The unnecessary hatemongering

According to the New York Times, the Obamas are planting a garden in the south lawn.

I find this a fabulous idea. Almost everyone, no matter their body composition, could benefit from eating more fresh foods. Gardening is awesome, even if I personally suck at it. I love that the presidential family is encouraging other people to grow their own food. They are going to be raising bees too. I hope they get chickens as well and have fresh eggs. This whole thing makes me so happy that I am tempted to try raising vegetables again, despite my failure to grow anything for the past 5 or so years.

My question — in an article about something that has so many positives, why oh why even mention the dreaded OMG FATZ plus DIABEETUS?

Oh, because the media had all been drinking the fat-hate kool-aid. Made with organically grown sugar, of course.

For example, this passage:

While the organic garden will provide food for the first family’s meals and formal dinners, its most important role, Mrs. Obama said, will be to educate children about healthful, locally grown fruit and vegetables at a time when obesity and diabetes have become a national concern.

It would have been just as effective like this:

While the organic garden will provide food for the first family’s meals and formal dinners, its most important role, Mrs. Obama said, will be to educate children about healthful, locally grown fruit and vegetables at a time when many families eat too much processed and convenience food.

Or this one:

The first lady, who said that she had never had a vegetable garden, recalled that the idea for this one came from her experiences as a working mother trying to feed her daughters, Malia and Sasha, a good diet. Eating out three times a week, ordering a pizza, having a sandwich for dinner all took their toll in added weight on the girls, whose pediatrician told Mrs. Obama that she needed to be thinking about nutrition.

“He raised a flag for us,” she said, and within months the girls had lost weight.

like this instead:

The first lady, who said that she had never had a vegetable garden, recalled that the idea for this one came from her experiences as a working mother trying to feed her daughters, Malia and Sasha, a good diet. Eating out three times a week, ordering a pizza, having a sandwich for dinner all took their toll on the girls, whose pediatrician told Mrs. Obama that she needed to be thinking about nutrition.

“He raised a flag for us,” she said, and within months the girls were feeling healthier.

It’s really not that hard to make articles like this about HEALTH, not WEIGHT. I really want to believe that Michelle Obama cares about improving Americans’ health. I desperately want to believe it. That’s why it breaks my heart to see a story as positive as this one taking something so good and totally missing the point.