Thursday, December 01, 2011

American Dietetic Association Under Fire from RDs for Corporate Ties


Over the years much has been said about the close relationship between the American Dietetic Association and the food industry, but not too much has been done about it.

Perhaps that's changing.

Thanks to Canadian RD Cara Rosenbloom for pointing me to a grass roots initiative that took the ADA's "EatRight.org" website and created their own version, "ReallyEatRight.org".

Now the site itself is alarmist, woo-y, kinda anti-science, and a bit over the top, but their campaign to have the ADA sever their ties with food industry funding is one I fully support.

And why wouldn't they do so?

What a tremendous public relations ride they could take on such a move, and it'd be a move that at least superficially, sounds like an easy thing to do as Colby Vorland once calculated, if the ADA wanted to raise as much money annually from their members as they currently do from the food industry they'd only need to charge each member $41 more per year.

I doubt they'd lose members if that $41/year was rolled out with a clear explanation of what it was for. In fact I bet they could roll out a $50/year increase and help fund a new initiative that combats food industry spin. I'd bet further that many RDs who may have left the ADA in disgust, would in fact rejoin, increasing their coffers further.

Heck, if they did that, and if they let me, I'd join.