You Are What You Eat

“Good things come to those who wait”, says the old saying but let’s be honest; no one wants to wait it out come lunchtime when your stomach starts grumbling and the golden arches start coming up on the horizon. It’s not that McDonalds, Whataburger, or Burger King, are the most delicious restaurants you have ever eaten at but they sure do taste good. In fact, it’d be a shame if they didn’t considering how much is spent on the flavor industry in order to enhance the flavor of these foods (this industry was worth $18 billion in 2006, but who’s counting?). As much as I have enjoyed reading Mr. Schlosser’s accurately researched and outstanding facts I will have to politely disagree with him on this issue. Humans are smart. We adapt to survive, we are innovative, and we (for the most part) care about what we put into our body. It is not that people don’t care about what they put into their bodies as long as it tastes good, it is that sometimes there is no other option. Fast food has become so efficient, available, and cheap for nearly everyone that it is rapidly growing into our society. We need food to function and if there is a fast food joint at nearly every intersection then this becomes a problem. For the most part, we all recognize what we are putting into our body when eating a burger or fries. Every once in a while indulging in such a meal is not very dangerous hence the coining of the term “guilty pleasure”. Most of the time however this is not the case. Not only is fast food the most accessible food but fruits and vegetables are now more expensive and harder to obtain than their unhealthy counterparts. Our food industry should be focused on feeding people healthy things all the while making them delicious (no, the lettuce in your Big Mac does not count). It is apparent with Schlosser’s documentaries and writings that the food industry is not going to change so it is therefore up to us as citizens. Supporting organizations such as Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution, growing gardens, pushing congress to pass legislations are just a few ways which can change what we eat. Most importantly of all however is spending that extra one minute thinking “do I really want to eat this?” Sometimes it just takes a second thought to realize what you’re about to do. It’s all simple. I don’t need to share statistics or numbers with you to make you understand that fast food is bad for us. Like I said before, we’re smart enough to understand what we are putting into our body, we should therefore understand the consequences of doing so. Will you set an example for those around you? Your younger siblings, your children? Think about it, you are what you eat.

credits: http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/596451/the_top_10_flavour_and_fragrance_companies

photo credits: http://www.fabawards.tv/includes/files/2009-3035-A01-mcdonalds-247.gif