Maya Goodwin is an anthropology major, and Jocelyn Greer is an English major with a journalism track. Together, they are the Princeton students behind the semiserious blog PaulaDeenisms, which chronicles the juiciest quips from the Food Network’s beloved gravy ladler while raising awareness of the obesity issues in America.

TMN: How did the two of you meet and realize your common interest in confronting America’s obesity epidemic?

Jocelyn Greer: We met two years ago, when I was a sophomore and Maya was a freshman at Princeton—which is funny in a way, because the University and the surrounding area isn’t a place that has much trouble with obesity. But we discovered that we were both interested in social issues affecting youths and the obesity epidemic specifically, during talks over meals—because Maya, at the time, was a vegan.

Maya Goodwin: Being a vegan, however, was not the primary factor that contributed to my personal interest in the growing obesity of the nation. Rather, I was interested in the social implications that exist in the inequality of access to healthy eating options. Veganism is a dietary preference that is, in realistic terms, reserved for those who are fortunate enough to afford such an expensive diet. To have a balanced vegan diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and sources of protein that are not derived from animals requires a lot more money than a fast-food diet, which is much more likely to be high in saturated fats. Additionally, socioeconomically poorer neighborhoods across the nation often lack access to healthy food options, even a grocery store with fresh produce as opposed to a convenience store with processed snacks. Of course, there are a lot of overweight rich people—Paula Deen? So I was not only asking myself why is America continuing to get bigger, but why is healthy eating not an attainable option for everyone?

TMN: When we say “obesity epidemic,” what are we talking about, specifically?

JG: The term “obesity epidemic” can mean a lot of things. But when we say the phrase, we mean this. A study that shows that 26.7 percent of the country is obese (also note that that rate is only based on an over-the-phone survey). And the high possibility that the current generation of children might be the first to have a shorter lifespan than their parents. That’s not only abnormal—that’s really scary. We owe it to today’s youth and to future generations to change what we consider to be normal eating habits.

TMN: What prompted you to create PaulaDeenisms?

JG: Well, after talking for a long while about obesity in America, we stumbled upon a video of Paula making a hamburger, topped with an egg and a few pieces of bacon, with two donuts as buns, and we couldn’t believe it was real.


It seemed like an SNL skit, but this was actually a show that people were watching in spite of the rates I mentioned earlier. We started watching more of her videos and we realized that this scene wasn’t out of the ordinary at all on her Food Network show, Paula’s Home Cooking. There’s the time she used mayonnaise to fry a sandwich, or when she wrapped a square of macaroni and cheese in bacon and deep-fried it, or when she used half a pound of butter to make French toast. Take your pick. It was easy to use her enormous comedic appeal to give attention to the obesity problem. As 12-year-olds are being diagnosed with diabetes, she’s teaching their parents how to deep-fry cheesecake.

TMN: Why use Paula Deen as your model?

MG: Because she is such an enormously popular public figure who is famous in part for her culinary expertise. Just like any other TV chef, viewers watch her show to learn to cook and to be inspired in their own cooking. She is a celebrity because Americans see something in her that is appealing, if not enviable. And so her actions are powerful and very influential for viewers. We think that this fact speaks volumes to the food culture of Americans and the obesity epidemic.

TMN: Argument: Butter and mayonnaise and bacon taste good. Counterargument?

MG: Where to start… Pure lard has some flavor too, but there are biological reasons why eating it is harmful. Foods low in saturated fat taste better and make you feel better too.

JG: Believe you me, I like a lot of the ingredients that Paula uses, but people need to be eating those things in moderation. Almost all of the recipes on her show are high in fat. No one could eat like that every day without becoming morbidly obese and developing health problems. Healthy food tastes just as good, and it makes you feel better too.

TMN: Considering the statistics, would you support health warnings comparable to those that appear on packages of cigarettes to precede Food Network shows?

MG: Yes, I definitely would. It may sound extreme, but if people are getting the idea to use mayonnaise as the base for a pasta sauce, donuts for hamburger buns, or eggs in just about every dish for every meal, then people need to be warned that replicating these dishes will clog arteries.

TMN: Where can people currently turn to learn how to eat better?

JG: The media bombards Americans with incentives to be skinny, but where do we learn how to be healthy? There are definitely a few cooking shows that teach viewers how to eat sensibly, such as Bobby Flay’s Grill It or Giada at Home to name just a few. But really, watching these shows is neither the ideal nor the most practical way to learn how to eat better. The easiest way to improve your eating habits is to educate yourself, either by reading up on the nutritional information of the food that you consume or taking a look at a cookbook that specializes in healthy eating.

TMN: Do you have any other like-minded projects in the works? If so, how do they fit in with your larger project?

MG: We’re hoping to start an initiative within the next two semesters to promote education about healthy eating for children in low-income areas like Trenton. That’s still in the works though.