So many good intentions, and yet so many new bakeries

It's a new year, a new opportunity to enroll in that health club that's been sending us promotions every 20 minutes. A new chance to lose weight, eat better.

Or not.

The University of Minnesota and Mayo Clinic are launching an ambitious partnership to raise up to $350 million over the next decade to fight diabetes. At the same time, I've been wondering about the record number of scrumptious bakeries opening or expanding, (although I hesitate to use that word) across the Twin Cities. My trusted colleagues in our Taste section confirmed the hunch. "Unusual," they said.

Get moving? Apparently, we are.

Straight to the Bars Bakery, Butter Bakery, Cake Eater Bakery and Café, Franklin Street Bakery, Patisserie 46, Rustica, Sweet Retreat, Yum, and more, more, more. Sarah Palin, who mocked First Lady Michelle Obama's anti-obesity initiative and demanded that we be able to exercise our "God-given rights to make our own decisions," needn't be worried. Now give me that caramel roll there, that one, the one oozing with butter.

"It does seem like there was a law passed that every week a new bakery had to open," said Wayne Kostroski, whose Franklin Street Bakery just opened an outlet in Edina.

"No pun intended, but it does cut into the pie," he said. "It really does put it on you to be better than the next guy."

Sandi Younkin and her daughter, Kara, opened Bars Bakery in St. Paul in September, excelling in caramel and cinnamon rolls, scones and, of course, decadent bars. "I wanted to create a job I liked," said Younkin, former owner of Swede Hollow Cafe in St. Paul.

Who could blame her? And, really, who could blame us? The economy still stinks, it's zero degrees outside and, judging from the annual holiday letters, everyone else took cooler vacations last year. Call it croissant comfort.

This is not to dismiss a serious health issue. Dr. Marc Manley, chief prevention officer for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota, notes that more than two-thirds of Minnesotans are overweight or obese, leading to dire predictions of rampant diabetes and heart disease. In fact, today's kids are heading toward being the first generation with a life expectancy shorter than their parents'.

But even Manley sees reason to celebrate, including many personal successes from the company's "do" physical activity campaign, a growing number of farmers markets citywide, healthier options in corner markets serving low-income populations, and the phenomenally popular bike-sharing program, Nice Ride.

"I do think many people are actually worried about their weight right now and are trying to do something about it," Manley said. "There's a lot of attention being paid to eating right and moving. I'm optimistic."

He, and others, even see potential good news in the explosion of high-end bakeries which insist on quality ingredients. Maybe more of us are choosing quality over quantity. Maybe the message of moderation is getting through.

Dr. John Bantle, an endocrinologist at the University of Minnesota Medical School, humored me on this point.

"To totally eliminate pleasant foods from the diet doesn't work," Bantle said. Deprivation too often leads to bingeing, he said. For some people, sweet treats must simply be avoided because "they just can't stop themselves." For others, "it's reasonable to have the treat that we wish for occasionally," Bantle said. "A modest portion and not too often is maybe even a good idea."

So, back to those resolutions. Move a lot. Eat well. Repeat. And cheat, but only on occasion.

Unless it's "Happy Hour" at the Franklin Street Bakery in Edina, when school kids get six fresh-out-of-the-oven chocolate chip cookies for $2.