Health and Wellness Brands Need to Stop Appropriating Ethnic Foods

The shelves of health and wellness stores are lined with colorful, unfamiliar products: debloating teas, keto cereals, adaptogenic sodas, and so much more. To most shoppers, these products may seem like expensive, and sometimes ineffective, ways to boost your health. However, the prevalence of health and wellness products has given rise to an epidemic of cultural appropriation.

Health and wellness has created a $66 billion market in the United States, and consumer demand is growing exponentially. Stores like Whole Foods offer 500+ brands of health foods, and many social media influencers have gained popularity from promoting these products. However, the products that so many consumers excitedly endorse today were once looked down upon by a majority of Americans.

Most of today’s health and wellness products have roots in Asian, African, and Indigenous culture. In the early 2000s, food from these cultures was seen as ‘dirty’ and ‘unhealthy’. Many young children were mocked by their peers for eating pungent foods like kimchi and seaweed. Now, 20 years later, these foods, and many more, are marketed as gut healthy and nutritious, and sold at exorbitant prices in upscale grocery stores. As these foods have grown in popularity, they have been distanced from the cultural background that created them.

It seems as though when a person eats a food from their own culture, the food is of little allure. However, when someone else chooses to rebrand that same food, erasing its cultural background in favor of listing its health benefits and calorie content, the food is suddenly seen as a hot commodity.

This is a phenomenon that is prevalent in the American health and wellness sector. Allison Ellsworth, an entrepreneur from Dallas, owns a popular healthy soda brand that utilizes adaptogens. Adaptogens are Chinese medicinal herbs that are used to reduce stress and promote health. Adaptogens have been used in Asia since 2500 BCE, and they are an important part of Chinese and Indian culture. They are used for traditional healing and religious practices. Ashwagandha, which is a well known adaptogen known for stress reduction, has deep ties to the Vedas, which is a book of Hindu religious teachings.

However, Ellsworth chooses to ignore the rich background of the component that makes her drinks popular. Instead, she only includes the low calorie and sugar content of her sodas. The brand has now amassed a value of over a million dollars, and most consumers associate adaptogens with such drinks rather than the cultures which they belong to.

The cultural heritage of many other foods has also been erased by businesses in order to rebrand these foods in a way that seems profitable to them. Most people don’t know that kombucha originated in China, that kefir originated in Central Asia, that Ashwagandha originated in India, or that probiotics have roots in Africa. Instead, they only see these foods as healthy, and unique. The gentrification and cultural appropriation of wellness products has not only led to an erasure of cultural traditions, but it has also led to conflict between these groups and popular health brands.

In 2021, an Indigenous TikTok influencer sparked controversy after calling out Whole Foods for selling a sacred Herb. White Sage is an herb that is important to California and Mexican tribes. It is used for both medicinal and ceremonial practices, and is thought to cleanse the air. The burning of white sage is a closed practice, meaning it can only be practiced by Natives or those who are invited to partake. By selling this product, Whole Foods violated centuries of Indigenous traditions simply to make a profit.

The problem with today’s health and wellness brands is not that people are exploring and trying new foods. The issue is that businesses are choosing to erase the cultural heritage and traditions of the foods they sell in order to make them more appealing to their consumer base. The health and wellness community needs to realize that by gentrifying these products, they are not only hurting the cultures that pioneered them, but they are also denying themselves the opportunity to be educated on these matters. Moving forward, brands need to put in the effort to credit the cultures which their food comes from in order to create a more accepting and knowledgeable community of consumers.