Back to Butter?

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Butter is definitely in the news these days. Time Magazine featured a cover article entitled “Eat Butter. Scientists labeled fat the enemy. Why they were wrong” (June 13, 2014). The Washington Post carried an article entitled “ Butter is the big fat winner” (June 18, 2014). The article noted that butter consumption is at its highest level in thirty years, at just over five pounds per person per year. Both articles admit that all the science condemning butter was wrong. An article in The Wall Street Journal, “America Renews Its Love Affair with Butter,” credits celebrity chefs and cooking shows for butter’s increasing popularity (June 26, 2014). The article revealed that in 2013, Americans spent more than two billion dollars on butter compared with 1.8 billion dollars on spreads and margarines. But will butter really come roaring back? Probably not, as the industry has already inflicted too much damage. We’ve got a long way to go to the very healthy consumption of almost nineteen pounds per person in 1910—and very few will read or understand these articles or get over their fear of butter. There’s no butter or whole milk in school lunches, mandated by ironclad regulations, difficult if not impossible to change. The industrial oil industry, quick to pick up on trends, will find new ways to demonize nature’s perfect fat. Said Mike Faherty, a vice president of marketing at Unilever North America, “Consumers believe that butter is a simpler product that feels more natural, without understanding that it’s an indulgence made from animal fats.” Look for more subtle messages to make Americans feel guilty for “indulging” in butter.

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