I finally got around to seing the documentary Supersize Me yesterday. Although it sounds like it would be up my ally subject wise, I never got around to watching it because in my mind everyone knows fast food is bad so there would be nothing ground breaking about it. I was mostly correct, but I did find it to be more enlightening than I had expected.
What stood out for me the most was the segments about school lunches and how unhealthy they are, some even raking up over 1,100 calories for one meal and that is not to mention the food addiditives and preservatives that are injested and the lack of food nutrients that are completely missing. Also the food choices kids make (french fries and soda are a regular meal) shows that kids don't care or don't know how to make good food choices. Understandably so since the educational system does not spend nearly enough time discussing nutrition and many schools dont even have phys ed prgrams. That along with modeling after their parents who are not making good food choices and the marketing that fast food and highly manufactured foods bombards people with, the outcome of over half the population being obese is not suprising.
Back to fast food, more specifically McDonalds, I wish they would have gone into more detail as to how the meals are made. They did a little cartoon of the chicken nuggests, which was quite gross, but it would be even more effective to show how the burgers and fries are made as well. I don't suppose they had much help from McDonalds on that though. I find it interesting that he ended up experiencing symptoms of addiction to fast food during the 1 month experiment. He found that when he ate he would be very happy and content but soon after feel like crap and be hungry again. Although I wasn't greatly suprised how his health declined from being on this diet, I was suprised it took him so long to get back to normal and 6 months later he still wasn't back to his starting weight. It goes to show how difficult it can be to lose weight.
Overall I liked this film mostly because I have a great interest in the topic. Since the film had been made, the fast food industry has made some changes and offers more healthy choices and there have been laws passed that require restaraunts to post nurtitional information, which is a step in the right direction. I also feel kids need to be better educated and schools should be required to provide school lunches and meals that are far healtheir than they are allowed to get away with now. Bottom line however is people need to be personally responsible for the choices they make. If they choose an inactive lifestyle filled with the convenience of fast food, they will have health issues. If thats how they want to live their lives then that is their choice but don't put the blame soley on the industry. Most of the blame should be placed on the individual.
Next movie up, Into the Wild, which I really look forward to seeing.
10 comments:
There are aspects of the movie that I like and aspects that I don't like.
His ability to lose the weight afterward is really anecdotal evidence. I mean, really, it all is. But in that particular instance, his inability to shed the pounds isn't necessarily any sort of indictment of fast food (not that you said it was).
I'm not telling you anything new but you know that different people have different struggles with losing weight and the speed at which they do so.
when i have showed that movie in my sociology class one of the questions i ask them is if this is a good experiment. most say it is, but some recognize that this is only one person's experience, and that for it to be a good experience you would need moer people, control groups, etc.
but i still find the movie enjoyable to watch. it drags at some points, but overall i think it points us at how bad the food is. and while there has been some improvements on the menus, as well as providing more caloric guidelines, other burgers, etc have gotten bigger and unhealthier.
For sure everyone's experience will be different, I was suprised he didnt gain more weight than he did actually!
I think thats an interesting point Ed, although there are better/healthier options almost as a backlash to that they come out with new and worse food too. Perhaps the healthy food is just a distraction from that but I am glad that it is there.
I think some of it might not even be food-related backlash, but social backlash even.
If you look at the pervasive sexism in Carl's Jr. and Burger King ads, you have to wonder what the deal is. Even Campbell's ads. Why the big man push? Eat our manly food, we'll take care of man-boys who can't fix their own food, eat manly portions.
Is it something new? Is it a weird offshoot of the mega-portions we see in U.S. servings? Does this kind of bizarre shit go to something deeper like our privilege and since of entitlement (see Manifest Destiny)? Am I asking questions that are too big? Do I really have to be in this heat for three more hours?
that would be sense, not since
You are right it could very well be driven by social backlash as opposed to being totally food related. I would say most disgusting jumbo sized whatever it is is marketed towards men while the women get salads or chicken sandwiches marketed to them. Men are supposed to be big and women are supposed to be small. If you are a man you can handle the big size and in the process you become obese. If you are a woman though, you should feel shame and guilt if you do eat large portions.
Health, body image and social constructs what it is to be male and female are all interwoven and influence each other, not to mention the contraditcions that are present throughout. Healthy eating for men and women are the same (just like exercise) because our bodies pretty much work the same. Eating clean, fresh food is what everyone should be doing for their health but there is very little marketing for that.
couple of things - not too sure how healthy or low carb a salad @ most fast food places are with all the fixins.
-on big portions, i read a book in seminary called the sensate culture. i hated the book, and disagreed with it on several points, but one that has stuck with me is a connection between cultures in decline and the need for excess. stress of quantity (biggie, supersize, macho size, super cheap menus) over quality.
-did you watch it on dvd or a channel? in the dvd there is an extra long interview with the author of fast food nation and he gets a lot more into how foods are made. his book touches on that, plus more (heather read it, not me).
I was totally going to mention Fast Food Nation (book not movie). It's an awesome book and really is the prequel to Super Size Me. It is an eye opener and will make you think twice before eating fast food again.
Also you will love into the wild. I don't know how Ed felt about it but I really enjoyed it.
Fast Food Nation definitely sounds like something I would be interested in, thanks for the tip I am going to definitely pick that up.
I really look forward to Into the Wild but I hadn't heard any reviews from real people so I am glad to hear you liked it H. I should get that via Netflix today or tomorrow.
i didn't watch all of into the wild, but what i did see didn't really draw me in. granted, i came into the movie late, so i was trying to pick up pieces as i was doing something else.
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