Like many, the Scoop got a little pale after reading 2001's anti-fast food tome Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. You may remember the media storm it created, spawning the documentary "Super-Size Me" where the the maker decided to see what would happen if he ate every meal at McDonalds for a month.
As if nobody new what the result would be.
So it was to much media surprise that, after just a short thirty days, the subject gained 24.5 lb (11.1 kg), a 13% body mass increase, and his Body Mass Index rose from 23.2 (within the 'healthy' range of 19-25) to 27 ('overweight'). He experienced mood swings, sexual dysfunction, and liver damage!
Not surprisingly, there was nary a mention that previously the subject was a strict vegan.
It also took the subject fourteen months to lose the weight he gained and at least as long for the media to pass this story.
But, outside of some insights on nutritional standards and food processing, these works were mostly left-wing propaganda aimed squarely at corporate America.
It was that so familiar liberal theme: the <insert industry name> is secretly and intricately designed to take advantage of kids, parents and low-income folks for a profit.
These helpless folks completely lose their minds when exposed to the sophisticated marketing machine that is McDonald's: parents can't resist the oasis that is the indoor playground, kids succumb to Ronald McDonald and his merry friends, and the low income are immune to the 24-hour attraction of the 99 cent menu. We uncontrollably pilot ourselves to these alters of over consumption and order a double cheese burger with blue-cheese crumble, bacon and barbecue sauce...all unaware this is a poor food choice.
My main criticism of the book? It overlooks the number one underlying issue that casuses the problem. PEOPLE NEED TO MAKE BETTER DECISIONS THEMSELVES, not the government. Chapters dedicated to this topic: zero.Regardless of what the authors say, the Scoop is not immune to the nefarious advances of Grimace and the Hamburglar, and neither are you.
I do have to credit these authors for helping educate America about the health impacts of low-nutrition, crap-filled food. The resulting public outcry has led to what legislation cannot - the addition of healthy options to the menus of these restaurants because of the newly informed action of consumers.
So the Scoop was not at all surprised to see a news segment from today also reveals the false stunt behind "Super-Size Me". Apparently, a man looking to lose weight has lost 86 pounds eating at McDonald's since December.
His recipe for success: he chose healthy options like apples over Big Macs.
How did he fight off the Big Mac Attack? By having a desire to improve his situation and an informed plan on how to make this happen. (Now that is a book I would be willing to read!)
This is a simple approach that has provided much for our country, and one we need to remember entering this election cycle.
Let's not make personal responsbility, and the freedom it affords, another victim of the "new" politics.
4 comments:
Societies used to worry about trying to feed people.
Now, we have such cheap, plentiful food that poor people are fat.
And the left bitches on...
Hamburgers are, of course, inherently evil, just as gasoline, fireworks, and televisions are.
Now, we have such cheap, plentiful food that poor people are fat.
That is, until we turn it all into fuel.
I don't see how you can call what the maker of "Super-Size Me" did a false stunt. He was upfront about what he did and why, and it was quite clear that he was a careful eater before the McDonald's experiment.
Nor did he try to tell us that what happened to him is an inevitable consequence of eating at McDonald's. One of the people he interviewed was a guy who has eaten at least one Big Mac a day for decades. He's slim, trim and healthy.
The narrator deliberately chose not to make healthy choices, except on occasion. And he ordered "super-size" only when he was asked.
The film's point was not to conduct a scientific experiment about the effects of eating at McDonald's. His goal was to do to himself all at once what many of us do a little at a time over the course of years. And to point out that children, who are the least capable of making informed choices, are the most vulnerable to marketing campaigns that directly target them.
Plus, a lot of the film is pretty darn funny.
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