More companies are facing legal recourse over misleading advertising. General Mills’ products “Fruit Roll-Ups” & “Fruit by the Foot” and Skecher’s “Shape Up” shoes follow the heels of the Nutella lawsuit and Kashi indictment.

Made with “Real Fruit” my ass.

Annie Lam, a resident of Daly City, California, is the claimant seeking class-action status in the General Mills case. According to an article in Reuters, Lam’s argument is that “General Mills incorrectly described the ingredients of its fruit snacks, citing strawberry-flavored Fruit Roll-Ups that contain ‘pears from concentrate,’ but no strawberries. Among the ingredients listed in court papers are corn syrup, dried corn syrup, sugar and partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil.” A judge has recently moved her case forward on the ground that a reasonable consumer could be misled by General Mills’ “real fruit” statements.

The claimant is right. In looking at the General Mills site, I can see that the ingredients in a “Strawberry” Fruit Roll Up are:

pears from concentrate, corn syrup, dried corn syrup, sugar, partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil. Contains 2% or less of: citric acid, sodium citrate, acetylated monoglycerides, fruit pectin, dextrose, malic acid, vitamin C (ascorbic acid), natural flavor, color (Red 40, yellows 5 & 6, blue 1).

Ingredients in a “strawberry” Fruit By the Foot are:

pears from concentrate, sugar, maltodextrin, water, corn syrup, partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil. Contains 2% or less of: carrageenan, citric acid, acetylated mono and diglycerides, sodium citrate, malic acid, xanthan gum, locust bean gum, vitamin C (ascorbic acid), potassium citrate, natural flavor, color (yellow 5, Red 40, blue 1).

So basically, these are rolls of corn syrup mixed with artificial shit being marketed as having “real fruit” and being an “excellent source of “Vitamin C.” How is this even allowed? With Nutella – I could see how part of the problem was simply ignorance on the part of the consumer. Nutella did not say it was sugar-free but did imply it was healthful by way of its advertising as “part of” a healthful, balanced breakfast. In this case, saying that Fruit Roll-Ups or Fruit by the Foot are made with “real fruit” is like saying beer is made with “whole grains.” Come on now.

In the Skechers case:

The class action settled at a hand-wringing $40 million after the company was charged with misleading consumers via its very overt ads, some of which promised “85% ‘muscle activation’ raised for some posture-related muscles, and 71% for one buttocks muscle’” per the article in USA Today. The article went on to say the case may be the “FTC’s largest ever [case] involving consumer refunds.” Compare that to Nutella who just had to pay $3 million to class action recipients.

Also from the USA Today article: “Under the settlement, Skechers will be barred from making unsubstantiated claims about the health and fitness benefits of Shape-ups and related footwear. The commission alleged Skechers also made deceptive claims about its Resistance Runner, Toners and Tone-ups shoes.

The FTC also said research underlying the claims was suspect. Steven Gautreau, a chiropractor, recommended Shape-ups based on a clinical study he claimed was “independent” and tested the shoes’ benefits compared with regular fitness shoes, the FTC says. The study did not produce the results claimed in the ad, the FTC says. Skechers also didn’t disclose that Gautreau is married to a Skechers marketing executive and that Skechers paid him to do the study, FTC says.”

There are a couple lessons here for marketers all around the world:

•  Do not hire a chiropractor to conduct a study that makes medical claims.
• Do not hire an outside party to conduct scientific experiments who also happens to be sleeping with someone in your marketing department.
• Do not hire Kim Kardashian to be a spokesmodel. (ok, this is more a personal preference
• Stop banking off of women’s insecurities to sell a product and instead invest in creating a product that provides real value.
• Don’t rely on the ignorance of consumers to keep your secret. While we consumers have been pretty dumb for a while now, we’re getting smarter. And angrier.

I hope the dieting industry gets its fair share of a shit storm any day now…

<3,

The Cranky One

Last week, I got some great news: my blood tests all came back showing I’m fine and healthy. No anemia. No thyroid problem. All cholesterol levels, blood pressure, etc., fine. I’ll admit that at first I was a little upset. I hadn’t been feeling well and was steadfast that there was something wrong. I think I wanted a clear-cut problem so that I could have a clear-cut solution. The truth of the matter is that what has been ailing me is stress and there is not an easy fix.

