Fast Food

The negative health effects of the consumption of fast food have been widely documented and long discussed.

On that note, sometimes a picture is truly worth a thousand words. Or at least a gaping open mouth stare.





Don't tell me you can't see the resemeblence:


It is important to note that not all fast food dishes were created equal. The dietary implications of eating a Hardee's monster thickburger versus knocking out a entree from panera bread or subway are quite different. I will never forget the sight of two test tubes full of lard, a visual example of the amount of fat consumed after eating one of the aforementiod thickburgers. I guess the thick in thickburger is not a misreprestention. No lawsuits for false advertising coming anytime soon. Considering an image like the one above I find it difficult to comprehend how cigarrette packs have warning labels and fast food doesn't.

I generated this one at warninglabel.com





The negative effects of fast food go beyond the health of the consuming individual however, and as such I submit that we focus on ourselves too much. Let's look at the effects our habits have on our fellow humans.

We don't exist in a vaccuum. Our actions, even the seemingly meanial ones, have repurcussions in our community, country, and world. Who now thinks that the simple act of filling the the gas tank of a car doesn't have geo-political implications, not to mention environmental ones?

It is well known that the United States is a prolific consumer. Maybe even THE prolific consumer. The U.S. consumes 24% of the total worlds energy. 2007 oil consumption figures show that the U.S. alone consumes more than 2x the number of barrels of oil per day than second place China.

On average, one American consumes as much energy as:

2 Japanese
13 Chinese
128 Bangladeshis
370 Ethiopians
(Paul Erlich and the Population Bomb)

As tired a joke as it is, we are number 1 indeed.

Where does American consumerism come into play in the topic of fast food?

Well, all that food energy has to come from somwhere. If we want to eat the food we first have to grow the food or set aside the land and resources to raise the livestock.

Consider these U.S. statistics: (from Population Bomb)
Eighty percent of the corn grown and 95% of the oats are fed to livestock.
Fifty-six percent of available farmland is used for beef production.

Most importantly to me:
It takes an average of 25 gallons of water to produce a pound of wheat in modern Western farming systems. It takes 5,214 gallons of water to produce a pound of beef.

And yet at the same time:
The average individual daily consumption of water is 159 gallons, while more than half the world's population lives on 25 gallons.

So we are feeding cattle what humans in parts of the world die in need of.

Make your own conclusion as to the ethicacy of that practice. Yes, cows need water and food. But do we need that many cows?

From the above stats we can infer that we are generating a sizeable percentage of our own food energy needs. And thats good for us considering that Americans consume 815 Billion calories per day, about 200 million more than needed and enough to feed an extra 80 million people.

The point is that the more we consume the less there is for others to consume. We are giving the excess back to our animals to perpetuate the cycle. As population grows and resources become strained we must make adjustments to our own consumption habits. Or else the earth will correct for us. And that will be much more painful.

See the negative effects of deforestation.

I have not eaten fast food beef in three years, since I found out that the main reason for the deforestation of the amazon rainforest was to clear land for cattle ranchers. I decided that as much as I love a hamburger, it would make me a hypocrite to say "Save the Rainforest" and then eat a beef patty from a cow raised on clear tropical land.

I WOULD LITERALLY BE EATING MY WORDS



Even excluduing beef I don't eat a lot of fast food. I make a concerted effort to frequent dine-in and other places. It's a way to make a difference without needing to endorse legislation, join unicef or travel with green peace. None of which I mind doing, but until I am in a position to activate what I would consider positive change, this simple curtailing of my own habits will have to do.

P.S. Those stirring straws from starbucks are made rainforest materials as well.
So just use your damn finger or something.