Why I Love Paula Deen
January 20, 2012 at 5:34 am 34 comments
Paula Deen's Thanksgiving, photographed by Alan Richardson for Ladies' Home Journal
I’ve been stewing about the scorn heaped on Paula Deen this week, after her announcement that she has Type 2 diabetes, and that she is working as spokesperson for a particular drug that treats the disease. The response of some within the food business has been scorn, indignation, a gleeful satisfaction. “Serves her right!” it seems, for foisting butter and fried chicken and doughnut-creations on an unsuspecting public all these years. A lot of it is just plain mean.
Her sins according to detractors include keeping her medical condition private, eating herself into a case of Type 2 diabetes, cooking naughty fatty foods on TV, and failing to prevent the obesity crisis that just showed up in America about fifteen minutes ago, thanks to Ms. Deen’s bad behavior alone. How dare she keep her personal medical condition private? How could she praise cheese grits and proffer fried chicken, knowing that America depends on her and her alone to teach us how to lead healthy lives? Has anyone watching her not already figured out that doughnuts are fattening? I think people watch her because she is happy, and generous of spirit, and she has a good time in the kitchen. Cooking shows aren’t culinary school and they are not educational television. They are entertainment, diversion, on the Food Network, not the Health Network, and we have programs like hers them because companies want to advertise their wares, which are often nutritionless-food items, whether Ms. Deen is the host or not. We don’t robotically go cook and eat what she shows us, anymore than we go suit up in helmet and shoulder pads and tackle our friends after watching Monday night football.
I love Paula Deen. She has created an amazing career in the food world, starting from scratch and creating monumental business success on her own despite more challenges than I have ever faced. She went through a divorce, becoming a single mother of two boys; she overcame agoraphobia, turned her home cooking into a income source, and built up an amazing family business on her own. She is Southern, she’s a grandmother, she’s a home cook who made her place in the food world. She loves food and cooking and she loves her family and friends. I think people watch her because she makes them feel good; she entertains them; she radiates “Yes!” and “Come on in!” and “Let’s have a good time with people we love!”
If her show were called “Paula Deen’s Nutrition Kitchen”, I would expect her to deliver health messages and cook in a healthful way. But she’s on the Food Network, and she earned her place in the world of wildly successful food stars by being herself, communicating with people through cooking the food she wants to cook the way she likes to cook it. What amazes me is the notion that Paula Deen should have been delivering messages about healthful eating all along, instead of celebrating fried foods, butter, and cheesey treats; that she alone, amongst the food-celebrity pantheon, is obligated to promote healthy nutritious food habits since she has our attention on the subject of food. Really? Should “Top Chef” and “Chopped” censor their ingredients so that the competing chefs can present healthful choices to us out here in TV land? Should Guy Fieri seek out healthy diners, drive-ins, and dives, instead of taking us into those dens of iniquity, those naughty joints that serve up hashbrowns, chili dogs and milkshakes? Should Anthony Bourdain check the sanitation ratings of every places he visits, so we don’t learn to risk our health and get germs? And Cake Boss? All those cakes, frosted and filled, sugar eggs and butter; and not even one salad, ever!
I don’t know what Ms. Deen eats, how much she eats, what time, how often, or where. I don’t know why she has gotten diabetes, and neither does anybody else. I know that health and illness in this world do not reflect “Fair”. I don’t know why I have not gotten diabetes. I eat rich, fattening foods and too much of them; I pay for a gym I haven’t been using, and I carry around pounds that are doing my joints no favors and taxing my heart. Meanwhile, my dear friend contracted Type 2 diabetes several years ago, even though he has always taken much better care of his health in terms of eating, weight, and activity than I have.
I do not love the fact that she is endorsing a medication, but then I don’t love the fact that medicines are advertised on television and promoted to doctors the way they are. That is how we do it here in the USA, and there’s no secret here. It’s a business relationship up front, and people can consider that fact as they evaluate her position on the drug.
