore be “dirty”. Or, consider how frequently you hear people discuss how “bad” they were this weekend eating x,y,z foods that fall under the “bad” list.
Using these black-and-white categories for food places moral value on our food choices.
We can practice food neutrality and acknowledge that all foods exist on a spectrum of nourishment, at the same time, without judging if we are a “good” or “bad” person for choosing certain foods. Remember, all food provides nutrients.
Food neutrality is a practice that can be learned. Any new skill we learn as humans takes practice. Consider when you were a child, first learning to tie your shoes; at first it feels really challenging, maybe even awkward at times, but before too long it becomes second nature.
When you’re choosing foods or talking about foods - what words are you using?
