Greta Christina's fat positive manifesto

[ciphergoth]

I froze the discussion here because I thought it deserved a top-level post of its own, rather than being under a general discussion of Greta Christina. A few weeks ago she posted a very interesting series of articles on the fat-positive movement and her own beliefs; I'd be very interested to read more about what people think of them.

"I was frankly shocked at how callous most of the fat-positive advocates were about my bad knee. I was shocked at how quick they were to ignore or dismiss it. They were passionately concerned about the quality of life I might lose if I counted calories or stopped eating chocolate bars every day. But when it came to the quality of life I might lose if I could no longer dance, climb hills, climb stairs, take long walks, walk at all? Eh. Whatever. I should try exercise or physical therapy or something. Oh, I'd tried those things already? Well, whatever."

• The Fat-Positive Diet
• The Fat-Positive Skeptic
• An Open Letter to the Fat-Positive Movement

Comments

[booklectica]

That first article doesn't seem to address the idea that it's much better for your health to be rich and fat than poor and thin. (I know you weren't necessarily quoting it because you agreed with it, I just wanted to post that link.)

[palmer1984.livejournal.com]

Don't have time to read the article so sorry if it addresses this, but being poor is generally very bad to your health anyway.

[booklectica]

That's basically what the article is saying, yes. (The one I link to, I mean.)

[seph-hazard.livejournal.com]

And this side of the pond, veg *is* cheap and easily accessible in any city - but that doesn't cover all eventualities, you know? Say you're well-off and you need someting to eat RIGHT NOW, because you're starving hungry and light-headed and very very busy rushing between things. We've all been there. You go and spend six pounds on a salad-to-go from M&S, alongside a little pot of fresh pineapple and a bottle of water. If you're broke, though, you're going to spend a quid on a bag of chips instead.

[thekumquat.livejournal.com]

Veg and fruit are *not* cheap and accessible in many areas of cities in this country - when I worked on improving the food supply in London, there were many areas where people don't have any shop selling fresh fruit or veg within half a mile, covering a population of possibly 500,000 people.

Add that to ability to afford bus fares to a supermarket/taxi back/ability to carry shopping/the internet for a net shop and paying the delivery fee, the time and gas/leccy cost for food preparation, as well as your point about spontaneity, and it's a really enormous issue.

[seph-hazard.livejournal.com]

Really? Bloody hell. There are *thinks* eight places selling fresh fruit and veg within half a mile of my flat, three of which are within 200 meters of where I sit as I type this. If I suddenly had an insatiable desire for a cucumber I could get one for thirty pence within the next three minutes [laughs] I didn't realise how lucky that is!

ETA - I live in a very poor area of London, btw

[devilgate.livejournal.com]

I suspect we may be neighbours.