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Reading Room:  Fast Food Nation  |
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katiedid
True Blue Farmgirl
601 Posts
Kate
West Jordan
Utah
USA
601 Posts |
 Posted - Feb 11 2007 : 3:20:44 PM
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I just watched "Holy Cow" on PBS. It is a documentary on the cow and the impact it has made on modern man's life and times...it showed an interview with the author of Fast Food Nation, the book, and it really piqued my interest..
Have any of you FarmGirls read it?
What are your thoughts on it?
Kate
my new blog http/www.theknifemakerswife.wordpress.com |
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kitchensqueen
True Blue Farmgirl
521 Posts
521 Posts |
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willowtreecreek
True Blue Farmgirl
4813 Posts
Julie
Russell
AR
USA
4813 Posts |
Posted - Feb 11 2007 : 4:46:22 PM
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You should see the documentary Fast Food Nation! It is so gross you'll think twice before going to McDonalds again! We rented it at our local video store.
Jewelry, art, baskets, etc.
www.willowartist.etsy.com
www.willowtreecreek.com |
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Celticheart
True Blue Farmgirl
811 Posts
Marcia
WA
USA
811 Posts |
Posted - Feb 11 2007 : 7:06:47 PM
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I read Fast Food Nation a couple of years ago. Thought it was very good. I'll have to look for the documentary.
"I suppose the pleasure of country life lies really in the eternally renewed evidence of the determination to live." Vita Sackville-West
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Horseyrider
True Blue Farmgirl
1045 Posts
Mary Ann
Illinois
1045 Posts |
Posted - Feb 12 2007 : 05:11:55 AM
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I found the movie entertaining, but based on an extremely biased and prejudicial premise. Geez, you could do the same thing to any grocery store if all you ever bought were Cheetos, bologna, ice cream and pop. Go from a vegan diet to nothing but that, and see if you don't gain a bunch of weight and find yourself barfing in the parking lot one day.
Does this mean grocery stores should be regulated? Or perhaps that people should make intelligent choices when they shop there? Both fast food stores and grocery stores can only be expected to stock what people will buy. They're in BUSINESS. Vote with your dollars, and whether you go to fast food places or grocery stores, vote smart. They'll give you what you vote for because it's a BUSINESS, they want to stay in BUSINESS and make a profit for themselves and their shareholders.
I get really sick of people trying to pass responsibility for their choices on to others. If you don't want it, don't go there! But don't blame THEM for making you fat or sick when you go and make poor choices. |
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willowtreecreek
True Blue Farmgirl
4813 Posts
Julie
Russell
AR
USA
4813 Posts |
Posted - Feb 12 2007 : 07:34:41 AM
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Mary ann - I agree with you. I thought the movie was intersting but also any person who consumed that many calories in a single day would have the same problems this guy did. It was very biased in many ways.
I do think Americans tend to "pass resposnibility" a lot too. That guy chose to eat three big macs with supersized fries and cokes a day. He didn't have too.
I teach in public schools and the big thing right now is obesity in Children. Mike Huckabee was our govenor and made all these changes in the lunch menues and food offerings in school. No more coke machines or vending machines eaither. Also they require BMI testing for all students enrolled in public schools. Personally I think the whole issue is a waste of state and federal money. Kids aren't getting FAT from school lunch. And school lunch is still just as "bad" for you and now it just tastes even worse. Kids who used the vending machines are just bringing it from home now. And I have seen girls in my school that are VERY timy get reports back from the BMI testing stateing that they were overweight or obese! So now we have a hugh problem with anorexia! Rediculous.
Jewelry, art, baskets, etc.
www.willowartist.etsy.com
www.willowtreecreek.com |
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laluna
True Blue Farmgirl
295 Posts
New York
USA
295 Posts |
Posted - Feb 12 2007 : 2:51:59 PM
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Loved the book Fast Food Nation - very well-written and it is very dense with information! The movie I believe you're all thinking about is actually titled SuperSize Me, in which filmmaker Morgan Spurlock ate nothing but McDonald's for a month. And say what you will about the bias of the movie, but it's closer to the way most Americans eat on any given day (maybe not McD's, but I'll bet just as much processed food and other restaurant food) than most people realize. Why do you think so many people have gotten so heavy and have acquired certain health problems over the past 40 years? I eat full-fat dairy (raw milk, actually), etc. and I don't have a weight problem - I just refuse to put processed food into my body. Before I let anything corss my lips, I think about not only how good it will taste but also what it actually is and what kind of effect it would have on me. I'm all about whole foods and eating as close to the source as possible. But that's just me.
(Oh, and now that I think of it, I do think they *also* made a movie based on Fast Food Nation, but the people above were referencing the action of SuperSize Me.)
I'm also a public school teacher and don't see investing in the health of our children as a "waste" of money at all. If anything, I feel that if parents are increasingly expecting us to do their jobs for them (and let's face it, many of them do), then programs that focus on students' health are an important part of the equation. |
Edited by - laluna on Feb 12 2007 4:25:52 PM |
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Woodswoman
True Blue Farmgirl
512 Posts
Jennifer
Altamont
NY
USA
512 Posts |
Posted - Feb 12 2007 : 4:22:47 PM
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I read the book, Fast Food Nation. Definitely worth reading. I also saw the movie "Super Size Me". While what that guy did was pretty extreme, it did make me think a little more about fast food. I guess now I think twice before eating any of it!!
