‘The Black Nutritionist’ examines nutritional advice in a multi-cultural world

Kéra Nyemb-Diop, who was raised in a Caribbean-African family, has a problem with traditional nutritional advice: It doesn’t work for all cultures.

With a master’s degree in food science from Université de Rennes and a doctorate in nutrition from L'Institut Agro Rennes-Angers, both in France, she works to blend her expertise with her cultural heritage to help people “improve their eating habits in a way that will align with them.”

“The recommendations and the narrative around health are really focused on individual effort and do not recognize the systemic and community impact. It creates a lot of guilt and shame. It creates difficulties to adhere to the recommendation, and so people end up feeling that they are wrong, and that there is a problem with them, and so they need to change their own bodies instead of understanding that they have options,” she told New Hope Network in June.

At Newtopia Now, Nyemb-Diop discussed the variety of healthy, nutritious foods that aren’t part of the typical American- or European-centric diets, and how to expand the definitions of healthy diet and nutrition.

Watch the video of Nyemb-Diop’s presentation, “Decolonize Your Plate: A Scientific Journey to Personalized Wellness With ‘The Black Nutritionist,’” recorded at New Hope Network’s Newtopia Now trade show on Aug. 26, 2024, in Denver, Colorado. The next Newtopia Now is scheduled for Aug. 20-22, 2025, also in Denver.