Jamie Olivier's tears in 'fat city'19:00 AEST Tue Jan 19 201018 hours 26 minutes agoBy ninemsn staffVIEWS: 0| FLOCKS: 0| 0 comments so farMore world news: Gunman kills eight in Virginia: official

 

Healthy food crusader Jamie Oliver was reduced to tears after tackling the eating habits of America's "fattest city".

 

The British celebrity chef, who tackled childhood obesity in a previous television documentary, appears to be facing his most stubborn opposition as he tries to educate residents of Huntington, West Virginia in his latest series, Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution.

 

 

Read the whole story at: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/1001604/jamie-oliviers-tears-in-fat-city

 

 

Oh good lord.

^ Really sad comment that wreaks of complacency. Something we as a nation like to do to the world, (telling it how to live, what to do, what the definition of freedom is, etc, etc.) but when the tables are turned, we whine. That is the typical pathetic American attitude that thinks its the center of the entire universe, can do no wrong, does not take the time to see how its insatiable uncontious lifestyle affects the rest of the globe.....thinks it is perfect....cannot accept constructive criticism....and sits on the laurels essentially becoming a legend in its own mind.

 

Instead of seeing this as a learning experience/opportunity for improvement of health, atitudes like this chose to remain in denial about a seroious issue---and instead, accept the lowly status quo. Instead of having the attitude that suggests "Like it or Leave it" Maybe we should adopt a more open minded wise one that is more like "Like it Or CHANGE it" I think what this chef is doing is fantastic.....Jamie Oliver is widely respected and does a lot of good work. Listen to him and learn. How many "celebrity chefs" do I hear about here trying to do this sort of thing other than making the same grease-a-fied slop with a different decoration, disguised as food. Sorry, someone has to get us back in the right direction with healthier diets/better choices because we've really lost our way BIG time. Just go to Warren, Ohio and look in the local Giant Eagle stores. Everywhere within eyeshot a tapestry of grotesquery is weaved with obesity. Sad..sad..sad.

I thought about shows like this today at the BMV in West Carrollton. Hopeless.

Meh. Whatever. I grew up in Clermont County so I'm no stranger to the complexities of Appalachia, but it is certainly not on the same level as other parts of America. Neither is the lower Mississippi river region, or a lot of native American reservations, or poor parts of inner cities.

 

Appalachia exports some very bright people and harbors a unique culture, but Jamie Oliver might as well have gone to Mongolia. America's a big place. Just because you're in America doesn't mean you're in America.

Thank God I'm svelte!

Thank God I'm svelte!

 

I didn't know you're from Europe!

Thank God I'm svelte!

 

I didn't know you're from Europe!

 

 

I'm not.....but most of my clothing is!

They need a show where they just throw these people on the Appalachian Trail for 3 months and wonder of wonders the pounds melt off. 

And we all know the vegan greenies can be as obtuse and annoying as the fat person down the street ordering that delicious burger from Five Guy's. You're looking at some of the hardest working group of people out there -- coal miners, industrial laborers, and the like, but they are so stereotyped and misaligned by those who never travel or understand them that they hold these ignorant or outdated ideas based on what a foreign newspaper reported.

 

I would suggest anyone that states that the Appalachian's are lazy and stupid, as someone already suggested above, travel down and try your hand at a coal mine. Or working a less snug job from your office cube. These negative and insensitive portrayals are done for ratings -- and ratings only.

I agree.  In any culture you can find the lazy and worthless, but there is always an element of hard working people within the group who take all the abuse.  Besides, anyone who likes Five Guys is okay by me!

I agree.  In any culture you can find the lazy and worthless, but there is always an element of hard working people within the group who take all the abuse.  Besides, anyone who likes Five Guys is okay by me!

 

Dan.  What about the girls that like BK?

You're looking at some of the hardest working group of people out there -- coal miners, industrial laborers, and the like, but they are so stereotyped and misaligned by those who never travel or understand them that they hold these ignorant or outdated ideas based on what a foreign newspaper reported.

 

I would suggest anyone that states that the Appalachian's are lazy and stupid, as someone already suggested above, travel down and try your hand at a coal mine. Or working a less snug job from your office cube. These negative and insensitive portrayals are done for ratings -- and ratings only.

 

There aren't many coal miners or industrial laborers in Huntington WV. The largest employers are Marshall University and the hospitals.

 

Thanks to mountaintop removal and striip mining, most of the mining jobs in WV are automated, and even the small percentage of miners (some of whom I'm related to) actually doing deep mining aren't doing the hard, physical labor that the job used to require--again due to improved technology.

And we all know the vegan greenies can be as obtuse and annoying as the fat person down the street ordering that delicious burger from Five Guy's. You're looking at some of the hardest working group of people out there -- coal miners, industrial laborers, and the like, but they are so stereotyped and misaligned by those who never travel or understand them that they hold these ignorant or outdated ideas based on what a foreign newspaper reported.

 

I would suggest anyone that states that the Appalachian's are lazy and stupid, as someone already suggested above, travel down and try your hand at a coal mine. Or working a less snug job from your office cube. These negative and insensitive portrayals are done for ratings -- and ratings only.

Very true. Sherman, you are the hero of the Appalachians.

:clap:

In the area, yes. But this isn't a portrayal about Huntington, but about typical Appalachian stereotypes.

 

I know about the automation -- I worked for an electric traction drive company for a year and traveled to both underground mines and mountaintop removal sites. It's still a lot of manual labor despite all of the automation, and I can see some of these out-of-town whiners pass out at the very thought of real work. As Dan stated, you can point out lazyness/fat people in any region -- Over-the-Rhine, the east side of Cleveland, Appalachia, whatever, but these negative, unreinforced stereotypes are more often than not hurtful to those it is trying to assist, and do nothing for the region after the 'fame' withers.

and here's a picture of MTS shattering sterotypes and working the mines ;)

Being fat has very, very little to do with how hard you work. It has to do with how much food you eat and what kind. If you work all day, your appetite will be stimulated and you'll end up consuming more calories. That aside, strip mining as hard labor is still a moot point to me. That technology put tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands, out of work.

 

and here's a picture of MTS shattering sterotypes and working the mines ;)

 

I used to live in WV, and there are a lot of real hard workers down there. There's a lot of lazy people as well (picture the stereotypical sit party of overweight women in the side yard). It seems that since a lot of the people who work do work really hard, it intimidates others out of working altogether -- and yes, there is much less work available there because of automation and computers.

 

Also, the proliferation of fast food joints in these small towns is a fairly recent phenomenon. The big fast food companies pretty much ignored Appalachian small towns until the '90s. Take a look at video or pictures of West Virginians in the '70s -- they were skinny like everyone else.

Also, I doubt Huntington is the epicenter of obesity in WV, it's just the nearest city. The real fat is out in the sticks south and southeast of the city. Huntington is a fairly walkable, dense urban environment. You actually don't see that many fat people around town, but you do see a lot of hot Marshall chicks!

Even though Huntington is fairly dense and very walkable, it is not a hotbed of walking. Marshall students often drive from campus to Pullman Square--6 blocks away. I know many people who work 1/2 mile to 1 mile from where they live who would never consider walking to work---and one person who lives 3 blocks from her office and drives there every day!

^Certainly not an Appalachian phenomenon.