The other good news is that my feet have been feeling significantly better. In fact, it’s just one foot bothering me and I’m pretty sure it can be corrected once I go back to the podiatrist and figure out exactly how I’m pronating since I can feel hip pain in the side of my body with the foot pain, so clearly they’re related. The even better news is that I have been walking at least 4 times a week. The old Cranky One would scoff at walking as it is calorie-burning-inefficient when compared to running. The new Cranky One? I’m just so damn happy I can MOVE! And I’ve found incredible peace in walking.

I’ve added in running in intervals, but never more than a total of 3 miles and never more than three times a week. I’m all about sustainability and avoiding injury. I relish the fact that I can get out there into the fresh air and sweat. I hope some day I can get back to running long distances, even if just once a week, since I’ve always found my long runs along the beach to be therapeutic, but I’ll be patient   One thing that may be of interest to you runners is that my podiatrist had me switch from my Asics to Brooks’ Addiction. I also got the shoe in wide since I’ve always had wider feet and the second I put my feet into the new shoe they felt significantly better. I also have temporary orthotics in the shoe, but will pay for specialized made-to-fit orthotics in the next couple of weeks.

Today my boyfriend and I started a new cross-fit style work-out plan, which we’ll be completing for the next three months. Three months! We’re both hoping to make significant strength gains, which means that eating sufficiently (more than usual) is essential. So, I’m going to spend some time making additional high protein, high fat meals plans, since I’ve been slackin’ again on getting enough fat. I never have to try to get enough protein though. I’ll update here as to the specifics of the work-out plan and my strength gain progress if any of you are interested. I know that in the past three days we had to “test” where I am at currently in strength for full-body squats, bent over rows, bench press and dead lifts. My boyfriend’s plan is different because he’s hoping to gain strength in different ways (apparently there’s jump stuff in his plan? I need to become more literate about this stuff because I just kinda nod and am like, jumps? Cleans and jerks? Sounds like someone preparing a chicken.).

Anyhow, this weekend was fantastic. I took my mom salsa dancing and got her nice and tipsy   It was fun reliving those childhood memories of us dancing together to the Gipsy Kings.

And now? Back to the grind. But even that’s got some fun in it

<3,

The Cranky One

Equally scary – who would I become, as a mother? I feel like I have so many things I want to accomplish as a person before I could even think of another person calling me “mom.” Would I be one of those people who bemoans all the things she thinks she could have had/done personally or professionally before children? Will I crack under the stress of wanting to be the best mom and the best me? Are they one and the same? I want my children to see me as their role model and I don’t think I’d be a fit role model anytime soon. My blog is called Feed Me, I’m Cranky for dear sake.

When I’m in bed with my eyes closed, I transport myself to a vision of my future self as a mom, since it is such a beautiful idea. I hear laughter, smell pancakes, see bodies moving in play. I’m enveloped in the blurry fuzz that is my life when I dream of it – I see outlines of faces, crooked smiles, cute chiclet teeth, curly tresses and little feet hurrying past my own. I don’t know how much of this is really me and how much of this is my own Hollywood production of what I think life simply has to be as a mother. I can’t tell if this is a lie I’ve been fed – a dream that even I haven’t created but which I believe I have authorship.

There is fear. The fear that comes from having a biological timeline and the semblance of inevitability: do we all become our parents no matter how hard we try not to? Will I be able to even produce a child when I want to? Especially after all the shit I’ve put my body through…?

Always being a dissenter, I resist the desire to conform simply to conform. I question the conventions and work to create my own truth rather than the “truth” shoved down my throat in movies, magazines, and even those around me who feel strongly it’s time for me to give in.

Everyone from my inner circle to the freakin’ dry cleaner is asking me, “when are you going to get married?”"When are you going to have kids?”

Ask me, instead, when I’m going to write my book(s) or when I’m going to produce more songs. Because standing there in a sea of children at my niece’s 4th birthday party, all I could think was, “not ready. not ready. Awww so precious! Not ready. Not ready.”

