BraydonSorensen 1

BraydonSorensen
ProfessorLisaPacker
English1010
25November,2015

FeedingusLies

McDonaldsserves119countriesfeeding68million
customers,andoperates35,000restaurantsworldwide.People
acrosstheworldeatafastfoodeveryday.(WIKI)Why,youmight
ask?Itiseasytogetandeatwhileonthego,hencethenick
namefastfood.Tosome,fastfoodhasbecomeadailyroutine,
andMcDonaldsisnottheonlyplaceafastfoodjunkiecanget
theirfix.Wendys,BurgerKing,Innout,Arbys,andTacoBell
arejustafewplacespeopleeatatonadailybasis.WhatPeople
dontrealizeishowprocessedthefoodisandtheloadedamounts
ofsugar,fats,andsodiumthatisinjustonemeal.
When eating food, most people dont realize or take into
consideration where their food comes from and what nutritional
valueithasduetooursocietysonthegomentality.McDonalds
beingoneofthetopfastfoodchainsintheworld,willserve
millions of customers a day. McDonalds claims that the beef
they serve is 100% USDAinspected beef. (Rush) Which sounds
amazingyetsomehowtoogoodtobetrue.Thecattlethattheyget

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their meat from are grass fed cows and are fed grass only up
until four months after birth. They are then sent to feedlots
where they are fed specially formulated feed based on corn or
othergrains.Thisspecialfeedcausesthecowtogrowmuscleand
fatataveryacceleratedrate.Cornfedcowsreachthesizeof
grassfedcowsinvirtuallyhalfthetime,whichiswhyfastfood
restaurantspreferthem.Themeatfromcornfedcattlehasabout
fiftypercentmorefatthanthatofgrassfed.(USDA)
This is the meat that McDonalds serves their customers
highlyfattylowproteinbeef.Theamountofcaloriesthatisin
oneoftheirmealsisveryshocking.IfyoueataBigMac,Fries,
andaCoke,youaconsumingatotalof910caloriesand39grams
of fat. That one meal is sixtynine percent of your daily
calories, not to mention the 1100mg of sodium witch is fifty
percent of your daily calories. (Meal Builder) People who eat
thisonadailybasisconsumehalfoftheirsuggestiveamountof
fatsandcaloriesforthedayinonesitting.
Eatinglikethiseverydaycantakeatollonyourhealthand
asaresult,yourhappiness.Tosomepeople,foodistheirescape
fromtheirproblems. Icouldunderstandthateatingfastfood
makesthemfeelhappyortheyseeitastheirgetawayfromwhat
evertheyaredealingwith.Whenaskedthequestionwhydoyou
eatfastfood,12%statedthattheydiditforentertainmentand

BraydonSorensen 3
or fun. 21% said that some restaurants have some nutritional
foodstooffer.33%arguedthateatingfastfoodisagoodwayto
socializewiththefamily,and69%lovedhowfastfoodtastes.
Thehighestratinganswerthatwassaidat93%wasthatiswas
quickandeasy.(JOTADA)Theseareallvalidreasontoeatfast
food,andallaretrueaboutthefastfoodindustry.Whatgrabs
my attention the most, is that fastfood is very low cost. I
myselfusetobeafastfoodjunkie.Mypreviousjobalwayshad
meonthegosowasconstantlygrabbingsomethingatMcDonalds,
Taco Bell, etc. I didnt realize it at the time, but I was
spendinganywherefrom$400to$600amonthoneatingoutalone.
Realizingthischangedmyviewonfastfoodextremelyfast.Iwas
buyingsomethingthatisinexpensive,butIwasbuyingsomuchof
itthatIwaslosingmoney.Ithensatdownanddecidedtochange
my eating habits, not only to save some money, but for health
reasonsaswell.Ichallengedmyselftonoteatoutforonewhole
monthandasaresult,Ionlyateathome.Itwasveryhardat
first,butIwasabletogoamonthandsaveoverfourhundred
dollars.

