Gluttony may be one of the seven deadly sins, but nobody can tell Iowans to not eat corn
Dan Brawner
September 18, 2007
“Put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.” Proverbs 23.2
Obesity in the United States has ballooned to 27 percent this year, according to a recent report by the Trust for American Health, with no state showing a decline. We’ve tried fad diets, counting calories, weighing portions, carbohydrate blockers, gastric bypasses and everything short of the above-mentioned biblical solution, for cutting weight. But like a snowball rolling downhill, Americans just keep getting fatter and fatter.
Attempts to legislate dietary self-restraint have failed to hold back the barrage of blubber. Banning trans fats from restaurants and eliminating “junk food” from school vending machines have apparently only whetted our appetite.
Gluttony was listed as one of the “Seven Deadly Sins” by the 6th Century pontiff, Pope Gregory the Great (which is not to be construed as a comment on his size). The early church took a dim view of excess in general and sought to persuade the pious to restrict the pleasures of the flesh so they could concentrate on other things. (Yeah, like what?) In Dante’s “Purgatory”, sinners who were damned for gluttony, stood between two tempting fruit trees and, unable to reach either one, starved.
Some people just can’t stand to see other folks have a little fun. Recently the University of Iowa cancelled their annual corn-on-the-cob-eating contest because, according to Phillip Jones, UI vice president for Student Affairs, it encouraged “gluttonous eating”. Oh, come on! You can’t eat corn in Iowa? That’s unpatriotic!
T he U of I also cancelled its annual hot-dog-eating contest this year. The university is even extending its puritan zeal to move some mandatory classes to Fridays to discourage students from drinking (and probably eating) on Thursday nights.
The administrators at Iowa claim that eating contests encourage gluttony. But have they ever asked anybody who has participated in or watched a no-hands pie-eating-contest if they were planning to rush out afterwards for a big, thick slice of pie? No only are they not likely to eat pie again for a long, long time, they probably vow never to eat anything ever again. Just watching somebody stuff their face until they choke and drool can set you on a path to moderation that would make Pope Gregory the Great smile with approval.
Genuine, whole-hog gluttony is not something that comes naturally to most of us. It requires sometimes weeks of mental preparation. In fact, now would be the proper time to start. Thanksgiving is coming.
Obesity in the United States has ballooned to 27 percent this year, according to a recent report by the Trust for American Health, with no state showing a decline. We’ve tried fad diets, counting calories, weighing portions, carbohydrate blockers, gastric bypasses and everything short of the above-mentioned biblical solution, for cutting weight. But like a snowball rolling downhill, Americans just keep getting fatter and fatter.
Attempts to legislate dietary self-restraint have failed to hold back the barrage of blubber. Banning trans fats from restaurants and eliminating “junk food” from school vending machines have apparently only whetted our appetite.
Gluttony was listed as one of the “Seven Deadly Sins” by the 6th Century pontiff, Pope Gregory the Great (which is not to be construed as a comment on his size). The early church took a dim view of excess in general and sought to persuade the pious to restrict the pleasures of the flesh so they could concentrate on other things. (Yeah, like what?) In Dante’s “Purgatory”, sinners who were damned for gluttony, stood between two tempting fruit trees and, unable to reach either one, starved.
Some people just can’t stand to see other folks have a little fun. Recently the University of Iowa cancelled their annual corn-on-the-cob-eating contest because, according to Phillip Jones, UI vice president for Student Affairs, it encouraged “gluttonous eating”. Oh, come on! You can’t eat corn in Iowa? That’s unpatriotic!
T he U of I also cancelled its annual hot-dog-eating contest this year. The university is even extending its puritan zeal to move some mandatory classes to Fridays to discourage students from drinking (and probably eating) on Thursday nights.
The administrators at Iowa claim that eating contests encourage gluttony. But have they ever asked anybody who has participated in or watched a no-hands pie-eating-contest if they were planning to rush out afterwards for a big, thick slice of pie? No only are they not likely to eat pie again for a long, long time, they probably vow never to eat anything ever again. Just watching somebody stuff their face until they choke and drool can set you on a path to moderation that would make Pope Gregory the Great smile with approval.
Genuine, whole-hog gluttony is not something that comes naturally to most of us. It requires sometimes weeks of mental preparation. In fact, now would be the proper time to start. Thanksgiving is coming.
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