Hamdog Eat Dog

What's a hamdog? Why, it's a hotdog wrapped in a beef patty, then deep fried, covered with chili, cheese and onions, and served on a hoagie bun. With a fried egg on top. And french fries.

The hamdog is a specialty at Mulligan's Bar of Decatur Georgia, a fine establishment also specializing in the famous Luther Burger. This is a bacon cheeseburger served on, I shit you not, a Krispy Kreme donut.

Sounds good, right? Heck yes! But those busybodies at the Centers for Disease Control, who never let you have any fun, seem to think that eating Southern specialties like the hamdog and the Luther Burger might be responsible for the region's epic obesity levels.

CDC nutritionist Annie Carr said the agency is working to get its house in order by pushing the cafeteria to serve popular foods in healthy ways. The broader goals of the anti-obesity campaign are to educate people to cook with less fat and sugar and to promote the idea of eating five servings of fruits and vegetables a day.

And for the South, that doesn't mean vegetables and greens flavored with bacon and meat drippings.

Has CDC nutritionist Annie Carr actually ever tried to eat vegetables without bacon drippings on them? Gross! They don't taste like meat at all! I mean, maybe if you slather them with cheese and butter, you could choke them down, but of course, the CDC doesn't want you to do that either!

Okay, that's enough sarcasm for right now. But check out this odd little nugget late in the article.

Much of the South's traditional foods date back to the days of slavery. Frying was preferable in the region's hot climate, since it didn't take as long as baking and didn't heat up a house as much. Plus, Burley said, workers didn't have all day to prepare meals; they had to get back into the fields to work. Lard was also plentiful. Today, frying still is popular, especially in poor areas of the South, because it is also inexpensive.

What does any of that have to do with slavery? Why even include the reference? Did slaves invent the process of frying? I'm not even saying they didn't...I honestly don't know. Maybe they did. But if so, that's the sort of detail to add in this article. Not to say, "many slaves ate poorly," and then move on with no greater context. This is exactly the sort of shoddy reporting that editors should avoid by hiring me.