Posted on 02/15/2005 8:19:45 AM PST by stainlessbanner
DECATUR, Ga. (AP) -- Amid a national obesity epidemic and the South's infamous distinction as the "Stroke Belt," health officials have been trying to get diners to flinch, at least a little, at the region's trademark fried and fatty foods.
But nutritionists have found it's hard to teach an old region new tricks. How can Southerners give up delicious staples fried chicken, fried seafood, fried green tomatoes and cornbread slathered in butter?
Even at the Atlanta headquarters of the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the leader of the nation's anti-obesity campaign, the cafeteria serves up such artery-clogging regional favorites as biscuits and gravy.
CDC nutritionist Annie Carr said the agency is working to get its house in order by pushing the cafeteria to serve popular foods in healthy ways. The broader goals of the anti-obesity campaign are to educate people to cook with less fat and sugar and to promote the idea of eating five servings of fruits and vegetables a day.
And for the South, that doesn't mean vegetables and greens flavored with bacon and meat drippings.
"I don't think anything is wrong with the kind of vegetables we eat in the South - it's the way they are prepared," said former Surgeon General Dr. David Satcher, the interim president of the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, who grew up eating traditional Southern staples on a farm in Alabama. "We need more fruits and vegetables in our diet."
When Becky Cleaveland is out with her girlfriends, they all pick at salads except for the petite Atlanta woman. She tackles "The Hamdog."
The dish, a specialty of Mulligan's, a suburban bar, is a hot dog wrapped by a beef patty that's deep fried, covered with chili, cheese and onions and served on a hoagie bun. Oh yeah, it's also topped with a fried egg and two fistfuls of fries.
"The owner says I'm the only girl who can eat a whole one without flinching," Cleaveland said proudly.
Health officials' concerns with healthy eating in the South date back to 1962, when the CDC noted a large concentration of counties with high stroke death rates in the coastal states of North and South Carolina and Georgia. More than three decades later, the high stroke rates in that region seem to have shifted west to counties along the Mississippi River Delta.
Health officials have spent thousands of dollars on grants to promote healthy eating, including sending nutritionists into community centers and churches. The food experts introduce healthier cooking practices, such as alternatives to frying and methods that reduce the fat in gravy and sauces. But those efforts have found resistance from some cooks who say the healthier recipes alter the taste of their dishes.
"Flavor is a big issue - when you modify Southern cooking, then you lose a lot of the flavor," said Laurita Burley, a clinical nutrition instructor at the Morehouse School of Medicine. "The reputation of the Southern cook is at risk when you begin to modify it."
Much of the South's traditional foods date back to the days of slavery. Frying was preferable in the region's hot climate, since it didn't take as long as baking and didn't heat up a house as much. Plus, Burley said, workers didn't have all day to prepare meals; they had to get back into the fields to work. Lard was also plentiful. Today, frying still is popular, especially in poor areas of the South, because it is also inexpensive.
While it's quick, easy and adds flavor, frying loads ordinarily healthy foods with calories and fat.
"One of the common things in the South is that you fry everything," said Dr. Nicholas Lang, chief of staff of the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System in Little Rock. "It's a major grease-transport mechanism - there's no idea how much calories you get when you get that."
Other research has found that frying, grilling and smoking certain foods can cause chemical reactions within the food that can increase the risk of cancer.
"The best advice is to fry less and to eat their meat medium rather than well-done - and do like their momma said and add vegetables," said Lang, also a professor of surgery at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
Back at Mulligan's in Decatur, owner Chandler Goff is quick to point out that the bar also offers healthy alternatives, such as salads and sandwiches that aren't deep-fried.
But he acknowledged that the "Hamdog" and the "Luther Burger," a bacon-cheeseburger served on a Krispy Kreme doughnut bun, are what draw attention.
As for Cleaveland, she says she doesn't think about cholesterol. "I probably should, but I do not. I'm only 25, maybe later." For now, she's able to maintain her 5-foot-7, 115-pound physique without regular exercise.
Regardless of age, Lang doesn't recommend the Hamdog, even as a one-time snack.
"If you choke that down, you might as well find a heart surgeon because you are going to need one."
LOL!.....or a combination of all three.
Ping. :^)
We eat all meals as if they were our last, because eventually it will be. Pass the gravy, please........
Ice cubes work great, just stand back.
Gawd I miss Southern food. :(
She sounds hot.
I make a burger, it is one pound of beef, with load fried onion rings, bacon, steak sauce, but it is on a wheat bun so it is healthy right.
LOL...my Houston, TX born neice stays with us in the summer for a few weeks....at age 11 I asked her why she liked so much FRIED food....she said...."cause we're from the South...that's what we eat!" (YES, she's got a weight problem.)
Can't. Once we tax Peter to pay for Paul's health insurance (aka Medicare), Peter gets to tell Paul to knock off the grease.
LOL! Probably more likely to give the food police a heart attack just thinking about it. How about a stick of butter rolled in brown sugar and maple syrup for dessert? Ummmmm...
Mmmm...I remember my family sitting down to a Saturday afternoon dinner of fried shrimp, fresh off our neighbor's boat, greasy french fries, and hush puppies tainted with just the right aroma of last week's seafood. Mmm...
My mother's three-pack-a-day habit is what finished her off, not the food.
I married a yankee, I love her, but their food has no flavor at all. White bread stuffing for thanksgiving turkey, that is just wrong.
I can understand, You grew up on it, I just get it when I travel, which is hardly never anymore.
The 100% absolute best chow I had was a little old restaurant just east of the Barkley Lake dam in Kentucky. The place had the hogs running around out back, right near the smoke house.
A huge pulled pork sandwich, fries, slaw and a huge glass of RC Cola for about $2. I left a bigger tip than the meal cost, and it was worth every single penny and then some. I went back for lunch & dinner for the rest of the week. I would have had that for breakfast, but they weren't open.
I'm(former texan) married to a yankee and I live with him (much to the dismay of my family) in Pa. I have that boy eating and now cooking alot of southern foods. Now if I could only get him to stop putting ketchup on my chicken fried steak......
Ever have a potato-chip sandwich?
2 Slices of Merita bread, 1 slice of Vidalia onion, as much mayonnaise as you want and 1 handful of Tom's potato chips. Smoosh together and enjoy.
I made a recipe from Brennan's last night, Chicken Lanzone, and cut down on fat by replacing the heavy cream with milk and the butter with olive oil (olive oil has the same amount of fat as butter, but it's a healthier fat). Couldn't be easier, and very delicious.
Make a mixture of onion powder, garlic powder, chili powder and salt and put it in a plastic bag. Put a few chicken breast strips in the bag and shake.
Brown your chicken in olive oil till cooked through. Remove from the skillet. Add milk and a little bit of flour and cook till thickened, scraping the bits of chicken off the bottom of the pan. Pour sauce over chicken.
Yummy, delicious southern cooking, but reduced in fat.
It's wrong,try more gravy and pepper. It won't fix the taste but it will slide down better.
Yes, it is. We tried corn-on-the-cob. Now, whenever we deep fry a turkey, we also fry some corn. It is delicious.
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