Paula Deen represents everything that is wrong with America

Mandizzlelephant

...oh my. I'm all for eating what you want and working it off or whatever and treating yourself but holy cow. A lot of that seems so unnecessary for me. Why do you need to add eight table spoons of sugar to a milkshake?????

Pebble321

If it's any consolation, lots of Australian are fat and unhealthy too, and I'm betting most Aussies have never heard of this lady - I hadn't until today! I just googled her and maybe the recipes I saw weren't a good sample - but honestly, I've seen worse.

I agree with the previous poster who says that most of the cooking shows on TV are not to teach you to cook, they are for entertainment value. We often get ideas from TV chefs, but will cook the recipe to our taste (which often means cutting down the amount of things like butter, oil, cream etc) - because we know what we like to eat and what is good for us. I don't have a problem with over the top recipes for occasional treats, but if people choose to cook and eat unhealthy foods all the time - well, that's their problem, not the fault of some TV presenter.

Elleinnz

To me the big thing is that for 2 or 3 years she has known about her condition - and that the eating she advocates adds to the risk of people getting diabetes - and keeps on showing the same shockingly unhealthy food.......hopefully not all her recipes are like this - my first thoughts - yuck - who on earth would actually want to eat this....(even as treat.....give me a lovely piece of cheesecake any time - but not fried in wonton wrappers and extra chocolate - oh and then wrapped in a cup of sugar!!)

Paula Deen fries cheesecake!! http://youtu.be/42oUVwyFsZI

furrina

y'all should remember this stuff comes from the land that gave us the turducken.

Yakisoba

Let's all blame Paula Deen for obesity in America. Of course they are unhealthy meals, but if we cook those meals and eat them why does that makes it her fault when we become overweight? I personally think it's a problem when we as a society are negatively affected by our own actions and decide to shift the blame on somebody else.

^ Amen.

TomsFZ1

...And we place blame on everyone else like Paula Deen when she didn't put a gun to our heads and scream "eat my recipes or I shoot!!!"

"eat my recipes, Y'ALL, or I shoot!!!"

I'm in the "take responsibility for yourself" camp.

nonafit

Not from US and I don't know Paula Deen.

But I impressed with the number of people whom thinks its someone elses responsibilty. No wonder its always joke in my office... Lesson 101 on being rich - Go to US and start suing.
No offence.

I am with the other camp - stop whining and take responsibility for your own good pleaseeee

yogibella

It's not so much as someone like Paula Deen representing everything that is wrong with obesity but what is wrong with TV in America--and the cult of celebrity/personality/authority on things simply because you're famous. Really, she's an entertainer and she makes her living entertaining folks with her outlandish cooking and people relate to her. But she's not an authority on food, proper eating and not even diabetes. She gets paid well by the TV networks and now the pharmaceutical company.

I think the reason why people are divided on the issue is that people think Paula Deen is a person when in fact she has become a brand. It's like blaming the Marlboro Man for the epidemic of smoking in America. The Marlboro man didn't force you to smoke...in fact, he's not even real! But millions of dollars were spent in advertising by the cigarette companies and successful branding and persuasions were made. People saw him and equated some good times with nice sticks of reds. We know better know and unfortunately the model/actor in the ads ended up with cancer. I don't think he ended up pushing cancer drugs though. So the point? We are ALL to blame.

houstonmacbro

A few months ago I made a recipe of hers. It was amazing and lavish and full of fats. But I didn't die or get diabetes from eating that one dish.

It was crock pot mac n cheese btw

I do believe her food in unhealthy, but you can have it once a month or every other month or something. Its a special treat. You could probably cut out half the fat out of the recipes by using common sense (replacing the lard and butter and full fat cheese/creams with lower fat alternatives)

Moral: moderation is key. She isn't a bad person, just a chef who cooks unhealthy food

Agreed!!!

I tweak recipes. While my verdict is still out on Paula Deen, I do know that you (we) have the power to modify recipes. I tried a recipe for bean and oatmeal 'burgers' and didn't like it much so I tweaked it. I almost have it where EYE like it with no fat in the recipe or the cooking (non-stick cooking spray instead of 'fried' in olive oil) ... does it taste like the original recipe? NO! But that's not the point. The author is not in my kitchen and doesn't have to deal with my life or lifestyle.

We have the power to turn off the television, re-tweak recipes, and use common sense on what works for us.

BerryH

I hadn't heard of Paula Deen so I looked up some of her recipes. With the suggested portion size, many of them weren't massively calorific - 300 - 700 for a main meal - and many are full of veg. There are exceptions:

Lady and Sons Chicken Pot Pie

Recipe makes four servings. One serving contains 2,344 calories, 221.5 grams of fat, 842 mg of cholesterol, and 58.8 carbohydrates. The quart of heavy cream involved in the recipe really helps it tip the scales.
:noway:

OK, you'd probably wan to avoid the cheeseburger served in an iced doughnut too...

Many people with food and obesity related health problems would be way better off doing some home cooking and staying within recommended portion sizes than getting fast food and ready meals.

Not all food programmes need to be healthy food programmes. It only takes one episode of Man Vs Food to make me choose a healthy dinner, for example! :laugh:

dilleight

deep fried lasagna! Hilarity.

diam0nddagger

Just checked out a couple of her recipes...Now, I've had a couple of deep fried mars bars in my time but I don't think I could stomach even a bite out of most of them meals! :noway:

dakitten2

So did we all land here on MFP because we ate Paula Deen's food for years being led by the bright lights and being mindwashed by her?

