COVID-19 is really starting to bring out the best – and worst – in society, and more than anything, it’s highlighting high profile people’s inability to read the room. Case in point: celebrity chef Pete Evans contributing to coronavirus by shaming us for our eating habits.
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In an episode of his Evolve podcast last week, the controversial paleo diet enthusiast said he was shocked at the amount of ‘crap food’ people were hoarding from supermarkets.
“I was at the supermarket the other day picking up meat and seafood, but I was looking at people’s trolleys and I was like, ‘they’re still filling up with crap food,’” he said.
Later, he said that the pandemic will force people to overhaul their diets. “But I dare say throughout this, there will be a conscious awakening into those pillars of health,” he said.
“We’re going to be in a situation where it’s like, ‘oh sh*t maybe I should’ve looked after myself those last couple of years’, and maybe now is a really, really good time.”
Pete Evans is not wrong – looking after our bodies and eating healthy food is super important in protecting ourselves from illness and living long, happy lives. It’s a fact that most people understand.
However, one stroll down your local supermarket’s aisles and you’ll see that it’s slim pickings when it comes to many kinds of food. Not everyone has the luxury of stocking up on fancy meat and seafood, or cooking their kids a Michelin star breakfast every morning. A lot of people don’t have access to healthy food right now, and with people losing their jobs and the lines for Centrelink wrapping around the block, many can’t afford it either.
We’re not the only ones who are cringing at Pete Evans’ tone deaf coronavirus diet comments. Earlier this month, top Australian heart surgeon Dr. Nikki Stamp suggested her Twitter followers use one of Pete Evans’ cookbooks as toilet paper if their supermarkets are out.
Evans responded to Dr. Stamp’s sassy tweet by telling the Sunday Telegraph, “Funnily enough, all my cookbooks are in glossy paper, so she would probably find it hard to wipe her bum with.”
Hear that? It’s the sound of many eyes rolling.
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