Jeudi Gras – The Great American Holiday

Happy Turkey Day!

Jeudi Gras means”Fat Thursday” in English.  It would probably be a better name for the holiday than the current one.  Let’s face it: for most of us, the day involves a bit of giving thanks and a much larger amount of pigging out like there’s no tomorrow.  As the NY Times points out, this wouldn’t be great cause for concern except that we have such a large obesity problem to begin with:

All told, more than one in three Americans is obese, a fact that as of five years ago was estimated to cost $147 billion annually in medical costs. Rates are highest for non-Hispanic blacks (49 percent), followed by Mexican Americans (40 percent) and all Hispanics (39 percent).

The Times also has a state by state breakdown–  state obesity rates range from 20% to 35%.

Obesity is primarily an issue because of the health impacts.  But there are also environmental concerns.  Eating more foods increases the environmental footprint of the food system, which includes everything from the farm through the supermarket to the dinner table.  And large people need larger vehicles consuming more gasoline.  And there are probably environmental burdens associated with all of the extra medical care as well.

So have fun today!  But remember that Jeudi Gras’s companion holiday. Mardi Gras, is followed by forty days of Lent.  We may need a similar custom to go along with Fat Thursday.

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Reader Comments

One Reply to “Jeudi Gras – The Great American Holiday”

  1. VOILÀ !
    You’re so right !
    This is also another exemple of how historic references are important to help us understand where we come from, and where we may be heading if we don’t care …
    (also in this particular case, it’s interesting for us – French Canadians – since we share the roots of this reference)

    Profitez bien de votre jeudi gras !
    Benoit St-Jean
    Montréal.

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About Dan

Dan Farber has written and taught on environmental and constitutional law as well as about contracts, jurisprudence and legislation. Currently at Berkeley Law, he has al…

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About Dan

Dan Farber has written and taught on environmental and constitutional law as well as about contracts, jurisprudence and legislation. Currently at Berkeley Law, he has al…

READ more

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