Eating Fat People

Originally posted by Hand of Hecate
You're focusing your argument upon "fast foods" as if these are the only food sources available. I'm not going to dispute that a diet solely made up of fast foods is questionable at best. However, surely fatties can take a break from stuffing their jowls with twinkies and make a vegetable stir fry once in a while.

I really don't see how anyone in ...[text shortened]... rning to this formula 93% Fatty McFat Fat American tallow and 7% cottonseed oil.

Doing it at the individual level was the goal of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution recently. While it was a TV show, and TV shows love ratings, I think the general principle was sound: get into schools and modify school lunches so that most or all of the options are healthy, and show kids the consequences of the Western diet. That's definitely the way forward. Demonizing and shaming fat people so that they feel even more worthless is not.

Fast foods are just an easy target. There are many other issues wrapped up in how food gets to people's tables. It's just a simple way to get into the argument I guess.

I agree about regulation - I don't think regulation in a knee-jerk fashion is the answer. I think some form of regulation could be helpful. I notice already that grass-roots dissension is causing manufacturers to dump high-fructose corn syrup from their products. This is a good thing. But you say "Subsidize farmer's markets and natural food grocery stores." - If you take these subsidies from the corn and soy farmers and give them to organic producers, what's going to happen to the corn industry? Isn't this just backdoor regulation? It's not as simple as just saying "let's throw money at the healthy options." It's pretty clear that there's a very strong industry protecting that money, and that there's nowhere else to get the money from in these hard times. The producers of low-quality high-calorie foods form a powerful lobby, and simply taking funding away from them to fund better options is not so simply achieved, IMHO.

And before you label everyone who is fat as also 'stupid' and 'lazy', stop for a minute to think about how you would feel if we replaced 'fat' with 'black' in the last sentence. Stereotypical thinking is so 20 years ago.

Originally posted by trev33
that depends. if you're over weight, unhappy with it and have tried to reduce your weight to a more healthy level and failed, even with apparently knowing what foods to eat i'd say it has a pretty high bearing on the quality of your argument.

No. I'm neither overweight, nor unhappy with myself. I'm pretty active as well. I belong to a farm share, where they deliver high-quality organic vegetables once a week, which I enjoy preparing for my family. I don't eat a lot of fast food.

I just feel there's a latent public license to victimize fat people in ways that are nasty and mean-spirited, that would be completely unconscionable if applied to a member of any other marginalized group at this slightly more enlightened period in our history. As I just said to Hand, it would not be ok for members of this forum to join together in victimizing black people, or hispanic people, or Irish people or whomever, for some preconceived notion of what they are all like based on a stereotype. Why is it OK for you and others to assume that all fat people are completely responsible for their own fate, and thus by association are lazy and stupid?

Originally posted by kyngj
Doing it at the individual level was the goal of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution recently. While it was a TV show, and TV shows love ratings, I think the general principle was sound: get into schools and modify school lunches so that most or all of the options are healthy, and show kids the consequences of the Western diet. That's definitely the way forward. De ...[text shortened]... black' in the last sentence. Stereotypical thinking is so 20 years ago.

Demonizing and shaming fat people so that they feel even more worthless is not.
Some of them have it coming.

Fast foods are just an easy target. There are many other issues wrapped up in how food gets to people's tables. It's just a simple way to get into the argument I guess.
The problem, in my opinion is cultural more than anything else. Since the late 40's convenience foods have entrenced themselves in Western society. Simply aggressively attacking the easy target will get the same attention organizations like PETA do. Getting labelled as a fanatic doesn't sway the population.


But you say "Subsidize farmer's markets and natural food grocery stores." - If you take these subsidies from the corn and soy farmers and give them to organic producers, what's going to happen to the corn industry? Isn't this just backdoor regulation? It's not as simple as just saying "let's throw money at the healthy options." It's pretty clear that there's a very strong industry protecting that money, and that there's nowhere else to get the money from in these hard times. The producers of low-quality high-calorie foods form a powerful lobby, and simply taking funding away from them to fund better options is not so simply achieved, IMHO.
You're right, the industry will protect itself which is exactly why I would condone an approach that incentivizes the industry to develop new products and services. Use the power of the industry to do much of your work for you by making the path you want them to choose the easiest and most rewarding. Between 1995 and 2009 the corn industry in the US was subsidized in the order of $74 Billion. Oh, and the war in the Middle East is hemorrhaging cash to the tune of $720 million per day. I would suggest there are better ways to apply these funds.

And before you label everyone who is fat as also 'stupid' and 'lazy', stop for a minute to think about how you would feel if we replaced 'fat' with 'black' in the last sentence. Stereotypical thinking is so 20 years ago. The color of ones skin canot be directly tied to intelligence. However, a strong argument could be made that allowing yourself to become morbidly obese is stupid. It's not like getting fatter suddenly sneaks up on you.

I can appreciate that mocking others may not be your cup tea. But, people are hilarious in general. Stereotypes make them more so.