Chew on This: A fish industry collapses as American obesity rises

Unless we've had our head in the sand of our summer beach, the impact of the soaring cost of corn on the price of beef, pork and chicken won't have passed us by. But with corn and soybeans three times the price of two years ago, catfish farmers have begun draining their ponds, unable to keep up with the expense of feeding their stocks. This as Americans confess they're more obese than last year - and should be eating more healthily.

According to The New York Times, John Dillard - 1960s pioneer of commercial catfish farming whose Leland, Miss., company of 55 employees last year raised 11 million fish - this year is draining its ponds. At the company that slices up his catfish, 100 employees lost their jobs last month, a further 200 will be cut soon and by the end of the year, it anticipates it will have slashed its staff by 50 percent. Agriculture Department figures claim that in 2005, catfish raising employed over 10,000 people at its peak, in a $462 million industry.

It and they are now being jettisoned at a time when the number of Americans admitting they are obese rose by almost 2 percent between 2005 and 2007 - to 25.6 percent of all adults aged 18 and older.

The director of the Center for Disease Control's Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity, Dr William Dietz, said, “The epidemic of adult obesity continues to rise in the United States indicating that we need to step up our efforts at the national, state and local levels. We need to encourage people to eat more fruits and vegetables, engage in more physical activity and reduce the consumption of high calorie foods and sugar sweetened beverages in order to maintain a healthy weight.”

If all this depresses you, sniff some freshly brewed coffee. Researchers at Seoul National University in South Korea have discovered that just that seductive wake-up smell helps relieve stress. More rats acting on our behalf were deprived of sleep. They then had the smell of fresh roasted coffee beans wafted at them. Apparently it caused higher activity in a number of their genes, including some that produce proteins with antioxidant activities. Let's hope someone doesn't discover coffee is a new bio fuel.