With so many of us facing financial difficulties during These Troubled Times, "more consumers are turning to processed foods, either prepared, frozen or canned and often filled with fat-generating calories, refined grains and sugars. Experts said that's making more Americans chubbier and prone to obesity-related illnesses such as diabetes in what has been dubbed 'recession fat.'" The obesity rate rose by a full percentage point over the last year, which is, of course, Barack Obama's fault. When we voted for change, we didn't vote for a change in our waistlines, am I right, people? As for the 25% of people who were already obese before the recession, I guess we can just call that "boom blubber." [Via]
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
20
I'm pretty sure that Anna Nicole Smith, during her weightier years before her unfortunate passing, referred to her backside as "boom boom blubber."
Don't tell that guy in Peru about this.
These Troubled Times? TL;DR. For all future recession porn stories, The Awl should adopt Bike Snob NYC's shorthand, ITTET (In These Tough Economic Times).
AYHSMB.
There is a striking parallel between an impoverished rationing of junk nutrition and the endless banquet of cheap/free content that passes for intellectual sustenance in our culture, but I'm in no condition to get a fork in it until I finish these Ho-Hos.
You know this, and I know this, but I am going to take an opportunity to blame my fat ass on the failed claims of the Reebok Easytone, in court, and seek my own personal bail out.
I know! Now that all these people got fired, they don't have time to cook healthy food! Or go shopping for healthy ingredients! Or time to learn how to cook! They're so busy with they have to eat fast food or frozen food all time!
There are lots of articles about poor or unemployed people eating unhealthily. They are all crap.
I think it has less to do with time than the price of healthy food. Have you bought vegetables lately? Have you price checked that with private label family sized mac and cheese and hotdogs?
Have you checked the price of rice and (dried) legumes lately? You can be poor and not eat processed food. You can even make it somewhat healthy and tasty. Ethnic foods across the world do an admirable job of this.
Yeah, you are perhaps not able to "waste" money on calorie-low foods like carrots, but you are certainly not damned to ramen and hot dogs.
I spend a majority of my monies on food because I refuse to eat crap.
Everything else, except maybe heat, hot water, and electricity, is expendable.
Of course as an employed gay man with no children, it is probably a bit easier for me... but still. Americans spend FAR less on food than most people in comparable economic brackets.
It is true that Americans spend far less on food comparatively, and I do think it is a huge, wide-reaching problem--as well as a long conversation. There are a lot of books about this I keep meaning to read, and I think it is important.
I agree that it is possible to eat healthily with low cost foods, but for me (single, vegetarian, little expendable income, work 6 d/w) it is challenging and extremely time consuming. I have to go to three grocery stores to hit everything, and my studio apartment can't accommodate buying in bulk. I can't even imagine having to add extra mouths into the equation.
I haven't seen an episode, but I thought the idea behind Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food series seemed to be good: education- and community- oriented.
Mostly I just took issue with the "they are all crap" bit.
Didn't you read the article about cooking steak? "They are all crap" should be read as, "I'm sorry, good sir, but I must raise a small quibble with these financial and culinary misunderstandings. Cheery-oh!"
I'm pretty sure the "people who used to have one full-time job are now working 2 crappier part time jobs" population accounts for much of the rise in fast food and frozen food during the recession - there's a lot of people who are making less money and working more hours.
There ought to be a German word for this. Oh, wait! There is! Kummerspeck. Literally translated, "grief bacon."
Oh, that is perfect. It's like first you have all the pain and sadness and isolation and then BOOM along comes bacon to make everything good again. I take back what I said about Germany.
Happy to be servicey! Speaking of which, has anyone wished Balk a happy birthday yet?
IT'S BALK'S BIRTHDAY??!!
Why are you & Mackle seemingly the only ones to know about this?
Not sure. But it kicks off the one week of the year when numerically I am not THAT much older than he is, so I cherish it.
Well then happy (sorta 'round the time of your) birthday to you, too!
Sure other websites could have posted a picture of Fatty Arbuckle, but did they?
I rest my case. Happy belated birthday Balk.