<3,

Not Ready

I’ve diligently read the press release, read the hand outs, and sat in on an hour long webinar, hoping that I would hear something new, refreshing or, frankly, something that shows me people are starting to get it. I’m sad to say that while I have not watched the documentary in its entirety (my screening kit is on its way), I’m 99% sure based on the information I’ve already encountered (even just the slogan of the docu alone, which is “To win, we have to lose”) that we’re, unfortunately, going to get a rather consistent and detrimental message. It’s the same one we’ve been getting thus far: weight is the best proxy for health. In order to “solve” obesity, we have to lose weight. This is the same message that First Lady Michelle Obama is sending with her Let’s Move campaign and her public support of The Biggest Loser. In fact, the docu’s ancillary “obesity hand out” is just a simple regurgitation of the alarmist rhetoric we can find on the CDC’s site: “Obesity is a serious health condition that increases one’s risk of heart cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, certain cancers, and many other conditions. Reducing the obesity rates and associated health problems requires action and collaboration among individuals, families, schools, health professionals, nonprofit and community groups, and government agencies.” Ah, interesting how we need non-profits etc. to help us solve this “crisis” (think: FUNDING!).

The prescription to eat less and move more has a small level of reason to it (as any overly simplistic statement/cliche has). But it could be stated, more adequately, that we should eat more (fruits & veggies) and move some. These are healthful behaviors that we should all strive for. But these behaviors in and of themselves will not affect your waistline, so I don’t understand why we are obsessed with conflating “improve health” with “decrease weight.” More and more people (outside of the non-profits funding this docu) are beginning to understand that exercise as a means to weight loss is a ridiculously ineffective and unsustainable notion. You would have to run 30 minutes at a 10 miler-per-hour pace just to burn the calories in half of some bagels. Even Gary Taubes, who recently wrote an op-ed in Newsweek called, “Why the Campaign to Stop America’s Obesity Crisis Keeps Failing,” which disparages the documentary and its lack of sound science, understands that exercise as a sustainable means to weight loss is a bit of a silly idea (especially if we’re considering the statistics the CDC puts out of just how much weight we all have to lose). I want to be clear that I do believe exercise can contribute to weight loss, but it’s inefficient when compared to how food consumption and a host of other things like diet, stress, toxins, prescription pills and socioeconomic status, affect weight. But again, I am not on the band wagon that is concerned with weight as a main indicator of health. So, I actually am an avid proponent of fitness, but not for weight-loss, but for health (both mental and physical). Exercise is integral to to a person’s health. This is something Taubes fails to mention in his piece where he is clearly obsessed with the fat on our bodies rather than our degrees of health. While he seems to believe he is an antagonist to the national anti-obesity dialogue, he is actually an ally. Both sides see fat as the enemy and care more about weight than about health, even though both hide behind the facade of health advocacy. When it comes down to it, Taubes recommends that Americans understand insulin levels, cut sugars and most carbs (even refined) to lose weight; the Weight of the Nation, despite its PC inclusion of info. on weight stigma, is at the end of the day a proponent of “eat less, move more” i.e. lose weight!

The thing is, I think many of us do know why we get fat. There is a science behind hormones (which can get fucked by endocrine disruptors and prescription pills) and yes, insulin, as Taubes proposes, can inhibit our bodies abilities to burn fat. This is something Dr. Mark Hyman also promotes along the TV circuit and is really nothing new. What needs to be clarified, and yet is consistently muddled, is that fat in and of itself is not a clear marker of health or disease.

So what does Taubes recommend? “…diets that are severely restricted in fattening carbohydrates and rich in animal products—meat, eggs, cheese—and green leafy vegetables are arguably the best approach, if not the healthiest diet to eat. Not only does weight go down when people eat like this, but heart disease and diabetes risk factors are reduced. Ethical arguments against meat-eating are always valid; health arguments against it can no longer be defended.”

