Recently, Paula Dean revealed to the world that she has been living with Type II Diabetes for the last three years. And admittedly, I was pissed to hear this like many others. Not because of her cooking style, but because she hid her condition to gain popularity and is now opening up about it because she's getting paid to do so.
Her cooking style has been coined as fatty, sugary, over indulgent, gluttonous, etc. And to some extent can be. Since her big reveal, I feel that most people can't get the words "I told you so!" out of their mouthes fast enough...including the doctors that interviewed with her on the Today Show. I also can see a few weeks down the road, Deen getting blamed for part the Obesity problem in this country as a whole. However, we can't blame Paula for what is wrong with the eating in this country. Many of Paula's dishes are recipes she grew up with as a child-that many of us grew up with, and we didn't have an obesity epidemic back then. So what is the problem? Where does it start?
I subscribe to Cooking Light magazine (which will get it's own blog soon), and always look forward to the Note From the Editor. Scott Mowbray has a great way of summing up each issue, but also brings a personal light to his writing and the magazine as a whole. In the January Issue, Mowbray writes about this amazing food culture developing in America (which Deen's recipes are a part of), yet our obesity rates are so high. He said, "At the school level, however, let alone the mall, we often feed our kids junk." And then he quoted Curt Ellis, cofounder of FoodCorps, who said, "We teach children that this is America's food culture. In schools and other institutions, we just decided that cost matters more than quality."I think Mowbray nailed it with this essay. And as a school teacher, I see first hand the horrible food our children have to eat for lunch, and sometimes breakfast, each day. It's over processed, lowest quality meats filled with carbs and sugar. If we continue to raise our children to eat junk, then they will continue to eat junk when they are adults. So perhaps we have not seen the worst of our obesity epidemic. This is where the problem starts....how do we make it end? Perhaps that could be another blog. What I do know, is that if Paula Deen saw what my students eat everyday, she'd be appauled. And I also know my students would eat a lot healthier if they ate Deen's food compared to what they are now...
But before I let Ms. Paula off the hook, I do have one bone to pick with her...and it's not dipped in mayonnaise or lard. I'm angry at her character. She portrays herself on her shows as this 'southern mother' role to her fans, and to me that means she wants a trustworthy, protective relationship with them. However, she lied to her following public for three years AND she's only revealing her Diabetes because a pharmaceutical company is paying her to. And that's wrong. People should not be mad at her cooking, but the manner in which she acted. When you are a role model, what ever your expertise is, it is your responsibility to be truthful to the people that look up to you. Her actions are no different than all of these sports players that children look up to on the field, and then off the field they get caught using drugs. Paula Deen has put money before her fans, and therefore is no better. I defend her food, but I can't defend her actions.
Side Note: I lost another 2.5 pounds this week! YAY!
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