The Soft Facts

The article on fat foodies in today’s New York Times definitely caught the eye of those of us here at Menupages and, we’re betting, a good segment of our readership. We’re all a bit food-obsessed and all probably not as good at moderation as we’d like to be.

Menupages has a pretty svelte staff — we all work hard to avoid joining what the Times calls the “Fat Pack” — but surely we can all (staff and readers alike) use the reminder to maintain a high vegetable intake and a sharp eye on the fatty meats and bulky breads.

Of course, none of us here at MP has written a whole book on hamburgers like Grubstreet’s Josh Ozersky. In a post Monday, he defied the a “lite” future :

…as we told [New York Times reporter Kim Severson, the day we start eating salad she’s welcome to our place at the table. Grub Street may cost us the vitality of our once-springy carcass, but by God the work will go on!

When you’ve made a profession out of high-fat foods, we imagine it is difficult to switch to salads and lentils. Though many journalists, chefs and bloggers interviewed for the piece have made lifestyle changes, dropping weight and cholesterol counts on doctors’ orders, a certain machismo remains, as seen in Ozersky’s defiant post.

MP South Florida editor Carolina Bolado pointed out that most of the interviewees were men, and that the attitude of machismo — at least as represented by the Times — seemed a decidedly male one. “I blame television and its constant pairing of fat guys with gorgeous women,” Bolado wrote in an instant message.

Whatever the reason for the disregard of health concerns, it would be a wise choice for foodies of all stripes to remember that the cost of incurring diet-related health problems skyrockets once the problems are in place and chronic. This is the most literal version of an ounce of prevention being worth a pound (or 100) of cure.

The Fat Pack Wonders if the Party’s Over [NY Times]
New York Times to “Wonder” How Bloggers Stay Alive [Grubstreet]
Photo credit: mono1980 [Flickr]

The Soft Facts