Alton Brown

There were a number of comments over at Shapely Prose today about Alton Brown being fatphobic. I was confused because from what I’ve seen and read of his, I haven’t noticed anything particularly fatphobic. (Certainly no more fat-friendly than most things, but nothing jumped out at me as incredibly offensive.) So I searched around to see why everyone thought that, and I found this over at Big Fat Blog:

…I realized that something had to be done about the quivering pile of goo on which my head sits. … I estimate that I’m carrying around thirty pounds of the stuff – lard… fatback… blubber… disgusting.

According to the post over there:

Alton believes that the “obesity epidemic” is due to high fructose corn syrup coupled with hydrogenated fats. So those are out. So is any alcohol other than red wine. And no desserts. No desserts at all!

So that makes me sad, because I think Alton Brown’s shows are pretty awesome. And I feel conflicted. Usually I have no trouble realizing that many writers hold beliefs I don’t agree with, and that doesn’t bother me unless they’re exceptionally preachy or insulting in their work, which, in my experience, Brown isn’t. I also can’t help feel more sympathy than anger at a man who has, like many others, bought in to the belief that fat is disgusting and that aging, and its related weight gain, is something to be feared and something that can be controlled. I’ll have a more critical eye out next time I watch Good Eats, but I’m probably not going to stop watching it, kneejerk fashion. I’d run out of fun shows pretty quickly if I did that. I’ll save my outrage for more overt displays of fatphobia, for now at least. One step at a time.