Why Paula Deen Makes this Southern Chick Sad

Paula Deen, Queen of Southern cooking, announced Tuesday that she has type-2 diabetes. Ordinarily that might be a sympathy garnering announcement but it has her critics up in arms and trash talking the food I grew up loving and that makes this Southern chick very sad. Let me explain.

First, I have to confess that, although I am not a super fan of Paula Deen’s, I do like her. I’ve seen a few of her cooking shows, as well as, other shows where she is being interviewed and I like her folksy, down-home country charm ("Hey, ya’ll!”). I guess it’s a Southern thing. 

I also like that she tries to preserve traditional Southern home-style cooking because I simply love the food that I grew up with! It’s about taste and home and mama. I’ve even written about it on my other blog. Still I know that Southern home cooking in the traditional sense is not the healthiest cuisine around. We all know that. So, what’s the problem?

Well, you see, Paula Deen has been under fire for quite some time for kicking the traditional up a notch or two…or ten! It seems for her that Southern cuisine can never have too much fat or sugar and so she seems to delight in concocting the most outrageous diet busters. (Deep fried cheesecake, anyone?) Add to that her age, weight, and an admittedly sedentary lifestyle and it’s a recipe for disaster. Sounds like it just might be her own personal problem but it’s not. Paula Deen is a well-known and well-liked celebrity. As a result, many take umbrage with her continued promotion of unhealthy foods in light of her diagnosis that, it turns out, she’s actually known about for several years. Really, how can someone continue to relish in and promote dishes like hamburger, egg, and bacon between two glazed donuts while knowing the health risks to themselves and others?

In Paula’s defense, she says that she has always spoken about moderation on her shows. She may have. As I said, I haven't watched a lot of her shows. However, of the ones I did see, I never heard moderation preached. Not once. Never saw anything about it in her cookbook that I checked out from the library a few months ago either. And moderation is definitely key when it comes to Southern cooking! I too have a weight issue and I am currently trying to eat healthier and lose weight. Does that mean I never want to have biscuits and gravy or chicken-n-dumplings or chocolate pie again? Absolutely not! However, I know that it cannot be the mainstay of my diet. Sure, my grandparents may have eaten that way and my grandma did live to be 98 years old, but my grandparents worked hard on a farm most of their lives and worked off as many calories as they consumed. They also had access to fruits and vegetables and non-chemically processed foods. It was a different time. Few people have that lifestyle today, which is why the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) states that one-third of U.S. adults are obese along with 17% of children aged 2 – 19. So, the question is, in a country where an alarming portion of the population is literally bursting at the seams, is it responsible for any public and respected figure to so brazenly flaunt an unhealthy lifestyle?

To rub a salted stick of butter into an already open wound, we also learn that Paula Deen is now the spokeswoman for Novo Nordisk, makers of a diabetes treatment drug reportedly costing up to $500.00 a month, and she stands to make millions from the deal. Seems sort of like being on the board of directors for a tobacco company while promoting a patch to stop smoking at the same time.

Still, some may feel that Paula’s diagnosis is her personal business and that she didn’t need to tell anyone she has diabetes and I agree. However, as a celebrity chef, she could have started changing her recipes to be healthier years ago. She could have preached moderation more loudly and more often. And, if she wanted to come clean about her diagnosis to help others, then why didn’t she do when she found out about it? Why wait until she has a deal with a pharmaceutical company? It all seems so disingenuous now and such a big let down.

To make matters worse, Paula Deen has committed the biggest crime of all--betraying her Southern roots by putting traditional Southern cuisine in such a bad light. And that just makes me sad.