Some support Food Network star Paula Deen, who recently admitted on NBC’s “Today” that she has Type 2 diabetes and has become a paid spokeswoman for pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk.
“I’m here today,” Deen told Al Roker, “to let the world know it’s not a death sentence.”
She was diagnosed three years ago — and continued to serve up deep-fried, buttery goodness to her viewers.
But others — including chef/author/longtime Deen critic Anthony Bourdain — are enraged that not only has she been promoting an unhealthy diet — certainly for those with diabetes — but she’s being compensated by a pharmaceutical company.
“When your signature dish is hamburger in between a doughnut, and you’ve been cheerfully selling this stuff knowing all along that you’ve got Type 2 Diabetes,” Bourdain told Eater’s Raphael Brion, “it’s in bad taste if nothing else.”
I can see both sides.
On the one hand, her medical issues are her private business. It’s not our business to know that.
On the other hand, though, she is a public figure, promoting a certain kind of eating habit and lifestyle that obviously isn’t healthy or fit for her.
Does Deen have a responsibility to revamp her image — she is, after all, the network’s queen of Southern cooking — to be considerate to the nation’s alarming obesity rates?
Which side are you on?
11 Comments
Hello Cat!
My wife is also a type 2 and she always is saying the Food Network should have a show on cooking and eating healthier. I think eating more healthy is becoming more popular and I notice more and more restaurants is offering brown rice and healthier choices on the menus.
I think Paula Deen should lead the way on healthier cooking and eating.
How this southern belle could be such a polarizing figure I have no idea. I remember stopping in at Mom and Sons in Savanah Ga before she really became famous. She was all over the place checking to see if everyone was happy. Have to say the food was great then. Maybe it’s a bit of jealousy that she’s done so well in a man’s world, and can still smile and enjoy it. As far as her food choices for the show, I love southern cooking every buttery fat filled sinful bite.She does show lighter fare as well as the deep fired but the critics.haters choose to ignore that and only talk about most fattening. I have several of her cook books that I use for some other ideas. In her recipes she takes the time to give some alternatives that will be less fattening and won’t seriously affect the taste. The fact that she is now a spokes person for the drug company tells me that she is at least controlling the disease, in her own way.
Hey Cat … I don’t watch her show … but I have heard about her …
… she could do what is perceived as “the right thing” … and use her show and her condition to promote a healthier lifestyle through cooking … but …
… it’s her show … it’s her and her sponsors choice on what to focus her cooking on …
… after all, we are all free to choose whether or not to watch … and who puts that buttery fried goodness in our mouths??? … our own hands do that …
I think it’s her right to serve up all the unhealthy junk she wants; it’s the viewers and consumers who really decide if that food is “in” or “out.” She makes no effort to hide the butter and cream and fat infusing each of her recipes.
However, since her life-threatening disease is likely directly related to the style of cooking that she promotes, I think it would’ve been much classier for her to own up to it. Keeping hush on that and then making a living off of pushing the drugs that “magically” counter the underlying issue is irresponsible and a poor example for those who admire her. Perhaps it’s not a passion for people or food that motivates Miss Deen — it’s whatever pays the bills.
AB’s side all the way. it seems, to me, that, among celebrity chefs and other food personalities, there are some who are in it for the food and who celebrate the food, and others who are in it for celebrity and who celebrate gluttony. I would put Anthony Bourdain, Eric Ripert, mario Batali, Alton Brown, Chris Cosentino and a few others in the first category and I would put Paula Deen, Guy Fieri, Rachael Ray and a few others in the second category.
the food that Ripert, Cosentino and others like them serve is amazing, not because it’s loaded with extra fats, but because they derive flavors from the basic ingredients in the dishes. if butter’s in there, it’s because its flavors and textures work with the dish. more is not better with them.
with the other category of cooks, it sometimes seems like they are bought and paid for by the dairy industry. if a pat of butter is good, then a stick must be better, right? Wrong. a thousand times wrong.
flavor is and always should be the bottom line in cooking. the flavors that the great chefs achieve by letting their ingredients do the talking is so far ahead of the muddled mess that you get by adding untold amounts of fat That the great chefs turn out healthier (not necessarily “healthy”,mind you) fare is just gravy
In the end, Paula Deen is about Paula Deen. Having built her career and reputation on pushing unhealthy cuisine, what should she have done upon learning her diagnosis? Do a complete 180-reversal and start cooking only diabetic-friendly meals? Paula Deen don’t do healthy. Should she tell her viewers and fans to burn their Paula Deen cookbooks? Or that she’ll give them a refund now? Ridiculous.
I think she should stay the course. “Look! My meals are so yummy, it gave me Type II Diabetes! What other celebrity chef can say that??”
Yes. I’m being sarcastic.
Why only now, after knowing her condition for three years, is Deen going public with her diabetes? This feels disingenuous and dishonest.
On the one hand, I think she should just call it quits. On the other hand, she’s probably being singled out unfairly. Why shouldn’t other celebrity chefs be called on their proffering of (and profiting from) unhealthy fare?
My guess is she’ll use this not-so-new news in a way that will benefit Paula Deen first, her devotees last.
I wouldn’t doubt that there’s other celebrity chefs that’s diabetic.
I have no problem with Paula Deen cooking as she likes despite her own health. That’s her perogative. (Plus, her son’s show on Cooking Channel is all about making her dishes healthy)
But what does bother me is when confronted by it, she said that she’s always promoted moderation. She might have mentioned it offhand in an episode or two- but on every episode, she doubles the amount of butter in a dish and gives herself a tasting portion that’s 3 times the size of what a serving size should be. If you’re going to be a glutton, either own it or actually be responsible… instead of revising history.
Recently I flew from RDU to PBI and frankly i am surprised we could get air born. I would be willing to bet the folks in first class were a minimum of 80 lbs on average overweight. there were some people on the flight who were 100+ pounds overweight. I am 15 over at the moment and po’d about it but these guys made me look like a stick. I read that Type II diabetes is off the charts in this country. And Caucasians are nowhere near as susceptible to it as African Americans and Asians. I was born and raised in the sotuh and when I was a kid we were all underweight. What happened? Your guess is as good as mine but it is really out of hand at the moment. Want to lower the cost of health care in the USA? Lower people’s weight back to what it was in the 1960s. So yes, I think cooks have a duty to help people get with the program.
We have an obesity epidemic in this country and type II diabetes rates are sky-rocketing. Wouldn’t it be a great service to her fans and her country to use this opportunity to educate people about how food choice effects health outcomes? Especially since most Americans really can’t afford $500 in medications every month – but they can afford to cook healthier food. Paula Deen could be showing them how to do it without compromising on flavor.
Instead, she decided to get paid. I think it’s greedy, and irresponsible. People who say it’s her own business: she’s not just a person cooking in her kitchen. She gets on tv and tells people what to put in their mouth – that means she has special responsibilities that the rest of us don’t.
And by the way, a pound of butter a day might not be great for the heart, but it didn’t give her diabetes – the donuts did.
The sugar and fat or the amounts of them in the recipes are not the cause of the issues. It is the portion (consumed) of the final product that is the issue. Paula Deen should continue to cook what she enjoys. It is up to the individual to decide what they put in their mouths.