Stop Me Before I Eat Again

What could be more disturbing than having a Hall of Fame wide receiver from the Iron City (the name of a legendarily cheap and probably carb-heavy beer—coincidence?!?!?) as a spokesman for healthy dining? How about Health and Human Services dietary guidelines that assume people can chew without drooling down their shirtfronts? That's the complaint of the suspiciously named Marion Nestle, a "food policy expert" at New York University:

"The real problem is that they totally focus on personal responsibility and don't say anything about how you change the environment to make it easier to do this—there's nothing on food marketing, TV ads, or after-school activities and safe places for kids to play," Nestle added.

Whole, great-tasting article, complete with the new HHS guidelines (Food Pyramid, we hardly knew ye!) here.

Comments

[TWC]

Have you ever drank Iron City Beer?

Ghastly stuff, dude.

You keep the beer I’ll take the cool T-shirt.

http://www.realvintage.com/pictures/tn_rvp6%20016.jpg

[Thomas Paine's Goiter]

What could be more disturbing than having a Hall of Fame wide receiver from the Iron City (the name of a legendarily cheap and probably carb-heavy beer?coincidence?!?!?)

Cavanaugh, you douche, don’t you know anything? IC Light was the first lite beer and first low-carb beer in the country.

[TWC]

Goiter,

No, No, No, this is being hit in the head lessons. VBG

The first low carb lite beer in America was the original Coors. You know, the old Rocky Mountain Piss Water of the 50’s, 60’s, and early ’70’s. That was before Bud Lite, MGD, Coors Lite, or any of that crap.

Coors advertising slogan from those days was:

“America’s Fine Light Beer”.

Nanny, Nanny, Goat………….

[crimethink]

I await the arrival of Mr. Cavanaugh to reveal TPG’s IP address…

Seriously though, is anyone else hoping they switch to a food parallelopiped? It would make a lot more sense.

[Douglas Fletcher]

I had a friend from Pennsylvania who described Iron City beer as being the beer you keep in your fridge in case someone you don’t like shows up at your house. I suppose every region has a beer like that.

[Evan Williams]

“Those three recommendations are the guts of the 2005 revision of dietary guidelines that try to steer a gluttonous nation toward healthier eating habits.”

“Gluttonous nation”? Surely better than starving to death, I’d say. The author of this article is just a tad condescending, eh? I’m sure she’s thin as a bloody rail and spends her days looking down her nose at all the “pathetic gluttons” who don’t share her way of life.

“Marion Nestle, a food policy expert and nutrition professor at New York University, said the guidelines themselves are so confusing that “you need a degree in nutrition to read the report.”

“The real problem is that they totally focus on personal responsibility and don’t say anything about how you change the environment to make it easier to do this — there’s nothing on food marketing, TV ads, or after-school activities and safe places for kids to play,” Nestle added.

Ah, yes, our old friend Marion. If the world were run by her and her pal Michael Jacobsen over at CSPI, we’d all be eating nothing but carrot sticks and mung bean sprouts. Marion is of the old “personal responsibility is a trap” crowd. The new guidelines, she claims, focus too much on personal responsibility, and not enough on “how to make it easier to be responsible”. Huh? Good god, lady, what do you need? Step-by-fucking-step instructions on how to refrain from turning the steering wheel in such a manner that it veers your car into a Hardees drivethru, after which you are powerless to stop yourself from ordering and wolfing down a monster thickburger?

These food nazi motherfuckers will never stop. Even if the government capitulated to their demands and forcibly restricted our diets to carrot sticks and bean sprouts, they would still find something to bitch about, because this is their job. This is what they do. The gov’t recommends better eating habits and more exercise, and what do they do? Do they hail this as a good thing? No, they complain that it doesn’t go into enough detail explaining how to “change the environment” to make it “easier” to be responsible.

I’m sorry, but, since when is it the government’s responsibility to provide us all with detailed step-by-step instructions on how to live life? Good god, I never got a government instruction booklet on how to take a shit, but I seem to be doing OK in that department. Geez, Marion, how’d I manage to learn how to take a dump without the help of our benevolent leaders!? It’s a miracle!

[rxc]

Bravo, Evan! Bravo! Could not have said it better.

[digamma]

Marion Nestle has, as you might guess, been mentioned by Reason before.

[chthus]

If we are to speak of Iron City, let us not forget that yet again in 2004, the PBC has shown itself to be on the cutting edge of brewing/bottling.

“Pittsburgh, PA (December 10, 2004) — Pittsburgh, Pa. (December 9, 2004) ? Business Week, a national magazine that covers the business world, has selected Pittsburgh Brewing Co.?s new Iron City aluminum bottle as one of the 10 best products of 2004.”
http://www.pittsburghbrewingco.com/content.php?area=1&page=1&articleID=1013

While IC isn’t the finest beer in the land, like any cheap American (or German for that matter) lager, it serves it’s purpose when called. There is a time and a place for everything, and this Saturday at 4:30 it will be time to for Iron City.

[chthus]

As for the carb content:

Iron City – 140 cal/10g carbs
IC Light – 95 cal/2.8g carbs

I really don’t know if this constitutes carb heavy or not. I figure if you are watching your carbs then maybe just try drinking water.

