Reflection on "Can't Stomach it"

The essay by the name of "Can't Stomach it" by Julie Guthman starts off by talking about obesity, the focus of the essay. We learn that obesity causes many problems such as worker productivity and many things are done in order to help these problems like snack taxes, stronger food labeling laws and even state-mandated student weighings at public schools.  Guthman then describes how the "tendency to dignify obsessions that equate thinness and beauty, is hugely profitable". Obesity is seen as an infectious disease. By referencing herself to popular books supporting the cause of anti-obesity such as "The Omnivore's dilemma" by Pollan and "Harvest for Hope" by Goodall, she comes to the conclusion that these author "extol the virtues of organic and local while arguing for a commonsense, ecumenical approach to diet choices".  The main message of her essay is to attack arguments by these authors.  She replies to Pollan's claim that "people eat corn because it's there" by saying that it makes people seen as they are dupes. Even the movie SuperSize me hints that people are ashame of their bodies and eating habits by not showing their heads in the documentary.


I think this essay had some fairly good points but the writer exagerrated on various occasions.  I found it interesting since I've been mostly reading Omnivore's Dilemma, I've only seen one side. The writer mentions that Pollan fails to urge his readers to write to their congressional representative or comment to the FDA about food additives for example, but instead brags about the meal that he hunt and cooked himself. She says that Pollan puts thin people as the people who clearly have seen the light that everyone else is blinded to.  Thin people are seen as superior.  I agree that Pollan does not really puts solutions on the table but I don't think we should think that writers like him classify "thin people as superior".  A lot of people in our society just don't have the wealth to buy "real food" and our economic system sadly supports processed food since they are so cheap.


Questions:

Is trying to portray fat people as people ashamed of their bodies and eating habits in the media, going a bit too far in order to fix our obesity problem?

How economically dependent are we on the "obesity market"? How would fixing obesity affect the economy?