Deep Fried Disaster

In his book Fast Food Nation:  The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, Eric Schlosser wrote, “The life's work of Walt Disney and Ray Kroc had come full-circle, uniting in perfect synergy. McDonald's began to sell its hamburgers and french fries at Disney's theme parks. The ethos of McDonaldland and of Disneyland, never far apart, have finally become one. Now you can buy a Happy Meal at the Happiest Place on Earth,” (Eric Schlosser).  But how does this relate to today’s generation?

Let’s all admit it; we’re pretty lazy when it comes to food.  We go out to eat greasy, deep fried, unhealthy foods instead of choosing to “dine-in” back at home.  But why do we do such a thing?  The very unfortunate answer is a simple one, convenience; just as shown by what Eric Schlosser said.

Here is the leader of the fast food realm, McDonald’s.  These double golden arches are so iconic that they’re known around the world.  This is the reason why most of us have experienced the quick and cheap “tasty” food the company often advertises.  Even though all of us know this food is bad, we keep going back.  Why?

1.     The food is cheap.

We’re broke college kids trying to eat, so cheap is good!

2.     It’s convenient.

It’s true; most of us love to sit down to eat, but we’re always on the go so food has to be convenient.

But is the simple convenience of this fast food really worth sacrificing our health?  There is one good answer to this, no.  McDonald’s is one of the fast food restaurants known around the world for being fattening and unhealthy.

Fortunately most of America was there with Morgan Spurlock while he ate nothing but McDonald’s food for 30 days.  As you can imagine his health went downhill real fast.  Morgan gained 25 pounds in just 30 days, that’s nearly one pound a day! (Robbins, par 2).

Despite all the health risks that came along with the challenge, Morgan Spurlock helped to prove that the food McDonald’s chooses to serve is dangerously fattening.  By eating the way he did for only a month, it now gives today’s generation an excuse to stop eating disgusting and unhealthy foods.

We’ve found out that just because fast foods are cheap, convenient, and appeal to thousands doesn’t necessarily mean they are good for you.  By eating all the harmful things found in the foods you can gain excess amount of weight, which can cause many health problems.  These problems can range from blood sugar spikes to heart problems to changing your mood.  And having all these problems as a young adult can really put a damper on your social life.

Unfortunately, this kid didn’t get the memo in time to change his eating habits and ended up…well, in the situation he’s in now.  This is what you could look like if you continued to eat like he does.  This leaves us with one simple question; do you want to end up like this guy?

Sources:

Fisk, Michelle. "Fast Food & Bad Health Side Effects." LIVESTRONG.COM. LIVESTRONG.COM, 18 Feb. 2014. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.

Robbins, John. "How Bad Is McDonald's Food?" The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 08 Oct. 2010. Web. 24 Nov. 2014.

Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Print.