annecros

I think the problem with obesity in the south has more to do with people moving away from the cuisine and into the fast food, soft drink, chip culture. If these kids would substitute that bowl of collards and piece of cornbread with a glass of lemonade for the McD's value meal once in a while they would be better off. The traditional southern food is much more nutritionally dense, and will stick to your ribs for a while. But these kids are being told specifically to avoid these foods. And after being raised on the cusine, the skinless broiled chicken breast and steamed broccoli will not do it for them. They will head right out to the burger joint or vending machine and load up on junk. It is just too silly.

While the deep fried twinkie comment was meant as hyperbole, during my time as an undergrad in NC I did come across a fair share of deep fried twinkies, snickers bars, etc., mostly at music festivals in the area. Though not as well established as collard greens or grits, they did seem to be a sort of 'regional cuisine'. ← Hmm. So you are conceding that the deep fried twinkie does not compare with the bowl of collards as far as an established part of the southern diet is concerned? What do you think of the nutritional value of a bowl of collards, that these school children were told would kill them? By the way, the Deep Fried Twinkie was born in New York City. http://www.kitchenproject.com/history/twin...riedTwinkie.htm New York City? Yep, get a rope. The Deep Fried Snickers? Probably related to the Deep Fried Mars Bar enjoyed in Scotland. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Deep-fried_Mars_bar Scotland? Yep. The bounders. Not enough lard in their chips, I suppose. I will cop to the fried dill pickles, chicken and green tomatos. So what? Still didn't eat them every day. Fair food does not a regional cuisine make.

And what would you base your preposition on, please do tell? ← I was born and raised in East Tennessee, lived all over the south from Charleston, to Charlotte, to Memphis, to New Orleans, etc. Just take a look in the shopping carts, and the number of fast food chains and how busy they are. Then go visit any public school, elementary or High, have lunch, and see for yourself. There is probably a more scholarly approach to this, and economical stats to confuse all, but just simple observations are most compelling I think. I also believe obescity rates are much higher in the south. ← Check it out, http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/obesity/trend/maps/ Yep, in some southern states obesity rates are higher. Now explain the Great Lakes area. Last I heard, collards and cornbread were not a staple there. Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida are right there with California, Maine and New York. You were raised in Tennessee, and never went to a Farmer's Market or saw a roadside produce stand? I know you did in Charleston and New Orleans, surely in Memphis you must have run across one or two? And while you were in Charleston and New Orleans, did you not run across the roadside shrimp carts, go to the green markets, or down to the docks? Never? They get pretty darn crowded.

Interesting. I was born and raised in the south. Have eaten the foods of many neighboring southern regions, and have been pretty open minded in sampling foods any chance I get from any culture that may have something good to offer in the area of food. I have never seen a deep fried twinkie on a southern plate. I wouldn't eat one if offered. I've never liked twinkies in general. Now Little Debbie's, that's a different matter. Surely you are not attempting to compare a deep fried twinkie to a pot of collards nutrition wise, are you?

And what would you base your preposition on, please do tell?

Interesting. I wonder if the good doctor took into account the level of misdiagnosis that was going on in the south as late as the 1950s and 1960s when the doctor covered four counties, most people died at home without formal medical care, and the most predominant cause of death at the time was "vitamin deficiency." I kid you not.

I would have to object to the assumption made in the article that Southern food is unhealthy across the board. Granted, you will get more fat and salt than you want eating a primarily southern diet. However, you will also get fresh uncooked tomatoes, fresh uncooked cucumber in a salad dressed with a little vinegar and mostly black pepper. How is a pot of chicken and dumplins less healthier than a pot of chicken soup with noodles in it? The okra may be boiled in the pot with the peas and side meat, but it is usually lightly cooked. The collards? Look at the nutritional value this stuff has: http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=138 You will also find tomato, turnip greens, mustard greens, peanuts, cabbage, green beans, summer squash, sweet potato, blueberries, fig, watermelon, corn (and what is the big fuss about meal? It is just ground dried corn, and cornbread just has an egg and some buttermilk added), molasses, honey and cane juice on that list. In fact, I am struck that most of those items on the "World's Healthiest Foods" list can be associated with southern or oriental foodways. At one time or another, all these items were on the dinner table on a regular basis. If my parents didn't grow it themselves, they knew somebody who did. And when the items were out of season, we ate them after having been canned, preserved, jellied or frozen at home. Anyone with a yard did the same. In fact I remember getting sick of eating creamed corn (which is mostly corn, with the addition of salt, pepper, enough butter and milk to loosen up the starch in the corn) because we had to use up the frozen before the new crop came in. Instead of leaving these foods out of the diet altogether, shouldn't emphasis be placed upon cooking methods, perhaps? And in fact, it is a myth that ALL southern foods are fried, or swimming in fat. It is even hard to come by decent lard in the south anymore. Mom roasted chickens, braised roasts, sauted vegetables. Of course, I will keep my hamhocks and bacon, thank you. Everything in moderation, including moderation. ETA: I missed the cantaloupe, eggplant, bell peppers, onions, grapes, strawberries and sunflower seeds on that list my first go round. Yep, we grew them right on the homeplace or at grandaddies, and we ate them all.

