Muzman on 25/6/2010 at 05:40
Quote Posted by fett
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)?
You're dead right of course, but there's this thing I keep hearing about life over there and it's formed an impression that America has basically lost control of its own food supply. It's just an impression, obviously (and I've probably been on about this before), but some reports make it seem like, in certain parts of the country at least, fresh simple food is actually really difficult or really expensive to get because everything has been snapped up by food manufacturers of one sort or another. So tinned/frozen/Mickey Ds is the cheapest option.
I don't know if its true, some friends reported this about visiting Phoenix for instance, but it's kinda hard to imagine there's not some fresh/cheap option somewhere around town. Even so, some recent reportage said the same thing was happening here; the supermarket chains and food manufacturers were buying up everything in certain parts of the country and even paying through the nose to do it so the public and competition wouldn't get it. Which is frankly horrifying. Although seems more likely to be able to happen here than there.
Anyway, I like Ben Goldacre's thing about anti oxidents and food fads in general. Anti oxidents combat free radicals which are cell damaging and some say key to aging etc. But in bacterial infections white blood cells use these properties of free radicals to exterminate the invaders. Give it a few years and you'll see more food with "Now with extra disease fighting free radicals!"
Nicker on 25/6/2010 at 06:17
Quote Posted by fett
IMO McDonald's is more malicious than many other fast food distributors because they have led the charge in obscuring the content of their food, marketing to children, and opening chain stores in the most damning places imaginable (a McDonald's in a Children's Heart Hospital? Seriously?).
:grr: :grr: Double Grrrr! One of the most cynical and cyclical "charities" I can think of is Ronald McDonald House, a place where kids and families can find refuge and a Happy Meal while the child is undergoing treatment for a disease as likely as not caused by or exacerbated by junk food.
To equate McD's marketing with simply making a product more attractive is a misapprehension of several orders of magnitude. McD's campaign is the most sophisticated, relentless, costly (add more hyperbole here) and elaborate ever devised and executed in all of human history. It is it's own industry and no one comes close to the breadth and depth to which McCulture has infected not only the west but the entire globe. It sets a standard which has yet to be approached.
If only they would use their power for good...
Namdrol on 25/6/2010 at 07:34
Quote Posted by fett
... the "new" Cherry 7-Up ("NOW WITH ANTIOXIDANTS!!!" - I shit you not)?
It's the Diet Coke Plus that gets me -
Comes in 2 varieties, one with green tea and vit C and one with vits B3, B12, and vitamin C.
kabatta on 25/6/2010 at 10:38
Quote Posted by Namdrol
It's the Diet Coke Plus that gets me -
Comes in 2 varieties, one with green tea and vit C and one with vits B3, B12, and vitamin C.
Good god, that is awkward.:wot:
ilweran on 25/6/2010 at 11:52
Quote Posted by dethtoll
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.
And there are those of us who use public transport and live somewhere with bugger all facilities. I do try and get out for walks on the weekend, but my other half is in retail, works most Saturdays and is on his feet 5 days a week. He often really doesn't feel like going for a walk up a mountain on a Sunday and I don't like going on my own as I have a dodgy knee.
I do try and eat healthily - have a freezer full of frozen veg as it keeps better, which is useful as there's just the two of us, don't know what we'll do if we have children as we can't afford not to have both of us working full time and I think that's when the time issue really kicks in. And I don't mean 'can't afford' as in 'we wouldn't be able to go on holiday or buy a new car' which is what lots of people seem to think is the reason for both parents working, I mean we wouldn't be able to afford to pay routine bills, like the mortgage or utilities.
Koki on 25/6/2010 at 12:42
Haha, oh wow. While dethtoll's "my day has less hours than your day" argument could have some merits - if you stood back and squinted - complaining about "lack of facilities" is just nonsense.
Queue on 25/6/2010 at 15:04
Quote Posted by fett
Like Queue said, it's not hard or horribly expensive to eat healthy.
I feed a family of four on about a $100 (groceries and hard goods) a week, and that's including buying high quality olive oil (first cold presses, unfiltered) and non-homogenized milk--one could easliy get away with much less than that if they want to, but I have expensive tastes. It's about buying ingredients, nothing pre-made.
Right now, I'm enjoying a breakfast of sliced potatoes cooked in olive oil with onion, garlic, and a few cubes of summer sausage; homemade bread lightly fried in olive oil; egg; and slices of lemon.
Last night, we had Fajitas: flank steak, red bell pepper, green bell pepper, orange bell pepper, and onion all on with homemade tortillas (flour, water, olive oil, pinch of salt is all it takes). Sides were Himalayan balsamic rice with carmelized corn and red pepper, organic romaine lettuce, diced tomatoes and green chilies, sour cream, colby-jack cheese, and refried beans (the only thing that was canned). And, of course, we had homemade guacamole. For dessert, mint-chocolate chip ice cream. It took me twenty minutes to make, and when averaged out, the whole meal probably cost me 12 bucks in ingredients, at the most.
And I don't understand the argument of, "There's not time." Somehow people always find time to watch tv, wander around the mall, send endless text messages or Twitters about what they are doing at that moment in time (sending a text message, duh), fuck around on the internets, or play video games. Yet, somehow, amid all of those important things, they manage to find time to drive to McDonalds, wait in line at the drive-thru, then drive back home--spending over $20.00 buck in value meals to feed four people. You could have had Fajitas, instead.
Enchantermon on 25/6/2010 at 15:13
Quote Posted by dethtoll
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.
I hear that. When I had my internship a couple months ago, it wore me out big time, and I was only going three days a week. And rush hour traffic around where I live is not something you want to be in if you can help it (though I know it could be a lot worse).
I eat at Subway a lot, myself. It's not as healthy as cooking my own food, but it's also not as bad as stopping at McDonald's and Burger King every day.
ZylonBane on 25/6/2010 at 16:14
This week's episode of Top Chef addressed this exact topic. The challenge was to create healthy school lunches, given a budget of something like $2.30 per student.
EDIT: Correction, it was $2.68 per student.
Enchantermon on 25/6/2010 at 16:19
And you know what? I bet anything they come up with will be liked better than what schools serve now. I've heard of some exceptions, but most of the students I've talked to absolutely hate their cafeteria food.
