I was just re-reading my LJ from the year, and saw that I never responded to this comment. Still interested eight months later? :)
I think my short answer is that society, through the public school system, seems to have made the commitment to educating its citizens, and so I think health should be part of that. Learning about nutrition is indeed a life skill!
As for the food desert problem, I agree it needs to be corrected and am glad to hear there are people trying to fix it, but I would also be very wary about "Outsiders telling people they are Doing It Wrong" phenomenon. But yes, food deserts are a big problem, and I think it's better to try and address that problem and risk making a mistake than leaving it the way it is.
I guess my main feeling about the morality of the individual vs. the morality of the society when it comes to fat and food is that shame needs to be taken out of it. I'm fine with society shaming people about things like homophobia, but not when it comes to really anything to do with health. (Or with how to spend your resources such as time and money, which is really tied to nutrition.) Providing options - great, shaming people for their individual choices - not so great.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2010-12-26 07:29 pm (UTC)I think my short answer is that society, through the public school system, seems to have made the commitment to educating its citizens, and so I think health should be part of that. Learning about nutrition is indeed a life skill!
As for the food desert problem, I agree it needs to be corrected and am glad to hear there are people trying to fix it, but I would also be very wary about "Outsiders telling people they are Doing It Wrong" phenomenon. But yes, food deserts are a big problem, and I think it's better to try and address that problem and risk making a mistake than leaving it the way it is.
I guess my main feeling about the morality of the individual vs. the morality of the society when it comes to fat and food is that shame needs to be taken out of it. I'm fine with society shaming people about things like homophobia, but not when it comes to really anything to do with health. (Or with how to spend your resources such as time and money, which is really tied to nutrition.) Providing options - great, shaming people for their individual choices - not so great.