I can’t imagine why she as an entertainer should disclose her medical condition to the public. Given the hostile response from so many, I can see why most of us tend to keep these things private. I can see not liking her, her style or her food. What bothers me is blaming her personally for the immense health problem of obesity that has been “on our plates” for many years and for many reasons. She alone amongst all the food-stars is accountable, bad and wrong. Even worse is the attitude that contracting diabetes is somehow a punishment she deserves. That’s not right.
I think what Paula Deen has been promoting for so many years is the pleasure of cooking and eating. She encourages people to cook, have fun, and make time to be at the table with people who matter to you. You don’t have to be Southern to know that that is good medicine; it’s especially good for the heart.
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Entry filed under: Family and Friends, Just for Fun. Tags: Paula Deen.
1.
Joyce Pinson | January 20, 2012 at 1:24 pm
Yes! All these folks who are so quick to point their fingers in accusingly….it makes me angry. The personal attacks make me “tune out” and without calling out some big time food names…I’ve tuned out to some folks who I used to think were all about the positive. It’s great that folks want to be more pro-active in promoting good nutrition….and the lighter side of Southern Cooking. But pointing fingers does not accomplish that. When the food luminaries start realizing “huggable” beats “mean” everytime maybe we will make some progress. Thanks for being “huggable” Ms. Nancie!
2.
Jamie | January 20, 2012 at 1:56 pm
Perfectly said from the first word to the last. When will we, as consuming public, as tv viewers, as people ever take responsibility for our own behavior and our own education? Since I don’t live in the US, I rarely get to watch her show, but I cannot imagine she suggests or forces people to eat heavy, fatty, fried foods 3 times a day every day. As you say, she shows us how cooking can be a pleasure, fun, a family affair and a way to bring people together. No, I don’t like that she is promoting medicine (as you say, I am shocked each time I get home how many medicines and treatments are advertised on tv. Paula Dean is an entertainer and cook and as far as that goes, she does her job beautifully. Thank you, dear Nancie, for a well-thought out response to all the brouhaha.
3.
Nancie McDermott | January 20, 2012 at 3:55 pm
Thanks, Jamie. The double standard bothers me, as does our all-American tendency to identify and pile on designated villains (eggs! white bread! skin-on chicken! fat! carbs! iceberg lettuce! pale vegetables!), put them in jail, take names, and then move on. It’s easier and immediately gratifying to do this, than to take on the big picture of why we eat and exercise poorly and how to change our ways. I’m a work-in-progress on that front, and I know shame-and-blame don’t work around here.
4.
Cynthia Bertelsen | January 20, 2012 at 2:35 pm
Nancie,
Absolutely on point. I feel quite sad for Ms. Deen, because as a nutritionist I know the havoc wrought by diabetes. It’s not a simple disease and she faces some serious suffering, no matter what meds she takes. The shock of contracting the disease affects people in many different ways. The lack of compassion toward her appalls me. Thanks for the level-headed comments on this issue.
5.
Barbara Schieving | January 20, 2012 at 2:53 pm
Well said. I post lots of high calorie foods, but I don’t eat them every day and I certainly don’t advocate that others eat them every day. Life is all about our own choices.
6.
Catherine Seiberling Pond | January 20, 2012 at 3:13 pm
Oh so true! I’m continuing to stew about this whole bashing (as if we don’t have other things to worry about in our world now!). Paula Deen is not the exemplar for how we should choose to eat, or not. She was never the poster child for consistently healthy eating and neither should we expect her to be, diabetes or not. I’ve made some great Paula recipes and not all cakes and fried foods, either. You’ve really nailed it: she’s about family, heart, humor, love and feeling happy. She’s a role model for the self-made modern woman who has overcome adversity. I wish her well on her quest for better health and will be joining her as I tackle my own (even if I eat some bad foods on occasion). Right now I just want to find her and give her a big ole’ hug.
It’s so nice to meet you on Facebook and in blog world.
