The “Wonderful People (Weird Food)” Tribe

Seth Godin defines a “tribe” as a “group of people connected to one another, connected to a leader, and connected to an idea” (2008). Jon Morrow adds, “Sometimes, you don’t get to choose the tribes that you belong to. They choose you, and there’s nothing you can do about it. I’m a member of one of those tribes. It’s called the Tribe of the Disabled” (2008).

You and I are members of the “We Have to Eat Our Food Selectively” tribe. How did we get there? Well, unless we chose to become vegetarians, we probably had a health issue that put some limits on our choice of foods in order to regain and/or retain our health. In some cases, ours lives depend on it. Like Jon, above, we didn’t choose this tribe, it chose us.

When people hear that I can’t have anything with wheat, dairy, corn, or eggs in it, they give me a slightly glassy-eyed stare, and then ask, “What’s left?” Even my own doctor chortled at the thought of me surviving on “ice chips and water!” The fact is, there is a lot of great food without those four ingredients: the trick is getting used to it and learning not to miss those four cornerstones of western diet. Shoot, I gained 30 pounds in two years of heavy studying without once touching any of those foods! (Not something I’m proud of, but it does prove a point… Oh, and btw, I’m down three, 27 more to go!)

For you, it may be sugar, or fats, or gluten, or peanuts, or fibre, or portions-too-many-and-too-large, or any number of other food items you “should” be avoiding and/or controlling.

Instead of thinking of it in terms of what I can’t eat, for whatever reason, I’m learning to think of it in terms of what I *can* eat. It’s much more positive, and makes conversations on the subject a lot less depressing. Instead, I like to think I’m a member of the “Wonderful People (Weird Food) Tribe.”

Are you with me? Let’s survive – no, let’s *thrive* – together! And let’s call our tribe the “Great Food (Just Different) Tribe!”

ea/

REFERENCES:

Godin, S. (2008). Tribes: We need you to lead us (Unabridged Audiobook). Audible, Inc. (Downloaded October 18, 2008, from the iTunes Store.) [Also available in text format at http://www.sethgodin.com/sg/books.asp]*

Morrow, J. (2008). Tribes you don’t want to belong to. In Godin, S. (2008). The Tribes Casebook: A companion to Tribes. triiibes.com. (Downloaded October 16, 2008, from http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2008/10/free-tribes-ebo.html)*

*I receive no financial benefit from mentioning these resources.

Tagged as: Coping, F&F, Sociology of Food, Support