Science, Morality and Orthorexia: Rethinking Food Ethics and Good Eating

On 27 May 2021, we hosted a special panel discussion on orthorexia and nutritional eating featuring Dr Michelle Phillipov, Prof Rachel Ankeny, Prof John Coveney, Prof Lesa Scholl and Prof Megan Warin. 

The session was chaired by Michelle and featured an introduction to the topic of orthorexia by Rachel. We then heard from John who spoke about scientific and spiritual aspects of nutrition as well as the idea of good vs bad eating. This was followed by Lesa's presentation in which she applied an orthorexic framework to her discussion on Roman Catholic poet, journalist and suffragist Alice Meynell (1847-1922). Finally, Megan spoke about the concept of 'healthy anorexia' as well as the notion of self-care among those with disordered eating.