Supersizing Urban America
How Inner Cities Got Fast Food with Government Help
Chin Jou
- More
- than
- one-third
- of
- adults
- in
- the
- United
- States
- are
- obese.
- The
- Centers
- for
- Disease
- Control
- and
- Prevention
- estimates
- that
- there
- are
- over
- 112,000
- obesity-related
- deaths
- annually,
- and
- for
- many
- years,
- the
- government
- has
- waged
- a
- very
- public
- war
- on
- the
- problem.
- Former
- Surgeon
- General
- Richard
- Carmona
- warned
- in
- 2006
- that
- “obesity
- is
- the
- terror
- within,”
- going
- so
- far
- as
- to
- call
- it
- a
- threat
- that
- will
- “dwarf
- 9/11.”What
- doesn’t
- get
- mentioned
- in
- all
- this?
- The
- fact
- that
- the
- federal
- government
- helped
- create
- the
- obesity
- crisis
- in
- the
- first
- place—especially
- where
- it
- is
- strikingly
- acute,
- among
- urban
- African-American
- communities.
- Supersizing
- Urban
- America
- reveals
- the
- little-known
- story
- of
- how
- the
- U.S.
- government
- got
- into
- the
- business
- of
- encouraging
- fast
- food
- in
- inner
- cities,
- with
- unforeseen
- consequences
- we
- are
- only
- beginning
- to
- understand.
- Chin
- Jou
- begins
- her
- story
- in
- the
- late
- 1960s,
- when
- predominantly
- African-American
- neighborhoods
- went
- from
- having
- no
- fast
- food
- chain
- restaurants
- to
- being
- littered
- with
- them.
- She
- uncovers
- the
- federal
- policies
- that
- have
- helped
- to
- subsidize
- that
- expansion,
- including
- loan
- guarantees
- to
- fast
- food
- franchisees,
- programs
- intended
- to
- promote
- minority
- entrepreneurship,
- and
- urban
- revitalization
- initiatives.
- During
- this
- time,
- fast
- food
- companies
- also
- began
- to
- relentlessly
- market
- to
- urban
- African-American
- consumers.
- An
- unintended
- consequence
- of
- these
- developments
- was
- that
- low-income
- minority
- communities
- were
- disproportionately
- affected
- by
- the
- obesity
- epidemic.?In
- the
- first
- book
- about
- the
- U.S.
- government’s
- problematic
- role
- in
- promoting
- fast
- food
- in
- inner-city
- America,
- Jou
- tells
- a
- riveting
- story
- of
- the
- food
- industry,
- obesity,
- and
- race
- relations
- in
- America
- that
- is
- essential
- to
- understanding
- health
- and
- obesity
- in
- contemporary
- urban America.
