On Fri, 28 Aug 2026 10:29:42 -0500
Bryan Simmons <
bryangsimmons@gmail.com> wrote:
On 8/28/2026 6:03 AM, Uncle Bruce wrote:
On Fri, 28 Aug 2026 10:16:53 GMT, dsi1
<user4746@newsgrouper.org.invalid> wrote:
Bryan Simmons <bryangsimmons@gmail.com> posted:
https://www.npr.org/2026/08/27/g-s1-139914/milk-rwanda-milk-bar
While chocolate pairs wonderfully with milk, Tootsie Rolls
(perhaps the shittiest chocolate confection ever devised) have
nothing to do with Tutsis. You gotcher Hootoos, and you gotcher
Tootsies. Den, you gotcher mashetties. Da Hootoos go to choppin'
up dem Tootsies with dem mashetties.
I used to work with a Tutsi. He told me that Hutus were no better
than cockroaches, and that Black Americans who were descended
from slaves were mostly lazy. Bigots come in all colors.
Still, I get the whole milk bar thing. Cow's milk is delicious.
I have never heard of such a thing but in this world, anything is
possible. The very thought of downing a mug of milk sends shivers
down my spine. There's no telling what could happen if I did that.
Bigots come in all colors alright. The American bigots don't
really hold a candle to the Chinese, Koreans, or Japanese. A lot
of them have never even met a white person. They think Americans
are big, sweaty, dark-colored, dumb, barbarians.
Of the countries you mentioned, China is by far the most barbarian,
without any competition.
Americans *are* big. That's because we can afford to eat desirable
foods, like MEAT.
Not entirely so...
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC300778/
Critser?s chronology of obesity-inducing events begins with a revie
w of the factors that led to the increased availability and consumption of high-calorie, large-sized food in this country. In 1971, Richard Nixon nomi nated Earl Butz as Secretary of Agriculture. Butz lowered the trade barrier
s that had limited the export of American products, which resulted in a mar
ked increase in US corn and soybean production. At approximately the same t ime, Japanese food scientists produced a new sweetener, high-fructose corn syrup, which was less expensive and had a longer shelf life than sugar. New
technology transformed palm oil into a viable and stable, but highly satur ated, commercial fat. Food manufacturers began to replace sugar and traditi onal fats in their products with high-fructose corn syrup and processed pal
m oil, which led to an increase in inexpensive, energy-dense snack and conv enience foods. In the 1970s and 1980s, fast-food restaurants discovered the
profitability of ?value meals? (e.g., packaging high-profi
t drinks and french fries with low-profit burgers) and of ?supersiz
ing? (e.g., tripling the serving size of McDonald?s french
fries from 200 kcal in 1960 to 610 kcal today). Moreover, the percentage of
meals eaten away from home doubled between the 1970s and the 1990s, and ea ting out usually meant eating more. Finally, school systems encouraged unhe althy eating practices among children by accepting soft drink and fast-food
contracts because they provide large commissions for financially strapped schools.
The increase in energy intake has been paralleled by a decrease in physical
activity. Critser identifies the many barriers to activity in modern socie
ty. Being active is no longer an obligatory part of daily function but rath
er a conscious choice. In the 1980s, television viewing became the predomin
ant form of leisure activity. Computers and computer games, sedentary jobs,
long commutes, sprawling suburbs with no sidewalks, and unsafe neighborhoo
ds limit our desire and ability to move. School budget cuts have resulted i
n a reduction in sports teams and physical education classes; by the end of
the 1980s, Illinois was the only state that required daily physical educat ion.
However, Fat land fails to note that the increase in body weight in the US
is not a recent phenomenon. The average body mass index (BMI) value has bee
n increasing for more than 150 years. A large part of the ?recent
? obesity epidemic is due to a curve-shifting phenomenon. Now that
the right tail of the bell-shaped curve for BMI in the US population has cr ossed the threshold for obesity (BMI of 30 kg/m2), small increases in avera
ge BMI and rightward shifts of the curve mean a sharp increase in the numbe
r of people considered obese. This does not diminish the importance of obes
ity as a public health issue, but it does suggest that the current problem
is largely regulated by environmental factors that affect the population as
a whole.
Although Critser carefully outlines the causes and consequences of obesity,
his book ends with a naive discussion of what should be done. He cites suc cessful outcomes from anecdotes and selected research studies, but does not
provide an evaluation of the entire literature, which portrays a less opti mistic picture. He devotes a lot of space to arguments for eliminating soft
drink contracts in schools and increasing physical education but fails to note that many obese adults went to school in the 1960s and 1970s, when phy sical education was often mandatory and there were fewer soda vending machi nes.
After identifying the environmental factors responsible for obesity and pot ential environmental solutions, Critser abruptly reverses course in the con cluding paragraphs of his book, implying that obese persons are ?gl
uttonous? and ?slothful? and that more ?ind
ividual will power? is needed. This surprise ending does not fit wi
th the well-developed theme of the rest of the text. Although each of us mu
st take responsibility for our health, it is difficult for many Americans t
o achieve successful weight management because environmental influences are
so strong.
Fat land is an absorbing read that helps explain the complex factors that h
ave led to the recent increase in obesity prevalence. In addition, it is an
articulate wake-up call that makes the case for aggressive action now. Add itional research is needed to identify the optimal approaches for effective
ly inducing lifestyle changes in people of different age groups, racial and
ethnic populations, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
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