Two years ago, Kareem Bouhafs, 23, of Arlington would have been wary of someone who wanted to warn him about genetically modified organisms, the use of pesticides on foods, or the many additives present in today’s food.

Despite what unites them, addicts are not a glum lot...

I started writing "Fat Boy Thin Man" more than six years ago, and though the timing was mine, not measured to the zeitgeist, even then I thought that it was coming at a good juncture in history. 

I was right then, but boy, the pace is picking up. "Mike and Molly," the sitcom in which the main characters meet at an Overeaters Anonymous meeting, could hardly be a more mainstream example.

Another tenet of my argument (see prev. post) is that insurance-supported rehab must be available to food addicts in the same measure as it is for other addictions. I reached that conclusion via experience: I was in the eating disorders unit of a psychiatric hospital in 1991, and it remains a cornerstone of my recovery, which is in its 20th year.