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There wasn’t a date set in stone that I made the decision, but some time last year, likely early on, I decided to forever halt my consumption of fast food. This stance was based on a few, light reasons that I just felt held their weight better than I would with fast food in me - particularly the health standpoint (high cholesterol, high starches, lots of fats) and also the food preparation generally wasn’t that appealing (or left me praying with every bite). So gone were the days of Wendy’s Junior Bacon Cheeseburgers and McDonald’s Quarter Pounders.

My current read is Fast Food Nation. The cover stood out during a trip to Barnes & Noble once, and I put it on the list. Suddenly, I am thankful, grateful and everything in between for deciding to cease the fast food. Allow me to include some excerpts:

“A nationwide study published by the USDA … found that 7.5 percent of ground beef samples taken at processing plants were contaminated with Salmonella, 11.7 percent were contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, 30 percent were contaminated with Staphylococcus aureus, and 53.3 percent were contaminated with Clostridium perfringens …. In the USDA study 78.6 percent of the ground beef contained microbes that are spread … by fecal material.”

“”Rarely do chronic conditions such as obesity,” the CDC [Center for Disease Control and Prevention] scientists observed, “spread with the speed and dispersion characteristics of a communicable disease epidemic.” Although the current rise in obesity has a number of complex causes, genetics is not one of them. The American gene pool has not changed radically in the past few decades. What has changed is the nation’s way of eating and living. In simple terms, when people eat more and move less, they get fat.”

My own reasons for disregarding fast food as a consuming option are even more reinforced. The book also told of what fast food animals (cows, pigs, chicken) are fed: since cattle are now fed primarily protein enhancers to stimulate growth hormones, the meat-producing industry has found clever ways to make up for the rest of the solid feed that cattle require; instead of adding cheap grasses or food scraps, they add… you got it… a bunch of crap. That crap has ranged from dead animals (unused chicken parts, including bones and feathers, typically go to cows, and vise versa) to fecal material (you’d be surprised how they cover those stenches: think bleach) to anything else that these businessmen can get their hands on (it’s no joke that rat parts go into hotdogs).

Mmmm mmm good. If you haven’t begun to give a second thought to that Monster Burger you’re holding in your hands then… well… I’ll let you chomp away.

Eat what you want. But remember that your health doesn’t just belong to you; having to one day rely on family and friends for your hospital visits and operations is a despicable way to treat loved ones. I urge you, and me, to eat health consciously. Can’t go wrong with those greens!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 22nd, 2005 at 6:43 pm and is filed under , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.