The myth of neutrality

There is no such thing as a neutral designer in the food system.

As humans, outside of work, we’ve been connected to food since day one.

We cannot fully separate the ways we’ve experienced food as individuals from how we show up to design programs, products, services, or other experiences in the food system.

The experiences we’ve had with food in our lives — from the daily enjoyment of our cultural foods, to joyous moments of connection with family and community over a comforting or celebratory meal, to difficult experiences and personal histories we may have with food — all influence how we see, approach, and engage with our work as designers.

This sets us up — as professionals and people working relationally with others — with a mix of both assets to bring to our work as well as potential risks in the form of things like harmful biases and unchecked oppressive practices.

That’s all of us. We all have strengths to bring to the table. And we all have the potential to create harm.

The good news: We can all learn how to positively harness our strengths and mitigate the risks.

And it starts by letting go of the myth of the neutral practitioner. Because they don’t exist.

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