Foryears,therehavebeenmanyarticles,documentaries,and
doctorsthattiefastfoodtohealthissues.In2001,theSurgeon
General reported that 300,000 deaths, costing $117 billon in

BraydonSorensen 4
healthcarecosts,werelinkedtoobesity.(Christian)Thereare
alotofmedicalprofessionalsthathavelinkedunhealthyfoodto
messagesonTV,socialmedia,etc.Encouragingpeopletostuff
themselvesfulloffastfood.Thisisveryunhealthy.According
to Kelly Brownell of Yales Center for Eating and Weight
Disorders It really is an emergency. (Christian) Over eating
has been an issue for people all over the world. With
advertisementsonTVtellingyouthatyoushoulddoubleuporbuy
onegettwofree,arewaysthatwearetrickedintothinkingit
isagooddealthus,agoodidea.Forexample,meandmywife
wenttoSubwaytheotherdayforlunch.Weweregoingintoget
ourusualfootlongthatwespiltbetweenthetwoofus.Whatwe
didntknowisthattheyhadadealgoingonthatifyoubuyone
footlong,yougetonefree.Sowhentheyaskedifwewantedto
partakeinthisonceinalifetimeopportunity,webothagreed
togetourown,eventhoughourintentionsweresplitjustone
sandwich.Atthetime,IreallydidntthinkaboutwhatSubway
was advertising. My wife and I only thought about getting
somethingforfree.ItsnotjustMcDonaldsandSubwaythatuse
agooddealtoropeincustomers.Allfastfoodfranchisesdo
thistoconvincepeopletoeattheirfoodandgetthemostfor
theleastamountofmoney.Thisgoesbacktothefoodbeingso

BraydonSorensen 5
inexpensive.Inturnbegininexpensivehascausedpeopletonot
caresomuchwhattheyeatcausingillnessanddisease.
Dietrelateddiseaseisthenumberonecauseofdeathsin
theUnitedStatestoday.InJamieOliversclipTeacheverychild
aboutfood,heshowsthatthethingsthatcausetheleastamount
ofdeathsintheUnitedStatesishomicide,withheartdisease
beingatthetopofthelist.(Oliver)Weliveinaworldwhere
peoplearenotonlytoldbythemediathateatingfastfoodis
ok,butchildrenarelearningfromtheirparentsthatitisokto
doso.Imyselfgrewupinagenerationwherewearetoldthat
eating out was ok. My grandparents would talk about the times
theywouldsitdowneverynightandhavefamilydinner.Growing
upmyfamilywouldsitdownataKFCandhaveachickendinner,
notahomecookedmeal.Whichputuschildreninthemindset
thatnotonlyisthisokbutitiscompletelyhealthy.
Overthelastfifthteenyears,oursocietyhasstartedto
showmoreinterestinournationshealth. Therehavebeenmany
attempts to launch health campaigns to promote exercise and
healthy eating habits. With the food that surrounds us, these
campaignshaveyettoreallymakeadentintherealproblemthat
isaffectingthehealthofournation.McDonalds,Subway,Taco
Bell,Wendysandmanyotherfastfoodchainshavebeenahuge
participantinthedeterioratinghealthofthepeopletheyserve.

BraydonSorensen 6
When serving beef that is 100 % USDA inspected and is loaded
withfat,excessiveamountsofsodium,andhalfyourdailyamount
ofcalories,youcanonlyimaginethatfoodthattheyproducehas
averybadeffectonthepeoplethatconsumeit.

WorksCited
Wikipedia."McDonald's."Wikipedia.WikimediaFoundation,11Nov.
2015.Web.18Nov.2015.
Rush,James."Is'pinkSlime'inMyBigMacandIstheMcRibMade
outofYogaMatPlastic?McDonald'sAnswerstheUncomfortable
QuestionsaboutItsFood."MailOnline.AssociatedNewspapers,21
May2014.Web.18Nov.2015
UnitedStatesofAmerica.UnitedStatesDepartmentof
Agriculture.Http://www.fsis.usda.gov.ByN/aN/a.N.p.,Aug.
2015.Web.18Nov.2015.
"MyMealBuilder."MealBuilder.McDonald's,n.d.Web.25Nov.
2015.
Rydell,SarahA.,MPH,LisaJ.Harnack,DrPH,J.MichealOakes,
PhD,MaryStory,PhD,RD,RobertW.Jeffery,PhD,andSimoneA.
French,PhD."WhyEatatFastFoodRestaurants:ReportedReasons
amongFrequentConsumers."JournaloftheAmericanDietetic

BraydonSorensen 7
Association.Vol.108.N.p.:Elsevier,2008.2066070.Print.
Ser.12.
Stern,Seth."FastFoodIsLinkedtoObesityandOtherSerious
HealthProblems."TheChristianScienceMonitor.GreenHaven
Press,2009.Web.18Nov.2015.
TeachEveryChildaboutFood.Dir.JamieOliver.Perf.Jamie
Oliver.2010.Ted.com.