Yesterday, a discussion on one of my posts prompted me to repost some wonderful words from Alton Brown about Fast Food establishments and eating out:
Here’s what it comes down to kids. Ronald McDonald doesn’t give a damn about you. Neither does that little minx Wendy or any of the other icons of drivethroughdom. And you know what, they’re not supposed to. They’re businesses doing what businesses do. They don’t love you. They are not going to laugh with you on your birthdays, or hold you when you’re sick and sad. They won’t be with you when you graduate, when your children are born or when you die. You will be with you and your family and friends will be with you. And, if you’re any kind of human being, you will be there for them. And you know what, you and your family and friends are supposed to provide you with nourishment too. That’s right folks, feeding someone is an act of caring. We will always be fed best by those that care, be it ourselves or the aforementioned friends and family.
We are fat and sick and dying because we have handed a basic, fundamental and intimate function of life over to corporations. We choose to value our nourishment so little that we entrust it to strangers. We hand our lives over to big companies and then drag them to court when the deal goes bad. This is insanity.
Today’s Washington Post, which I’m reading while I’m eating my lunch of wonderful Cuban food, echoes this point. It notes that many restaurants are abandoning the healthy low-fat menu items they added a few years ago in favor of high fat high calore items. Why? Because that’s what people are buying.
Translation: They will sell what makes the profit, not what is good for you.
The article notes that
Food researchers say people are slowly changing their eating habits, but mostly when they eat at home. In consumer surveys conducted by market-research firm Technomic Inc. of Chicago, “a clear majority said that they’re less concerned and do not follow what they believe are good dietary habits when they’re eating away from home,” said company president Ron Paul.
Again, this echoes Alton Brown: The people that care about you will feed you right. Don’t expect corporate america to do it…. and, by the way, this extends to the difference between package products and making it from scratch.
So, tonight, go home and have a healthy dinner with the people you love. Including yourself.
