Living with the food fascists
Earlier this summer, I tried to arrange a picnic with friends. The great thing about picnics is that it is hard to go wrong - a few salads, some good bread, cheese and some strawberries. But as we tried to think of dishes we could share, I realised I had a problem on my hands. Her family couldn't possibly eat eggs (nothing with mayonnaise then); no dairy (discard lovely Brie and cream for strawberries), and her childrenhad a list of foodstuffs that couldn't possibly pass their lips. We chatted for some time about how I could altermy recipes, but in the end agreed it would be better if we each brought our own food.
At the picnic, her children gobbled up all we had on offer. They ate like they had never seen food before. Actually, I began to believe that their diet had become so Spartan that they probably hadn't.
I am all for eating well, but there are those among us who seem to have more dietary requirements than the average pop star has pre-concert necessities. It reminded me of a Boston coffee shop that used to (and probably still does) tease its health-conscious customers, who asked for decaffeinated lattes made with skimmed milk, by re-naming the concoction the "why bother?"
The preparation for your average dinner party these days often begins with having to ask your guests whether there is anything they don't eat. We used to do this to be polite to vegetarians and anyone with violent allergies. Now we get long lists from those on a low-GI diet, those demanding rapeseed oil over olive and which sauces should be withheld. No wonder British Airways now offers nine "special" meals from vegetarian to a fruit plate and 11 medical meals from low calorie to non-lactose.
We are, as we are told almost daily, in the midst of an obesity epidemic. Food is examined as never before (who would have thought that watching Dr Gillian McKeith, of You Are What You Eat, would pass for entertainment?). Now we are seeing the effects of this neurotic obsession. And they are not pretty. There are whole food groups that are now the new tobacco. To be seen indulging in them is wantonly to take your life into your own hands.
Food has become the new fitness - a way of measuring your commitment to yourself. There is no point bragging about how long you've spent at the gym or what time you've got your mile down to, when you can visibly show people that you only put things in your mouth that are going to respect the temple that your body has become. Keeping a dogged eye on food intake is seen as an example of self-control.
This would be fine if such obsessives didn't demand we follow suit (or make us feel bad for not doing so). But the food fascists need to proselytise. The easiest target is children. They are of course more malleable than the rest of us and since they depend on adultsfor their nourishment, virtually all obesity-busting efforts organised bythe government have focused on improving the quality of their food. Like many other schools, my daughter's headteacher banned chocolate and crisps this year. The government's freely provided fruit and vegetables are the only thing on offer during snack time. (Strangely enough, there hasn't been a corresponding increase in letting children outside to play games, which might achieve the same end result).
Now, I agree that television chef Jamie Oliver's campaign was good and I am glad his efforts have limited Britain's turkey twizzler intake, but shouldn't it be my choice what my daughter eats? Every once in a while, on a bad day, I think that, like me, my six-year-old daughter deserves some chocolate. In fact, if she is anything like her mother, a little chocolate just might make her day.
Children's eating habits have become the new benchmark of parenting. "Our children just drink water," say conscientious parents, rather than let them pollute their mouths with, God forbid, juice. Offer your child chocolate (or fizzy drinks!) in some circles and you may be viewed as if you'd given them crack cocaine. New York schools have banned whole-fat milk, replacing it with healthier lower fat versions. New Zealand's Ministry of Health has issued a discussion paper (and let's pray it is a short discussion) that the minimum age restrictions on alcohol and tobacco be extended to foods such as hamburgers, chocolate and sweets. (Roald Dahl would today be writing about granola- bar factories.)
Food fascists, of course, try to back up their restricted choices by pointing out they are doing so for their health. According to the British Nutrition Foundation, food intolerances, when the body has an adverse reaction to certain foods, are estimated to affect 5-8 per cent of children (most of whom outgrow the condition) and less than 1-2 per cent of adults. But as many as 20 per cent of adults believe they are food intolerant.
In January of this year, a survey conducted by Norwich Union Healthcare found that 63 per cent of GPs reported an increase in patients reporting a food intolerance, but almost three-quarters of them believed their patients' reactions to be psychological, not physical.
But like any all-encompassing systems, food fascism can be quite hard to live with. Occasionally food fascists slip up. Diktats once written in stone have to be revised. Those lectures on the benefits of margarine (watch your cholesterol!) over butter have now been blown out of the water by recent warnings of the horrors of trans-fatty acids (margarine being a prime culprit). Questions are being raised about soya.
Some food fascists are cracking under the pressure. My former vegetarian sister-in-law (former on both counts) used to dig packaging out of bins just to check the ingredients didn't contain any animal products. Ten years later, she's eating bacon sandwiches. A French teacher of mine was vegetarian - a diet she stuck to with religious fervour - but had one curious exception: foie gras.
Like many messages, the healthy eating one seems to be lost on those who need it most and taken to extremes by those who need it least. I don't really mind the food fascists as long as they keep their lectures short, don't come for dinner or my picnics, and keep out of my daughter's lunchbox. Everything in moderation, my mother always said.