Well I didn't I ended up here because of years of unhealthy eating way before Paula Deen ever came on the scene. My finger securely points at me for endangering my health and well-being.

If I was to adopt every celebrities life-style that I have watched over the years, I would be a drunken sot, snorting lines of cocaine but I would be WINNING! Thank you Charlie Sheen for that. I love Charlie Sheen's show (2 and half Men), so should I have grabbed a bunch of ho's and took every drug possible because I was a follower of a TV show? I think not. So lets see, the similiarites, Paula Deen hosts a TV show and while I make some of her less outrageous dishes, she is in no way responsible for the body that I am now living in. I AM! I snuck thru the drive-thru and had a 800 calorie Whopper and then came home and fixed a full 5-course meal and ate like I hadnt eaten in days.

And what are we doing, we of all people are passing judgement on someone else's lifestyle when we have had to endure that for our entire life. I would think we would be more sympathetic. If not, let's drag every celebrity out here and see if we have been influenced by them to do things such as drinking, smoking, doping, commiting suicide, etc. I'm sorry but I feel sympathy for her and her family. Yes she knew what she was doing was endangering her health and yes I know what I did endangered mine. I'm taking responsibility for my actions and she'll have to do the same. I just cant comprehend a group of fat now or once fat group such as ourselves judging another's actions. I've been judged all my life and it did nothing to help me to overcome my faults.

Actually I'm just fed up with all the negativity about her or anyone else. I am choosing to change my life for the positive.

Beezil

I think people really need to stop looking for a scapegoat every time something bad happens because of something stupid they did, and actually have some personal accountability. This is why children grow up feeling like they're automatically entitled to the world and can do no wrong. This is why people get fat, fatter, and suddenly they're almost 1000 pounds, bedridden, and days away from death.

The point is, it's not TV's fault you got fat and sick. It's not the internet's fault. It's not McDonald's fault. It's not the government's fault. It's not the food's fault either. It's yours.

Beezil

So did we all land here on MFP because we ate Paula Deen's food for years being led by the bright lights and being mindwashed by her?

Well I didn't I ended up here because of years of unhealthy eating way before Paula Deen ever came on the scene. My finger securely points at me for endangering my health and well-being.

If I was to adopt every celebrities life-style that I have watched over the years, I would be a drunken sot, snorting lines of cocaine but I would be WINNING! Thank you Charlie Sheen for that. I love Charlie Sheen's show (2 and half Men), so should I have grabbed a bunch of ho's and took every drug possible because I was a follower of a TV show? I think not. So lets see, the similiarites, Paula Deen hosts a TV show and while I make some of her less outrageous dishes, she is in no way responsible for the body that I am now living in. I AM! I snuck thru the drive-thru and had a 800 calorie Whopper and then came home and fixed a full 5-course meal and ate like I hadnt eaten in days.

And what are we doing, we of all people are passing judgement on someone else's lifestyle when we have had to endure that for our entire life. I would think we would be more sympathetic. If not, let's drag every celebrity out here and see if we have been influenced by them to do things such as drinking, smoking, doping, commiting suicide, etc. I'm sorry but I feel sympathy for her and her family. Yes she knew what she was doing was endangering her health and yes I know what I did endangered mine. I'm taking responsibility for my actions and she'll have to do the same. I just cant comprehend a group of fat now or once fat group such as ourselves judging another's actions. I've been judged all my life and it did nothing to help me to overcome my faults.

Actually I'm just fed up with all the negativity about her or anyone else. I am choosing to change my life for the positive.

AMEN!

sms1986

Looking at one or two videos on YouTube, a lot of the food she makes looks (and probably tastes), in my opinion, disgusting, and it's obviously not food that anyone should be eating too often. However, she's nowhere near as bad as some of the real causes of the United States' obesity epidemic, such as McDonalds or Burger King.

Rilke

This Video Below is hilarious - but also a must see. Just an example of why people are upset about this Paula Deen issue. For three years she knew she had this disease yet promoted "bad habits" like this. She was doing herself an injustice by eating this type of food. Its sad, because diabetes is a very serious issue. When you can take a big bite out of a doughnut egg bacon burger its like your saying "F" my life....

#justonegirlsopinion


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1PsDyhNFBI

(didn't read the article, this maybe included already)

That video is fantastic.

sunkisses

I thought Walmart represented everything that is wrong with America. *confused face*

angelswank

Shocked or whatever? .... because she is now taking money to become a spokesperson for treatment of a devastating disease that is caused by behaviors she's been promoting. Shocked or whatever? .... because she has led people over a cliff for years and now she gets to get paid for what? Shocked or whatever? .... because "moderation" when it comes to her style of cooking is a cynical joke.

This is just as bad as suing a fast food place because you are fat. She didn't make anyone cook her food just as mcdonalds doesn't make you eat their burgers. what you put in your mouth is YOUR decision , how you cook your food is YOUR decision not anyone else's. You can take any recipe and make it more healthy, it may not taste as delicious but it is your choice how you cook it. It's her life and her decision what she does with it.

lodro

let's bring out our favorite examples, the French. They eat butter, cream, animal fats, you name it, but they don't have anywhere near our levels of obesity and heart disease. Why? Because they eat small portions.

I think the point is that she is obese and has health problems, so there is a big difference between her and the French.

Also, this food myth is not based on any real information about how people eat in France. Dieting and diet foods are favorite topics in France. Go to an average supermarket or convenience store in Paris and you'll see that the French diet isn't laden in butter, cream and animal fats. However, US portion sizes are invariably 2x those in Europe.