Fit-topia

Fit towns would force residents to move their fat asses.

In Boston last Sunday, the conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science saw a similarly depressing nod to lifestyle management. Professor Philip James of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and, more importantly, chairman of the Brave-New-World-sounding International Obesity Taskforce, declared: ‘The environment in which we live is the overwhelming factor amplifying the obesity epidemic’. He continued, arguing that it was naïve to place ‘the onus on individuals making “healthier choices” while the environment in which we live is the overwhelming factor amplifying the epidemic’ (2). Rena Wing of Brown University echoed the pessimistic view of individuals’ capacity to make what the holier-than-thou alliance of policy makers and experts deem the right choices: ‘We live in an obesogenic environment that relies heavily on fast food, automobiles and remote controls – all of which can be labelled as “toxic” to maintaining a healthy weight.’ (3)

Butter cookies without butter

Bakers struggle to comply with NYC's ban on trans fats.

“This is an important issue because anything made with animal fats will have trans fats and make it impossible to claim trans fat-free,” said Marion Nestle, nutrition professor at New York University. “Milk has trans fats, after all, and you can see what a mess this is going to cause.”

The Schwartz Bros. bakery has been providing Starbucks with baked goods in the Northwest since Starbucks had only 13 stores. Now, bakeries in Seattle and Portland provide the pastries to about 600 Starbucks outlets.

“We’ve gone back and replaced all of the nice, good butter with supposedly trans fat-free margarine,” said Rick Doyle, the Schwartz regional manager. “The hardest one for us was the croissant. We replaced butter with palm oil. From my perspective it’s not a croissant any more. It’s lost all its lamination and flavor.”

What's the point of a croissant without butter?

Related: The sermonizing of the surgeon general.