I spotted this article on my Yahoo main page and had to comment on it. As someone who has finally broken his fast food addiction, I can sympathize with the report. After all, while no one forced me to eat fast food, it does seem as though the food is stacked against the eater so that the issues of convenience and cost as well as the questionable properties of some things in the food work against the person buying the Big Mac. Cf. Super Size Me for a case study.
Here's the question though. What constitutes fast food? It's a little like pornography. I can always explain it but I know it when I see it. I used to follow the principle that if a restaurant had a drive through, it's fast food. If that is true, then Subway is fast food, given that I hit the Subway on my way back from the talk so that I would have eaten something worthwhile that day.
In a strange way, I think this proves the matter of you are what you eat. I just don't know why.
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SuperSize Me is a great film to show during Lent. Yes, there are a couple of rude scenes (like Morgan Suprlock's then-fiancee commenting on how an all-McDonald's diet will affect one's sex drive), but on average it serves as an indictment of the "fast-food mentality," a symptom of much larger problems in our culture and worldview.
If the film doesn't grab you, the bonus scene about the French Fries most certainly will!
Sigh. You had to blog about fast food on the very day I got my own breakfast from the BK drive through and decided to bake frozen mozzarella sticks for my kids' dinner, and let's face it, that's just fast food that comes from the grocery store. To me, grocery store fast food is the worst kind. It carries all the nutritional risk of McDonald's food, and to add insult to injury, you have to cook the stuff yourself.
Every now and then, I get meditative about the body being the Lord's temple and about how we should take care of it by eating properly, exercising, etc. All too often, I just ask for forgiveness and get on with life.
Some of Subway can be pretty unhealthy as well, but they have many healthy options. I always get the Veggie Delite or veggieburger there. McDonald's and its ilk also has some healthy options (well, pretty much the salads).
The problem is that of choices. Concupiscence clouds the intellect (or as Mark Shea puts it, "Sin makes you stupid") and so we choose poorly.
If going to a fast food restaurant means I can't overcome the temptation to order a triple-stack with cheese and bacon every time, then perhaps I need to avoid the occasions/menus of sin (gluttony in this case, perhaps). That's one reason I avoid them, except for Taco Bell, where I like some of their healthier fare.
Interesting stuff! I finally saw Supersize Me, and was completely disgusted by the whole thing.
I struggle with fast food still, and I'm not sure that I will ever be completely 'over' it. Some days it is a real challenge to not partake of a diet soda or think about swinging through for a quick bite of something tasty. Bleck.
If someone ever figures out a way to combat those cravings, please share them.
Cheers,
Holly
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