Capítulo II: Consecuencia jurídicas

Through the use of humour, Diners, Eat Here and MVF openly reject health concerns. The overall message goes against dietary guidelines that public health officials have recommended as a way to maintain a healthy diet. To stay a healthy weight through a balanced diet, the Food Guide suggests that fruits and vegetables compose the majority of one’s daily food intake (Health Canada 2011a, 11). The USDA MyPlate guidelines also suggest to visually divide the dinner plate to keep within suggested serving sizes for the different food groups. The ratio of the plate should be half vegetables, a quarter grain products and a quarter meat or meat alternatives (Choose MyPlate). According to these

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One slice from the 14-inch, 3 Meat Treat pizza from Little Caesars has 280 calories and 12.9 grams of fat (Little Caesars).

recommendations, it is evident that vegetables should have precedence in a healthy diet. However, on the shows, vegetables are often degraded and meat— despite evidence of being unhealthy in large quantities— is glorified. For instance, while visiting The

Tomahawk in Vancouver, the host of You Gotta Eat Here! visits the kitchen to show how its Skookum Chief burger is made. The burger consists of a beef patty, lettuce, tomato, pickles, cheese, bacon, a hot dog and a fried egg. There are three different kinds of meat products in this one dish, far surpassing the recommended serving amount for meat and alternatives. Presumably, patrons will eat this as one meal in one sitting, even though the recommendation for meat for females aged 14 and older is two servings, while for men of the same age it is three. What’s more, when the host interviews a teenage boy eating the Skookum burger, the boy says, “I watch lots and lots of documentaries at school about not eating meat and stuff, but it just doesn’t matter. It’s amazing, I love it” (Eat Here 101). The host laughs at the boy’s comment, and after tasting it himself, concludes “that’s a great burger!” (Eat Here 104). This is just one instance where taste trumps health. The rejection of the dietary recommendations for fruits and vegetables is also seen when Catuccia is making chili at the Red Top Diner in Winnipeg:

John: How much meat is this? Chef: This is 20 lbs of hamburger.

John: That’s a lot of beef (as he’s pouring it into the pot), so when do we add the tomatoes?

Chef: Tomatoes? What tomatoes? I told you, I hate vegetables. (Eat Here 119)

Interestingly, the “Put it Into Practice” section of Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide- A Resource for Educators and Communicators, suggests cutting the amount of meat in chili in half and to substitute it with beans or other legumes (Health Canada 2011a , 4). While this recommendation is attempting to cut down the amounts of meat consumed, the exchange between Catucci and the chef at the Red Top Diner goes completely against what is recommended for a healthful diet.

While the majority of foods presented in these shows are meat dishes such as hamburgers, ribs, hot dogs and deli-meat sandwiches, there was one episode where the Pork Loin Kamatsu Salad was showcased. At the Traffic Jam and Snug restaurant in

Detroit, Michigan, Guy Fieri samples a salad made with lettuce, arugula, onions,

watermelon and berries. However, what makes the salad stand out, according to Fieri, is that it is served on top of three large pieces of fried pork tenderloin and garnished with a hot sauce jellybean (Diners 1301). Fieri even refers to the fried pork as being a ‘guilty pleasure’ mixed with a healthier component (the salad) to make something creative. A salad seems unable to stand on its own, but has to have another element to make it more desirable, in this case, the meat. Moreover, rather than a leafy green salad, french fries and potato salad are most often the featured side dishes; while potatoes are a vegetable, being fried or tossed in mayonnaise diminishes its health benefits. Additionally, the ratio of meat, grains and vegetables on one plate is often skewed in favour of the meat, which covers half the plate, and the vegetables, if any, covering a quarter. There were also a number of restaurants that served fried chicken and waffles, with no vegetables at all.

The shows not only reject nutritional advice, they mock serious health issues like heart disease, which is the number one cause of death in North America (Hoyert 2012, 4). It has been determined that “being overweight or obese are major risk factors for heart disease and stroke” (Heart and Stroke Foundation 2011). Losing weight or maintaining a healthy body weight can help reduce the chances of developing heart disease and stroke, and can help manage other associated conditions like high blood pressure and high cholesterol (Heart and Stroke Foundation 2011). The shows minimize the seriousness of having a heart attack by poking fun at it. For example, a young man being interviewed while eating at Dangerous Dan’s in Toronto, refers to their ‘Coronary Burger’ as “heart- attack-alicious” (Eat Here 121). Other items on the restaurant’s menu include the Quadruple C, the “Colossal Colon Clogger Combo.” Similarly, while at the Harbour Diner in Hamilton, a younger man describes the lobster and crab macaroni and cheese as “really buttery, really heart-attacky all in one,” to which John Catucci laughs and replies “Really? Give me two” (Eat Here 103). The references to heart attacks continue as a woman describes a 9-pound hamburger, from Blondie’s in Winnipeg, that is made with 45 pieces of bacon and 30 pieces of cheese, as: “like a heart attack on a plate, but who could say no?” (Eat Here 116). At Blondie’s, John Catucci makes similar comments when faced with these giant burgers, such as “that’s ridiculous, my heart hurts” (Eat Here 116). Finally, when Guy Fieri visits the Red Wagon Café in Vancouver, and is told that

they are going to deep-fry bacon, his response is, “Do you know no boundaries? What are we going to serve this with, heart paddles? (Diners 13.4).

