In two months, i have learned more about food than i ever thought i possibly could have (fast food, and nightmarish industrial atrocities in particular). Still i wonder a couple of things. Why, after reading Omnivores dillemma and watching Food inc. am i still inclined to eat fast food? Why are other people still eating fast food and meat produced in huge factories where the workers and animals are abused? Why do most americans not think about the food they eat?
By last friday i finished watching Food inc. and reading the omnivores dillemma, by saturday i was eating french fries at a burger king. Believe it or not these images from the movie and book we watched and read had already slipped my mind until i sat down with my food. Halfway in to my meal i thought to myself: "I was just given plenty of examples not to eat this stuff, what am i doing?". So i thought why i decided to eat there in the first place, reason one: I had 10 dollars,when i have this exact amount i always look at it is as the most convenient to buy fast food with it. Reason 2: i had barley eaten all day and was very hungry, the smell coming from the kitchen pulled my senses in without me having any control. Reason 3: I was in a mall, with no other places to eat in the mall, in the middle-of-nowhere queens. When put under those circumstances, my brain cant help but to choose the more convenient option. Although while i will choose the more convenient option most of the time, ever since watching movies about the truth behind these "farms" I have made eating healthy at home with my parents more of a priority. My overall experience from this food unit has helped me grow to be a healthier eater, even if they are just baby steps.
So if i am still eating fast food for convenience, is this why most Americans are eating it as well? After doing further research i have realized the answer to this question is an undoubtable: yes. As stated in an article by Michael Pollan called: The Food Movement, Rising; "Americans spend a smaller percentage of their income on food than any people in history—slightly less than 10 percent—and a smaller amount of their time preparing it". As americans we rely on cheap and convenient food, because that's what were used to (at least since the 1970s). Convenience is not the only reason americans are eating fast food, some americans actually do not know what goes on in these nightmarish industrial factories. This is because huge food corporations such as Tyson hide the secrets behind how they process their food. In an article for 2008, it was revealed that Tyson released false advertising on the way their chickens were raised claiming on their products that the chickens were raised without antibiotics when in reality they were. Even after the company was caught and warned by the USDA to take the false advertisement off of their products, Tyson tried to defend their claim by arguing that the antibiotics they were using were "Antimicrobials not Antibiotics. Even after proven wrong the Tyson vice president claimed that "The vast majority of the industry does exactly the same thing". To me this sounded childish, the vice president is basically saying that "just because they did it, we can do it too"
In conclusion, most americans eat fast food because they do not know the truth behind industrial atrocities. In fact 93% of america is uneducated when it comes to the knowledge of these industrial atrocities. Sadly even some people just like myself eat fast food for convenience even after knowing the truth. Although (as stated before) i have made some changes to my diet, i hope that i will gradually improve my habits of eating fast food. about 4 years ago Mcdonalds was a guilty pleasure, recently i became used to eating it. Now i have gone back to my old habits of making it a guilty pleasure and i will continue to do so after learning what i have learned.
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