Best, Catherine Pond
7.
debbie koenig | January 20, 2012 at 3:33 pm
Nancie, I adore your gracious attitude, and I agree with a lot of what you wrote. Buuut, as one of the scornful food writers who’ve publicly criticized her, I have to pipe up: I criticized Paula for continuing to push her extreme versions of already-unhealthful recipes while knowing just how dangerous they really are, and for going public ONLY when she had a (presumably) megabucks deal to promote a drug. A drug that’s not only very expensive, but also not considered the best way to treat the disease.
Both my parents are Type II and I myself lost 100 pounds a while back, which I believe has saved me from developing the disease myself. It’s the perception of greediness, of irresponsibility, of not really caring about her many fans’ welfare, that upsets me so. There were so many other ways she could’ve handled this, including keeping it 100% to herself. But going public about it–on the Today Show–in order to announce that she’d now be shilling for big pharma opens her up to condemnation. If she’s a cook, not a doctor, as she’s so fond of saying, why is she endorsing a drug?
8.
Cristina | January 20, 2012 at 3:41 pm
It seems a shame to me to brand Ms. Deen the Devil Incarnate when even the ADA–American Diabetic Association–has no clue how to educate the millions of American diabetics on how and what to eat to keep their disease under control. I am speaking as a diabetic (diagnosed in 2009) living in Mexico, where the incidence of diabetes is even greater than that in the United States.
It took me months of Internet investigation after diagnosis to figure out what I personally needed to do to control my diabetes and still eat well. My personal physician, an otherwise excellent doctor, had absolutely no idea how to tell me what foods to choose for daily consumption. His initial advice was, “Don’t drink soft drinks, no jams, stay away from candy, try not to eat sweet breads, keep your tortilla input as low as possible.” Well, nice try, but no cigar.
Many if not all of the successfully controlled diabetics I know–diabetics who have lost excess weight and lowered their blood glucose levels to normal levels–eat all meats–including beef, pork, chicken, etc. We eat fats in the form of butter, lard, margarine, and oils of all kinds. We eat piles of green vegetables: spinach, broccoli, green beans, and all other kinds of leafy stuff, as well as cauliflower and some other veggies. We eat limited amounts of other vegetables, things like carrots, beets, peas, beans, tomatoes, potatoes, and other vegetables that are high in carbohydrates.
Notice what’s missing in that list? Yep: refined and not-so-refined carbohydrates. I choose not to eat breads, rice, other cereals, potatoes, large amounts of beans, all sugars, and other comestibles that I have discovered will spike my blood sugar to unhealthy and unacceptable levels.
The American Diabetes Association recommends a completely different regime, one that allows certain amounts of both unrefined and refined carbohydrates. That diet is largely unsuccessful for many if not most diabetics. The ADA does not adequately educate people with the disease, much less adequately educated doctors and other practitioners who come into daily professional contact with people who desperately need their help.
I have lived outside the USA for many, many years. I don’t know Paula Deen, I don’t know much about what she cooks and I know nothing about what she actually eats. I have never seen her show, her books, nor have I any knowledge of what products she endorses. I had to Google her to see what all the fuss was about.
Food and the culinary world are my professional bailiwicks. I will say this: if we believe that every chef, celebrity or not, eats *only* what he or she cooks, sells, and is famous for, we are naive beyond hope.
Go ahead and brand Ms. Deen the Devil Incarnate, though, if it makes you feel better. But in my opinion, you’d be wrong.
9.
Jennifer | January 20, 2012 at 3:59 pm
Nancie–
Thank you so much for your very wise and perspicacious words about Paula Deen. Amidst all this Paula bashing, I’ve been thinking the exact thing myself, but you have articulated it perfectly. Brava!!
Jennifer
10.
Beth | January 20, 2012 at 4:03 pm
Well put Nancie! As for Anthony Bourdain, I love him. Love his show. But he is playing his part. He is also entertaining. He consumes at least one tube of meat each episode and makes a crack about Lipitor. Is not Cholesterol as great a concern as Diabetes? Is it any less life threatening or any less a health concern? No. I so agree with you, why is it anyone else’s responsibility for my health other than my own?
