A few days ago, I picked up a book by one Hank Cardello titled Stuffed: An Insider's Look At Who's (Really) Making America Fat. Cardello was once an executive for food manufacturers like Coca-Cola and General Mills, but had an epiphany after a couple of medical test results came up positive for leukemia. Although it turned out to be a false alarm, Cardello turned away from his former life. Well, sort of.
WHEE (Weight, Health, Eating and Exercise) is a community support diary for Kossacks who are currently or planning to start losing, gaining or maintaining their weight through diet and exercise or fitness. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. If you are working on your weight or fitness, please -- join us! You can also click the WHEE tag to view all diary posts.
Stuffed is not a hard-hitting exposé like Schlosser's Fast Food Nation (which will be released in an updated edition on November 3rd, according to Amazon.com). Rather, Stuffed is written from the perspective of someone who still has friends in the food industry, and whose goal is to make industrial food more healthy, rather than to remake our food system altogether.
I don't have time today to write a capsule review for Stuffed as I did for the other books in my WHEE bookshelf. However, the message of the book - that the food industry isn't going anywhere, so it would be best to improve it rather than try to remake it - is one that I was reminded of by a couple of other incidents in the past week.
New Rule: Ignore Late-Night Talk Show Hosts
Last Friday, Jill Richardson (The Blogger Formerly Known As OrangeClouds115) posted a review of The End Of Overeating. As all WHEEbles know, Clio2 and I have been reviewing this book chapter-by-chapter on Tuesdays and Saturdays. I'm not at all envious of the effortless way Jill garnered hundreds of tips and Recs with her diary. It doesn't bother me at all, really. (grumble, grumble)
A couple of commenters in Jill's diary referenced Bill Maher's September 18 New Rules segment:
The president has already made it clear, there'll be no "sin tax" on food on his watch. And at a time when it's important to set new standards for personal responsibility, he appointed a surgeon general who is -- I'm sorry -- fat. Certainly too heavy to be a surgeon general. You know, it's a role model thing. It would be like appointing a Secretary of the Treasury who didn't pay his taxes. Oh, he did? He did. My bad.
And get this: our new surgeon general, Regina Benjamin, had previously been a nutritional advisor to Burger King. Which sells something called an "Angry Whopper Triple" that has 1,300 calories and 91 grams of fat. The only advice a health expert should give Burger King is to stop selling food.
The nutritional advisor job was described as-- get this -- "promoting balanced diets and active lifestyle choices." And who better to do that than the folks who hand you meat and corn syrup through a car window?
"And at a time when it's important to set new standards for personal responsibility..." - funny, I don't remember Obama appointing Bill Maher to be America's Responsibility Czar, do you? Who died and made you god, Bill?
As far as taking Dr. Benjamin to task for accepting money from Burger King...BK created an advisory panel last year. Dr. Benjamin was paid all of $10,000 for her services as a member of this panel. BK, like all fast food companies, has been overfeeding America for decades - is it reasonable to expect that they'll turn that around in a few months? Let alone "stop selling food" - that ain't gonna happen. Doesn't it make more sense to encourage Burger King (and other fast food outlets) in the direction of providing healthier fare? Regina Benjamin apparently thinks so, and I agree.
Thinking Moderately Outside the Bun
Taco Bell's new commercial (starring boxer Evander Holyfield) grabbed my ear like Mike Tyson and wouldn't let go. For those who can't watch Youtube videos (Hey! Get back to work!), here's what struck me in particular:
Holyfield: Two Half-Pounders, please.
Counter person: To be honest, Mr. Holyfield, even someone your size only needs one.
"Only needs one"? What is this, France? Is an American fast food company sneaking the idea of moderation into their commercials?
As I've said before, America is the home of More. IMO, the "biggest" problem in our national food system is that we're encouraged to eat too much. Is this the beginning of a new sensibility? Or just a fast food company suiting their marketing to the economy, by emphasizing that one can get a lot of calories for not a lot of money?
Either way, I applaud Taco Bell (in a moderate way) for taking even this small step toward moderation. And I applaud Burger King for looking outside the fast food industry for advice. So two cheers for fast food - hip, hip, hooray!
Upcoming WHEE diaries:
September 23
Weds AM - (yr humble diarist)
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September 24
Thurs AM - A DC Wonk -- WELCOME!
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