Enchantermon on 24/6/2010 at 19:01
What Renz said.
And actually, McDonald's burgers are pretty small compared to the rest. I think Chik-Fil-A is the only place that has a chicken sandwich that small. Not that this makes it any better for you, but it does make you wonder why McDonald's is being targeted and no one else, especially since it would seem that McDonald's portions, even of their "adult" menu options, are smaller than most.
fett on 24/6/2010 at 20:05
It also occurs to me that many of our friends may eat Fast Food, say, 3-4 times per week, maybe for lunch. But when you look at the other food in their house - grocery bought "food" - it's also Fast Food. Microwave boxed stuff, food that comes from bags and cans. There's an odd mentality where they think because they didn't get it at a drive-thru, it's not "fast food." I'd venture that some of the Stouffer's frozen stuff is probably worse though. People don't read labels or don't know how to - they have no idea the difference between corn syrup and sucralose, or what it does to you body/brain function. They don't have any idea how many mg's of sodium is "bad" in a serving - if the package says "low sodium" or "sugar free" they congratulate themselves for buying "healthy" foods. It's the cumulative effect of McDonald's plus what they eat at home/school, and kids particularly aren't educated or old enough to do the math themselves, and they certainly don't have much power over the variety of foods they eat.
I know I sound like some holier-than-thou nutrition guru. I used to be a fast food junkie, but then I had the heart thing, and my youngest son developed a gluten allergy, so I've done a lot of be-grudging research into food labeling, daily intake of certain foods, etc. so it's become a very natural thing for me to read labels and shy away from anything boxed, frozen, or bagged. Even casual research into the food processing industry is enough to make you go, "Well, duh," about the obesity and diabetes epidemic.
june gloom on 24/6/2010 at 22:18
This should go without saying, but a lot also depends on how much you eat and how much exercise you get. The recess thing is a good example- kids get less and less time outside and more and more time listening to bullshit. But it's a problem with adults, too. How many of us just crawl out of bed and into our cars that cart our half-awake carcasses downtown where we park in a cozy garage, stumble five steps to the elevator, and trudge to our desks where we spend most of the next 8-9 hours? Though I admit I'm pretty sedentary, too- 8 months out of the year the most exercise I get is trundling up the gentle incline towards class.
I'd like to say "but I don't have time to exercise" is universally a cop-out- and for many people it is. But for many other people, it's not. Work can take a lot out of you, no matter the type- and far too many people come home at 6:30 PM after driving for an hour and a half in 90 degree weather and parking-lot traffic, and they don't feel like doing anything except climbing onto the couch and forgetting about tomorrow.
The problem with getting fat is because it's the result of the path of least resistance. Junk food is convenient. Staying healthy is not, and a lot of people simply aren't going to be bothered, because they have too much on their plate already to consider adding a few vegetables. If we're going to get un-fat then we're going to have to find some way to make getting un-fat as easy, uncomplicated, and most of all as cheap, as getting fat.
Briareos H on 24/6/2010 at 22:48
Being fat should be illegal. Problem solved!
CCCToad on 24/6/2010 at 23:01
Quote Posted by Enchantermon
What Renz said.
And actually, McDonald's burgers are pretty small compared to the rest. I think Chik-Fil-A is the only place that has a chicken sandwich that small. Not that this makes it any better for you, but it does make you wonder why McDonald's is being targeted and no one else, especially since it would seem that McDonald's portions, even of their "adult" menu options, are smaller than most.
Its an issue of popularity, not size(of the food). Anti-McDonald's activists freely admit that the only reason they single out the clown is because of the chain's size: they feel that if they can affect the industry leader, others will follow suit. Illogical though that belief may be.
june gloom on 25/6/2010 at 01:06
The last greasy domino falls here?
Starrfall on 25/6/2010 at 01:11
Quote Posted by fett
I know I sound like some holier-than-thou nutrition guru. I used to be a fast food junkie, but then I had the heart thing, and my youngest son developed a gluten allergy, so I've done a lot of be-grudging research into food labeling, daily intake of certain foods, etc. so it's become a very natural thing for me to read labels and shy away from anything boxed, frozen, or bagged. Even casual research into the food processing industry is enough to make you go, "Well, duh," about the obesity and diabetes epidemic.
Trying to eat real food instead of bullshit processed garbage doesn't make you sound like a holier-than-thou nutrition guru, it makes you sound like a sensible person.
fett on 25/6/2010 at 04:08
Yeah, but it irritates me when people start going on about wheat grass and homemade granola and shit that is too much hassle to track down, learn to cook, or even to afford. But for fuck's sake, how hard is it to buy an orange from the produce aisle instead in the canned food aisle? Or to go to a local butcher, or even to not feel good about yourself because you bought the "new" Cherry 7-Up ("NOW WITH ANTIOXIDANTS!!!" - I shit you not)?
Like Queue said, it's not hard or horribly expensive to eat healthy. It's a lifestyle thing, and McDonald's is a serious pain in the ass for parents who are trying to change because they are clever, persuasive, and persistent.
catbarf on 25/6/2010 at 04:14
Quote Posted by fett
(a McDonald's in a Children's Heart Hospital? Seriously?)
I don't know if this is what you meant, but there is a McDonald's in the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, and very close to the cardiac ward. I went there. Didn't eat there, but got a morbid chuckle out of it.
McDonald's may be insidious in its targeting of children, but when it comes right down to it, they're not the ones buying the food. It's only if the parents go along with it or can't be bothered to say no that the kids end up buying Happy Meals five times a week and turn into rotund little diabetics.
The bottom line is that it's still the parents' responsibility, and I find it asinine that people want laws to parent their offspring for them.
As for people being busy- a pretty poor excuse, IMO. I have a great many recipes that provide healthy or reasonably-healthy food with a minimum of effort, most involving a crock-pot or marinading all day. Set it up in the morning and your meal is pretty much ready when you get home. I think people choose TV dinners and the like out of convenience rather than time-saving, and if you can't be bothered to feed yourself well it's hardly the evil corporation's fault for giving you the choice.
PigLick on 25/6/2010 at 05:24
I blame salt and fat for tasting so godamn good. Why? Oh lord, couldnt you have made broccoli taste like that instead.
