Paula Deen's announcement on the "Today" show this week that has diabetes is that she didn't do it with a fried stick of butter hanging out of her mouth.
But she might as well have.
For more than a decade, Deen has been touting “down home" Southern-style recipes on her various Food Network shows, at her restaurants, and in her cookbooks. Nearly every dish is replete with lard, sugar, bacon, heavy cream, salt, ground beef, or some disgusting combination thereof.
Related Slideshow
Paula Deen's most decadent recipes
Celebrity chef Paula Deen, who announced she has type 2 diabetes, has often been criticized for pushing unhealthy, calorie-filled concoctions. Here are some of the more decadent things she's cooked up for fans.
"Savannah Style" author Paula Deen on starting her career which has blossomed from a struggling caterer to a world-known celebrity cook.
Diabetics call Paula Deen a hypocrite for hiding disease while promoting sugar-heavy foods
Anthony Bourdain calls out Paula Deen for Diabetes confession
Paula Deen reveals secret struggle with Diabetes, teams up with drug company
Diabetics call Paula Deen a hypocrite for hiding disease while promoting sugar-heavy foods
Paula Deen reveals secret struggle with Diabetes, teams up with drug company
Barbara Walters has accused her of telling kids it's okay to have cheesecake for breakfast, and meatloaf and chocolate cake for lunch. Deen claims she's not telling kids to eat like that every day. She is the enemy of healthy cooking, and with a bully pulpit to boot.
The messenger matters as much as the message. When Warren Buffett advocates taxing the rich, the idea registers with a different audience than when it comes from a bunch of protesters camping out in tents. Similarly, Magic Johnson’s admission that he had contracted HIV helped society accept that AIDS wasn’t just a “gay disease.” In his stunning news conference on Nov. 7, 1991, Johnson, then 32, said he wanted young people to understand “that safe sex is the way to go,” adding: “Here I am, saying that it can happen to anybody, even me, Magic Johnson.”
It’s easy to see why Deen balked at her opportunity, of course. You don’t build a multimillion-dollar empire glorifying sugar and lard, as she has, and then turn around and tell people to skip the fried chicken and pie. Like many of her Food Network peers, she has lucrative endorsement contracts with big food companies — Smithfield pork and Philadelphia Cream Cheese — that might not appreciate a strident eat-less message.
But she might as well have.
For more than a decade, Deen has been touting “down home" Southern-style recipes on her various Food Network shows, at her restaurants, and in her cookbooks. Nearly every dish is replete with lard, sugar, bacon, heavy cream, salt, ground beef, or some disgusting combination thereof.
Related Slideshow
Paula Deen's most decadent recipes
Celebrity chef Paula Deen, who announced she has type 2 diabetes, has often been criticized for pushing unhealthy, calorie-filled concoctions. Here are some of the more decadent things she's cooked up for fans.
"Savannah Style" author Paula Deen on starting her career which has blossomed from a struggling caterer to a world-known celebrity cook.
Diabetics call Paula Deen a hypocrite for hiding disease while promoting sugar-heavy foods
Anthony Bourdain calls out Paula Deen for Diabetes confession
Paula Deen reveals secret struggle with Diabetes, teams up with drug company
Diabetics call Paula Deen a hypocrite for hiding disease while promoting sugar-heavy foods
Paula Deen reveals secret struggle with Diabetes, teams up with drug company
Barbara Walters has accused her of telling kids it's okay to have cheesecake for breakfast, and meatloaf and chocolate cake for lunch. Deen claims she's not telling kids to eat like that every day. She is the enemy of healthy cooking, and with a bully pulpit to boot.
The messenger matters as much as the message. When Warren Buffett advocates taxing the rich, the idea registers with a different audience than when it comes from a bunch of protesters camping out in tents. Similarly, Magic Johnson’s admission that he had contracted HIV helped society accept that AIDS wasn’t just a “gay disease.” In his stunning news conference on Nov. 7, 1991, Johnson, then 32, said he wanted young people to understand “that safe sex is the way to go,” adding: “Here I am, saying that it can happen to anybody, even me, Magic Johnson.”
It’s easy to see why Deen balked at her opportunity, of course. You don’t build a multimillion-dollar empire glorifying sugar and lard, as she has, and then turn around and tell people to skip the fried chicken and pie. Like many of her Food Network peers, she has lucrative endorsement contracts with big food companies — Smithfield pork and Philadelphia Cream Cheese — that might not appreciate a strident eat-less message.
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