Cafe Sci Orlando announcements for 2012-05: "Why Are We Fat?"

[Chad MILLER]

Contents:
* Topic, "Why Are We Fat?"


Topic, "Why Are We Fat? The Visibility of Food and the Invisibility of Calories"

Hi. This month we will have a fascinating discussion at our Cafe Sci at
7PM on Wednesday 2 May, at Taste, in College Park.

More than any other time in our evolutionary history, much of the
world's population is living in environments of food abundance in which
it is impossible to perceive or impute the caloric density of the foods
we eat. Visual food cues are everywhere in obesogenic environments and
these catalyze reflexive cognitive, physiological and behavioral
responses leading to a desire to eat and food intake. Over the last 2
decades, there has been an increasing norm for larger portion sizes
which are not detected by visceral feedback and size alone is a poor
measure of the caloric density of foods. Many modernizing trends
distance people from food production, preservation, packaging and
preparation so that traditional cues involving these activities by
which energy density, or some proxy, might be inferred are no longer
experienced. Furthermore, food technology and marketing have led to a
wide range of deceptions regarding the caloric density of food by
reducing fiber and water content and adding excessive amounts of fat
and sugar. We cannot trust either vision or taste to detect caloric
content. For example, diet beverages use non-caloric sweeteners and
fat-free pastries may have nearly the same mouth-feel and caloric
content as the standard preparation. Increasing the visibility of
calories is one approach to potentially decreasing food intake and
curbing the obesity pandemic. One suggestion is to use the universal
traffic color code with red for high, yellow for medium and green for
low caloric densities. Examples of this approach in the UK and
Australia will be discussed and a new symbol "Cal" will be introduced.

Leslie Sue Lieberman, Ph.D., is a biomedical anthropologist and the
founding Director of the Women's Research Center, Emerita Professor of
Anthropology (June 2011) and Courtesy Professor of Medical Education at
the University of Central Florida. She currently holds a position as a
European Union Visiting Scholar. She is a founding member of the
Orlando Cafe Scientifique. Most of her research is centered on obesity
and diabetes among US minority populations. She is the former President
of the Society for the Anthropology of Food and Nutrition and the
Biological Anthropology Section of the American Anthropological
Association, both the UCF and UF Chapters of Sigma Xi, the Florida
Academy of Sciences and of the National Association of Academies of
Science/AAAS. Her research and scientific activities have been
supported by NIH, NSF, HRSA, NIMH and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer
Foundation, Diabetes Research and Education Foundation, Wenner-Gren
Foundation for Anthropological Research, the Florida Humanities
Council, and private industry. She has co-authored or edited 11 books
and published over 75 journal articles and book chapters and more than
200 other works: reports, reviews, and editorials.

Directions

Taste
717 W. Smith Street
Orlando, United States
32804

Taste is near the corner of Princeton Street (really Smith Street after
the fork) and Edgewater Drive, so about 2 minutes from I-4 to parking.
One can park on the street or in the parking lot behind Taste.
* From Downtown and south, drive north ("east") on I-4 through
downtown. At the exit for Princeton Street, exit and turn
left/west.
* From Altamonte Springs and north, drive south ("west") on I-4
toward downtown Orlando. At the exit for Princeton Street, exit and
turn right/west.

From I-4, drive a few blocks to Edgewater Drive. At the intersection,
you should see a orange building ahead of you, labeled "Taste". Park on
the street or behind Taste.