OT: Supersize me

[rogue]

OF COURSE ITS MY FAULT, IM SELLING THE SHYT!!

MoreMisfortune needs a lesson in how a non-command economy works.

[norther practitioner]

So, I finally saw this. Have to say the folks who are talking about how awful corporate america is and McDonalds, etc, are missing the real commentary.

Seems to me, the documentary was really a commentary on American lifestyle habits.

If I ate McD's three times a day and limited my exercise, I'd get fat too...

So the show is really about how fat people eat badly and don't exercise.

Screw corporate responsibility on this one.

I agree for the most part.

If there wasn't a demand for this crap food, the industry wouldn't be growing like it is still.

[MasterKiller]

If they didn't force their way into high school and jr high cafeterias, if they didn't add appetite enhancers to their food, if they didn't target kids below the age 5 with their advertising you guys might have a point.

Not all fast food companies are bad. Chick-Fil-A is good example of a company that practices what it preaches.

McDonald's is by far the worst.

They lie about their food content. French Fries are cooked in Beef Tallow; yet, they market them as vegetarian and even Vegan friendly. They were almost chased out of India when nosy reporters started reporting that their fries were cooked in Beef Tallow, even though their literature specifically stated they used 100% vegetable oil. McDonald's did an about face and quickly refitted all of their Indian restaurants AFTER the media ran the story.

They pretty much control the beef and potato industry, which are unregulated. The FDA has no control over beef recalls. The packagers, backed by McDonald's money, lobbies consistently and spends lots and lots of money in Washington to keep the industry unregulated. McDonald's will only force a recall when the media is alerted to the fact that tainted beef has been traced to one of their distributors.

That meat is later packaged and resold to the lowest bidder, which, by the way, is the Public School System.

[norther practitioner]

That meat is later packaged and resold to the lowest bidder, which, by the way, is the Public School System.

No wonder I was always a hungry child....

got to love public schools.....

which by the way is where the gf works.

[wdl]

If they didn't force their way into high school and jr high cafeterias, if they didn't add appetite enhancers to their food, if they didn't target kids below the age 5 with their advertising you guys might have a point.

Not all fast food companies are bad. Chick-Fil-A is good example of a company that practices what it preaches.

McDonald's is by far the worst.

All the more reason for no one to go to McDonalds. K-mart sucked, nobody went there now look what's happening to them. People just need to have the same perception of McDonalds. If the general public did, they would go under. They are already in trouble as it is.

-Will

[norther practitioner]

my only question to you guys is:

Have you tasted the mcgriddle.......

[David Jamieson]

They pretty much control the beef and potato industry, which are unregulated.

uh, I think you are wrong about this. All foods are pretty strongly regulated in the US by the Food and Drug admin and by similar bodies in other countries.

The murky part would be in the actual preparation of the food, but it should be good when it gets there.

[YuanZhideDiZhen]

After 3 months he actually lost weight and his blood work was good.

sounds like his metabolism went catabolic. it's more threatening for your heart if you bod becomes super efficient at burning fats. your digestive tract can actualy ignore carbs in that state of function. see any metabolic or cardiac problems with this?

[MasterKiller]

uh, I think you are wrong about this. All foods are pretty strongly regulated in the US by the Food and Drug admin and by similar bodies in other countries.

The murky part would be in the actual preparation of the food, but it should be good when it gets there.

No. I'm right about this.

The meat industry has the power of recall. The FDA cannot force them to do it, and can only shut down a dirty meat packaging plant to try to force it's hand. However, in every case where the FDA inspectors have shut down a packager because of tainted meat in the last 7 years, it was re-opened under court order withing 48 hours.

They spend lots of money on lobbies to keep the industry unregulated.

McDonald's is also behind the legistlation to allow immigrants temporary work visas to come to America for "jobs Americans don't want" because they can pay less than minimum wage and do not have to offer health benefits. They have been trying to pass this legislation for about 10 years, and they finally have pro-corporation President willing to test it.

