The Confectioner Conundrum

I got an email yesterday from a research institution regarding my job application from some time ago.  I just assumed I’d been dumped, but apparently the shortlisting process has been delayed.

It’s a role on a project working in partnership with a multi-national confectionary company.  I occasionally treat myself with their 85% chocolate.  Their jelly beans are my emergency hypo stash.

But most of the time I’m a wholefoods eater.  I’m Old Mother Hubbard when it comes to processed stuff in the pantry – it’s generally pretty bare.

So why’d I apply?  Well, it’s a part-time gig working at a former employer and my current study university.  It suits the work-life balance I’m aiming for and there are a range of things in the position description that suit my skillset and interests (uugh, sounds like I’m practising for the not yet even offered interview).

When I wrote the application I chuckled at the irony and let it slide.  I’m a Type 1 diabetic who ditched refined sugar years ago.  My changed tastebuds squeal and my face screws up if I do have to shove those jelly beans in my gob.

Since applying I’ve started this blog and I’ve got a Twitter and a Facebook account (Oh, how loud the “About Time!” chorus has been on that one).  My preference for a wholefood lifestyle is now officially out there.  It will probably be something I mention more as time goes on.

So yesterday I read in the news about a court decision that went against a public servant who tweeted personal thoughts against the Australian government, using an alias.  She’s likely to be sacked.

This has made me rethink about the job.  It’s not the fear of being silenced or sacked that’s cropped up. It’s more the ethical dilemma of what principled compromises I’m prepared to make to balance the personal, the public and the professional me.

This is about how I choose to manage my well-being.  It’s not about me ranting at other people about what they eat.  People make their own choices.

But I do have concerns about how well informed those choices can be given the marketing hype that surrounds processed foods, which makes them convenient for busy people to eat stuff that is not real food.  There are personal and social health consequences so I’m not sure how comfortable I’d be working in an industry that perpetuates this.  But then maybe understanding the industry and working within it, is the best way to promote alternative approaches.

Am I being an earnest wanker?  Should I suck it up, because it’s just business and I need a job?  Do I make disclosures and ask questions at the interview? Or have I talked myself out of this anyway?