While I agree that the data demonizing red meat – intrinsically – is skewed, Taubes is very selective not to include the boat loads of reputable research that shows eating a plant-based diet significantly reduces heart disease and diabetes risks. But what’s worse than this omission, is that he prescribes a diet for an entire population. This is precisely what we need to stop doing not only because, yes, there is a very important ethical (and political!) component dictating what and how we eat (at least, there should be!), but also because we are not all the same physiologically and our bodies – go figure – are different! That sort of thinking baffles me – it’s just like thinking that everyone should follow the MyPlate model which overtly recommends dairy intake and grain intake – both of which many of the population are intolerant of. What’s worse, is it again gets people accustomed to thinking they have to be prescribed a way of eating rather than empowered to think for themselves and to become political and ethical in the process, all on their own terms.

But what Taubes also fails to note is that the entire premise that we all need to be saved from this monstrosity that is obesity is a hoax. Put aside the fact that the stats are sketchy given the questionable tool used to diagnose us all – BMI – and focus instead on the idea that fat bodies are inherently unhealthy. This is just not true at all! Why do reputable health advocacy groups keep promoting this bullshit? For example, there’s the fact that a fat patient undergoing CABG in the state is significantly more likely to be alive several years later than is a normal-weight person. There’s also the fact that “overweight” has been shown to be protective in the over 65 population, and that “Class I,” or “moderate,” obesity carries the same risks as “normal” weight in that same population. It is only as weights rise more dramatically than simply “moderate” obesity that so too does risk. But if weight loss is not the answer to our health problems, what is? The single best thing any body of any size can do is move.

The fact of the matter is that we do not need to wage a war on obesity to improve the collective health of’ the nation. We do not, and should not, assign a scarlet letter to fat adults and children and make them the representative of what’s “wrong” with our society. We need to be adamant that people of all sizes deserve equitable treatment by law and by a human conscience. We all deserve to be healthful – yes, even those of us who are not part of the “crisis” by BMI ranking. We need to understand that what and why we eat is a complex web with sticky strings coming from culture, ethics, politics and that our size is dictated by another complex web including environment, genetics, access and more factors than we could possibly fathom. We need to FIGHT for the right for all of us to have peace in our minds and bodies, to be empowered to be whatever size our bodies land at when we are treating ourselves well and understand that not all of us have the means or will to do even that.

The Weight of the Nation is telling an old and tired fable and the only moral we get from the story is that our government still doesn’t know the complexity of the problem. And worse perhaps, is contributing wildly to a problem it has falsely defined.

<3,

The Cranky One

Hope the rest of you still go and have fun!

<3,

The Cranky One

So, the latest company getting some flack from consumers, is Kashi.

Kashi, who is owned by Kellogg’s, has consistently marketed itself as a healthful company. I have found, in my own experience, that Kashi foods do not fit my bill of “healthful” and I can find better alternatives elsewhere. But I’m privileged in that I’ve spent the past 9 years of my life becoming extremely food literate. Other people, not so much. And, maybe that is the problem – in addition, clearly, to deceptive labeling – but we’ll talk about that another time. The point is that one small grocer in Rhode Island started the Kashi controversy when he posted a note, where he used to stock Kashi cereals, telling his customers that he wouldn’t sell the cereal because it had just come to his attention (via the Cornucopia Institute) that the brand uses GMOs & non-organic ingredients. Someone took a picture of the note and the rest is, as we say, viral history. Gotta love social media’s ability to check brands when the FDA won’t. You see, people are pissed because Kashi uses the largely unregulated term, “natural.”

Kashi, however, is not doing anything illegal. The term “natural” is meaningless from a legal perspective since there are no USDA or FDA regulations specifying what a natural product is or, more importantly, regulating the use of the term. The FDA says, “From a food science perspective, it is difficult to define a food product that is ‘natural’ because the food has probably been processed and is no longer the product of the earth. That said, FDA has not developed a definition for use of the term natural or its derivatives. However, the agency has not objected to the use of the term if the food does not contain added color, artificial flavors, or synthetic substances.” This is still widely subjective, but I’d wager that many consumers would actually argue that GMOs are synthetic substances.

