"Our 2007 Richie Model Gets Terrific Mileage"

In today's blog mash-up, we have the Slog's Erica Barnett lighting a fiery feminist match under Details and their story on the Hollywood's new fascination with the "fat" woman -- e.g., Monica Bellucci, Rose McGowan. Then we stir in Sightline's Daily Score post analysis of whether or not walking uses more fossil fuel than driving. Both of these posts are awesome in their own way, but together they begin an unexpected conversation. You know, like the art at EMP's DoubleTake. (Oh, you haven't gone? Us neither.)

These posts reminded us how, in The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan states that the U.S. has become neurotic about food. Here we've got pudding-coated proof: a mainstream magazine (even tongue-in-cheek) has put Evangeline Lilly in the chubby aisle. 'Nuff said. But is there good reason to be neurotic? We think with the addition of The Daily Score post, "All Signs Point To Yes." Here's the money graf:

...the US food system consumed about 10.25 quadrillion BTUs in fossil fuels in 2002 -- the energy equivalent of about 3/4 of a gallon of gas for every American, each and every day. (Very little of that energy is actually gasoline, by the way.) Based on this, the food system burns about 6-7 times as many calories of fossil fuel per day as we consume in food.... In other words, we don't just eat food; we also eat oil, coal, and natural gas.

That makes it possible for Sightline's Clark (our favorite Sightline wonkifier, hands down) to break out the sliderule and determine that an average person gets about 75mpg walking (and yes, he accounted for the energy you burn while doing nothing or reading blogs). He's quick to point out that there's more benefit to walking than just your mileage -- and your mileage may vary, depending upon how fossil-fuel dependent your meals are (grain-fed meats lower your fuel economy).

But there it is. The way we grow our food is so freakish, we're so used to thinking of food as "fuel," we can work out our miles per gallon without thinking twice. Meanwhile, thanks to pitchfork-waving property rights propeller heads, even more farmland is getting paved. Just great. Now if you'll excuse us, we need to spend a little more time with the Monica Bellucci gallery to lift our spirits.