Today’s Wellness Message: Be Kind to Yourself

Has wellness become a loaded word? To answer this, let’s take a walk through time to examine the evolution of the (relatively) new science of human nutrition. 

The concept of wellness emerged in the 1980s, focused on educating the public on eating to prevent disease. The result? The battle of good/bad foods began, and the public was beat up with guilt-inducing dietary rules of what (and what not) to do. Paired with the rise in chronic disease and obesity, so also began the blame game. Good health was framed as personal responsibility (read: poor health is due to personal laziness), critics blamed the food industry (super-sizes, processed foods, and all), and we all looked for an explanation.  

Then entered the numbers game, with an overreliance on data and details framed as the only path to positive health outcomes. This left many consumers with the impression that no food choices could be made without an entire panel of nutrition facts. Take all of this and layer on the recent movement that’s made wellness more aspirational, and ultimately, wellness feels less accessible to all.  

We must stop and ask: where has it gotten us?   

Some would say we’re worse off than when we started — that “wellness” has become a loaded concept, full of confusing messages; that it’s become exclusive and unattainable, wielding an endless cycle of judgement, shame, and guilt; that it labels some culturally significant foods as “bad” without recognizing the role they play in people’s cultures; that the idea of wellness provides a shield for disordered eating.  

And we agree — many people have lost trust in their own ability to make decisions about what foods and eating patterns are best for them. 

That vision is not the vision of wellness we support at Bon Appétit! 

We’re here to challenge this model — often referred to as diet culture — in how we talk about wellness and execute our wellness initiatives. We want to engage with guests in more meaningful and impactful ways that leave them inspired and empowered in their personal wellness journey.   

We believe that everyone deserves equitable access to foods that nourish their personal needs, and part of Bon Appétit’s Dream is to make sure that those foods also nourish the communities and the Earth that we all share.  

So, what does this mean?  

We’re shifting the way we approach our wellness programming and education. This will touch all aspects of our resources — internal, as well as client- and guest-facing. This is a large and complex project for our company and will take time! 

In a nutshell — we’re shifting to a gentler wellness approach.  

We’ll take a critical eye to all wellness resources to: 

  • Release diet-culture thinking and messaging. 
  • Promote messages that empower people to make their own personal choices and intentionally and thoughtfully avoid messages that may trigger guilt or shame around food.  

We’re revamping our programming to engage with guests through: 

  • Immersive learning experiences 
  • Opportunities to enhance food literacy 
  • A focus on culinary nutrition, where we fuse our culinary expertise with our nutritional know-how 

We’ll lean in on data where and when it matters most by continuing to enhance how we communicate around food allergies. We’ve already started working quietly on this journey and you’ll hear more about how we’re shifting in the coming months.

This letter was originally published in the Fall 2024 issue of Bravo, our company magazine. Click here to see the issue.