Panic Nation

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Panic Nation: Unpicking the Myths We're Told About Food and Health, also published as Panic Nation: Exposing the Myths We're Told About Food and Health, is a nonfiction book by Stanley Feldman and Vincent Marks. It was published by John Blake in 2005. [1]

Contents

Overview

This book focuses on debunking many popular misconceptions about food and health that are common in the world today, [2] [3] in line with the introduction to the book that quotes Frederick II of the Holy Roman Empire who wrote in the thirteenth century: 'One ought not to believe anything, save that which can be proven by nature and the force of reason.'

Synopsis

The book comprises a series of essays written by individuals working in related fields. These writers address the state of knowledge in the specific fields and how this conflicts with common knowledge. The contributors are Stanley Feldman, Vincent Marks, Michael Fizpatrick, Maurice Hanssen, John Henry, Mick Hume, Lakshman Karalliedde, Malcolm Kendrick, Peter Lachmann, James Le Fanu, Sandy Macnair, Sam Shuster and Dick Taverne QC.

Reception

Michael Gard, in a paper in the book Biopolitics and the 'obesity epidemic': governing bodies, commented that the "consistent line of the 30 chapters is that pressure groups and bad scientists have managed to grossly exaggerate the health risks of things like salt, sugar, cholesterol, fast food and passive smoking." [4] Writing in the New Statesman , William Sidelsky said, "The basic problem, according to the authors, is that our society is in thrall to the 'precautionary principle'. Ours is a worst-case-scenario mentality whereby any small or medium-sized risk is converted into a portent of near-certain catastrophe." [1] He added, "It is hard not to concede that they have a point. The tone of the book may be trenchant, but the arguments are sensible and even-handed." [1]

See also

Related Research Articles

The precautionary principle is a broad epistemological, philosophical and legal approach to innovations with potential for causing harm when extensive scientific knowledge on the matter is lacking. It emphasizes caution, pausing and review before leaping into new innovations that may prove disastrous. Critics argue that it is vague, self-cancelling, unscientific and an obstacle to progress.

Junk food Unhealthy food high in sugar or fat calories

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Fast food Food prepared and served in a small amount of time

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Dick Taverne English barrister; politician and life peer in the House of Lords (born 1928)

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Paul F. Campos is a law professor, author and blogger on the faculty of the University of Colorado Boulder in Boulder. Campos received his A.B. (1982) and M.A. in English (1983) from the University of Michigan and in 1989 his J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School. Campos worked at the law firm Latham & Watkins in Chicago from 1989-1990 and became an associate professor at the University of Colorado in 1990, where he teaches classes on property, punishment theory, jurisprudence and legal interpretation.

Michael F. Jacobson

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Skidelsky, William (18 July 2005). "Don't believe what you read". New Statesman . Retrieved 8 May 2020.
  2. O'Neill, Brendan (3 October 2005). "Is junk food a myth?". BBC News . London: BBC . Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  3. Staff (8 October 2005). "Waging a war of nutrition" . Toronto Star, archived at LexisNexis . Retrieved 7 April 2011.
  4. Gard, Michael (2009). "Friends, Enemies and the Cultural Politics of Obesity Research". In Wright, Jan; Harwood, Valerie (eds.). Biopolitics and the 'obesity epidemic': governing bodies. Abingdon: Routledge. pp. 40–42. ISBN   978-0-415-99188-9.

Further reading