According to Fooducate, one in four new products launched in 2010 had a label claiming it was “Natural.” But consumers are becoming more and more cognizant of this potential loophole and demanding more regulation. According to Food Navigator:

Consumers on the lookout for eco-friendly claims are skeptical about the term ‘natural’, and two-thirds would favor a uniform standard to certify natural claims, according to a new survey.

In Elizabeth Weise’s reporting via USA Today, David Desouza, Kashi’s general manager believes Kashi is not in the wrong. “The FDA has chosen not to regulate the term ‘natural.’” Weise writes, “The company [Kashi] defines natural as ‘food that’s minimally processed, made with no artificial colors, flavors, preservatives or sweeteners.’” Way to pull a VitaminWater, dude.

The larger and more complex question is what should be done with food marketing and food labeling in general. What I see as the biggest con to food advertising is that consumers have become accustomed to listening and relying on the food companies to tell them why they should eat their products rather than relying on their own research. The truth of the matter is that the only thing that will save both consumers and food companies is true transparency. We have a right to know if there are GMOs in our foods (you can try to make this happen here); if the EU labels its GMO products, the US should too (& while we’re at it, can we get the same laws banning certain cancerous artificial colors?). Also, the FDA should consider putting restrictions on what can qualify as “natural” because, right now, it’s a rogue label and it’s screwing with all of us.

<3,

The Cranky One

But not next weekend! No, this time food & the housewives will be together in OC for the inaugural OC Tastefest and no one will be going hungry.

And, you can win two free general admission tickets here!

Details
What: OC Tastefest is Orange County’s inaugural food, wine and entertainment celebration.
When: Friday, May 4th 5:00pm to 11:00pm
Saturday, May 5th 1:00pm to 10:00pm (Cinco de Mayo)
Sunday, May 6th OC Marathon, Half Marathon and OC Wahoo’s 5K
Where:  Outdoors at the OC Fair and Event Center, 88 Fair Drive in Costa Mesa, CA
Why? There will be tons of local restaurants (about 20-25 total) will be offering samples of classic and seasonal menu items, wine tasting, a celebrity chef challenge with stars from Food Network’s Private Chefs of Beverly Hills, Bravo’s Top Chef and the Real Housewives of OC making appearances. It’s going to be a wonderful two day celebration leading up to the OC Marathon on May 6. Vegan chef Jenny Ross of 118 Degrees will be there for the top chef challenge! The chef challenge will be hosted by some “characters” from the Real Housewives of Orange County on Saturday, May 5th, from 2:30 pm – 5:00pm.
Costs: The event is gated & an admission ticket is required. Advance online ticket price is $12.00 per person. Tickets at the gate are $20.00 per person. Kids 12 and under are free when accompanied by a paid adult.Each Paid General Admission Ticket admits one and includes 10 Taste Coupons (each coupon valued at $0.50). All restaurants will serve three different items that will be priced between $1 and $6 dollars each. So, essentially your taste coupons will get you 0-5 items, so clearly you’ll want to bring cash!
Want to win? Just say so in the comments below!

Entries accepted until Wed., May 2nd, 11:59 p.m. PST. Winner announced Thursday a.m. PST. Winner will have his/her name at will call.

<3,

The Cranky One

From the Yahoo! Finance article:

Ferrero, the company that manufactures the highly addictive yet apparently not terribly healthy spread, has settled a $3 million lawsuit filed in February 2011 by San Diego mom Athena Hohenberg. Hohenberg, it seems, believed that Nutella was a great dietary choice for her four-year-old daughter. She claimed the company’s advertising — particularly giving TV-ad viewers the idea that Nutella was part of a nutritious breakfast (see ad below) — led to her erroneous perception.

I dunno, guys, I’m torn between wanting to bitch-slap the claimant – so representative of the obvious ignorance on the part of consumers everywhere – or congratulating the claimant for her mastery in having gotten $0.5mil(!), and/or in wagging my fist at food industry marketing giants that are increasingly skilled at leading consumers to believe eating crack is part of a healthful breakfast. I’m not typically one to stand up for the behemoth that is the Food Industry, but come on!  The fact of the matter is that responsibility has to swing both ways and, frankly, responsibility is lackin’ on both ends!

