Bodyful Episode #15: Zephyr Scott on Food System Alienation

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By Valerie Martin

Every now and then someone comes along who stops you in your tracks and makes you just want to pull out your notebook and write down everything they’re saying.

Zephyr Scott is one of those people.

They are incredibly passionate, wise, unconventional, kind, and dedicated to their work of bridging disconnections that have been ignored to the detriment of our individual and collective health.

This dynamic conversation reaches across a wide range of topics, from why eating disorder treatment facilities should consider biophilic design, to what Zephyr defines as “food system alienation,” and how a year of living as a vagabond taught them more about breaking free from the cultural script than anything they could have learned inside a therapy room.

I can’t wait to read Zephyr’s future book, and it’s clear to me just from this hour-long conversation that they are going to leave a real mark on the world.

To listen to the episode, stream from the podcast player below, or search & subscribe to Bodyful on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

About Zephyr Scott (they/them)

Zephyr has been many things: a freelance painter, international solo hitchhiker, burlesque performer, dissident, student, emergency caseworker for survivors of domestic violence, citizenship test interpreter, vagrant, teacher, and more. They have lived in moldy squats, on sidewalks, at occupations, out of a backpack in the woods, and as far from their Chesapeake Bay region birthplace as Aotearoa (New Zealand). Zephyr now lives in a log cabin with friends of varied species in the high desert wilderness on occupied Apache Chiricahua land. It is a place that they aspire to transform into a multispecies sanctuary of sorts for individuals whose bodies have been harmed by human food systems.

Zephyr is finishing their Masters of Science in Sustainable Food Systems, writing a book that examines food and body struggles from a critical food systems studies perspective, and is spending the first half of 2022 doing an intensive mentored study in regenerative architecture with a focus on the psychological and embodied impacts of existing eating disorder treatment center designs. Their upcoming projects will reimagine and radically redesign care for people who are struggling with food and embodiment. Much of Zephyr’s research and writing has centered on the weaponization of food systems by systems of power, the framework they have been creating of “food system alienation”, and the utilization and reclamation of food systems in liberatory struggles.

Zephyr believes in taking action to facilitate autonomy for everyone regardless of class, race, gender, species, and all other assigned categories.

Links + Additional Resources:

Bodyful Episode #14: Emily Murray on Healing Our Relationship With Food

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By Valerie Martin

There’s so much conflicting information out there about nutrition (including some that is straight-up harmful), that even very intelligent people can end up frustrated and confused about something so fundamental as daily nourishment.

That’s why, when I find people who are highly trained and are able to translate the cacophony of information on nutrition into something actually true and helpful, I want to spread their message far and wide.

One such person is Emily Murray, a registered dietitian here in Nashville and owner of Murray Nutrition.

In this converastion with Emily, we explore the normalization of disordered eating (thanks, diet culture!), what it looks like to start to heal a dysfunctional relationship with food, common obstacles that come up in that process and in eating disorder recovery, and more.

To listen to the episode, stream from the podcast player below, or search & subscribe to Bodyful on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

About Emily Murray, RD, LDN, CEDS (she/her)

Emily is a non-diet, HAES registered dietitian and certified eating disorders specialist through the International Association of Eating Disorder Professionals (iaedp). Emily offers a warm and direct therapeutic pre    sence, aiming to support her clients through radical honesty, practical skill building, and enduring hope.

After completing her dietetic internship at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital, Emily worked in a variety of practice settings and levels of care for eating disorders, including The Renfrew Center in Nashville. She has since founded her own practice, Murray Nutrition, and currently serves as a board member on the Nashville iaedp chapter.

In her free time, Emily enjoys arts and crafts, listening to music, nature walks, and spending time with her husband and pup, Theo. To learn more about the services that Emily and her team offer, head to murraynutritionco.com, and follow along with Emily’s Instagram @murraynutrition.

Links + Additional Resources:

Bodyful Episode #04: Rachel Lewis & Paula Scatoloni on Embodied Recovery for Eating Disorders

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Paula Scatoloni Rachel Lewis Bodyful Podcast

You might think that working with the body would be a central component of eating disorder recovery.

And from a standpoint of medical safety and nutrition, that has always been the case. But as far as working with the body as part of the actual biopsychological healing process? Not so much.

The field of trauma recovery has come a long way in the past 2 decades, with a great deal of research showing us that we MUST go to the body (rather than exclusively relying on traditional talk therapy) if we want to help people heal more fully from trauma. Rachel Lewis and Paula Scatoloni have been on the leading edge of applying the learnings about the neurobiology of trauma and attachment to working with eating disorders, which almost always overlap with trauma and/or attachment issues, and historically have been viewed as one of the most challenging mental health issues to work with and recover from.

Both coming from strong and varied backgrounds in somatics and psychology, Paula and Rachel co-developed the Embodied Recovery for Eating Disorders model of assessing and treating eating disorders. I had the privilege of taking the level 1 Embodied Recovery for Eating Disorders in North Carolina in 2017, and I am looking forward to taking the level 2 training in 2022.

In this conversation, we talk more about what has historically been missing from eating disorder treatment, and explore some of the foundations underlying the ERED model. While this particular episode might be more intriguing for clinicians or folks in recovery from an eating disorder, I also believe there are nuggets in this conversation that will be intriguing to any listener with an interest in the body and psychology.

To listen to the episode, stream from the podcast player below, or search & subscribe to Bodyful on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts.

About Rachel Lewis (MS, EDS, LPC, LMBT)

Rachel is a somatically integrative psychotherapist, dually licensed in counseling and therapeutic massage and bodywork. She is a Certified Advanced Practitioner in Sensorimotor Psychotherapy and has advanced training and 25 + years of experience in diverse somatic therapies including Craniosacral Therapy, Energetic Osteopathy, Oncology massage and Aromatherapy. 

She has extensive experience as a teacher and presenter, focusing on accessing the body’s unique capacity to give voice to the subconscious and to lay the foundation for healing and maintaining psychological and physical health. In her private practice in Chapel Hill, NC, Rachel specializes in working with people exploring recovery from trauma, eating disorders, and dissociative disorders.

About Paula Scatoloni (LCSW, CEDS, SEP)

Paula is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Eating Disorders Specialist in Chapel Hill, NC. She has additional training in neurophysiological interventions. She is a certified provider of the Safe and Sound Protocol, developed by Dr. Stephen Porges. She has worked in the field of eating disorders for over two decades providing clinical services and teaching extensively on the etiology and treatment of eating disorders through classes, workshops, professional trainings, and conferences.

Prior to developing EMBODIED RECOVERY, Paula co-developed the first intensive outpatient program for eating disorders with Dr. Anita Johnston. She served as the Eating Disorders Coordinator at Duke University Counseling Center (CAPS) for nine years where she developed campus-wide policies and managed a multidisciplinary treatment team treating eating disorders.

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