More food politics in the news, so let's unpack this a little. Obviously we all know that Biden's climate plan does not involve making you give up your hamburgers. But, this is a good opportunity to talk (more) about American food culture and attitudes. (1/?) https://twitter.com/GregAbbott_TX/status/1386433630747070468

Just earlier today I posted a thread about a WebMD tweet that claimed that french fry consumption could lead to an early death. That tweet was a great example of the American cult of diet culture and personal responsibility https://twitter.com/Clare_Brock/status/1386735337360269312

Hamburgers, like french fries, are not inherently moral or immoral. There are a lot of questions that we could ask when trying to decide if we should eat a particular food and how much we should eat. How were animals treated during life and slaughter? What about workers?

There are also a lot of questions we could ask about possible policy responses to hamburger consumption. What are the public health consequences of eating large amounts of red meat? What are the environmental costs?

But what I always find interesting in the American attitude toward foods like hamburger is that there are almost always two simultaneous and conflicting assumptions:

One attitude is that being allowed to eat unlimited red meat is your human right, and it's unAmerican to suggest otherwise; and the other is that the health consequences of eating too much fast food are a moral failing having to do with poor choices.

So on the one hand, we glorify excessive consumption of meat, and on the other hand, we harshly judge anyone who is "obese" because we assume that they ate too much and are at fault with their body (talk about fat-phobia).

In reality, Americans definitely should cut down on their meat consumption, from both a health and environmental perspective. But it won't be achieved through banning hamburgers, and it will take as much cultural shift as policy shift.

If the federal government did want to reduce meat consumption, it could do so by increasing taxation; mandating higher wages work workers and stronger safety regulations (this would make the meat more ethically produced but also drive up the price)

We would also need to invest in making vegetables more affordable and more accessible. And accessibility is a major issue here since many people live closer to fast food joints than they do to grocery stores.

And of course, accessibility of healthy affordable food is often related to racial segregation in particular cities and neighborhoods. Wealthy white people have access to whole foods stores, and poor neighborhoods with majority minority populations have access to fast food.

Basically, obviously the "don't let them take your hamburgers" argument is stupid and made in bad faith. It's also rooted in ideas about Americanism, personal responsibility, & morality, which simultaneously glorify & shame food depending on the appearance of the eater