• witten@lemmy.world
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    23 days ago

    Yeah, olive oil is not for deep frying. But maybe Americans shouldn’t be having quite as much fried food? (I say this as someone who just had fried food for dinner.)

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      22 days ago

      I agree, but switching people to less unhealthy frying oil is easier than stopping them from eating so much fried food.

      • witten@lemmy.world
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        22 days ago

        As I mentioned in another comment, today’s food economics are not written in stone. There are all sorts of tax and subsidy levers in the public policy toolbox. One reason, say, soybeans and soybean oil are so cheap in the U.S. today is farm subsidies.

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          22 days ago

          But humans being drawn to fatty and sugary foods is written into our DNA. Unless you find some way to ban fried food, people are still going to eat it. A lot. You would need a massive cultural shift away from fatty and sugary foods and that would take more than taxes and subsidies because things like fried chicken and waffles are now considered part of someone’s culture.

          https://50kitchen.com/culinary-history-chicken-and-waffles/

          • witten@lemmy.world
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            22 days ago

            It’s about frequency and quantity. Sure, people will always have a taste for unhealthy food. But until sugar/corn was massively subsidized in the U.S., people didn’t eat nearly as much sweet junk. It took a massive cultural shift to get to where we are today. Massive cultural shifts happen.