Does Thin = Morally Superior?

Are thin people better, more self-controlled people?  In her article, Can’t Stomach It, Julie Guthman points out the situations in which writers like Michael Pollan alienate and degrade fat people.  These authors point out the dilemma of our unavoidable, instinctive desire for sweets and fats.   Pollan states “if food is abundant and cheap, people will eat more of it and get fat.”  If this claim is true though, why isn’t everyone overweight?  Given our oversupply of food and subsidies that keep prices low, we all have the option to indulge endlessly on this abundant and cheap food.  Not everyone is fat though, which is where his argument goes wrong.  Somehow, Pollan himself along with many other people in this world are able to live above their own unavoidable instincts.  Guthman explains that writers like Pollan feel as though they are “morally superior” to fat people.  By their great self-control, they can fight their desires and do what is “right,” by eating the right food, in the right portions, from the right sources, to stay the right size.

By claiming to have all the answers for other people who can’t seem to control themselves, aka fat people, Pollan and other writers like him put themselves above others.  They create the idea that being fat is shameful and pitiful, and that we should simply feel bad for the fat people who couldn’t hold back from their animal desires.  There are many other aspects to this situation though, which Pollan and other writers do not acknowledge, such as availability and price of the “right” food.

While I read Pollan’s articles and book, I was swept up in his smooth and intriguing writing, and he was easily able to mind wash me into believing him and agreeing with his claims.  It is a very valid point though that he seems to hold himself morally above others.  While, sure, some fat people are just overindulging upper-class people who have every option to change their eating habits, I think it is fair to say that most fat people are of a low class.  This makes it again easy for Pollan to look down on these people, but it is not fair.  The food that Pollan recommends for the betterment of this issue is not available to the people who need it most.  People do not necessarily choose to consume only fast food, and they may have all the self-control necessary to eat food like vegetables instead of fast food if offered, but this option may just not be there.  It is an unfair assumption that all people are fat simply because they do not have the self-control to fight their animal instincts. 

Do you think that if healthy foods were available and cheap for everyone our society would be less obese?

How could we make this happen with our food industry already so solidified as segregated?