This term at UVU, one of my main goals (aside from the whole improving pronunciation, grammar, fluency, thing) has been to convince my level 4 Speaking class that Americans eat more than just fast food. We've had quite lively discussions about what a "typical" or "traditional" American dinner would be. Inevitably, their answer is always "hamburgers and french fries." Mine is always more along the lines of meat and potatoes, meatloaf, some kind of casserole, spaghetti, etc. We compromised with this list:- apple pie
- meat and potatoes
- turkey and stuffing
- hot dogs
- cake
- pasta and sauce
But honestly. Do you really think that a normal family comes home from McDonald's every day with a Big mac and fries? Well, I didn't think so at first. But perhaps I'm wrong. Maybe Americans really do eat fast food all the time. Maybe I'm an anomaly because I only eat fast food when I'm on a road trip and the only restaurant within 200 miles is a Wendys...and then I get a baked potato (fast food makes me ill when I'm driving). So after a bit of research I discovered these disturbing facts from Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser.
- Every day about one quarter of the U.S. population eats fast food.
- The golden arches are now more widely recognized than the Christian cross.
- American children now get about one quarter of their total vegetable servings in the form of potato chips and French fries.
- This year Americans will spend over $110 billion on fast food more than they'll spend on movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos, and recorded music combined.
So then, out of desperation to prove that as a nation we are not as obsessed with fast food as it may seem, I bring up these points:
- Subway counts as fast food, right? (That's healthy and not a hamburger! HA!)
- Maybe the people who eat out 5 times a week are all the same people (I only eat out about 2-3 times a month)
- Maybe the people who eat all the fast food are the same people
- Maybe a high percentage of students/lower income people are the ones eating the fast food
- I found an article on an unreliable website that says that British people are the most fast food obsessed
Please be honest. There is no shame in admitting that you have a fast food addiction. ;)
8 comments:
I eat out 5 times a week. Scary. But i have to. We have no where to store our lunch at work, so they give us luch money. haha that is one awesome thing about here- i get lunch money!! Oh and bus money too by the way. How often do I eat fast food? I dunno, maybe once a week- or less. I must confess, I love mcdonalds here-maybes its cause I get sick of all the "typical" brazilian food- self service buffets of rice, beans, chicken, liver, potato salad with carrots and peas, etc etc etc. I do get sick of it. SO mcdonalds cripsy chicken club sandwich is a nice vacation once and a while- or subway. I eat subway here sometimes. They are getting really popular here. People here often ask me what the main american food is- I says its definitely NOT rice and beans. We prefer potatoes and lots of variety. I tell peple that is what their country doesn't have that we have VARIETY. Indian, Mexican, Italian, French, Polynesian, Thailandes, German, Jamaican, Japanese, Chinese, Peruvian, etc etc etc food. I love it. I prefer Bajios to Mcdonalds anyday- except I cant find that here. So sad. Anyway. I like fast food- but not that often. :)
i heart a lot of fast food. but i don't eat it all that much because it's expensive, it's not as convenient as cold cereal and ramen, and i get tired of it after a while if i eat it a lot. so, maybe once or twice a month, unless i'm on a road trip. erik goes to subway on a regular basis. i would guess that a fair amount of the americans who eat fast food eat it for lunch, because then it's more convenient than going home or making oneself lunch in the morning.
i think that it's important to ask what counts as fast food, and it's more than just mcdonald's. hamburger places, pizza places, my former employer teriyaki stix...we're eating more than just a double baconater.
the brits generally eat a hell of a lot of fast food.
I read Fast Food Nation and we watched "Super Size Me"...man were the statistics shocking! Brian and I hardly ever eat out and when we do Brian is usually disappointed with the quality and price. I can totally see how the fast food industry does so well... American's love fast and easy! One time I heard a mom bride her child that if she did what she was told, the child would get to go to Wendy's. Wow!
On another note, it was interesting to see what was on the "American" menus in Asia. We found a lot of pizza, spaghetti, hamburgers, and french fries. If I ate that stuff every day I would weigh 300 lbs!
Working on the opposite side of the day as the wife, we never see each other enough to eat together so we eat out way too much. Not your 5 times a week crowd, maybe closer to twice a week. It is definitelyl a love/hate sort of thing. At 3 am the only place to eat is the hospital cafeteria or gas stations. And no I can't pack a lunch, that requires skills I don't have.
Socioeconomic status has a lot to do with it. Junk food and fast food are much cheaper when compared to fresh fruits and vegetables-- especially in places where there's a big gap between social classes, like Hawaii or say, DC. A lot of the patients in clinics I work in can't afford fruits, vegetables and low-fat meats like chicken and fish. Also, when you're working 2-3 jobs just to pay rent, you probably don't have time or energy to whip up a balanced meal. Those two factors are by far the most difficult barriers I see when trying to get people to eat healthier. It's a conundrum indeed.
Anyhow, for peeps how are interested, you can visit
freedocumentaries.org
to see Super Size Me and other docs for free. It's an enlightening watch for those of you who care about the health ramifications of the American diet.
When we were both students (and before I was pregnant), I think that J and I would eat fast food (i.e. hamburgers) about every other month. If you could Taco Bell or Subway, though, we probably would eat out about two or three times a month, mostly because we didn't always have time to bring a lunch to campus. Overall, though, we usually would pack a lunch - not only for economic reasons, but also for health reasons!
I think you're right about single college students, though. Jeremy would always eat out for lunch when he was single - he never took the time to pack a lunch. I'm sure a lot of Americans are the same way in regards to how they spend their lunch break.
I just ate McDonald's for lunch. Yummmmmmmmmm :)
I eat out way to much! But, not at fast food places. I probably would be better off eating at fast food places.
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