[Larry A]

Evan Williams:
[“The real problem is that they totally focus on personal responsibility and don’t say anything about how you change the environment to make it easier to do this — there’s nothing on food marketing, TV ads, or after-school activities and safe places for kids to play,” Nestle added.

Ah, yes, our old friend Marion. If the world were run by her and her pal Michael Jacobsen over at CSPI, we’d all be eating nothing but carrot sticks and mung bean sprouts. Marion is of the old “personal responsibility is a trap” crowd. The new guidelines, she claims, focus too much on personal responsibility, and not enough on “how to make it easier to be responsible”. Huh? Good god, lady, what do you need? Step-by-fucking-step instructions on how to refrain from turning the steering wheel in such a manner that it veers your car into a Hardees drivethru, after which you are powerless to stop yourself from ordering and wolfing down a monster thickburger?]

Step-by-step instructions? Well, no. I think Marion’s idea of “changing the environment” is Federal legislation forcing Hardees to serve nothing but carrot sticks and mung bean sprouts. Then you don’t have to go through the individual agony of being personally responsible for such a grievous error as eating <gasp> meat.

[chthus]

And since it’s not yet 10am and I can’t stop thinking about beer, here’s a list of a carbs in a number of popular beers.

http://www.beer100.com/beercalories.htm

Iron City with its 10g of carbs appears to be on the lighter carb side of most non-light beers (generally 10-15g). IC Light manages to beat out most light beers and compete in the lofty air of low-carb beers, falling just shy (.2g) of Aspen Edge and Michy Ultra.

Hmmm, if it weren’t for those damned pierogies, Pgh would be one of the slimest cities in the US.

[Evan Williams]

Larry says,

“Well, no. I think Marion’s idea of “changing the environment” is Federal legislation forcing Hardees to serve nothing but carrot sticks and mung bean sprouts. Then you don’t have to go through the individual agony of being personally responsible for such a grievous error as eating meat.”

Here’s a great quote from our pals over at CSPI regarding the new guidelines:

“[G]overnment regulatory agencies need to take such actions as limiting the salt content of processed foods, eliminating the use of partially hydrogenated oils, and lowering the current limits on fat in processed meats.”

As I’ve noted, Nestle & Jacobsen have long agreed that personal responsibility is a trap. Let’s look at her quote again: “The real problem is that they totally focus on personal responsibility and don’t say anything about how you change the environment to make it easier to do this — there’s nothing on food marketing, TV ads, or after-school activities and safe places for kids to play.” Boldface mine. That is the question: when she says “you”, is she talking about the populace, or is she talking about our benevolent masters? AT second glance, the shit that she follows with (tv ads, marketing, “safe places for kids to play”, etc.) are typically things that her and her ilk would demand that the government forcibly curtail.

But it’s a losing battle for these twits. As Tommy Thompson said, “We have a Constitution that prohibits the limit of speech, and we in this Administration believe very strongly that people should have the opportunity to advertise. And we’re not going to in any way curtail the right to express people’s opinions.” Well I’ll be damned. Imagine that…actually respecting that thingy called the Constitution!? Come on, everyone knows that the bill of rights is just a trap!

[David]

Mmm Pierogies. Iron city is the worst beer I have ever had. I tried once when I was in Pittsburgh, and regurgitated it for the rest on the night.

I have been too fat, and I’ve been in shape. And I knew the root cause in both cases. Me. If I choose to eat crap and lots of it, I get heavy. If not, I thin out. I could be mistaken, but that sounds a lot like personal responsibility.

Now, I’m not going to pick on people who have a legit glandular problem. But that’s not the case here either. This is a case where people want to blame marketed for their own bad choices.

[David]

Mmm Pierogies. Iron city is the worst beer I have ever had. I tried once when I was in Pittsburgh, and regurgitated it for the rest on the night.

I have been too fat, and I’ve been in shape. And I knew the root cause in both cases. Me. If I choose to eat crap and lots of it, I get heavy. If not, I thin out. I could be mistaken, but that sounds a lot like personal responsibility.

Now, I’m not going to pick on people who have a legit glandular problem. But that’s not the case here either. This is a case where people want to blame marketed for their own bad choices.

[ranger]

Mmmm, Pierogie indeed! Best damn food on the planet there!! Especially the homemade kind by a kindly old Polish or Slovakian woman (Grandma, god rest her soul!)!

Iron City is indeed piss water. However, it’s what you drink until you graduate up to Rolling Rock. =)

Wow, now “youns” have me all nostalgic for my old hometown..

[TWC]

Mr. Fletcher I think we both know the same guy in Pittsburgh. You know, the guy who keeps Iron City around in case somebody he doesn’t like stops by.

Except, my guy assumed room temperature a couple of years ago after losing a battle with a telephone pole.

[kevrob]

The first true light beer was Gablinger’s Diet Beer, produced by the Rheingold brewery in 1967.

http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mlitebeer.html

Also see:

http://www.allaboutbeer.com/columns/fred6.html

I remember seeing ads that Rheingold, brewed originally in Brooklyn, placed for Gablingers in NY area newspapers of the day. They mentioned calories, but not carbs.

I found that IC tasted better coming out of an Olde Frothingslosh can.

http://merlin2.alleg.edu/employee/c/csherman/cordic/ofs/oldefrothingsloshstory01.htm

http://www.realbeer.com/news/articles/news-002425.php?rdf

Kevin