quote:Originally posted by dreamzpainter
you have to log into to read it... just what I need..another password to 4get
Clicking on that link you dont need a password??? I dont subscribe to any of them sites that need a login, and it never prompted me.
Can culture survive a low-fat diet?
By Dahleen Glanton
Tribune national correspondent
Published May 16, 2006
ATLANTA -- During a typical week, the Busy Bee Cafe serves more than 700 orders of fried chicken, 500 pounds of collard greens, 300 pounds of fried pork chops, 400 gallons of sweet tea and about 85 pans of peach cobbler.
This small storefront restaurant in a black community on the edge of downtown Atlanta is where serious lovers of Southern cuisine have come for their regular fix of comfort foods for more than a half-century. It also represents the kind of eateries all over the South that provide the greatest challenge to doctors and nutritionists fighting to change the calorie-laden, fat-filled diets of Southerners.
"We don't cook the way they cook downtown," said Otis Sutton, 78, who has prepared meals at the Busy Bee since it opened in 1947. "We've got to put some soul into it."
As the country wages a war on obesity, health officials have sought to encourage Americans to exercise more and eat healthier, giving up foods high in cholesterol and fat. But despite the region's "Stroke Belt" label--because of the above-average number of strokes--health officials have had difficulty persuading Southerners to drastically change their diet.
Other regions of the country, including the Midwest with its cheese, brats and pizza, also have challenges. But in the South, a meal of fried chicken smothered in gravy, collard greens and buttered cornbread is as much a part of the culture as front-porch rockers and a Southern drawl. Changing the way people eat, experts said, could mean changing an important part of Southern culture.
"Food is a strong emblem of identity for Southerners. It is one of the few cultural artifacts that both black and white Southerners embrace and hold in high esteem," said John Edge, director of the Southern Foodways Alliance at the Center for the Study of Southern Culture at the University of Mississippi. "Segregation remains in many aspects of our daily lives in the South, but there is no segregation of our black-eyed peas and our collard greens."
Restaurants such as the Busy Bee take pride in serving authentic cuisine, and over the years some have tried to make healthy changes. Vegetables, for example, are no longer cooked with pork but with smoked turkey wings at the Busy Bee. Other restaurants, however, have gone out of their way to create concoctions that could literally take your breath away.
Hold onto your heart
One of the more popular items on the menu at Mulligan's bar in suburban Decatur, Ga., is the "hamdog," a half-pound of hamburger meat wrapped around a hot dog, which is deep-fried and served on a hoagie topped with chili, bacon and a fried egg. The bar also offers the "Luther," a half-pound burger served with bacon and cheese on a Krispy Kreme doughnut, and, for dessert, fried Twinkies, two deep-fried Cap'n Crunch-coated Twinkies topped with chocolate and cherry sauce.
Bar owner Chandler Goff, 35, said there is no practical way to measure the fat or calories in those dishes. He has added a notation at the bottom of the menu urging diners to "have the sense to realize that although delicious, we do not recommend eating fried foods every day." He also reminds people to exercise regularly and get an annual physical.
"These are great pleasures," Goff said. "You don't want to eat this every day."
The South was labeled "the Stroke Belt" because 11 states and the District of Columbia--from Washington to Florida and west to Texas--have the highest incidence of and mortality from stroke in nation, according to Dr. Mark Alberts, a professor of neurology at Northwestern University Medical School.
"It is extremely difficult everywhere in the country to get people to adopt a healthy lifestyle," said Alberts, who heads the Stroke Belt Consortium, a group of health-care professionals and organizations working to educate the public about the risk of stroke. "There are some things like hush puppies, pig's feet and the quantity of fried foods that are significant in the South. Diet has a central role in many risk factors that directly lead to stroke."
While the stroke rate is higher among all races in the South, more Southern blacks die of it than whites in the South or blacks in other parts of the country. That, in part, could be due to a lack of access to healthy foods, some experts said.
"In poor communities, there are sometimes no grocery stores nearby, and people shop at convenience stores where they can't get fresh fruits and vegetables. But the odd thing is the ice cream truck drives through the neighborhood every day," said Dr. Daniel Blumenthal of the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta.
"If you have to find transportation to get to the supermarket, it is more expensive. And it costs more to buy fresh foods."
Since the mid-1990s, groups such as the Stroke Belt Consortium have been working with the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to prevent heart disease and strokes in the South, focusing primarily on eliminating obesity.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars have been spent on programs in churches, schools and community centers to educate the public about health risks and teach people how to cook healthy meals without losing the flavor.
Tweaking the classics
Every Friday morning at the Lou Walker Senior Center in Lithonia, Ga., CDC nutritionist Annie Carr teaches participants how to make things like sauteed collard greens, egg white omelets and homemade turkey sausage. Each week, she said, more people show up.
"Their mother and grandmother cooked with a lot of fat, and that's the only way they know how to cook," said Carr. "If we can show them healthy recipes that look good and taste good, they will try it. But if it is bland, they are not going to eat it."
The dietary changes have been particularly tough for soul food restaurants like the Busy Bee, which opened in 1947 in the shadows of the city's predominantly black colleges and universities. During the civil rights movement in the 1960s, the Busy Bee and other black-owned restaurants served as meeting centers for organizers.
"For our customers, this is home," said Tracy Gates, 47, whose family bought the Busy Bee in 1982. "They want fried chicken, barbecue ribs and oxtails on the menu every day. They are not concerned about transfats. If they were, I would be out of business."
While Gates said she does not pay attention to trends such as low-carb diets, she does listen to her patrons' concerns. Chitlins are only on the menu during the winter holiday season; she cooks fried chicken in peanut oil rather than vegetable oil; and she has added items such as green salads to the menu.
But when customers such as Ron Burks of Conley, Ga., come in three to four times a week, they know exactly what they want, and it is not a fresh salad.
"I come in here to treat myself," said Burks, 48, over a plate of smothered turkey wings, dressing, giblet gravy, yams and green beans. "My mother died of diabetes, and all my sisters and brothers have high blood pressure. Most of the time, I try to eat healthy, but this is my falling-off-the-wagon place."