The Almond Hazelnut Swirl is my husband's "go to" flavor. He is really the number one ice cream consumer in the household. He used to be a devoted Ben and Jerry's fan, Wavy Gravy to be exact, but he decided to convert to HD when Pillsbury took over B&J, and hasn't been back in some time.

I do my bacon in a skillet, but drain off the fat as it is cooking, and cook it on a relatively low heat. I like mine crisp as well, but do like a little bit of flexibility in the strip when I take it up. Once it cools for a minute, it gets lovely and crunchy. Now, time for a BLT for lunch, I think.

Don't count on it, Marsha. A dedicated smoker will rationalize anything, even puffing through intestinal meltdown. One thing this blog has confirmed is my suspicion that the Society has a disproportionately large proportion of smokers compared to the population at large. The connection between food and smoking is pretty strong, especially among professionals. I actually picked up the habit in a restaurant kitchen, where everyone -- chef, line cooks, dishwashers -- smoked. Two weeks and I was hooked. ← Oral gratification. That hand to mouth get a goodie thing. It's downright emotional, over and above the physical misery. I quit both times I was pregnant. I quit when we were concerned about my husband's heart. Stayed quit for a year all three times, but gosh, I have a hard time quitting for my own benefit. And, I get fat. The caloric intake increases some, but not enough to justify the weight gain I have personally experienced. The docs will be happy, though. Until the weight gain and cholesterol increase gets them fussing at me again. Ice water helps, a lot. We plan on quitting within the week, together. We set the quit date. I dread it. I dread the skin crawling thing more than anything, the jumpiness and the anxiety I can talk myself down from. Should be a fun time down at my household...not. But we can do it. When I have quit in the past, the smell of cigarette smoke, especially in the open air, would actually make me "hungry" for a cigarette. A very real hunger sensation. Weird.

heh. We call that the hurricane method here in Florida.

Swordfish is all over the place. As for the mercury... What? You don't like mercury? Unfortunately, mercury is a contaminant that is common in fish and it is particularly common in long-living or predatory fish. In most parts of the world the methylmercury is actually of natural origin. But swordfish is still pretty common to American menus. The USDA warns some people against consuming too much, I believe, although I don't recall the guideline or to whom it applied. ← They are also a bill fish. We boycott them because they are endangered, but man are they good! Tuna steaks grilled taste beefy to me. I don't care for catfish because of the texture. Too much mush. I actually really, really like cod. And yep, halibut is good. Stuff a flounder, maybe?

Mini bottle laws in South Carolina. "Ugly Ripe" tomatoes cannot be shipped out of Florida during the winter months, because they are ugly, and not in conformation with the plastic tomatoes most people associate with Florida. Citrus must be fumigated before it goes to Europe. I would like to bring some cheese back from there, as well.

Disaster brings out the best and the worst in people. Sometimes at the same time. I think there is a grain of truth there when Emeril vented his spleen. Fortunately for NOLA, the problems with the administration of the city can, and I am sure will, be fixed soon.

Thousands and thousands of people die of "normal" flu every year, there has at least once been a flu epidemic that killed some 40 million people, flu virus is highly susceptible to mutation and can be highly contagious, a significant number of scientists are very concerned that avian flu could turn into a form that could cause a pandemic, and avian flu has killed some 53% of the human beings who have had it, including young, previously healthy individuals. As I posted previously in another thread, I don't think that's a reason to panic, but I surely think that's a reason to watch the disease very closely and take steps to control its spread among both the bird and human populations. So if you think this is similar... ← Please don't get me wrong. Study, study, study. Find a cure, the sooner the better. I am all for science and progress. I just am not all for a bunch of hype that effects only a small fraction of the population at this time. For goodness sake, more people died of starvation than avian flu this year. That, to my mind, is a sin. No one person on this planet need go hungry. I am shamed at times cleaning my own fridge.

No, but I'm not in a hurry to get there, either ← No rush here.

Teehee. Allright. "KAAAHNNN!!!! You BASTARD." Doubly ended rant. If you can do that. I feel much better now. Thanks for your patience.

