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Thursday, April 14, 2011

Don't Take My Fried Cheese on a Stick

Say what you want about how Americans eat. Just don't take my Fried Cheese on a Stick.
MN State Fair 2010 (Picture by Tony Venne)

On an episode of Friends (the one with the truth about London) Monica tells Joey that she made his favorite food. Joey replies, "Ho-ho-ho... Fried stuff with Cheese!"

Walk through the cholesterol alley at most County or State Fairs and you will see all kinds of foods that might expand the wasteline a tad... might give you heartburn... but will definitely taste delicious.

Years ago the only fried foods you would see at the fairs would be fried vegetables, French fries and maybe some fried chicken. Not so anymore. Now you have your choice of fried cheese on a stick, fried Oreos, fried Twinkies.... recently the Ohio State Fair started deep frying buckeye candies. The L.A. County fair boasted some pretty interesting "treats" in 2010:

"This year’s additions to the list of the fair’s deep fried food offerings are peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and Klondike bars, joining such perennials as the zucchini weenie — a hot dog placed in a hollowed-out zucchini, then covered in batter and deep fried — and deep fried frogs legs. Also new is the chocolate-dipped, bacon-wrapped Oreo cookie". Southwest Riverside News Network

There's a party in my mouth... and everyone is throwing up now. I wouldn't eat any of those things... ever.

Attention passengers... I'd like to direct your attention to the point of this post:

I don't have to eat any of these things. Just because it is available doesn't mean I have to eat it.

I think it is absurd that any form of government (National, State, Local) would be able to dictate what you can put on your menu. People who eat things that are not good for them have a choice... Don't eat it.

I understand that some people have eating disorders where they can't stop eating... but taking away menu items doesn't stop them from eating; they will simply find something else.

Taking away happy meal toys won't prevent parents from buying happy meals. They buy it out of convenience... not for the toys that will eventually end up in the trash or in a yard sale.

I am not endorsing gluttony here... I am endorsing a paradigm shift... a change in the way we think.  Why do we have to depend on the government to tell us what to eat? Are we 5 years old again?

If we are the most overweight country in the world it isn't because of the food choices available to us. It is because society tells us that we are not responsible for our actions.... we cannot be held accountable for our actions... if we screw up it is someone else's fault.

C'mon America! Is this what we have become? No one needs to hold our hands anymore! We're adults now! Let's start holding ourselves accountable for our actions and stop blaming everyone else!

This country will never get better until the culture changes... not our food choices.

And for crying out loud, don't take away my fried cheese on a stick!



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