When the first McDonald’s restaurant opened almost two decades ago in Johannesburg, a teenage boy named Thando Tshabalala was among the thousands who stood in line patiently waiting to try one of those famous burgers.
“We had seen this place in every movie we ever watched, and it seemed to be mentioned in every song, so I had to try it for myself,” he said.Hurrah for global culture, eh?
Tshabalala, now a successful 33-year-old corporate trainer, still enjoys fast food. When we met he was eating a steak sandwich in the food court of a smart shopping mall, sitting among scores of shoppers and families feasting on curries, pizzas, fried fish and the ubiquitous chips.
But that skinny teenager has grown into a 5’5” man weighing almost 17 stone – and today he struggles to find clothes to fit his inflated body and complains that seats are becoming too small for comfort.And this is a problem. Apparently.
According to the usual suspects, who’d rather the South Africans walked 40 miles a day for a handful of mealie porridge that they had to arm-wrestle a baboon for, I suppose…
Fat is no longer just a developed world problem. Forget those tired old clichés beloved by the aid industry. Today more people in poorer countries go to bed each night having consumed too many calories than go to bed hungry – a revelation that underlines the breakneck pace of change on our planet.Yup, we’ve solved the hunger problem, so don’t think we in the charity business are going to give up and find proper jobs, oh, dear me, no…
And let’s not forget that there are other reasons why obesity may be on the rise, and those reasons are cultural, not environmental:
Mchiza also pointed to cultural issues that fuel obesity in Africa, with big men seen as successful and big women seen as beautiful. “The majority of black South African men prefer chubby women,” said the 34-year-old scientist.
“If you are too thin it means your husband is not taking care of you or you are unhappy. And your children must be fat, too – we were force fed growing up, always told to eat up all our food and not waste anything on our plates.’And then we have to throw AIDS into the mix:
Several township women mentioned told me of another depressing reason not to diet. “There is a stigma that if you are a black woman and start losing weight you might be ill, you might have HIV,” said Dudu Masooana, a friendly 38-year-old mother of three from Soweto whom I met as she lunched on fried chicken and pap, a traditional porridge made from ground maize.
“This really matters if you are a woman coming from the ghetto.”AIDS in Africa was known as ‘slim’. So you can see why there may well be a stigma attached to being slim.
But at least the progressives have something else to obsess over, so everyone wins!
8 comments:
Of course, this is all Israel's fault.
Don't they have KCF outlets out there? That is the last time I donate to starving kids in Africa. Charity begins at home after all. Do you realise that there are kids in Dudley who can't afford to buy their own fags. If only Mr Patel was allowed to sell cigarettes in 'singles' just like the good old days. I digress......
"Today more people in poorer countries go to bed each night having consumed too many calories than go to bed hungry"
So aid from western countries is killing Africans. That surely means foreign aid is racist and should be stopped immediately.
I blame Thatcher and Bush.
FT, why not just blame Thatcher's bush? Hoiw long has that idiot Bonio been harping on about stopping famine in Africa? How many millions have the past-their-prime pop singers persuaded us to donate while resurrecting their dying careers, and giving themselves several millions in the meantime? How many African despots have built mansions and increased their Swiss bank accounts on the backs of the odd 50 pence pieces donated by elderly dears in nursing homes? And still the poor are dying of starvation while the fat, rich, black Africans are getting fatter and richer. Surely, someone must realise that we are going about this all wrong. Instead of just donating money, which disappears into a bottomless black hole, ending in some bank in Zurich, why not do what the Chinese do? Instead of donating money, they donate manpower - engineers, plumbers, electricians, farmers, agriculturalists, etc, who build things for the Africans while training them to be self-sufficient. Perhaps, instead of donating that odd 50 pence piece in the name of St Bonio, just send him a shovel and tell him to dig a f*cking hole himself to show how to build a well. We may even then be spared the 'free' download of his latest bunch of shite!
Penseivat
Penseivat. The British army did JUST that in the 80s. I had a mate from the Royal Engineers whos unit was there teaching them how to put the water well equipment together that had been given to them.
A couple of years later they went back because the "famine" had reached the origional levels, and the RAF Regiment along with the RE had to clear the runway of all the rusting water drilling eqipment that had been left untouched to rust away since the army left it there the first time.
And what of Johnny nigger? Sitting, and shitting, under the village tree waiting for those big white things full of food from the great God "UN."
"Of course, this is all Israel's fault."
Of course!
"That is the last time I donate to starving kids in Africa. Charity begins at home after all. Do you realise that there are kids in Dudley who can't afford to buy their own fags. "
:D
"So aid from western countries is killing Africans. That surely means foreign aid is racist and should be stopped immediately."
Cat. Pigeons. Some interfacing required.
"I blame Thatcher and Bush."
No, I'm pretty sure Israel's got this one!
"Perhaps, instead of donating that odd 50 pence piece in the name of St Bonio, just send him a shovel and tell him to dig a f*cking hole himself to show how to build a well."
He's Irish, it's in his genes!
"...had to clear the runway of all the rusting water drilling eqipment that had been left untouched to rust away since the army left it there the first time."
GAH!
FT,
Of course, I didn't forget about that, just commenting on the recent levels of foreign aid. My brother was in Kenya, not in the Ginger Beers though, involved in raining locals in self sufficiency. However, unlike the Chinese who monitor their equipment, the British Army were trusting souls and allowed local engineering businesses to take control of the equipment, whcih was quickly sold to someone else and disappeared. Rather than tell the locals they have sh*t on their own doorstep and move on, the British did the decent thing and brought in more equipment, which was, in turn, nicked and sold on. Politicians never learn, forget history and are therefore sentenced to make the same mistakes over and over, only we are paying for it through our taxes.
Penseivat
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