Popeyes hired a new CEO and re-branded its image:  south Louisiana’s favorite fried-chicken purveyor is now Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, focusing on “Louisiana fast” food.  The chicken chain rolled out new products, including the Big Easy Bowl, a layer of red beans & rice topped by marinated chicken, shredded cheese, and parsley, with optional packets of Louisiana brand hot sauce and sour cream. That’s 570 calories of fast-food goodness, for those of you keeping score.  Still, it’s a “lighter” choice than the Deluxe chicken sandwich with mayo, weighing in at 630 calories.  Add a side of fries (310 calories) and coleslaw (260 calories) for a whopping 1200 calories and 47 grams of fat.  Maybe the UN Food & Agriculture organization should start sending Popeyes care packages to famine-afflicted parts of the world.

Which reminds me of Michael Pollan’s excellent piece in the New York Times:  he connects U.S. oil dependency to industrial agriculture and factory food production, and national obesity & diabetes rates to the artificially low prices of food.  According to Pollan, industrial agriculture (soybeans & corn, primarily) in the U.S. consumes 10 calories’ worth of oil to produce just ONE calorie of food.  Think about THAT next time you order off of the dollar menu.