11.
Rachel Laudan | January 20, 2012 at 4:09 pm
I’ve never seen Paula Deen. I don’t think I even knew the name before this flap. But good for you Nancie for standing up against moralizing joylessness.
12.
Nancie McDermott | January 20, 2012 at 4:15 pm
Debbie, thank you for reading my post. I have been a great admirer of you and your work since we met a few years back. I am so impressed to know that you took on the challenge of weight and changed your life profoundly. Inspiring and powerful. In terms of Ms. Deen’s responsibility and caring, what is responsible and caring looks different to me than it does to you. I’ve written one book on cakes and another on pies, teaching and celebrating the old-time traditional ways to make them, and I am working on more books including and celebrating rich foods. I make my traditional Thai curries with coconut milk, and I put pork belly in the Northern-style gingery gaeng hahng ley curry which is coconut-milk free. I care very much about my readers and their health, and I feel great responsibility for the words I write and the work I do in food. I can see how what I am doing could seem irresponsible and uncaring, but that’s not how it looks to me. I am grateful for your thoughtful response to this entry, and I am so looking forward to getting your brand new book next month, and to seeing you at IACP.
13.
debbie koenig | January 20, 2012 at 4:28 pm
Oh my gosh, Nancie, I didn’t mean to imply I thought *you* are in any way irresponsible! Not at all! I’m sorry if I made you feel that way for even an instant.
You use ingredients as they’re meant to be used, in moderation, reasonably. Paula’s specialty is extreme-eating: deep-fried lasagna and butter balls. Even her “light” lasagna, the recipe on her new diabetes-drug site, uses (I believe) seven different cheeses. Not the same thing at all! And you’re not shilling for a pharmaceutical company, either
14.
Nancie McDermott | January 20, 2012 at 5:18 pm
No, darlin’, and that’s not how I took your comment, at all, not at all. But I wanted to respond to your perspective on how one defines ‘responsible’, and ‘caring about welfare’. It’s complex and my definitions of what is responsible and caring doesn’t match everybody else’s, as a parent or a writer or a cook. I look at intentions as well as impact, and I view her intentions with deep-fried lasagna as a means to entertain people and have fun, not to hurt them or deceive them. The impact of deep-fried lasagna matters, too, and I see you critiquing that and that’s fair and a good idea. But double standards bother me a lot. When we look at the rock star chefs and the entire crew of TV food people and apply this standard of accountability broadly, it doesn’t work for me. And no worries — all respect to you and I’m thrilled that you took time to read and tell me your ideas, even when we don’t “match”!
15.
The Runaway Spoon | January 20, 2012 at 5:10 pm
As always, I love what you have to say Nancie! I think we all worry about the mean-spirited level of discourse so prevalent these days.
I come from a family of diabetics, and know that my own eating habits are not what they should be, and no one would call my recipes light. One of my concerns is that in all the statements and interviews Ms. Deen has made so far, she has not mentioned any nutritional aspect to the treatment of diabetes, other than that she has stopped drinking sweet tea. She has really dodged that question. I believe this is a direct result of the job as spokesperson for a drug. More emphasis on the ease of injecting a drug than the difficult lifestyle changes necessary. And I am not talking about diet as a contributing factor, I am talking about once you have the diagnosis, there are changes that must be made.
She has mentioned that she won’t change the way she cooks, but will produce lighter recipes for the drug company campaign. She falls back on the show her son has (conveniently) just debuted making her recipes lighter. These recipes have included bread pudding made with whole wheat doughnuts instead of Krispy Kremes and a lower calorie gooey butter cake. These recipes may be lower in calories, but are in no way diabetic friendly. Neither is the healthy lasagna recipe linked on the Today Show page Debbie mentioned. Yes it has seven kinds of low-fat cheese, but also uses whole wheat noodles. Carbs are a chief concern for diabetics, not just white sugar in you r tea. I worry that people with diabetes or who may be on the road to it, who feel the same fondness for Paula Deen that you do, will take any Deen-endorsed “light” recipe as synomous with diabetic friendly, and that clearly is not the case.
