"mississippi" news and stories

Today I'm featuring a book that isn't even out yet, so I don't actually have my hands on it and can't tell you about my personal experience with it. But I am really excited for it to arrive, mostly because I LOVED the show that it is accompanying. Have you figured it out yet (as if the title of this post and the picture to the right didn't already tip you off). I'm talking about Alton Brown's Feasting on Asphalt: The River Run.

What excites me so much is that this book will contain not just the recipes from the trip, but also lots of images of the towns they stopped in, the food they ate, the people they met and the mighty Mississippi that they road along for the entire trip. I love cookbooks that tell stories and I'm even more thrilled if those stories are accompanied by lots of vivid images and so I know that I'm going to love this book.

I don't normally ask questions in the Cookbook of the Day post, but I'm curious. Is there, or has there ever been, a cookbook that you've found yourself really looking forward to?

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That's right. If you live in the great state of Mississippi and you have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more, you may be denied service at restaurants soon.

There is a bill working its way through the Mississippi House of Representatives now that would require restaurants to refuse to serve patrons who are obese. The bill would require eateries to keep track of customers BMI's and have scales at the doors. The states Department of Health would be responsible for enforcing compliance, and would revoke business permits for those dining establishments that violated the legislation.

This bill was introduced by Representative W.T. Mayhall, JR. Though he doesn't think his legislation will actually pass, he is very serious about it. He is concerned about the "serious problem of obesity and what it is costing the Medicare system." You can read the full text of the bill at this link.

I'm all for the government trying to protect its citizens and curbing its spending but I'm not sure this is the way to go about it. I think that prevention programs would be much more useful. I also believe that it's not the role of government to lead in the persecution of some of its citizens. Sorry Mr. Mayhall, that's not a good way to get reelected.

[Via coldmud]

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I never knew that fifteen states still charge tax on groceries. No wonder the piggy banks of Americans are getting so skinny. Here in NY there has been no tax on most groceries as far back as I can remember. Well it looks like that is finally starting to change. Tennessee, Mississippi and a few other states want to drop the grocery sales tax after three other states did so last year.

Some states say they can't drop the tax at this time but are looking at other options. Wyoming recently put a temporary 2-year hold on its grocery tax in 2006 after the state experienced a $1 billion budget surplus. Their lawmakers are now considering making this permanent.

Idaho Governor Otter said that his state cannot afford to do away with the 5 percent food sales tax, (which brings the state $180 million in revenue each year) but he plans to introduce a program to allow low-income families to deduct $90 from their state income taxes as compensation. that's not a fortune, but it still helps. Working on the situation are Utah and South Carolina which lowered their food sales taxes to one point less than the state taxes on other items.

Now it's time for the rest of the states to jump on board and start dropping the grocery sales tax. That way Americans can try to make their poor, skinny, piggy banks plump up a bit.

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CalorieLab has just released a list of the fattest states in the country for 2006. Their research reveals that Mississippi is the fattest state, where approximately 29.5% of the population is obese based on a three year statistical average. If the statistics are extended to include the overweight population, as well as those who are obese, the results show that over 2/3 (67.3%) of the state's residents are either overweight or obese; Mississippi is the only state to have that dubious honor. Following close behind in the obesity count are Alabama, West Virginia, Louisiana and Kentucky. Colorado is the leanest state, followed in no particular order by Hawaii, Montana and a handful of the New England states.

The data was gathered from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System database from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, which reveals some very interesting information about some of the factors that contribute to obesity, such as diet, nutrition and physical activity levels. For example, only 16% of adults in Mississippi eat the recommended 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day, compared to 29% in California and 30% in Vermont.

Fruit and vegetable intake is not going to turn the tide against obesity, especially considering that every state except one (Nevada) saw an increase in the percentage of the obese population over the last year. Diet does, however, play a large role in health and gradual changes in daily eating habits, as well as physical activity patterns, could change some of these numbers over time.

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