Confessions of a Xicana Writing About Paleo Eating

I have to confess that I have felt uneasy the last few weeks about sharing food and cooking on my Facebook and blog.  I feel uneasy about it because I am a social worker and a professor.  I write about and have worked on very serious issues such as the marginalization of Latino boys, promoting equity in schools, concern about the mental health effects of increased standardized tests in schools, state violence, trauma as a result of war, human rights violations, genocide, extreme poverty, etc. etc.  I was reminded of Lorna Dee Cervantes poem, "Poem For the Young White Man Who Asked Me How I, An Intelligent Well Read Person, Could Believe in the War Between Races."  In this poem Cervantes describes her desire to be a poet and write about love on rooftops, but she cannot because the bullets of racism are aiming at her children.  Near the end of the poem, she says:

I am a poet
who yearns to dance on rooftops,
to whisper delicate lines about joy
and the blessings of human understanding.
I try. I go to my land, my tower of words and
bolt the door, but the typewriter doesn't fade out
the sounds of blasting and muffled outrage.
My own days bring me slaps on the face.
Every day I am deluged with reminders
that this is not
my land

and this is my land.

I do not believe in the war between races

but in this country
there is war.

This is my reality, and the reality of so many others I know. So, why then, do I bother to write about something that seems so trivial like food and recipes? Today, I attended a panel presentation where one of my colleagues courageously came out about having mental illness.   She stated that she wanted to add to the narratives on mental illness, that often make Asians, Latinxs, African Americans, invisible.  Later, we had a discussion at a table about disability studies and advocacy work, noting that it is primarily a white movement.  Yes, it is, as so many other social movements have been in the past (i.e. the early feminist movement, early LGBTQI movements such as ACT UP, etc.).  So, too, when I look at the Paleo, raw vegan, clean eating, etc. is overwhelmingly and completely white and upper middle class, maybe just middle class, but never immigrant, Latinx, working class, etc.

When I read through my Paleo magazine, which I love, or other food blogs, they are only representations of white folks.  In my current issue of Paleo, there is not one person of color in that magazine.  Yet, I know so many folks - other Latina friends, who have had tremendous success and improved health eating some version of "Paleo" diets, other sisters of all races who have made it a priority to eat well, whether it be a plant based diet or Paleo.  My own father, a Mexican, working class immigrant, loved the Paleo diet and had the best quality of life possible given his health conditions partly because of this diet.  My friend and chiropractor, Mario Gonzalez, promotes a Paleo way of eating with his clients, many of whom are Latinx. Dr. Gonzelez even has a spot on a well followed Spanish radio program where he gives advice around the many health issues facing the Latinx community, promoting changes in what we eat.

There are many of us out there attempting to improve our health for our families, for our communities; so that we can continue la lucha.  I learned the "hard way" the importance of caring for my body, for my health - both mental and physical health.  Burn out and vicarious trauma is very real.  The daily microaggressions in our workplaces take a toll threatening our physical and emotional well being, not to mention all the work we do with others to challenge social injustices in the many ways they are manifested.  I am feeling the need to write about the many things I listed above, and I will, because that satisfies a different drive and hunger.  Meanwhile, I will continue to provide my body and soul and those of my loved ones with the good food that nourishes us and keeps us healthy.  That is my way of loving myself and loving others in a small, tangible, attainable way.