Free form comments: say whatever you like here. It's your blog too. Two things from me.
1. Trans-fat. I have not been following the whole Trans-fat thing (I don't really keep up with the news, and so I don't even have a right to complain; if you have a link to a very comprehensive article, feel free to give it to me). But I do understand that Trans-fat is bad for you and will be banned in New York restaurants. What I don't understand is why the very few sources I have looked at don't seem at all bothered by this very fast jump from unhealthy to illegal. I do lots of unhealthy stuff. I drink a lot of Pepsi. Will that soon be illegal? I sometimes go to bed late and get up early, not getting enough sleep. Will that soon be illegal? A lot of the dairy isle is filled with tasteless fat free options; eventually, will that be the only option? I get that obesity is a national health issue; but I am not obese and I should be able to get chicken fried the old fashioned way if I want. I don't see why more people are not bothered by this.
2. Sara Reiss's Blog (link on the right) has some fun posts on cool gifts.
Again: Free form comments. Say whatever you want, on any topic.
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11 comments:
I'm definitely not in favor of the government telling is what is good or bad, what we can and can't have 'because it is bad for us'. That sort of control, regardless of how much it might be for the greater good, is just a bit too utilitarian for me. Next thing I know, I can enjoy my Victory Fries, cooked in doubleplusgood oil, while watching news coverage of the war in Eastasia.
i think that the feeling with transfats are that they're absolutely unnecessary - whatever taste they add can be achieved through other fats and transfats produce 'bad' cholesterol in greater quantities than other fats, as well as actually lowering your 'good' cholesterol. it can't actually be banned though - it naturally occurs in small amounts of a lot of meat and dairy.
personally, though, i don't mind this one bit. north america and europe have been moving in this direction for years (canada's restricted transfat for 2 years now, denmark for 3) and all the research seems to suggest that it's an unambiguously good decision. if we continue to use transfats, then we might as well ask them to allow lead back into our diets or asbestos back into our buildings, y'know?
interesting on the trans-fat issue. i don't really have a problem with the ban. i probably won't know the difference in what i'm eating, either.
also, thanks for the link to the gift ideas!
The main argument against Transfat seems to be that it isn't food and isn't digested or expelled from the human body so it's the equivalent of eating plastic. In general I'm a states-rights kinda guy and would rather see these things banned at the local rather the federal level but I also have a hard time with any government legislating personal choices. But yeah, an argument like Neil's Asbestos or a Lead Paint type comparison seems most apt.
On a sidenote: Glad I didn't know about the Pepsi when I made my now famous "the show needs more of the coked up Morrison fan" comment on the CGS boards. Caffeinated Morrison fan isn't as funny.
Just started watching Battle Star. Everything they told me is true.
Ok, so the idea is that taking away transfat out of fried chicken is not like taking the fat out of milk (I HATE skim milk), but like removing lead from food. If taste will not be changed, than I am cool. Can someone give me a link to something I can trust that says taste will be the same?
Brad: Battlestar is in the que: right after 24, Deadwood, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Wire, and a bunch of movies including Borat and the Prestige. I have been busy, what can I say. Also I am in a music phase and am jumping for my iPod rather than my DVD player. My devotion to just listening comes and goes so I always take it seriously when the urge strikes me. Right now I am all Beatles all the time.
Geoff - most of the stuff I've read about taste is entirely anecdotal, but the wealth of such stories seems evidence in itself, I think. I quickly Googled up this story about KFC and 'secret taste test trials': http://www.breitbart.com/news/2006/10/30/D8L38Q2O0.html
Neil: Ok, that is pretty good news: KFC made the switch in secret to see if anyone noticed and no one did. On the other hand, they say it is not so easy to find a replacements on the biscuits, and I love the biscuits. So, ambiguous, overall.
If it does get banned to save the obese, trans fat will become like heroine ... all these people trying to get their hands on some "old school fried chicken", or black market burgers and fries.
I dont understand why people can't realize that too much of anything is a bad thing...well most things anyway. People need to take responsibility for themselves - know what you are eating and what it is doing to your body. Simple as that. Oh yeah, and how about a little exercise now and then... that may help the obesity problem!
Only I know who Michael really is. Everyone be nice to him. We want him to be a regular.
Michael - the problem, i think, with 'personal responsibility' in the context of our food is that this knowledge is often ridiculously inaccessible. As you wrote, 'too much of anything is a bad thing...well most things anyway'. How are we to know which is bad and which is good when corporations go out of their way to to either convince us of their products' benefits or obscure its negatives? Look at the 'McLibel' case for a rather extreme example.
There are also, of course, some serious class implications - eating healthy simply isn't an option for a lot of people who do know better.
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