I am a “grazer” - I eat lightly throughout the day to keep my blood sugar levels steady, I always have and always will eat this way. I don’t eat unhealthy food as I simply don’t enjoy it and I don’t overeat, I am a healthy and active fat person who loves that this blog is taking a stand for those of us who aren’t simply the “fat gluttons” that the media portrays fat people to be. For a mid-morning snack I usually eat something healthy (my favorite options are a packet of dried fruit or a peach). I have a desk job so I usually can eat my snack at my desk in my office without bothering anybody but last week I had to drive my 9-y.o daughter to the dentist so decided to have my snack on the way there. It’s a short drive, one I’ve driven many times and I ate out of a packet of dried fruit while keeping my eyes on the road and usually both hands on the wheel. Halfway there I was pulled over by a thin female traffic officer who demanded I get out of the vehicle and show her my licence. She then berated me (shouting in front of my daughter and onlookers actually stopped their cars to watch, BLOCKING TRAFFIC, WHICH SHE DID NOTHING ABOUT) for eating while driving and then proceeded to tell me that dried fruit is basically pure sugar. I felt terrified of this person as she was clearly unreasonable (a traffic officer asking someone to get out of their car so that they can give them diet advice while blocking moving traffic???) and she was in a position of authority. I think she felt bad because I was near tears from fear and shock and worry about what my daughter might be experiencing, so she let me go with a patronizing “remember about the sugar”. This is not okay. The police should not be allowed to use their authority to shame fat people for what they’re eating. It’s ridiculous!

As a few readers have said, it doesn’t matter how you eat you don’t deserve to face discrimination. This blog isn’t about showing society that all fat people are not “fat gluttons,” this blog is about giving fat people the right to have their humanity regardless of how they live in their body. -FBP