Speech
Greg Critser lives in Pasadena, California, and writes regularly for USA Today and the Los Angeles Times on issues of nutrition, health, and medicine. An authority on the subject of food politics, Critser has been interviewed by PBS and other media, and his writing on obesity earned him a James Beard nomination for best feature writing in 1999. Embarrassed by a passing motorist who shouted "Watch it, fatso," Critser went on a diet and lost forty pounds. In the process he discovered that in America, weight is a class issue—fat and poor often go together. In exposing the heavy truths about American obesity, Critser gives our bloated nation a wake-up call. His books include Fat Land: How Americans Became the Fattest People in the World (2003) and Generation Rx: How Prescription Drugs Are Altering American Lives, Minds, and Bodies (2005).
Greg Critser
Don’t Eat the Flan
1 By now you have likely seen nearly every imaginable headline about obesity in America. You've seen the ominous statistical ones: "Nearly two-thirds of all Americans now overweight, study says." Or the sensational ones: "Two N.Y. teens sue McDonald's for making them fat." Or the medical ones: "Adult-onset diabetes now soars among children." 2 But one obesity headline you will not see is the one that deals with morality. Specifically, it is the one that might read like this: "Sixth deadly sin at root of obesity epidemic, researchers say." This is because gluttony,1 perhaps alone among humanity's vices, has become the first media non-sin.
3 I first got a whiff of this transformation a few years ago while working on a book about obesity. Looking for a book about food and morality, I asked a clerk in the religious bookstore at the Fuller Seminary in Pasadena where I might find one on gluttony.
4 "Hmm," he pondered. "Maybe you'd want to look under eating disorders."
5 "But I'm not looking for a medical book. I'm looking for something about gluttony—you know, one of the seven deadly sins." I
Greg Critser
Don’t Eat the Flan
1 By now you have likely seen nearly every imaginable headline about obesity in America. You've seen the ominous statistical ones: "Nearly two-thirds of all Americans now overweight, study says." Or the sensational ones: "Two N.Y. teens sue McDonald's for making them fat." Or the medical ones: "Adult-onset diabetes now soars among children." 2 But one obesity headline you will not see is the one that deals with morality. Specifically, it is the one that might read like this: "Sixth deadly sin at root of obesity epidemic, researchers say." This is because gluttony,1 perhaps alone among humanity's vices, has become the first media non-sin.
3 I first got a whiff of this transformation a few years ago while working on a book about obesity. Looking for a book about food and morality, I asked a clerk in the religious bookstore at the Fuller Seminary in Pasadena where I might find one on gluttony.
4 "Hmm," he pondered. "Maybe you'd want to look under eating disorders."
5 "But I'm not looking for a medical book. I'm looking for something about gluttony—you know, one of the seven deadly sins." I