The claimant argues that the Nutella TV ad is misleading. Here it is:

The female announcer’ voice says, “with a balanced breakfast, a glass of milk, a piece of fruit and two pieces of toast with Nutella, it’s amazing what they [your kids] can do.”

What’s misleading about this? She doesn’t say, “with a balanced breakfast, a glass of milk, a piece of fruit and two pieces of toast with Nutella, it’s amazing how healthy your kids will be.” She also doesn’t say how much Nutella to spread on the toast. She doesn’t say, “eat our sugar-free Nutella!” Perhaps I need to “stoop” to the average consumer who seemingly wants to believe she can eat Nutella from the jar and actually increase her health so extrapolates from the message exactly what Nutella would want: eat Nutella. It’s good for you.

The truth is – no one should be listening to food companies (or the USDA!) to tell them what’s healthful. Imagine how awful it would be to be gluten-intolerant and yet feel inclined to adhere to the wheat-lovin’ MyPlate?

I’ll be honest – Nutella isn’t a purist’s dream food, but not all of us are food purists, and, frankly, some of us choose to indulge (though I don’t choose to indulge in Nutella since it has milk in it, FYI). It comes down to being a smart & mindful consumer – and knowing that you are making a choice and what its implications are, wouldn’t you say?

These are Nutella’s ingredients:

sugar, modified palm oil, hazelnuts, cocoa, skim milk, reduced minerals whey (from milk), soy lecithin: an emulsifier, vanillin: an artificial flavor.

The first ingredient is sugar, which means, clearly, you don’t want to spoon-feed this to your infant for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This is the same for most “fruit” jams. It also has palm oil, which is high in sat. fat and sourcing it is pretty destructive of the rain forest (though, Nutella does tell its consumers via its FAQ page that it’s a member of the RSPO (Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil), and “only uses palm oil which is extracted from controlled plantations in Malaysia”). It also has artificial flavors (i.e. vanillin).

If you’re so inclined, you can picture that one serving of two tablespoons (37g) of Nutella has 21 grams of sugar. Compare this to a Snickers bar (which tends to be about 57g), which has 28.8g sugars. If you break that down per gram, Nutella actually has more sugar per gram of product, with 0.57g sugar per gram of the product, than Snickers, which has 0.50g sugar per gram of product.

According to an interesting op-ed in The Atlantic recently, children ages 4 to 8 years old have a very small allowance for calories from added sugars – about 12 grams per day, to be exact. “That’s the amount in 1 cup of Kellogg’s Froot Loops. Consuming even modest portions of sugary cereals leaves no room for any other added sugars in a healthy diet for a child.” Yikes, the authors didn’t note that one serving of Nutella is more than double that amount.

I’m not sure what the answer is here. Perhaps food marketing needs to be abolished all together (can you imagine what that would do? people would really have to rely on their own smarts to choose the best products!). But the consumer needs to get smarter, too, because even if there is just a nutrition label and ingredients list, I guarantee you some dumbass is going to see “whole wheat” in his trans-fat-filled monster burrito and think it means its healthful and he can eat 20 of ‘em.

Via CTV.ca: “As part of the settlement, the front label of Nutella jars will now include info on the fat, sugar and calories of the product. As well, the ads that bothered Hohenberg will be dropped and new ads created.”

I thought info. on the fat, sugar and calories was already listed as part of the nutrition label? I guess putting it on the front makes its “issues” more salient. That said, I’m sure this woman also thought WhoNu Cookies were just as healthful as a bowl of oatmeal. I guess the point is we should actually worry less about nutrition claims made on products, front or back of the label, because we should be eating so few foods with labels in the first place!

But, alas…

<3,

The Cranky One

As  you know, my opinions on “obesity” have gone through significant shifts in the past year. Some days I go out into the world and I’m intent on shaking things up. Depending on the circle in which I go to “shake,” the results vary. For instance, I recently responded to a vegan chef’s Facebook post where she shared the PCRM’s fat-shaming airplane ad with the snarky comment: “Having just gotten off a cramped airplane, I thought this was apropos!” I felt compelled to respond, noticing she had 4k friends, and I wanted her large vegan fan-base to know that not all vegans are fat-hating elitists. Of course, the author – who often writes about the need to be compassionate to animals – ripped my head off and nearly wished me dead, writing twice that a lack of sense of humor would kill me sooner than any diet would. I think she presumed because I was in contention with the ad that I must be unhealthy (and probably fat, eh?). Anyway, this is all to say – the world is rife with fat hate…even from people who extol compassion.

