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."
Cheese grits at that.
When my wife and I took a trip down there in November, I couldn't get enough red beans and rice. Throw in a weekend-long party with every Southern food imaginable--along with endzone seats to the LSU-Ole Miss game--and I was in heaven!
Oh dear, there should be a law against that! Mashed potatoes with turkey too. It's supposed to be sweet potatoes!
It isn't our national food, it is our national staple. "Pretend" Southerners may have a can of grease above their stoves. "Real" southerners use it to cook.
Wonder how soon it will be until a fat victim sues the Varsity?
free dixie,sw
and there's nothing finer than homemade tomato gravy and biscuits....my mom fixes that for me the first morning i'm home in mobile....and since i have no idea how to make tomato gravy and have never, ever made homemade biscuits, i only get it every 3-4 months....thank goodness i'm retiring in august and headed to the heart of dixie for good!
I guess I'm a Texan at heart, then.
Grits and fish are good. Smoked Mullet is a cracker favorite, too.
Mmmmmmmm, cheese grits. OK, I'm off to lunch!
Holy God, that dog wrapped in a burger, deep fried, covered with chili and cheese, and topped off with french fries sounds like a dream come true.
I love everything fried, fried, fried. However, I have watched what I eat for about 4-5 years now and cut most of it out of my diet. There are exception of course.
Then you have never had good Southern cooking.
The Varsity - only Southerners will know where that is!
Four words: Tony Charrez (SP) Cajun Seasonings
I've got recipe right here for fried squirrel, one for native squirrel stew, one recipe called backwoods baked barbecue coon, and one named pot full o'coon. In case of ya'll are interested.
Two please...
I haven't had a decent chicken fried steak since I left Texas.
does your mom put coffee in her gravy?
Staying inside all day in an air-conditioned house and never going anyplace on foot is what the problem is, not Southern cuisine.
Brought the frier on a weekend fishing trip. Caught fresh snapper and goggle-eye (white flakey fish). Fried it and topped off with red beans and rice. Dee-licious!
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