The three shows acknowledge that eating the food from these restaurants can cause weight gain, but treat it like a joke rather than a potential health issue. The shows, in a sense, celebrate being overweight, treating it as an embodied outcome of having good taste in food. Rather than take the opportunity to address the negative effects of overeating, or discuss eating these foods in moderation, the hosts and patrons disregard this problem. For instance, while visiting Pagliacci’s in Victoria, British Columbia, John Catucci is talking to a middle-aged man who is eating a dish called the Hemingway Short Story, which consists of tortellini stuffed with beef and three kinds of cheese and served in a cream sauce with bacon. Catucci asks if this restaurant has the best pasta in town. The man replies, “well I’m not an Italian obviously but…” and Catucci interrupts “…but if you eat enough pasta you could be.” The gentleman responds, “it does change you, but more down here” and points at his stomach, and the two men laugh (Eat Here 107). The same acknowledgement about the unhealthy aspect of the food is seen when Adam Richman visits Kuby’s Sausage House in Dallas. As Richman talks to a patron about which sausage he should try, the man points to Richman’s plate and says “I like the smoked brat right in the middle” to which Richman replies “smoked brat right in the middle? That’s exactly where it’s going to go” (MVF 4.13) and points to his own stomach; the two men then high five. Finally, while visiting Nye’s Polonaise Room in Minneapolis, a woman expresses that “the pierogies here will change your life, it’s amazing” and Fieri says, “it has changed my waistband too” (Diners 1312) and they laugh.

The hosts, who reflect a kind of “everyman” persona, often comment about their own weight. John Catucci is the thinnest of the three hosts, but often jokes that he doesn’t ever exercise. He is often shown struggling to stir or knead for any extended period of time, demonstrating that he is perhaps not in the best of shape. However, in an interview with the National Post, Catucci admits to travelling with a jump rope in order to avoid gaining weight while filming the show and explains, “I did gain a little weight while filming. Not much, but a little. I learned that I had to stop feeling sorry for myself [after

those big meals] and get up off the hotel bed” (Tucker 2012). There is only one instance in the first season of You Gotta Eat Here! where Catucci actually mentions that

exercising after eating a big meal might be a good idea. After sampling the Philly cheese steak sandwiches and meatball subs at Philadelphia Kitchen in Orangeville, Ontario, Catucci asks the owner’s son if he thinks he should do some exercises since he had been eating and cooking all day. The son confirms that Catucci should do some exercises since the sandwiches are quite big. The next scene cuts to outside the restaurant where Catucci is doing jumping jacks (Eat Here 108). Although this exchange is meant to be comical, it is the only moment where exercise is brought up as something beneficial and that should be done in conjunction with eating large amounts of food. Otherwise, any concern for offsetting the indulgent eating through exercise is absent.

The two other hosts are overweight and often make comments about their fatness, often attributing their excess weight to their eating habits. While visiting the Boulevard Diner in Dunfolk, Maryland, Guy Fieri asks the chef if they modeled their giant deli meat sandwich after his fat head. Fieri even goes so far as to put his signature sunglasses on the sandwich and hold it up to his face in comparison (Diners 1308). As well, at the Counter Café in Austin, Texas, when Fieri is offered more gravy on his biscuit, he answers: “Do I want some gravy? This is body by gravy” (Diners 1405). Finally, as the chef at Union Woodshop in Clackston, Michigan explains that “everything is scratch made and a turn back to some of the forgotten techniques, charcuterie, sausage making, curing,” Fieri responds, “all my middle names by the way. That’s how I got this petite dancer’s figure” (Diners 1303). On Man vs. Food Nation, host Adam Richman makes similar comments about being overweight. While making waffles at Amy Ruth’s in New York the chef explains that adding malt to the batter adds air and fluffiness to the waffles. Richman comments to the camera, “I must be malted too, I’m kind of fluffy” (MVF 415). While sampling the signature whiskey steak at the Drover in Omaha, Nebraska, Richman asks a gentleman what makes him “come to the Drover for your steak fix.” The man explains, “I’ve been coming to the Drover for 32 years. One simple thing; I’ve never had a bad steak, and trust me,” as he puts his hands on his belly “I’ve had a lot of steak.” Richman simply laughs at his statement and responds, “I resemble that remark” (Diners 421).

When Adam Richman announced his retirement from competitive eating in 2012, it was not clear if this was due to health concerns or problems (Tepper, 2013).

Interestingly, since leaving Man vs. Food Nation Richman has taken a new outlook on his diet and has lost a considerable amount of weight (see Figure 6). Richman explains that when he saw footage of his new television show and saw his oversized belly, that “It was unflattering. It sent me into a depression,” and realized something had to change (Hamm 2013). Working with a nutritionist, he started a calorie-restricted diet and cut out white flour and starchy food and in ten months, lost 70 pounds (Richman 2013). Since losing the weight, Richman has expressed that along with feeling more confident in the dating world, his mild sleep apnea has also disappeared (Hamm 2013). Onscreen, the hosts reject health concerns and promote indulgent lifestyles that can contribute to weight gain. However, off-screen, it would seem that they at least try to incorporate healthier habits. It would perhaps be more beneficial to all to include more of a balance, and be more

Figure 6: Host Adam Richman on December 14, 2011 (left), and after his weight loss (right) on August 15, 2013.