A lot of people these days, are all to eager to round on the Fast food companies, for what they see as fast food companies products, making people Fat.

So is there really becoming an overhyped blame culture, for such companies, or are they really to blame for this upsurge in a Fat society?

I really do think they and the fat food mind set is playing an enormous role. I was not alive then, but think of the effort that went into preparing a meal before microwaves, TV dinners and the drive through. Then you add in modern transportation, PC's etc. and you have a recipe for disaster. I also think it's goes beyond bad food choices and laziness, and crosses over into chemical additives that make the food taste so good and yet not filling, so we eat more.

I believe to some extent Fast Food joints are ripe for targeting.

Look at the way some people eat loads of it, and do get fatter. then you just end up with a blame culture and people demonising fast food.

Fact is, if someone ate one small Hamburger a day, and did regular exercise / ate pretty well, there's no real problem, but if someone eats like two massive fast food meals a day, and is inactive, you get a problem.

Not to mention, people don't have to go there, it's not like the advertisements are subliminally brainwashing you, or using mind manipulation techniques to encourage you to buy it, if someone is morbidly, or a bit obese, then the main lure is probably in the visuals used on promos, not the descriptions, and the persons inability to control their reactions to such food visuals, in terms of limiting themselves, or having better food plans.

Sure fast food places aren't always responsible enough, theough they are often trying to be moreso these days, but if people want to eat 2,000 calories a day, of corporate fast food, on top of their other stuff, and get 100lb's overweight, I don't think fast food places should shoulder full responsibility for that, as it's not solely their doing.

They're not threatening anyone with criminal acts against them, if they don't eat their food are they?

can anyone say... "where's buffy?"

its definately consumers.
I think that most people find it much easier than making their own food, and it tastes good. And most people that are to lazy to make their own food and just buy fast food everyday arent gonna work out. I personally cant remember the last time i had fast food so its not impossible but it definately is hard sometimes.

I believe a huge part of the problem is that people aren't educated. They know fast food is "bad" but they don't know what that means. Knowing all the details of what it does to the body makes a difference. People also don't know what healthy means. They think it means expensive, bland, "weird" foods. They don't realize how simply, inexpensive and tasty eating healthy can be. How man y times do people ma ke ignorant comments to those of us who eat healthy? I have had people tell me I wouldn't eat nuts because the contain fat, or assume that I eat tofu daily.

SarahPT wrote:I believe a huge part of the problem is that people aren't educated. They know fast food is "bad" but they don't know what that means. Knowing all the details of what it does to the body makes a difference. People also don't know what healthy means. They think it means expensive, bland, "weird" foods. They don't realize how simply, inexpensive and tasty eating healthy can be. How man y times do people ma ke ignorant comments to those of us who eat healthy? I have had people tell me I wouldn't eat nuts because the contain fat, or assume that I eat tofu daily.

I agree. This happens to me often too since none of my friends or family is really into this sort of thing.

People must learn to get their responsability, tehy are adults so they do what they want ... I've try to convice my workmates at my Mcdonald to not eat there, same if we have a 50% cut on the prize ... didn't work at all, they found me "courageous" and "strong" to never eat down there ... Many of them tells me, Yea it's a bad allimentation tough I can't stop from eating here ... They dont have will or either dosen't wanna change anything at all ... or even dosen't care and know nothing about what they're health ... Zero for the lazyness part, totaly true.

How man y times do people ma ke ignorant comments to those of us who eat healthy?

Never since I've explain them all about my diet for boxing/training ... tough at school when i drink my 8 egg white in an 1/2 cup of skimmed milk to make a fast easy amount of protein intake during the afternoon, some people may lend on me a weird look ...

For the education of people, yes this is true tough, I see that slowly people are starting too look at their health and maybe one of these day we will be able to walk in New York city without seeing some X-TRA LARGE butt from overoverweight women ...

