Medicine / Government
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You don't know enough. You don't have the education. You don't have a degree. You don't have a license.
All
the time people treat other people like dirt, even though people manage
their lives, homes, education, family, and money with little effort.
Still, we have people in "leadership" positions in offices, schools, and
government who question whether or not you can say anything without
some type of legal authority to back up your claim.
Why
would the government be so interested in your opinion? There is enough
information online to satisfy any hunger for knowledge.
A report from the Alliance for Natural Health (ANH-USA) finds government surveillance, undercover sting operations, and
investigations of nutrition professionals into the alleged crime of
"practicing nutrition without a license" going on at the cost of tax payers.
"These actions, together with the levying of criminal penalties, have been undertaken by state health departments and state dietetics boards that are enforcing monopolistic laws sponsored by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. More often than not, they are supported by local law enforcement or the offices of state attorneys general.
The AND—formally the American Dietetic Association, or ADA—is not a medical organization, but a trade group that represents the interests of Registered Dietitians (RDs, who are certified by the AND's credentialing arm). The AND has about 74,000 members.
These non-RD nutrition professionals are being targeted by these states' RD monopoly laws, despite the fact that many of them have advanced degrees and a tremendous number of clinical hours to their credit. They are being prosecuted for 'practicing dietetics without a license' or for referring to themselves as 'a nutritionist' in media or marketing materials."
Today
if you speak truth and fact but do not have the government's approval,
then you too are a criminal. It seems in this modern day witch hunt that
anyone is a target for espousing their opinion.
The North Carolina Board of Dietetics/Nutrition launched an attack on Cooksey's blog featuring nutritional principles of the Paleo Diet, accusing the blogger of practicing nutritional counseling without a license. In response, he filed a lawsuit against the board for violating his First Amendment rights. Unfortunately, his story is not unique.
What
is going on? Why do you need a license to tell people to eat more
vegetables, meat, or both? Isn't it common knowledge if you don't have a
nutritionally balanced diet that your health will suffer?
There
is now competitions for corporate espionage being offered to combat
this evil problem of giving your opinion without a license:
For example, RDs in MI participated in a "Documentation of Harm Contest."4 Those who completed and submitted the most "Documentation of Harm" forms were eligible to win free registration to Michigan's annual conference. Documentation of Harm forms, used in every state now, are essentially a complaint form filled out by an RD to target unlicensed nutritionists caught in the "dangerous" act of giving dietary advice. In 2012 AND [Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics] unveiled a program to train RDs to "hunt for harm" and report it. In MA RDs are encouraged to question each client and even the RDs own relatives about non-RD practitioners they have seen, and to "help" the client fill out the complaint forms! These completely unvetted tattle tales are then offered to legislators as evidence.
And where is the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) getting its education and licensure? Where else? Corporations:
Case in point: the AND's annual conference is often called "the world's largest meeting of food and nutrition experts." Interestingly, these conferences are absent of any true nutritional experts whose knowledge could make a positive impact on Americans' health. But they do showcase numerous representatives from processed food and junk-food giants. Here is a profile of AND's food industry sponsorship:5
- In 2001, AND listed 10 food industry sponsors; their 2011 annual report lists 38
- Since 2001, the most loyal AND sponsor is the National Cattleman's Beef Association
- ConAgra and General Mills have been AND sponsors for 10 of the last 12 years; Kellogg and the National Dairy Council for nine of the 12
- At the expo, based on square footage, only about 12 percent of the exhibitor floor space was occupied by fruit and vegetable vendors—the remainder was occupied by processed food representatives
- The credentialing arm of the ANA offers "continuing education" provided by Coca-Cola, Kraft Foods, Nestle, Mars, and PepsiCo—the very companies that make the foods you need to eat LESS of in order to stay healthy and fight obesity, heart disease, diabetes, cancer and countless other chronic diseases!
Besides
not giving correct advice when dieticians are promoting their sponsors,
how about some separation from these corporate monopolies and your
health?
Obesity and diabetes can be linked to the changes in the food pyramid that the government and corporations make up for us. Isn't it about time people stood up to out of control corporations and government?
Michigan is poised to become the latest state to reverse the dietetics monopoly. On November 13, 2013, the Michigan House passed a bill to repeal Michigan's 2006 Dietetics Nutrition Licensing law, which had erected a de facto monopoly for registered dietitians. CNA coalition members in Michigan expressed a willingness to collaborate with dietitians to engineer a bill that wasn't "RD-centric" and would give much broader practice rights.
But
if you want to see change and a return to a non-polarizing dialogue
about nutrition and health, then the people are going to have to support
legislation like the one in Michigan as well as pressure politicians to
create such changes in the law.
If you would like to know more, CNA [The Center for Nutrition Advocacy] will be holding a free webinar
today, Jan 22 at 5pm PT/7pm CT/8pm ET to discuss licensing
nationwide and its impact on anyone who uses nutrition in their work.