No, Ms. Deen does not hold the responsibilty for our own personal health in food choices in her hands, nor is her rise to fame and impressive career the start of the downfall of Rome. But many people suffer from this serious disease, and now that she has revealed her own issues,she should bear some responisiblity for educating her many fans. Yes she is an entertainer, but an entertainer whose medium is food.
16.
accordingtomimi | January 20, 2012 at 5:16 pm
Well said!
17.
carol mizell | January 20, 2012 at 5:20 pm
Well said nancie! I have had the pleasure of meeting Paula at a benefit in Albany, Georgia. She’s beautiful inside and out and is as real on tv as she is in person. Made her red pepper bisque for my lunch group yesterday – fabulous! A beautiful and talented southern lady!l
18.
Andrea Nguyen | January 20, 2012 at 6:07 pm
Nancie — This is a MARVELOUS commentary on Paula Deen. She’s a business woman with a serious brand to manage. She used to rep Philadelphia cream cheese and now, I imagine she’ll step up on the lite version. She’s getting lots of well-deserved attention because of strategic moves to release this information. All the pieces were in place for the announcement. Bourdain played right into it. There’s no such thing as bad press, right?
From a PR/marketing perspective, it’ll be interesting to see how she turns her brand to straddle healthful eating and the stuff she’s known for championing. That’s what Madison Avenue is monitoring.
Love how you said this: “Cooking shows aren’t culinary school and they are not educational television. They are entertainment, diversion..”
Now how about some of that sweet tea?
19.
Howard Stateman | January 20, 2012 at 7:56 pm
Thanks, Nancie, my sentiments exactly. I think much of the negative response is due to recent “news” programs linking diabetes to food and a huge lack of intelligent diabetes education in this country.
As for the roulette wheel nature of the disease you mentioned, I’ll add one item – my mother died from the complications of diabetes, and I have been Type II since 1988, but my 18 months older sister, who looks a lot like me and has been overweight for decades, is not diabetic. Out of my three sisters, only one is diabetic.
There are many possible triggers for adult-onset diabetes, but so far science has not established a 100% correlation for any of them.
And there is some irony here – diabetes left untreated causes significant weight loss, since insulin is not available in the body to feed the cells. Treating the disease reverses that, making it more difficult for those of us who are already overweight to lose pounds without risking hypoglycemia – low blood sugar sucks the life right out of you.
As for the right of a TV chef to keep her/his medical information private, I’m with you there. But she chose to go public in order to be a more plausible spokesperson for a diabetes medication.
I’ve enjoyed Paula Deen’s programs, and wish her success in her diabetes treatment as well as her career.
20.
Hadassah P. | January 20, 2012 at 10:11 pm
Wow. Very true Nancie! Perspectives on food and chefs are almost as varied as the dishes they cook, but it does no service to wish ill, or overstep boundaries and judge people for how they handle their personal lives, finances, or health. Folks open up about the things that person feels comfortable sharing, and at a time when the person feels comfortable doing so.
There are reasons folks work, usually finances have something to do with it.:) So, if she gets some free medication for endorsing the product that is her concern. Personally, if there is a natural prevention or remedy for something, I’ll use it 20 times before trying a pill. But that is me, and I don’t expect everyone to think the same way. Endorsements are always tricky business and alot of celebrities don’t make that arrangement, their reps do. They may not find out until its too late to do much about it.
Also, lets face it, comfort food is FUN! As much as I am into healthy eating, one has to be realistic. We call it comfort food because we have the blessed sense not to eat it absolutely all the time, but when we really want it, we want it, and that is all. I once won a gold painted Paula Deen wooden spoon for a cookoff. The award was for a deluxe macaroni and cheese. It was very rich, and thinking back on the honor, a Paula Deen spoon was very appropriate for that kind of item. It was laborious, fattening, and… yummy…(I hope!) the kind of dish you do for family at a big get-together, not every day. I get that impression from her work, and it was touching to get that “Golden Spoon” of hers.
