I want to talk for a moment about the term “junk food”. This is a ubiquitous label that is thrown around in common parlance, especially in the U.S. By definition, people use this term to refer to food that is highly palatable but not nutritionally dense. These “junk food” items are those that are not strictly necessary for providing human bodies with the nutrients required for optimum health (according to what we know about the human body at this point in time). I get the intention in using the "junk food" label, particularly when it comes to educating people about general nutrition. It is very important to have information about what types of foods provide the best fuel for your body. I’m glad I know that a balanced meal, rich in nutrient dense food will fuel my body better than an ice cream sundae and a bag of Doritos.
However, labels like this come with a WHOLE lot of story. Minds add connotations and create connections between “junk food” and what it means about YOU if you consume it. When I used food labels like “junk” and ”bad”, my mind did its favorite thing; made it all about ME. If I “succumbed to the temptation” of “junk” food, I was weak. If I ate a “bad” food, I was bad, at least on some level. I know I’m not alone in having the experience that my sense of worth and morality was tied up with what and how much I was eating. I was totally identified with the belief that what I ate was a direct reflection of who I was. Selfing at its finest and most compelling!
But is it true that ANY food is “junk”? Who gets to decide that anyway? If you were starving, would a cookie be “junk” to your body? Or would your body utilize the energy in that cookie to the best of its ability? How beneficial to your survival would that “junky” cookie be? It would save your life!
Fortunately, we’re not starving. Even so, if you derive tremendous, unique, sensorial pleasure from consuming “junk” food, doesn’t that alone make it valuable to you in the moment? Despite what diet culture likes to espouse, it seems to me that food is not just fuel. From what I've observed, food doesn’t seem to serve that one, singular purpose anywhere on earth! Every culture on the globe uses food as sustenance, celebration, comfort, reward, and camaraderie. This seems to be how it is on this planet and denying that is arguing with what is, no? In my experience, arguing with what is has a tendency to hurt.
To me, food is food is food. What I eat means nothing about "Me," because there is no solid "Me" to refer back to. I eat what occurs to me to eat, and everything I enjoy consuming makes its way into my diet at some point. I have the distinct privilege of having bountiful options when it comes to food quantity and selection. I know that I can eat whatever I want, whenever I want it. But because this is the only body I will inhabit in this lifetime (presumably), it occurs to me to be the best possible steward I can be. So, I keep an eye on my portions, eat things that are nutrient dense, and throw in other things that are not.
But, even though I regularly eat Little Debbie snack cakes, candy, chips, and salty snacks, I don’t consume anything I would call “junk food”.
Do you?