Posted on Thursday, 14th February 2008 by Maritzia
I saw a link at Casual Blasphemies to a Q&A with Alton Brown from 2004 on eGullet. One of the questions was what he was passionate about. In his reply, he stated:
“As for more serious matters, I’m passionate about this country getting off it’s fat butt and getting into shape. I see a lot of very heavy people at my demos and book signings and I don’t like that. They come up and they’re so nice and they say “gosh we love food and love your show” and I want to say “I think you might lay off both and go for a walk”. I’ve never actually said this because it would be mean but it really worries me.”
Needless to say, this little bit of crassness has left me less than amused. After fuming for about an hour, I sat down and wrote Mr. Brown a letter. Here’s a copy of the letter:
Copy to: Food Network, Scripps Network, and Harry Abrams, Inc and Subsidiaries.
My Dear Mr. Brown:
My Formerly-Dear Mr. Brown:My Not-So-Dear Mr. Brown:I have been a fan of yours for quite some time. I have always enjoyed how you bring the science of food alive in Good Eats. Being a geek myself, I have thoroughly enjoyed your show. Which is why it disturbs me to be writing this letter to you today.I saw a Q&A with you that was written in 2004 at the eGullet forums. In it you stated, when speaking about your passions:“As for more serious matters, I’m passionate about this country getting off it’s fat butt and getting into shape. I see a lot of very heavy people at my demos and book signings and I don’t like that. They come up and they’re so nice and they say “gosh we love food and love your show” and I want to say “I think you might lay off both and go for a walk”. I’ve never actually said this because it would be mean but it really worries me.”Obviously, you have not really looked into the science of obesity as you have that of food. That’s ok, most of my doctors haven’t either. Let me enlighten you to a couple of little known facts (little known because the media would rather demonize fat people that actually report on the condition). For instance, did you know that persons with insulin resistance burn approximately a third less energy in their cells than non-insulin resistant persons? It’s true! Check out The New England Journal of Medicine, February 12, 2002. Go ahead…it’s online…I’ll wait.*looks at her watch and whistles tunelessly* Back so fast? Interesting article, wasn’t it. So…people with insulin resistance burn 1/3 less energy. So, from that we can assume that those of us with insulin resistance, if we ate the same and exercised the same as non-insulin resistant persons, would be 1/3 heavier, don’t you think? And, of course, the volunteers used in this study are “young, lean adults”, so we can assume that they are probably in the early stages of the illness. We know that insulin resistance gets worse over time, so those of us with more advanced insulin resistance probably burn a great deal less energy than others, wouldn’t you guess.Here’s another “for instance” for you. Go to drlowe.com. *looks up” Back already? Yes, yes, I know he’s talking about fibromyalgia, but if you get into the guts of the site, you’ll see that he is actually talking about Peripheral Tissue Thyroid Resistance. It’s a concept that isn’t well accepted by the medical community at the moment, mainly because there isn’t a test for it. Doctors these days are so ingrained to treating by lab numbers, they don’t believe anything they can’t easily run a test for. However, it is out there. There’s a great deal of evidence that it is a very real disease. So, we can assume that at least a few, and I’d argue many, many, people have untreated hypothyroidism. And, of course, we know hypothyroidism causes weight gain, don’t we? Of course we do!This is only two examples of medical science slowly figuring out that there might be more to obesity than intake and exercise. And we’re not even getting into eating disorders such as BED (binge eating disorder). It’s an extremely complex issue. So, for you to sit in judgment like this, without truly looking at the complexities of the science, is extremely disappointing. So disappointing in fact, that I am going to ask…no…no…I’m going to demand, that you publicly apologize for your quite bigoted comment on the e-Gullet Q&A.If you don’t make an apology, I’m going to boycott your show, the Food Network, all Scripps Network Programs, all of your and their sponsors, and your publishers and the bookstores that sell your books. And in case you didn’t notice at the beginning of this letter, I am copying this letter to all of the aforementioned sources. You think maybe there are a more than a few fat people that watch the Food Network and read your books?
Shame on you, Alton Brown. *shakes her finger vigorously* For shame!