I think that our consumerism and the NEED to have more and more all the time is a huge part of why people are chowing down empty calories, and not just from restaurant style fast food. If you work for 9 hours and commute another hour or so, try to spend "quality time" with kids or spouse, cook, clean and do the dishes, well somethings gonna give. It's usually the food, so much faster to pick up the phone and call pizza 911. Fast food knows this, they make the food in conveneint, cheap packs, like trios and kids meals. At the grocery store, you but frozen dinners loaded with saturated fats, but they take 30 mins in the oven, so they win over nutrition. If we didn't "need" all that stuff, people would maybe work a few less hours, get taxed less and maybe it would be easier to find an extra hour to prepare fresh healthy food.
I think some companies really exploit the people who are overweight and trying to lose weight. No trans fat is a good thing yes, but crap is crap, trans or not. One company here has a product line of "healthier" foods called Blue Label. They put spoilers on the packaging saying "50% less fat than outr regular brand" but read the label and see most of it is still pretty much crap. People get fooled into thinking they are eating well by buying these brands.
Anyways, a great cure for fast food is to watch the movie "Fast Food Nation". I don't eat at McDo, but this one almost put me off meat entirely. If people knew they were potentially eating poop in their burgers, I bet many would quit cold turkey.
diana

A lot of fast food places are starting to come out with some healthy alternatives on their menu now, so they are not totally to blame. Heck, there is a grilled chicken sandwich that I actually eat once every month or two now from McDonald's. I just lose the biggest bun and eat it open-faced with no mayo. It is not too bad at all.

I think they mess with all food nowadays, whether its feeding compounds to the chickens or shipping away the pigs 2 months prematuraly.

Well I watched for the first time "Supersize Me".

Does it change anything for me? No. Would I continue to eat at Mc D's? Yes, but I rarely do it anyway.

It reminds me of the original point I made. My lifestyle or health is not going to be seriously jeopardised, if I eat a couple of small Hamburgers sometimes, especially as I always avoid the gross stuff like Relish, Pickles etc etc, and have the Burgers wth just meat.

Plus they have cut back on Fat and Salt in those, in the last few years.

If I look at my overall lifestyle food, (which I'm not going to go into deeply), most of it's healthy stuff, not a lot of Fat, Sugar, Salt, Caffeine (DC only), , zero Alcohol, etc etc. If I eat Chops occasionally, I cut the rind off the side, if I eat Sausages sometimes, I grill not fry, to allow some Fat to drip off, and importantly I exercise 5 times a week, so realistically I'm pretty happy with my lot, and my cals are around the 2,000 - 2,500 a day mark.

So a few Hamburgers now and again won't finish me off.

Did surprise me though that some of the outlets, didn't give nutrition information, and one person got some from a basement, whilst another place had theirs obscured by a cardboard promo.

Makes you wonder why some do and some don't show the info. Interestingly I personally think it might be in the poorer ones.

When I think about it, a restaurant doing a massive trade, might lose a small percentage of people, who get put off by knowing the calories of some Mc D meals, but in other restaurants that do 20% less trade, (as an example figure), the risk of losing more might be seen as problematic enough, for Mc D to not warrant, giving consumers easy access to such information in those.

If a less well performing restaurant, lost trade though proliferation of stone cold facts, and was seen as becoming dead weight, if it closed, I'd bet there would be an 80% chance, a competitor like Burger King, KFC etc etc, would slip in and gain a slightly bigger share of the market, and increase profits, as opposed to it converting to a shop that sold computers, or sportswear etc etc.

As a side note for those who may not know. Recently Britain outlawed fast food advertising, before about 8PM I think it is, so that young people can't see it, and it's not just restaurant stuff, but sweet and chocolate and sugary and potato based snacks, you can buy in supermarkets or small shops.

Might help children to become less dependant on it, as a lifestyle choice.

There's just something unsettling about a kid, who's gotten hooked on Curly Wurlys

no such thing as a bad food



......just a bad diet

carn't beat a fully loaded meal with large popcorn chicken and a pepsi from KFC..hhhhmmmmm!!!!!!

ironwarrior wrote:no such thing as a bad food

Try telling that to a China man who ate badly prepared Fugu Fish, and is told he's got no chance of recovering from the poison, and will die in hours .

Can't understand how Chinese people can eat that stuff. It's like playing Russian roulette with your dinner. Mental

now you mention....it there was a programme on t.v here about a guy who eat badger's and roadkill animals.... dnt care if that stuff was 100% protein i would.nt touch it lol