Oh wow. You guys are really coming close to home now. The whole predisposition, then trigger, and you have to have both, have been done to death in my home. Same for any other home that is hosting a member of the rheumatological victims of this years mystery disease, and injectibles are just the ticket. Sucks. Sucks as bad as being diabetic, but probably not as bad as being a cancer patient who goes and gets poison delivered introvenously on a regular basis. I have scleroderma. My father had ankylosing spondilitis. My grandmother, two aunts, and two uncles died of stroke in their fourth decade of life. Grandma on the other side lived to be 97. Who the freak knows? Not me. I have accepted the whole silly fact that I am human and mortal. It was hard, buy hey, the truth hurts sometimes. Yep, the HLA B27 marker runs rampant in the family. Yep, it really sucked when I had always been told that females almost never have the type of arthritis that my father's life changing arthritis was, but however, one in five children carry the gene. Yep, the ONLY girl on that side won the lottery. Who cares? Honestly. Somebody had to get it. It will no more stop me than it stopped my father. You can live your life feeling sorry for yourself and expect others to fetch and carry and be all nice and lovey dovey. Or, you can live. I choose to live. Just try and stop me. (shaking my fist and screaming "KAAAAHHHNN" or some such) Dad always said I was pure hell. Annie Edit to add: END RANT. and I mean it.

On job interviews with other papers. ← ROFLMAO

You are making too much sense. here's my "beef"-- If one goes to the web site referenced (linked) in the original post on this topic: "news@nature.com" One sees a web page listing articles. titles and verbage like: Surgery Risk from prions ..prion clusters are catching Did human remains spawn the infection...? A wolf in sheeps clothing Latest worrying research. Lab case sparks fears ..survey causes spectre..." secrets of a past prion epidemic... Wow--this is pretty serious. I better read these so I can protect myself and my family! Only--when attempting to read the actual story behind these urgent headlines--I find that I must sign up and spend seven bucks! (a month). See what I am getting at here? This stuff is the same as the dire warnings like: "your non stick pan may be killing you and your loved ones--tune in to twenty twenty at ten!" I am not sure who is more guilty--me for not shelling out seven bucks to save my family or the folks at news at nature dot com for charging people for information they obviously feel would save lives!? Seriously, maybe the articles present a sane and balanced perspective on a troubling topic. But forgive me for being just a bit skeptical of things. Yes there is a link to a paper on prions that is only a part of an ongoing review by the scientific community that is important and has and will continue to yield some conclusions that will help all of us understand the prion issue better and make informed decisions. It is important to keep some basic facts in mind and to apply common sense and perspective. I would recommend that people go to the CDC web site where one will get good information (all of it for free). Also the posts by PatrickS in this and other threads (mad cow, teflon etc) which are loaded with facts and rational thinking. It is good to be concerned and even better to be informed. most of all-healthy skepticism is important especially when dealing with the media. It is a shame when a place like eGullet provides better factual information and more rational debate and resultant insight on a food/health related topic than ABC News given their resources and huge audience). (probably the reason--I bet-- eGullet and other internet based locales are growing faster than ABC News). Anyway--that's my "beef"--which reminds me--I am going to enjoy a rack of venison this weekend which I am doing because Morgan Spurlock showed what happens when you eat too much of one thing and I had beef twice this week already. Don't worry--the other four days-I am having pasta and vegetables and lots of salads and fish. I wish I knew who said: "Too much of a good thing...." Now there's something that makes sense! ← My favorite is: "Everything in moderation. Including moderation."

Well, you can still color me skeptical. No, I would not knowingly eat a sick animal. That's just common sense, isn't it? But, on the other hand, this all smacks of the Avian Flu hype and such. I guess it wouldn't be too difficult for some unethical person to slip a sick animal into the food supply. I guess I am from the there is nothing new under the sun school of thought. Can disease cross species? Of course. Will I lay awake at night worrying that I am going to contract Chroic Wasting Disease? Nope. Seems like it has been nearly two years since I have eaten Venison anyway. I eat fresh produce every day, and E Coli can kill. So can hepititis. So can just plain old food poisoning. So can high cholesterol, stroke, heart disease, morbid obesity, etc. etc. You pay your money and take your chances.

Oh dear! That's a moral imperative for a working marriage! When Becky stops molesting me while I'm cooking, I'll know to check her pulse! Is it a bad sign that I'm also very protective of my cast-iron? ← Depends upon how well seasoned it is. Do you let her touch it?

I had ice cream for breakfast the other day. Cherry Garcia, to be exact. Yep, I felt all grown up. It's great when the kids are gone and you no longer have to set an example.

That's an idea. Have to think through all the reprecussions though. After all, I don't mind the behaviour when it happens under other conditions. I wouldn't want to break him. Completely.

ROFLMAO I think it just may be an attention thing. As in, you are too focused on the wonderful dinner you are cooking for me - you must now pay attention to ME! >Sexually Aggressive Behaviour Inserted Here< Or maybe I am wrong. Don't know, would love to understand. Funny though.