Is there a Fat Acceptance Movement?

I found this post, and wanted to share. I'm sure there will be both sides to the arguement, and I have my own personal opinions as well, but it is definitely interesting, and makes you think. I definitely think he has numerous valid points, especially how certain industries are geared. Anywho, enjoy and have a great weekend!!!
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Are we being FAM-ished?
Let us pause to consider the Fat Acceptance Movement, or FAM. There doesn’t actually appear to be any all-encompassing association by that exact name, but there certainly are a lot of smaller groups and organizations popping up lately, devoted to the principle that overweight and obese people should be given the respect and acceptance accorded to any other citizens.

With names ranging from "Big is Beautiful" to "Fat!So?", these present themselves as simple grassroots enterprises begun by ordinary folks of extraordinary weight in order to counter what they see as the increasing, unjust, mean-spirited and discriminatory notion that being overweight or obese is not good for the nation’s overall health or economy.

But all all of these suddenly proliferating groups legitimately “grassroots”? The fact is, whenever there is a national debate over any issue or principle, the outcome of which could affect corporate profits of any kind, the field suddenly becomes littered with dozens of “grassroots” groups that turn out to be “astroturf” front groups funded and directed by industries and companies with a financial stake in the matter.

For example, note the numerous “outraged citizen” protest groups springing up in opposition to the Obama administration’s health care reform: it turns out that an awful lot of them are underwritten by Big Pharma or Big Insurance or Big HMO or some other Big Interest Group out of fear that reform might make it smaller. Shouldn’t we be wary of similar special interests possibly creating and using “grassroots” fat-is-fine organizations to essentially argue that obesity is no problem and the more fat people, the better?

It’s not hard to imagine who these special interests might be.

The fast food, snack food and soft drink industries

Are you kidding? he prospect of a health-and-calorie-conscious American public actually makes them physically ill. To experience their grateful generosity, just write and tell them you’re starting a group called Justice for the Jumbo and could use a bit of seed money.

Ronald McDonald might deliver the check personally.

The auto industry


Big people need big wheels, your SUVs and vans, the kind of king-sized vehicles that also deliver king-sized profit margins, as opposed to subcompacts and mini-coupes you can hardly make a buck off of.

The pharmaceutical industry

A leaner and trimmer America would perforce be a healthier America, which means an America requiring less medication. Diabetes drugs alone would take a multi-million dollar hit in sales.

The very idea is enough to get Pfizer and Bristol-Myers writing checks to The Large Liberation League.

The diet and weight loss industries

Surprised? Don’t be. Oh sure, an America dedicated to becoming slim would be a boon to these enterprises over the short term, but in the long run, the fewer fat people, the fewer customers, a notion they find appalling.

The list of possible fat acceptance “angels” goes on and on, from the Sugar Cane Growers’ Association to hundreds of Big & Tall clothing stores. This is all hypothetical, of course, and doesn’t necessarily mean that fat acceptance activists are fronting for special interests and promoting pudginess for profit.

But if the head of, say, Give Fat a Chance has a press agent and personally weighs less than 200 pounds, be very skeptical.

(By Robert S. Wieder for CalorieLab Calorie Counter News)