I did, indeed, e-mail this to all of the aforementioned persons. I’m sick and tired of it being ok to bash fat people. It’s time for it all to stop. If you agree, you can send your thoughts to the same folks at:
- info@foodsimple.net (the e-mail on Alton’s site for press inquiries)
- The Food Network Comment Page
- Alton’s publisher’s contact page
- publicaffairs@scrippsnetworks.com e-mail for Scripps Network, who owns the Food Network
Don’t stand idle as fat people continue to be maligned! Demand an apology!
Posted in Fat Acceptance | Comments (8)
February 14th, 2008 at 11:20 am
I also heard recently that there is actually much debate in the medical community about what is actually a normal Thyroid level. I found that very interesting since I had my thyroid tested many times and was told it was normal until I had a very meticulous doctor spot the problem. I went on synthroid- my depression disappeared and I even lost weight without trying. Of course I was over 300lbs by that time, so the real damage was already done. It’s not easy to come back from that (expecially since I’ve been developing insulin resistance due to Polycystic Ovary Syndrome for years. Perhaps AB should look into that one as well. And how about rising asthma rates among children which causes them not to be able to run around as much as the other kids? You think that could possibly be linked to childhood obesity?).
Anyway… thanks for sharing your letter and providing the addresses. If I can make myself coherent, I plan to also send one of my own. After all, I have been one of those terrible (but apparently nice) fatties shaking his hand and saying I love his show. Now I just wonder what kind of man things he was thinking about me. How nice.
February 14th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
*nods her head* Yeah, I think there’s a huge amount of untreated hypothyroidism lurking out there. It’s a nightmare finding a doctor who does more than read the numbers, though. I’m constantly up and down depending on what doctor I’m seeing at the moment, since every time I find a good one, either they or I move away *laughs*.
February 16th, 2008 at 10:06 am
Good for you. I think we need to rise up en masse and send Mr. Brown a cyber-tsunami of smackdown letters. I am so disgusted that he not only has such ignorant and judgmental thoughts in his head, but that he freely shared them for all to see.
People recoil in horror when overweight people point to medical reasons they are overweight. I have had the same experience as OpenBothEyes–I started piling on the pounds despite eating healthfully and couldn’t understand what was happening, so I of course internalized the blame and shame. Finally I was properly diagnosed with having a largely useless thyroid, and since being on Synthroid I’ve lost 25 pounds in five months with very little change to how and what I eat.
Alton Brown doesn’t get to have it both ways. His audience is welcome to enjoy his food and buy his books, but they’re only worthy of his appreciation if they come in a tidy little physical package? What a crock of steaming bullshit. I thought Alton had more class than to slap his fans in their collective face, but apparently not. We really must make our voices heard. This kind of bigotry is stale and should not be tolerated.
February 19th, 2008 at 6:46 pm
well, it’s nice to know that some things don’t change..your still as smart and out spoken as i remember…good for you…as someone with diabetes and having lost over 45 lbs(that being extremely difficult)..i know what you mean.good to see you again..jac
February 25th, 2008 at 9:17 am
My esteem for Alton Brown has just plummetted. If his popularity is a result of food and television, he should be grateful that people like both. And yes, I’m also sick of fat-bashing.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:43 pm
You know I am 400 pounds and I used to think that Alton was a funny, smart, sexy, spiritual man. No more!! I also have met him and had me shake my hand and with a huge smile on his smug face. Boy what he must have been thinking of me. He shouldnt bite the hand that feeds him for it is alot of us “Fatties” That are watching his show and buying his books!! I agree fat bashing is like any other form of prejudice and should NOT be tolerated!!!
September 26th, 2008 at 4:47 pm
I think that this is just an excuse for overweight people. A lot of overweight people are obese because they eat too much, as there are many people who do not have these disorders and are fat.
October 6th, 2008 at 2:32 pm
Yes, Josh, some people are overweight because they are chronic overeaters. But can you tell by looking at a fat person if they are fat because of genetics or illness or overeating or a combination of all of these things? Can you tell by looking at a fat person whether they are healthy or unhealthy? For that matter, can you tell by looking at a thin person whether they are healthy or not?
I believe that disorders of the type I have are much more widespread than the medical establishment even begins to suspect. And those problems we know about are grossly under diagnosed. Why? Because doctors and nurses hate fat people.
So, thanks for your input. We’ll consider your well considered and documented comment for the worth it obviously contains.