But this post isn’t about crying ourselves a river over the ignorance of other people. In fact, I hope you will find hope, as I have. I can see subtle shifts occurring in the medical community. While I bemoaned the UK’s creation of an obesity “fighting” group of doctors, I’ve also been happy to see quite a few studies published recently that contend with the issue that weight-loss should be the focus of obesity programs. There have also been many people getting vocal in the media about the bullshit that defines the parameters of “obesity.”

The more I think about our bodies and the hyper-focus placed upon them, the more I see added complexity. There has to be a reason we are all obsessed with “fighting” obesity – a “crisis” we created the second we defined the parameters and used a bogus tool, i.e. BMI, to determine them – rather than obsessed collectively about solving the economic “crisis” and focusing on the inequitable nature of health care in the U.S. or the disparities in access to health care. Or, god forbid, fighting for health. When I see the simplistic rhetoric often used towards fat people: “eat less, move more,” I liken it to someone advising a person to get a hold on her finances by “spending less, saving more.” This advice is so surface and doesn’t address the web of complexity dictating and affecting her ability to do so, or even her desire to do so.

From an overarching cerebral perspective – the preponderance of “fat” people should be regarded as a sign of the times and studied objectively. It has occurred to me that we should view fat much like we view the peppered moth – an evolutionary adaptation to industrialization and our heightened “mobility” (meaning our technical mobility, since, clearly we are less physically mobile as a whole, right? heh.).

With the advent of industry in England, the black moth – which had originally been scarce and seen as a genetic anomaly – thrived because it could avoid predation when landing on soot-covered trees. In pre-industrial England, grey moths thrived because the tree trunks were yet to be dirtied with industrial pollutants.

This is not something to “fight” or something to declare war against – this is something to observe, study and approach with an open-mind rather than fear and hate. I do realize the comparison between the peppered moth and obesity is not without problems, but I think it can spark a fruitful dialogue because it allows us to look outside the “symptom.” In other words, much like we now know that the thriving of the black moth in industrial age England, via genetic mutation, was due to the rise of industry, and its resultant pollutants, perhaps we can ask ourselves – how is industry affecting our bodies? Is the fact that we are larger now than ever before a result of this industry? And, what does that mean?

I am not alone in wondering if the preponderance of fat is an evolutionary adaptation – see “Obesity: a disease or a biological adaptation? An update” here [citation: Chaput, J.-P., Doucet, É. and Tremblay, A. (2012), Obesity: a disease or a biological adaptation? An update. Obesity Reviews. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-789X.2012.00992.x]. Thanks to reader, Sarah, for sending me the study. Here’s a quote I’ve culled to get your brains churning:

• “Our lack of success to reverse the trend in obesity prevalence has helped us in realizing that a focus on weight loss as an indicator of success is not only ineffective at producing thinner, healthier bodies, but also damaging, contributing to food and body preoccupation, repeated cycles of weight loss and regain, reduced self-esteem, eating disorders, and weight stigmatization and discrimination (2). Taken together, these findings strongly suggest that it is maybe time to shift the focus away from body weight and centre our efforts on the promotion of a healthy lifestyle.”

We have approached – and many of us continue to approach – obesity from the perspective of “how can we fix this?” rather than “what is this telling us?” We’ve assigned morals to our bodies: fat=bad, thin=good and created a collective pathos toward any body that does not fit a rigid archetype that is more illusion than possibility. The medical community has largely oversimplified and conflated “healthy” with “thin.” But instead of us rising to address this inequity, many of us have listened, internalized and turned a blind eye to what we know is the truth: it ain’t that simple or there would be no fat people. It’s time to drop the “crisis” talk and ask – is obesity the peppered moth of the mobile age?