I completely agree that personal responsibilty is the main issue. But McDonald's has a horrible record of corporate abuses. They are the worst example you could use to try to promote the idea of responsible and morally conscious corporatations.

[David Jamieson]

I'm not saying that the power of corporations in america isn't skewed, it is. And that's because of the almighty dollar and therein is the real addiction.

I'm saying, I am a little doubtful about the industry not being regulated.
As far as I know, it is strictly regulated.

[Merryprankster]

sounds like his metabolism went catabolic. it's more threatening for your heart if you bod becomes super efficient at burning fats. your digestive tract can actualy ignore carbs in that state of function. see any metabolic or cardiac problems with this?

This post doesn't make any sense in the context of this topic. Catabolic state is simply the state of burning more calories than are available in your system, so you use stored energy to keep the body running. That's it. Nothing more dramatic than that.

McDonald's is chock full of carbs so nobody ever has to worry about that.

Finally, nutritionists have conclusively demonstrated that there is no such thing as essential foods, only essential nutrients. You can live quite well on meat and fat, provided it contains the nutrients you need. Northern Native American diets are an excellent example. The various meats, fish and marine mammals they eat provide all of their nutrient needs, including vitamins and minerals. They survived for months on this during the winter - quite healthily and happily.

MK, APPETITE ENHANCER?! OK, now we're starting to get into an interesting realm. By interesting, I mean fairly improbable, but if you can point to something, I'd be interested in reading it.

Appetite is a function of hormone secretion, so if you are talking about something that actually enhances your appetite, you're talking about something that screws with hormone production, reabsorption or reception. You're talking about something that would cause a person to consistently keep eating beyond satiation.

However, some parts of the food industry refer to flavor enhancers as "Appetite enhancers." Flavor enhancers run the gamut from salt, to lemon juice to various glutamic acid compounds. Each works on the same principle - they increase ionization of flavinoids in the mouth which enhances the flavor. If this is the nefarious "Appetite Enhancer," then it's no different than putting salt on your meal. Hardly a devious thing...

[ewallace]

Chick-Fil-A is good example of a company that practices what it preaches.

Amen to that sista. When I'm rich, I will have a house with a basement, and a built in chick-fil-a. That fkr will be open on Sundays too.

[David Jamieson]

Let's not forget the mono sodium glutamate that McD's uses in many of it's products. also known as MSG. It has been shown that MSG actually can be a step on teh road to obesity! go figure. the glutamate industry folks are up in arms about that though....

anyway, they aren't going out of business anytime soon.
People don't wanna make a meal for themselves it seems.

It would seem that humans in general are innately lazy. The conditions of survival weigh heavy on whether or not we are active or not. But put us into a western society where not much effort is required to survive and watch us get lazier and lazier.

Face it, the whole machine is a bit of a weird thing. The meek have inherited the earth, natural selection is not really applicable in a lot of ways anymore except for teh worst cases of genetic mutation. But frequently, the "weak" do better than the "strong" in our new societies. I wonder what kind of effect that is going to have after 1000 years or so.

I would say that earth stands a chance of being a real quiet planet eventually.

[Merryprankster]

I do have to agree that Chik-Fil-A is a very responsible corporation. And the food ain't bad, neither.

[red5angel]

the truth is somewhere in between. Corporations need to be regulated for extreme cases. This is where your example sort of fails more misfortune, unless you consider the tobacco companies.
I'm all for allowing someone to seel something as long as I have a complete choice to not be involved. For example, I think cigarettes should be heavily regulated, why? Because I have to walk through the clouds of second hand smoke on my way to work each morning.
However, if you can make lemonade with rat poison in it, advertise that there is rat poison in it, and people still want to drink it, then let them. As long as it can be show it doesn't make it into my water supply, or afect my health in anyway other then by choice, I don't care.
Of course I'm ok with you committing suicide if you want. I say go ahead , as long as its in a quiet, out of the way place and it doesn't involve anyone else.