遭遇食物法西斯
今年初夏，我想安排与朋友们进行一次野餐。野餐的一大好处在于它不容易出岔子――一点色拉、一些上好的面包、奶酪和几颗草莓。但当我们试着想出可以分享的菜肴时，我意识到，遇到问题了。她家的人绝不吃鸡蛋（那就不能用蛋黄酱了）；不吃奶制品（别想为草莓配上可爱的布里白乳酪和奶油了），另外她的孩子们有一张清单，列出了无论如何都不能吃的食物。我们还特地为此聊了一会，看看能如何改进我的食谱，但最终还是一致认为，各带各的食物可能会好些。
野餐时，她的孩子们狼吞虎咽地吃掉了我们摆出的所有食物。他们的吃相就好像从未见过食物一样。实际上，我开始相信，他们的饮食已变得过于斯巴达式了，以至于他们可能真的从来没吃过这些东西。
当食物被过度审视
我完全赞成要吃得健康，但我们中有人对饮食的要求，似乎比一般的流行歌星还要严格，歌星在演唱会之前只吃些必需食物。这让我想起一家波士顿咖啡馆，它过去常常（可能现在仍然）嘲弄那些注重健康的顾客。这些顾客要用脱脂牛奶做的脱咖啡因拿铁，于是这家咖啡馆便把这种混合饮品的名字改成“真麻烦”(why bother)。
如今，在准备普通晚餐聚会时，通常首先要问客人有没有忌口。我们过去也常常这样做，以对素食者和有严重过敏症的客人表示礼貌。而现在，我们已经从采用“低升糖指数饮食”(low-GI diet)的人那里，得到了长长的食物清单，或者要求用油菜籽油而不是橄榄油，或者不该用哪些调味料。难怪英国航空(British Airways)现在提供9种“特殊”餐（从素食到果盘）和11种医疗餐（从低卡路里到不含乳糖）。
正如几乎每天所闻，我们正身处一场肥胖流行病中。食物受到了前所未有的审视（有谁会想到，观看吉利安?麦克基思(Gillian McKeith)博士的节目会被视为一种消遣呢？她是《改变一生的饮食计划》(You Are What You Eat)一书的作者）。现在，我们开始看到这种神经质强迫症的后果，情况并不妙。目前已有整类整类的食物成了新的烟草。让人看见沉溺其中就是恣意伤害自己的生命。
食物法西斯们的强迫症
食物已成为新的健康标准――一种衡量对自己负责的方式。吹嘘你在健身房里花了多长时间，或者把跑完一英里的时间降到了多长，这毫无意义，只有当你让别人亲眼看见，你只把能够对得起身体的食物放进嘴里时，那才叫健康。严格审视摄取的食物，被视为一种自律的表现。
如果这些强迫症患者不要求我们效仿（或让我们觉得不照做会很糟）的话，那也无妨。但这些食物法西斯们需要劝诱别人改宗才配得上这个称号。最容易瞄准的目标便是孩子。他们当然比我们这些大人更具可塑性，而且由于他们依赖成人提供营养，因此政府组织的几乎所有减肥运动都集中在改善他们的饮食质量上。同许多其它学校一样，我女儿所在学校的校长今年禁止学生食用巧克力和薯片。在点心时间供应的食物，只有政府免费提供的水果与蔬菜。（够奇怪的是，学校并没有相应增加孩子的室外游戏时间，而这种做法也能起到同样的最终结果。）
现在我承认，电视厨师杰米?奥利弗(Jamie Oliver)的广告不错，我也很高兴，他的努力限制了英国火鸡肉卷的食用量，但女儿吃什么，难道不该由我决定吗？在糟糕的日子，我偶尔会想，6岁的女儿和我一样，该吃些巧克力。实际上，如果她跟她母亲有些相像的话，一小块巧克力就能让她高兴得不得了。
孩子的饮食习惯已成为父母带孩子的新评判标准。尽责的父母说：“我的孩子只喝水”，而不是用果汁弄脏他们的嘴，上帝不允许孩子喝果汁。在一些圈子里，如果你给孩子吃巧克力（或喝碳酸饮料），可能人们看来，就好像你给了他们强效纯可卡因。纽约的学校已禁止食用全脂牛奶，而用更利于健康的低脂牛奶代替。新西兰卫生部发布了一份讨论文件（但愿这是场简短的讨论），内容是将酒精饮料与香烟的最小年龄限制扩展到汉堡、巧克力和糖果等食品上。
当然，食品法西斯们试图力挺他们限定的食品选择，指出这是为了他们的健康才这么做的。英国营养协会(British Nutrition Foundation)称，食物不耐性（身体对某些食物产生不良反应）估计会影响5%至8%的儿童（大部分儿童长大后就克服了这种状况）和不到1%至2%的成人。但多达20%的成人认为，他们对某些食物具有不耐性。
今年1月份，诺威奇联合医疗保健所(Norwich Union Healthcare)实施的一项调查发现，63%的诊所发现报告食物不耐性的病人增多，但有将近四分之三的诊所认为，病人的反应是心理而非生理的。
一些食物法西斯的溃败
但像所有兼容并包的体系一样，人们会很难接受食物法西斯主义。食物法西斯偶尔也会有疏忽。一度不可更改的苛刻规定不得不改写。那些关于麦淇淋（小心你的胆固醇！）的益处超过黄油的说教，被最近有关反式脂肪酸（麦淇淋是主犯）的恐怖警告完全推翻。有关大豆的质疑也在不断提出。
一些食物法西斯正在压力之下败退。我的前素食嫂嫂（现在她既不是素食者，也不是我嫂嫂）过去经常从垃圾箱里挖出包装袋，以确定成分里不包含任何动物产品。10年后的今天，她开始吃火腿三明治了。我的一位法语老师过去是个素食者（她以宗教般的狂热坚持素食），但有一样奇怪的例外：鹅肝。
同许多理念一样，健康饮食似乎遭到最需要的人的漠视，却被最不需要的人秉承到了极端。我并不真的介意食物法西斯，只要他们使说教简短些，别来吃我的晚餐或野餐，也别干涉我女儿的午餐盒。我母亲常说，一切都得适可而止。
