Don’t freak out; this is my last commentary on this issue, and then I’m not going to say anything else because I think what I have to say here is obvious to most people.
So, Paula Deen, queen of fatty, fried comfort foods, has Type 2 diabetes. She announced it recently to a flurry of media attention. Her announcement also included the fact that she is now a paid spokesperson for a diabetes-prevention initiative sponsored by Novo Nordisk, the company that makes the medication she’s using to treat her disease. She says that she’ll be giving a portion of her (lucrative) earnings from this agreement to the American Diabetes Association.
There have been a number of different reactions to this news. One spokeswoman from the ADA commended her for stepping up as a model for the successful management of diabetes and coming forth with this announcement. But others haven’t reacted as positively, calling her out for hiding her diagnosis for three years while she continued to reign over a mega-brand of patently unhealthy foods. Her reasoning? She wanted to have a “plan in place” when she broke the news. Still others denounce the media and detractors for unfairly criticizing her lifestyle choices.
What doesn’t sit right for me is not that Paula Deen has built a comfort-food empire, or even that the food she sells on her shows and in her cookbooks are so heavy on calories and fat. She lives in the land of the free and she made her fortune the way she saw fit. She is also free to promote by example a lifestyle that includes limited exercise and a high-fat, high-calorie diet. As many have said, it’s not her fault that others have become obese from eating this type of comfort food; she doesn’t force anyone to make it.
I think what many see as a problem is the fact that she withheld this fact about herself for three years and still promoted this lifestyle and the recipes that went along with it. And I suppose that it was her right to announce this when she chose. But when the lifestyle that you endorse and profit from is likely a contributor, if not a direct cause, of a harmful disease…well,what is the right thing to do?
Type 2 diabetes can be caused by many factors, and Ms. Deen hasn’t offered additional information. It’s possible that she was genetically predisposed to have the disease whether she ate fried chicken or salad all of her life. I don’t think the cause of her disease is necessarily the important thing here.
What I find a little galling about the situation is that she is now a spokesperson for a diabetes-prevention initiative and is being paid a great deal of money to represent this cause. She is supposed to be a representative for the successful management of Type 2 diabetes.
I mean, what kind of sense does that make? Paula Deen is not a good representative for the successful management of Type 2 diabetes. She has admitted to controlling the condition with medication and makes no mention of any lifestyle changes to go along with that. While she’s contributing “lighter” recipes to the initiative, she also has no plans to alter any of the recipes on her shows or in her cookbooks. She’s not a good rep for this cause. What she is is famous.
I don’t know all of her circumstances. Maybe she does want to support this cause. But to me this seems like a cheap ploy to Get. More. Cash. It’s no coincidence that her initiative and diagnosis were released to the media at the same time. But it rings so hollow, and it doesn’t make Novo Nordisk look good either. There’s a giant disconnect here on many levels.
The truth: Paula Deen’s lifestyle is not conducive to delaying the onset of or reducing the effects of Type 2 diabetes. From what I gather, although she says that she preaches “everything in moderation,” (and will say it “a little louder”) she does not subscribe to that rule. She controls her disease using medication, but insists on keeping the same habits.
Is it wrong to do that? No. But I think it’s a slap in the face to those who do make great strides toward controlling and possibly eliminating the effects of Type 2 diabetes through a healthy diet and exercise.
Just like it’s the consumer’s choice to eat the food that Paula Deen peddles, it’s her choice to continue with this lifestyle and those habits. But to take money as a representative for the fight against Type 2 diabetes while endorsing and selling those same habits, which can result in damage to the body as a result of obesity and insulin resistance and the corresponding effects, is just money grubbing. I’d rather see Novo Nordisk pair with someone who leads by a good example instead of such a poor one when it comes to avoiding this disease. And with the obesity rates in this country ballooning out of control, I think we need more good examples.
That’s all.