What do you think is contributing to obesity in America?
Transfat. Urban sprawl. Subsidized sugar and corn (syrup.)
Serious Eater Profile
Get to Know a Serious Eater.
Tamarind's Profile
The Ten Most Recent Comments By Tamarind
The best commercially available dark chocolate bar is...
Lots of great NYC chocolate: MarieBelle and Vosges in SoHo, Maison du Chocolate on the upper east. If you like a little spiciness try the Cowgirl brand available at Kitchen/Market.
Question of the Day: Oink, oink! How Do You Do Pork?
Bacon is great, but for a special occasions, I love roast pork buns for dim sum.
Best brunch in NYC?
There are a couple of places up Greenwich Ave towards 7th ave that have unlimited champaign with your brunch. The food and decor range from mediocre to adequate, but you can't beat that value!! I'm partial to Benny's.
Who and What Makes You Feel Good?
"You can be serious about food without being pretentious, patronizing, and off-putting."
I gotta say, Ed, Adam, and all, it's why I love this site.
Responses to Comments by Tamarind
What do you think is contributing to obesity in America?
All of the above, sedentary lifestyle, too much fast and processed food, and portions.
Being from Texas, where "everything is bigger", one only has to look at the most obese cities in America (at least two Texas cities in the top 10 for the last 6 years!) and say portion size definitely has something to do with it. Also urban sprawl and the lack of good public transportation systems here has left us totally dependent on our cars, so we don't walk enough.
And everywhere in general, the fad diets. Trying to convince us that low carb, low fat, low salt, low sugar, low whatever, is the answer. Look at the rest of the world and you'll see that you don't have to do without to be fit and healthy. It is: not too much of anything, everything in moderation. (Julia Child had it right, and she lived a long and healthy life!)
As far as the rising obesity in children, I think tv and video games. What happened to playing outside? I was always out bike riding or playing games with other kids in the neighborhood. You hardly see that anymore, and it's sad.
What do you think is contributing to obesity in America?
Let's just take my office as a case study. There's always unhealthy crap like doughnuts or cheetos or nasty processed cookies sitting on the "calorie counter," as we call it, and the fattest people in the office can always be seen clutching a fast-food bag around lunchtime, because they were "too busy" to make their own lunch.
The solution is not miracle pills...it's more exercise and healthier foods. As a former fast-food eater myself, I can attest that it is addictive, but once you make the switch to cooking for yourself, your body will start to reject that crap....come ON people! take some responsibility for yourselves!
What do you think is contributing to obesity in America?
Huge portions, eating too many refined carbs, snacking, in general eating way too much food! I travel overseas all the time, and the rest of the world eats normal portions, Americans eat MASSIVE! portions that could easily feed 2-3 people. Plus eating all the cheap but tasty (I absolutely LOVE properly made pomme frites!) stuff just isn't good for you.
The only way I keep my weight under control is by conciously understanding what I am eating and keeping portions reasonable. Trust me, eating for me is serious enjoyment, but I would die of a heart attack before I turned 50 if I didn't take it easy.
When all humans were hunters and gatherers, sure, eat at the buffet till there was nothing left because you didn't know when you would eat next. But we don't live like cavemen anymore.
What do you think is contributing to obesity in America?
Ah, my Atari 2600 ... good times.
Best brunch in NYC?
Update: Pastis no longer serves Eggs Sardou on their brunch menu, alas. The le panier bread basket is still good, as is the French Toast, but the Blood Mary was too thick.
What do you think is contributing to obesity in America?
I think a huge part of it is the fact that television is babysitting our kids and mcdonalds is feeding them. People want to pacify their children so they give them whatever they want. And convienience foods are just that, so they are eaten far too frequently. And a total lack of physical activity. Moderation has gone the way of atari.
What do you think is contributing to obesity in America?
I agree with everything the other posters have said. But I also think there is the issue of how our meat supply is raised. The elements in beef, pork, and poultry feed that fattens them up for market eventually makes its way to our tables, and we consume it as well.
What do you think is contributing to obesity in America?
Cheap corn and the food industry's desire to increase portion size rather than decrease price.
What do you think is contributing to obesity in America?
1.) scientists are worried about things like global warming instead of discovering cutting edge eating disorders and educating the public on how to implement them into their daily lives.
2.) everyone knows there aren't enough diet / diet fad books. i can only recall 1000 or so from the last five years and we need 1001! or how about books that combine ALL the different trends. something along the lines of "dr. atkins zones out on south beach"
just saying
Website: http://apperceptive.com
Location:
About:
Favorite foods: Chocolate, mangosteen, tea.
Last bite on earth: