Food for thought – Bumpkin branding via their ABC

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Cartoon by Ryan Fletcher
Cartoon by Ryan Fletcher

While sieving through the conservative hate-fest of their ABC this afternoon, I came across a low-key story that was of particular distaste to me.

Dr Cate Lombard, a Melbourne based researcher, was brought on to level a charge against regional and rural women being a pack of bumpkins (lacking “exercise” and “education” that city dwellers are allegedly more accustomed to).

Apparently Dr Lombard’s findings on “weight creep” determine that the “country diet” is unhealthy compared to that found in the city. Apparently not only is country food less healthy than city food (which I doubt given first-hand exposure to both) but country folk apparently lack the cranial capacity to comprehend what to do with healthy food if we had access to it.

Dr Lombard also attributed it to the bumpkin population not having “ready access to gyms” (apparently going jogging around the local footy oval is a foreign concept to the city-centred variety).

Dr Lombard’s analysis of regional and rural Australians reeks of the condescending leftist attitude, held by inner city trendies, that characterise those of us living beyond the capitals as inferior life-forms.

Frankly I expect nothing less from the national broadcaster.

Food for thought.