Election day

Today is election day in America. And every other year, this is just about my favorite day, because it’s when the campaign commercials stop running on television. Ah! The endless barrage of mudslinging melts away, replaced by the relative peace and quiet of the endless barrage of pharmaceutical ads.

Up in Wisconsin, I’m sure voters have been putting up with their share of mudslinging, but they’ve also had a little bit of cheese curd slinging as well. According to a report on the Libertarian Party web site, gubernatorial candidate Ed Thompson participated in the annual cheese curd eating contest in Little Chute, Wisconsin, last summer.

And what is cheese curd? I didn’t know either. It’s bits of cheddar cheese that have not been aged yet. And although it’s reputed to be tasty, in a very cheesy sort of way, it’s got to be a bit hard on the system to sit down in front of a mound of the stuff and eat more than anyone else, faster than anyone else. And in this case, remarkably, candidate Thompson beat the reigning three-time champion cheese curd eater to take home the cheese curd eating crown.

And what do you suppose the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tommy G. Thompson, would think about all of this? Would he be aghast at such an unhealthy endeavor in his home state and immediately shut it down? Would he offer a warning about eating a diet with zero roughage that would be far higher in saturated fat than the US RDA? No. He would probably be very proud. Because not only is Secretary Thompson the former Governor of Wisconsin, he’s also Ed’s brother.

Only in America.

To Your Good Health,

Jenny Thompson
Health Sciences Institute