What folks don’t always get is that the cook, especially a professional cook, rarely even has a chance to eat the stuff they cook, even if they wanted to. They’re too busy!!! That bite you see on camera may be it until they rush off to the next engagement. If they swallow it, I can only hope they take time to chew it well!
Nevertheless, there is no cause to vilify a person unnecessarily. Also, it is always a bad idea to kick folks when they are already vulnerable. Kudos for a well written piece as always! HP:)
21.
Donna | January 20, 2012 at 11:09 pm
Well said.
22.
Sally | January 21, 2012 at 12:29 am
Nancie, Such a thoughtful post! So much has already been said here, I don’t have much to add. Only to say, how sad it is that people love to see the mighty fall, and jump on that bandwagon as it speeds down the hill. Ms. Deen has plenty to contend with, and I only wish her well in coping with her health and working through this. If she has shown us anything it is that she knows how to work hard and how to be generous. May it continue. (And duh, she wasn’t a one-woman creator of our health crisis in the U.S.)
23.
joyfulinthekitchengarden | January 21, 2012 at 12:56 am
I would not care if, instead of PD, it was Anthony Bourdain, Mario Batali, Rachel Ray or Gabrielle Hamilton. What frustrates me with this whole fiasco is her missed opportunity (http://grist.org/food/paula-deens-missed-opportunity/). I don’t think we can place the PD story in a vacuum and ignore the state of health in this country. The fact of the matter is, we are sick and our food system and some of our culture is to blame–not necessarily personal choices, as we always like to point to. Too bad we live in a society that does not think of food as thy medicine. And too bad there are not more celebrities that use their fame to promote healthier lifestyles.
24.
Patsy Froy | January 21, 2012 at 5:48 pm
Paula is one on the sweetest people I have ever met. Type 2 diabetes is an awful disease and knowing Paula she will be an inspiration to others. I want to thank her for the recipes she brought back to me from my childhood. My grand-parents ate butter, sugar, etc and lived into there mid 90′s. Of course we do not eat all the wonderful recipes she has everyday but don’t you think it was more of Paula everyone really wanted? Her laughter , smile and personality is what made her show. Love you Paula!
25.
George Oliver | January 21, 2012 at 7:14 pm
As always, Nancie, you make excellent points in impeccable style. In the main, it’s hard to disagree with you, but we really shouldn’t be surprised at the public’s response. For one thing, there is clearly a double standard for men and women. For another, there is a certain amount of classism and regionalism in comments about her cooking and her heritage.
However, I think all the comments indicate that there’s a lot going on here beneath the surface in how we relate to food and cooking at this time in our country.
The whole food-and-cooking-as-entertainment says everything. Cooking is less about sustenance (in the best sense) or love or community or valuing food as a product of an amazing process. If it’s about anything, it’s about eating and satisfying certain cravings, hunger not being the main one. Our cravings, in turn, are satisfied by an industry that understands that sugar and fats push some basic buttons. We’ve come a long way in our relationship with food and cooking, I think, to our detriment.
When so many people have lost the ability (or interest) to do anything but open cans and packages, then cooking is not just a lost art, but a lost basic skill. And when so many people actually believe that it’s cheaper to eat at McDonald’s than to fix a similar meal at home, we’ve lost an important economic argument about learning to cook, as well.
As many people have pointed out, before mass processing and distribution, dishes such as doughnuts and fried chicken were special things to fix and eat, not something you could just stop and pick up every day on the way home from work. We all love this stuff, but it’s too available too easily, and we haven’t caught up with the reality of eating it regularly, even if we understand it in theory. I think we are slowly waking up.
