Towards Critical Dietetics: A Personal Perspective

Abstract

My dietetics career at Ryerson University (1970-2004) was profoundly influenced by feminism and critical theory, as well as involvement with home economics, health promotion and food security.Both dietetics and home economics professionals are faced with conflicts between the dominant (male) structures of knowledge and practice and the lived experience (predominantly female) of addressing the problems of everyday life - especially food. In reflecting on my practice as teacher, administrator (program director and dean) and advocate (within the profession and the community), the model I developed for a professional Practice course offered a helpful framework. The model assumes a constant interaction between the personal and the professional - and proposes these four dimensions of our being for reflection on both our personal lives and our professional practice: (1) learner, (2) citizen, (3) "body and soul" and (4) "actor in the formal economy." The paper offers a personal retrospective on both food security in Toronto (Part I) and dietetic education (Part II).