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1. 2/4 FAT LAND by Greg Critser Vanessa Suarez and Rachel Jovene

2. Chapter 3 • Chapter 3 begins by showing that homes are not the only places that are helping cause such a dietary problem. Critser begins to explain how the epidemic has given grand importance to the schools, extracurricular activities, and other places away from home. The USDA has been on top of this situation for many years, and they have noticed that, “Calorically speaking, in 1977, Americans got only 18% of their calories away from home; in a decade that figure had grown to 27%, and in less than another decade (by 1994) to 34%. Fat consumption away from the traditional table soared, from 19% of total calories in 1977 to 38% in 1995.” (page 32)

3. Chapter 3 continued • The third chapter continues its rampage, but this time it focuses directly on kids' nutrition mainly at school. It gives examples of how due to cuts in school funds, leads to cheap food production. This obviously is not good for the children. They now don’t even have the option of eating healthy, because the schools don’t have enough money to offer such choices. The USDA made a study on these schools and concluded that, “We calculate that if food away from home had the same nutritional densities as food at home . . . Americans would have consumed 197 fewer calories per day.” (Page 33) So not only are the parents failing to ensure good eating habits, but the schools are enforcing fast, unhealthy foods as normal dietary meals.

4. Chapter 3 continued Introduction: • In the novel “Fat Land,” the author Greg Critser relates how the lifestyles of the American people result in their overweight and unhealthy bodies. Through the following anecdote, Critser reveals how the society we live in has slowly adapted to our increased body size, and the mentality which evolved there from: big is okay. Quotation: • “Ron Magruder, the president of the thriving Olive Garden chain of Italian Restaurants, received a telephone call from a dissatisfied customer. […] The caller, named Larry, wasn’t complaining about the food or the service or the prices. Instead, Larry was upset that he could no longer fit into any of the chairs in his local Olive Garden. Magruder […] had his staff contact the company that manufactured the chairs for the chain and ordered a thousand large-sized chairs. He then had these distributed, three each, to every Olive Garden restaurant in the nation.” Explanation: • Through this detail which Critser presents to the reader, two aspects are absorbed. First of all, the reader realizes the confidence which “Larry” is shown to have. Instead of being embarrassed about how large he has become, he seeks to have his environment changed in order to best suit his new body size. Secondly, Magruder represents all of society at this time, instead of helping Larry, he merely pities him, and therefore allows a slight change in order to make Larry more comfortable. Through this small story, Critser allows the reader to understand the dilemma which was faced by society: the food which was so attractive to everyone for multiple reasons was making us fat. And while the results were shocking, most merely adapted instead of trying to change their lifestyle.

5. Chapter 3 continued Introduction: • In the chapter, Critser goes on to denounce the acceptance of weight gain, the rigidity and structure which was once present in meal time, and the new fad of multiple diets. Once more, Magruder receives a call from Larry, where Critser accounts for the inquiry as to how Larry was experiencing the restaurant’s efforts in order to make him more comfortable. Quotation: • “The staff […] had wanted Larry to report what he thought of their efforts.” Resultantly, “he was happier now. Indeed, Larry’s message was entirely conciliatory - even thankful. But it wasn’t because of the bigger chairs. It was because of the old small chairs. Largely because of them, Larry explained, he had been spurred to finally confront the extent of his weight problem. Why, I the seven weeks since he had spoken to Magruder, he had lost almost fifty pounds. That tight little chair - that had been what Larry needed after all.” Explanation: • Critser closes the chapter with a final word from Larry. First of all, it allows Critser to support his claim that the environment which we are placed in really does affect our eating. If we are given loose pants, we are led to believe we have room for more, likewise with bigger chairs. However, if a person has a belt cutting into their stomach, they will most likely stop eating, due to the undeniable evidence that they do not need more food. Also, it ties back to Critser’s identification of the craze for (easy) diets. Although he does not say what Larry did to lose weight (hopefully he changed his lifestyle in order to be healthy). As Americans began to gain more and more weight, they wanted to lose the weight without losing their gluttonous lifestyle. Therefore, dietitians created what the public wanted: quick, easy, “secrets” which taught society how to lose weight “effectively” without much difficult change.

6. Chapter 4 continued • Chapter 4 targets the present issue of physical fitness. There have been requirements for physical fitness since the 19th century, but the difference between then and now is that the level of rigorous activity needed in order to surpass the standard has gone down tremendously. Critser blames the baby boomers in part for changing their children’s views of fitness from personal health to group participation and peak performance. This makes the need for exercise seem less necessary and more for fun.On page 89, we are shown how the standard basically went from "adequate exercise means vigorous exercise" to "take the stairs instead of the elevator". Basically, CDC and others exaggerated that moderate exercise was good enough and that vigorous exercise didn't help that much.

7. Chapter 4 Introduction: • As Greg Critser moves through the novel, so does his explanation of why American’s lost sight of standard measured to be taken concerning health. In Chapter four he mentions one of the reasons why many people came to feel fine about the weight they were at, this time linking the obesity epidemic to information about weight instead of corporations and diet. Critser states that: Quotation: • “By 1990 the weight control recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines committee had already been loosened once. In 1980 the guidelines had advised Americans to “maintain an ideal weight” - a clear, unequivocal message that anyone who could read one of those omnipresent weight-for-height charts could understand. By 1985, in the middle of the supersize revolution, the advice was altered to the more vague “maintain a desirable weight”, the better not to impose unrealistic goals upon an increasingly touchy populace. In 1990, even as obesity rates spiraled upward, the committee wanted not only to loosen the weight guidelines again, it also wanted o tdo something it had never done before. It wanted to tell Americans that it was okay to gain significant pounds as they got older.” Explanation: • Through this information concerning the Dietary Guidelines’ weight control recommendations, we see that mindsets were being changed through the adaptation of facts in order to better suit the “comfortable” society which was evolving during this time period. Like the fast-food restaurants, the committee mentioned above was giving the public what they wanted - less restrictions and simply what they wanted.