I personally didn’t watch Deen’s show, although I liked her TV personality. Famous people in the public eye have some responsibility for their actions, but they’re also on stage, and that means as the audience we’re allowed to applaud or boo. I’m sure she understands that. I think the issue is not just about what anyone in the public eye does, it’s how he/she handles problems. Adele Davis blamed her cancer on junk food when she was young. She got boos, and rightly so.
Paul Prudhomme got so fat that he could hardly walk; Paula Deen developed diabetes. There’s a difference in their response to the problem: Prudhomme lost pounds by eating less; Deen’s hawking meds.
The story is not over. I’m absolutely sure that Deen is going to make changes, but she’s probably under pressure from her publishers and managers at the moment. Give it another year or so. We’ll see a new Paula Deen emerge.
26.
Pat | January 21, 2012 at 9:10 pm
Well said, Nancie! I’m not a huge Paula Deen fan (nor of any celebrity chef) but I’ve always thought her to be a sweet, genuine person and very lovable. I’m quite taken aback by some of the outrage directed at her. I agree that the food she makes and promotes isn’t the healthiest but then again she’s not a health food guru. I believe that you can eat anything, in moderation. I don’t buy celebrity endorsements (for anything!) and we should be responsible for our own bodies but unfortunately not everyone sees it that way. I think people don’t realize that Paula Deen is a brand that is managed. Every move she makes is definitely calculated (the timing of her announcement, her drug endorsement, etc.), not just by her but by her entourage. Let her be and if you’re seeking someone to look up to in the healthy department, try elsewhere.
27.
John Martin Taylor | January 22, 2012 at 11:25 am
Nancie, my friend and colleague, Thank you for this. I, too, have never seen Paula Deen’s show or books (for the record, I’ve never watched anyone’s tv show, food or otherwise, unless I or a dear friend was appearing on it). (Wait, that’s not quite right: I did walk into a room and she was on tv once, putting a burger on a Krispy Kreme doughnut! And I could hardly miss seeing her books — even here in Bulgaria, or her face in the checkout line of the grocery store.)
But the moralizing reminds me of Newt Gingrich. Jane Black’s jeremiad against her even suggested that her mounds of butter were the cause of her diabetes (she said she was going to correct the statement after someone pointed out that ingested fat has nothing to do with blood sugar!)! I just wish folks would know what they’re talking about before they scribble on these internet walls — and in print! My grandmother had Type 2 Diabetes and ate lard biscuits every day of her 93 years. You other food writers often ask me why I am not a member of the various culinary organizations (even ones I helped found). The reason? It seems to me that everyone is out for him- or herself. The best cook I know (from West Virginia, but she now lives in Virginia) once said that there is room for only one personality in the kitchen — and it should be the food’s! Way too many personalities thriving for attention these days. Where’s the joy? Yours in the struggle, Hoppin’ John Taylor
28.
Cynthia Bertelsen | January 22, 2012 at 6:01 pm
John,
Wonderful comments, so true. Thanks to both you and Nancie for speaking out.
29. Who SHOULD be an activist? on Paula Deen & health advocacy | Mobilizing Ideas | January 28, 2012 at 6:22 pm
[...] money for promoting an expensive drug created for that particular disease. There are plenty of Deen-defenders out there, as well – people who are saying she’s just an entertainer who is friends and family [...]
30. Paula Deen, Diabetes, and the Politics of Eating | Green Eats Blog | January 31, 2012 at 2:00 pm
[...] Why I Love Paula Deen – by Nancie McDermott [...]
31.
Linda McDermott | February 4, 2012 at 5:10 am
Well said!!!
32.
Nancie McDermott | February 6, 2012 at 8:27 pm
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
33.
Angela | February 15, 2012 at 1:44 am
Amen sister !!!!! You have said it perfectly. She
Shouldn’t have to tell the world her medical problems. And you know how much food is on
Your plate, that doesn’t mean you have to eat it all.
34.
Nancie McDermott | February 15, 2012 at 2:07 am
Thanks, Angela. Happy Valentine’s Day to you!