Jan 23 2009
Fast Food Nation
I just ordered this book. I’ve heard great things about it, and I’ve wanted to read it for awhile now. Since I’m wrapping up The Omnivore’s Dilemma, I’m due for a new food book. I’m especially interested in Fast Food Nation, because I am in the 1 of 4 people whose first job was at McDonald’s. I worked there the summer of my 16th year, and after that experience I could safely say that I would never eat a fast food breakfast or salad again.
Wait…salad? You see, I worked the breakfast shift, which included prepping the store for the day. I stocked everything, brewed the tea for ice tea, and made the salads for the day. I’m dating myself here, but that’s back when all that was offered was a chef salad and garden salad. The cut up meat was in bins in the fridge, the hard-boiled eggs were in another bin, basically all I had to do was assemble. It didn’t matter if the lettuce was browning, the vegetables slimey, it all still went into the salads. Yuck.
It took longer for me to give up the regular menu items (big macs, cheeseburgers, etc). It was Supersize Me that convinced me of that, especially the end. Seeing that food sit out at room temperature and never grow mold…that did the trick for me. I just started to think, if bacteria don’t want this “food,” what on earth is it doing to my insides?
Slowly, that mindset went beyond fast food. Think of all of the foods lining supermarket shelves… now think of the foods in your supermarket’s bakery. Former coworkers conducted an experiment in which they left a few remaining birthday cupcakes out on their desks. One year later, those cupcakes hadn’t grown mold, though they were hard as rocks. Those tiny cakes were made with vegetable shortening, a trans-fat. Bacteria didn’t want it, and they are much less discriminating, so why should I eat it?
It can be tough to avoid these foods all of the time. People bring them to parties, and frankly, some of these bad foods just taste good. But when you look at the food, just think to yourself, if bacteria won’t eat it, do you really want to?