Jennifer |
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willowtreecreek
True Blue Farmgirl
4813 Posts
Julie
Russell
AR
USA
4813 Posts |
Posted - Feb 12 2007 : 4:49:17 PM
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Oh I am not saying we shouldn't invest in the health of our children at all! Nor do I think it is a waste of money to see that our children are healthy. I think it is VERY important. My concern lies with the mandatory BMI testing in our public schools. EVERY child in any public school or state funded daycare is REQUIRED to have a BMI test done. A report is then sent out to parents. We have about 700,000 children in Arkansas schools. I think that the 280,000$ they are spending to send out these reports could be much better spent elseware! I have a girl in one of my HS classes that weighs 98 pounds and looks VERY thin! Her BMI report from the state said that she was OVERWEIGHT and at risk for becoming OBESE!!!! This girl was SO upset and crying and afraid she was FAT AND UGLY! THAT is what I think is a waste of money. I totally agree that removing vending machines and stuff was a smart move. I would however like to see money spent on better health edcation and even on providing more healty lunches. Go to http://bradford.k12.ar.us and you can click on this moths lunch menu for my school in the left hand menu. There is not much "healthy" on that menu! Keep in mind that the "salad" is DROWNED in ranch dressing.
Jewelry, art, baskets, etc.
www.willowartist.etsy.com
www.willowtreecreek.com |
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PocketFarmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
119 Posts
Sarah
Utica
New York
119 Posts |
Posted - Feb 12 2007 : 5:18:41 PM
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| Fast Food Nation is an amazing book. I'm glad Farmgirls are reading it! None of my friends would. They said they'd rather not know. Frankly, I think the chapter about marketing to kids should be required reading for parents. |
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MustangSuzie
True Blue Farmgirl
634 Posts
Sarah
New London
Missouri
USA
634 Posts |
Posted - Feb 12 2007 : 6:36:14 PM
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Gives a 21st century meaning to we are what we eat.
Blessings....
Sarah
"In our every deliberation, we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations." -From The Great Law Of The Iroquois Confederacy.
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laluna
True Blue Farmgirl
295 Posts
New York
USA
295 Posts |
Posted - Feb 13 2007 : 1:48:12 PM
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| @Julie - Ah, my apologies, I must have glossed over your BMI comment the first time. Wow! I can't believe they've mandated that. Thankfully, we don't have anything like that here, which is surprising as I live in the state that loves to regulate just about everything. I too would rather see that kind of money invested in real, healthy food at schools (I personally refuse to eat in my school's cafeteria and my students think the food is gross as well). |
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happymama58
True Blue Farmgirl
1210 Posts
Patti
Missouri
USA
1210 Posts |
Posted - Feb 13 2007 : 1:57:24 PM
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Okay, I'll throw my $.02 in. I do not think the government has any business regulating things that people do that do not impact other people. Smoking in public places? I'm all for a ban on that. Outlawing things like trans-fats or putting an extra tax on fast food, etc.? I think it's ridiculous. A friend told me we all pay for the effects of this in health care costs, but I think that's stretching it. If you go that far, you have to consider any behavior that has health risk and treat it the same. I have a real problem with that.
As for the book itself? I read it several years ago and loved it in a sort of "horrified" kind of way, if that makes sense. I didn't eat any fast food for months after that, and since then I've eaten significantly less fast food than at any other time in my life. BUT I've also made a conscious decision to not eat at restaurants very much, either. I'm not a fanatic, but between the high cost, the stuff that I know (from working in a restaurant a few years ago and from students who I have in class who talk about what goes on in the kitchen of even very, very "classy" places), and my love of simple family meals at home, I just don't like to eat out.
Some people search for happiness; others create it.
http://happymama58.typepad.com/my_weblog/
Please visit me at www.marykay.com/pmiinch |
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sewgirlie
True Blue Farmgirl
1894 Posts
Sheryl-lyn
Calverton
NY
USA
1894 Posts |
Posted - Feb 13 2007 : 4:42:26 PM
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There is a book called CHEW ON THIS which is the kid's version of FAST FOOD NATION. I have it in my classroom and we read about how the fast food market spends billions of dollars coming up with ways to get kids to become addicted to the food and the levels of begging that occur before a parent will finally break down and buy the kids McDonalds, or other fast food. It is well-written and the kids enjoy it. Does it make them change their ways? Probably not, but I know they think about it at least a little bit now.
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Woodswoman
True Blue Farmgirl
512 Posts
Jennifer
Altamont
NY
USA
512 Posts |
Posted - Feb 13 2007 : 5:12:33 PM
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Sheryl-lyn,
I think it's so great that you are educating the kids about what is going on. The more they know, the more well-informed decisions they can make. "Knowledge is Power".
Jennifer |
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willowtreecreek
True Blue Farmgirl
4813 Posts
Julie
Russell
AR
USA
4813 Posts |
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jo Thompson
True Blue Farmgirl
603 Posts
Jo
the mountainside of the Chugach
in Alaska
USA
603 Posts |
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Libbie
Farmgirl Connection Cultivator
3579 Posts
Anne E.
Elsinore
Utah
USA
3579 Posts |
Posted - Feb 14 2007 : 11:45:27 AM
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Hey - that's a great rule to go by!
XOXO, Libbie
"Nothing is worth more than this day." - Goethe |
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Reading Room: Fast Food Nation |
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Fast Food Nation
