Meet the Portland nutritionist and feminist who created a delicious treat made with inherently nutritious ingredients.
“Bad Nutrition” is a bold name for any food product, and that’s exactly why Sophia Malek chose it.
While studying to be a nutritionist, she became increasingly frustrated with how diet culture and expectations around body types permeated that field. She was also eating a LOT of homemade chia pudding.
Sophia set out to create an absolutely delicious product made entirely with nutritious ingredients, a chia pudding that would provide fuel for the body while also flying in the face of how “health food” was traditionally marketed.
After participating in “Get Your Recipe to Market” (New Seasons’ collaborative program with Portland Community College), she scaled up and launched Bad Nutrition, which now makes four out-of-this-world tasty flavors of chia pudding: Basic Vanilla, Chocolate Ganache, Lemon Curd, and Pistachio Cream...yum!
What inspired you to create your product, and what's unique about it?
I was inspired to start Bad Nutrition because truthfully, I just wanted this product to exist in the market and it didn’t! I was making so much chia seed pudding to fuel my long days in grad school and thought, why isn't there a product like this out there?
I also wanted to create something that takes inherently nutritious ingredients, like chia seeds, and makes them accessible to every pallet. Basically a product for the consumer like me, who wants simple ingredients that taste really amazing, and leave you feeling nourished for the day. Not a ‘permissible indulgence’ but something that fills your cup and reclaims a meal back from diet culture.
How has your background as a nutritionist shaped the brand?
I call myself a reformed nutritionist because the idea for Bad Nutrition came from my frustration within the wellness community. When I started studying nutrition, I was excited to unlock the elusive secret of the ‘best’ ways to eat and fuel my body. What I learned is that there is no one way to eat—each body has different nutritional needs. And in turn, there isn't one body type that is the picture of health or wellness.
I was left feeling radicalized by the journey—one that so many of us have gone on—to find the healthiest way to eat so I could have (what society has deemed) a healthy and fit body. But what about those of us who have tried to alter ourselves for a society that only accepts one type of healthy body? A body type that many times is only achieved by restriction and punishment?
I knew I wanted to create a product that led with a mission to take back this concept of ‘good’ vs ‘bad’ foods. To take back the word ‘Bad’ from a system that benefits from us being small, quiet, and weak.
What is it like partnering with New Seasons?
I truly feel like we are so lucky as food entrepreneurs to work with New Seasons! It is so rare to launch a brand and have a retailer that is so hands-on in its support of local brands. I have learned so much as a start-up brand by working with the team at New Seasons. They've granted me so much grace as I learned the ropes, and I feel eternally grateful for their support and the opportunity they granted me to launch!