<3,

The Cranky One

Hey guys! If you’re interested in pursuing a career in PR (or marketing, as both tend to overlap, esp. social media marketing), these are my tips (though they can certainly be transferred to any field or industry you’re interested in pursuing!):

Get an internship. Some schools have internship programs where counselors develop relationships with employers and help match you and prepare you for the interview. Check with your campus’ career center or your school’s job boards. Alternately, if there is a place you want to intern at and they are not openly seeking interns, email their HR rep with a kick-ass cover letter explaining why they should take you on as an intern. Also, don’t underestimate the power of your social network. Put it out there, via the WWW, or through word of mouth, that you’re searching for a PR internship. You never know who your old high school buddy knows (or where she works!). If you’re out of school and simply cannot work for free, the next best thing is using your spare time to learn as much as possible about the industry, which you can do via the items below:

Start reading trade-related blogs & online news sites. These are my faves:

• Ad Age -  A global source of news, intelligence and conversation for marketing and media communities.
• Copy Blogger – Great resource for anyone who writes content for the world to see. You’ll learn how to improve your writing, improve SEO, & get people returning to read your posts. Great posts include 5 Things Depeche Mode Can Teach You About Effective Online Marketing, 21 Ways to Create Compelling Content When You Don’t Have a Clue & The Inigo Montoya Guide to 27 Commonly Misused Words.
• Danny Brown – Written by Danny Brown, who is VP, Product Intelligence at Jugnoo Inc., an internet and media technology company for consumers and business. He is an award-winning marketer and blogger & author of The Parables of Business. You can learn the rules from Danny and then begin to break them as Erika, above, does.
• Mashable – Social media news & tips.
• Peter Shankman – Peter is that wild and unpredictable guy whose thoughts on customer service and marketing can at times seem crazy – but that’s just because he’s usually two steps ahead of the rest us and we’re having a hard time catching up. This could also be because he’s an adrenaline junkie with ADHD. He’s the guy who makes his travel schedule public and invites people to meet him for coffee when he’s in their city. He’s also the guy that invented the coveted HARO. I’m currently reading his book on Customer Service and loving it.
• PR Daily - A site after my own heart, PR Daily offers industry news with a side of snark. Cool articles include “What Does a Social Media Manager Do All Day?” I love their Facebook page because their posts are hilarious and snarky. Plus, they ask questions like, “what is your biggest challenge as a PR person?” and it’s awesome to see the responses, to opine & to commiserate
• PR Week – Industry news & opinion.
• Redhead Writing – Erika Napoletano is blunt about marketing and she has a weekly column called “Bitch Slap.” If you want to shake yourself out of your comfort zone – it’s good for you – you’ll enjoy this blog; you’ll also probably start to hate yourself a little for not coloring outside of the lines more. Turn that self-hate into creativity!
• Social Media Examiner – Lots of social media how-to.
• Spin Sucks – Social media strategy & PR tips from from Gini Dietrich of Arment Dietrich

Start acting like a PR person. Pretend you are a PR person by becoming aware of, and perusing, resources geared towards the profession. These are a few sites to check out:

• Blogger linkup – Sign up for their free daily newsletter to see bloggers seeking posts, or writers offering posts to bloggers. It’s a way for people to swap content and get online exposure.
  
• HARO – Sign up for their free daily newsletter where journalists advertise pitches they’re writing and the types of sources they need. This is a great way to see what journalists write for which publications, what stories are trending (based on the pitches), and a way to get the names of freelance writers who are just as key to press as journalists are.
• Media Bistro - A website connecting journalists and new media professionals to jobs and each other. Has resources for freelancers, classes, and great tips on how to pitch the media.

Refine your writing skills. You learn a few things quickly in PR – how not to pitch someone (i.e. blindly, without doing your research beforehand, misspelling the reporter’s name, etc.), but one of the greatest assets of any PR person is their writing skills. If you can’t properly convey a message or tailor your pitch to your intended audience, you’ve gotta study up. One of the best things you can do now to improve your writing is to a) practice and b) read, especially the sources above (particularly Copy Blogger).

Anyone have anything to add?

<3,

The Cranky One