Many states have laws regulating what individuals can say about food and nutrition. Some states extend this restriction to laws preventing anyone but a dietitian from providing nutritional guidance.
Across the United States, CrossFit, Inc. is challenging such restrictions of free speech. It should not be a crime to support people in their fitness endeavors, nor to counsel them to stop eating foods and drinking beverages that are killing them. Yet CrossFit trainers and affiliates have been targeted by sting operations, fined, and threatened with jail time, simply for providing this lifesaving service.
On June 11, LD 364 became law in Maine, affirming an individual’s right to access health care outside the medical establishment. The law protects the right of CrossFit affiliates to share the foundation of CrossFit — nutrition — with its clients. Previously, Maine was among the most restrictive states for nutritional speech. Now, Maine’s citizens will no longer be bound to the failed nutrition prescriptions of dietitians. Instead, they can freely learn, understand, and make efficacious lifestyle choices that could save their lives. CrossFit, Inc. was proud to advocate for and provide testimony in support of LD 364 as the measure advanced through the legislature.
It should come as no surprise that the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND), which represents dietitians, lobbies in favor of laws that restrict what people can say about food and nutrition. By doing so, it protects its monopoly and uses state regulatory boards to enforce it. Instead of operating on a level playing field, where individuals could evaluate the efficacy of the advice they receive, the AND has opted to support licensing for anyone who wants to talk about nutrition. In support of that end, and in line with the tendency of the dieticians lobby to defend the interests of powerful industries, the AND has accepted funding from Big Sugar and Big Soda in support of deadly nutritional advice, such as its recommendation that Type 2 diabetics consume 45 to 60 grams of carbohydrates per meal.
CrossFit affiliates throughout the world are reversing and preventing chronic disease with functional fitness and effective nutrition. No government should restrict free speech, which when applied to nutrition supports individuals’ pursuit of sound advice as they seek to understand and improve their health, and no government should bow to the will of special interests and enshrine their monopolies by enforcing coercive, biased policy.
Maine’s legislature deserves credit for joining with CrossFit, Inc. to protect Maine’s CrossFit affiliates and all those who choose to exercise their right to speak freely about health and nutrition.
CrossFit, Inc. proactively monitors legislation introduced in states around the country. If your affiliate is facing regulatory or legislative pressure at the state level, please contact CrossFit’s lobbyist, Brett Ewer, at brett.ewer@crossfit.com.
Victory in Maine: CrossFit Affiliates Can Now Speak Freely about Nutrition