Navigating the Rollback of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Food Allergy Community

by Aleasa Word, FAACT Vice President of Inclusion Initiatives

March 2025

As conversations in the United States continue to shift about diversity, equity, and inclusion, many people in the food allergy community are feeling the impact within their personal circles. This brings a mixed bag of emotions as people continue to support, educate, and advocate for those living with food allergies. In the food allergy community, DEI has never really been about corporate initiatives. Instead, it has served as a vital component of ensuring that everyone in our community—regardless of race, gender, economic status, disability, or other background—has access to accurate information, medical care, and safe food options while encouraging belonging in all spaces.

Today, I’d like to use my role as an emotional intelligence practitioner to help the FAACT community identify complex emotions, navigate the power behind these emotions, and find ways to play on the strengths of our emotions. I’ve had an opportunity to talk to people in our community about the current state of the country. “The Emotional Spectrum of DEI Rollbacks” is the best description to convey the array of emotions people shared. Here you may find some that resonate with you as well as solutions to help you navigate these rocky times:

1. Frustration and Anger: Advocates have fought long and hard, often meeting resistance along the way, to gain opportunities that are either being dismissed or reversed. For marginalized communities with health concerns, this can feel like a personal attack, especially when seeing posts on social media that call the community out in a negative way. So how can we navigate these feelings?

Continue to channel your emotions via support initiatives educating others on the importance of food-allergy awareness and safety.
Don’t take the bait! Set personal boundaries by not allowing things you see online to bait you into toxic conversations with people who are simply looking to antagonize others.
Remain connected to like-minded people and foster mutual support for one another.

2. Fear and Anxiety: The constant barrage of changes as you seek safe foods, safe dining spaces, culturally competent medical care, and empathetic allies can trigger feelings of anxiousness. Coupled with concerns around school/ department of education changes, this climate can become overwhelming. What are some steps to take?

Stay focused on what you have control over. Try not to bury your head in the sand (though many of us might feel safer there) but instead stay up to speed on policies that might impact your family.
Work with a professional for counseling if you need to. You can also consider journaling or mindfulness exercises.

3. Hopelessness and Grief: After years of working for changes—and in other cases, experiencing great loss—some have reported feeling hopeless while experiencing yet another layer of grief as they watch progress unraveling before their eyes. How can one manage?

Give yourself time to identify your diverse emotions and process them. Grief and loss are natural and can be connected to people and things that matter most to you.
Reframe your thinking to the best of your ability. Progress requires a new approach. Find purpose in mentoring where you can.

4. Exhaustion and Burnout: Feeling like we need to start over can be daunting, especially for those who feel stretched with day-to-day caregiving, advocacy, work challenges, or personal responsibilities. What can you do?

Take care of yourself! Rest is critical if you want to be at your best to think of new ways to approach the new path we are on.
Celebrate small wins. Community efforts to educate can make a big difference.
Lean on your community when you feel like it’s too much. People need people.

Looking Ahead

It is not easy to sit still and watch things unravel as we contemplate the uncertainties ahead. Formal structures behind diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts may have begun to dissipate, but what we value behind those efforts has not. As the country moves away from the three-letter acronym representing diversity, equity, and inclusion, we don’t have to move away from good practices. A few things to remember are:

We can reframe this work and focus on how we can integrate good policies for all into everything we do.
We can keep the conversations moving ahead by sharing lived experiences, remaining empathetic, and remaining open to new ways to implement the parts of 504 accommodations and the FASTER Act that help keep our community strong and safe.

Finally, take time to sit back, breathe, and reset! This will give you an opportunity to seek out organizations that uphold the values of inclusion so you can continue to support them. It is a challenging time; however, by learning to effectively identify and manage your diverse emotions, you will increase emotional intelligence and harness the power within.