The first time I watched this documentary, I did not eat McDonalds for one year. I started once again eating McDonalds when seldom guilty cravings would strike me, only to quit once again when my husband who used to work at McDonalds told me about his job on a daily basis. He would explain how not salting a meat patty or grilling the chicken for the salad in enough butter could cause managers to give speeches about “standards.” I started to wonder if even McDonalds salads are processed in trans fat in spite of their being advertised as a “healthy choice.” Such a finding would not surprise me at this point.
All of this being said, it seems that this grotesque documentary, “Super size me,” unreasonably attacks the fast food god of all fast foods when America’s obesity problems are far larger than our good friend Ronald.
If I could for a moment share a personal anecdote from my limited multicultural experience as a high school student. My best friend in my Junior year of high school was an exchange student from Russia named Alex. Alex and I are only two days apart in age, we are both 5’3, and we have similar interests and hobbies. The difference is that at the beginning of the school year, Alex weighed about 110 lbs, and I weighed about 127lbs. By the end of the school year, Alex and I both weighed 127 lbs, and Alex began to bulge and fill out in similar areas of her body to her now American look alike: me.
When I asked Alex what was so different about her life style here in the States compared to Russia, the differences were hard to compensate for. In Russia, she walked everywhere she wanted to go, and then walked for recreation as well. Even though Alex and I tried to walk home from school (6 miles) at least once a week, our level of exercise did not compare. Her meals were structured differently, with her large meal in the middle of the day instead of at the end. The types of food she ate were completely different. Maybe her food in Russia was not processed as much. Maybe it was not as high in fat. She couldn’t really explain what was so different about it.
Through a non-profit organization in my hometown, “The Pioneering Association for Teachable Health,” I’ve learned a bit more about the food we eat in the States. We are heavily dependent upon corn for starters. In Europe corn is grown for livestock exclusively. We “refine” everything. Refined and “enriched” white flower makes up most of our bread. We depend upon cheep refined sugar and other sweeteners in order to make inexpensive food products. The most common sweetener is high fructose corn syrup. Soft drinks are loaded with high fructose corn syrup, but you can also find it in everything from bread, crackers, and cereal, to yogurt and fruit juice just to name a few products. You might easily spend three times as long in a super market if you try to buy only products without high fructose corn syrup and enriched white flower, and you will pay through the nose for such products when you do find them.
Here are the problems with these foods in a nut shell. “Enriched” is simply a nice way of saying that this flower has been striped of all it’s natural vitamins and infused with only meager amounts of vitamins to replace them. The wheat is no longer a rich and complex source of fiber. The result is that your body breaks down the food too fast, and the wheat turns to sugar and ultimately into fat. If white flour doesn’t bother you too much, fine. High fructose corn syrup is the kicker. This highly refined source of sugar (which is extremely affordable by the way) also breaks down too quickly in your body. Ever heard the phrase “it picks you up and then drops you?” This experience is similar. The result is that you feel hungry again soon after eating and you will crave the same white bread and refined sugar in a vicious and unending cycle. This cycle can cause you to feel depressed and perpetually unsatisfied as you binge upon food that has no real nutritional value for your body. This phenomenon also explains the addictive quality of those Big Macs and the depression that the maker of Super Size me experiences when on his McDonalds diet. Another gateway through these foods for depression is a yeast which develops in your gut and feeds off of refined sugar and wheat gluten. This condition is called Candida. Often times, the only effective way to treat Candida is through extreme diet changes that will “starve the yeast.”
So, while McDonalds might embody this kind of food in a large corporation, clearly the problem is much larger than fast food. Americans in general, are willing to compromise the quality and safety of their food for the sake of smaller grocery bills. This is a compromise that European countries are not willing to make. We can see evidence of this in the uproar that European countries made over discovering they had been served genetically modified organisms.
While high school students might not all be interested in nutrition facts about staple foods, I think that this type of documentary and current event could spark discussion and paper topics about what exactly it is we want as consumers. We buy Big Macs thinking that Michael Jordan eats them before his big games, we buy cover girl make up thinking that top models wear it and apply it themselves. Are these subconscious assumptions true? Of course not. Star athletes, top models and super stars have personal trainers and nutritional consultants. You would be hard pressed to find a celebrity who would be willing to put these things into his or her body. So why does the advertising work? Why do we still want this food? Are we too busy for anything else? Too poor? To undereducated? Too preoccupied with the bottom dollar? If we could change what we want, what we buy, what we eat, would we? Or are we happy with the way things are until someone gets hurt?
I can see a variety of research topics, papers, journals, letters, blog posts and arguments arising out of this movie in a critical pedagogy classroom. I think it would be a great way to get adolescents thinking about the motivations that are involved in American society and to evaluate their own motivations as consumers.
Pioneering Association of Teachable Health
242 S. Steele St.
Ionia, MI 48846
616-523-9200
GMO Free Europe
ew.
To start, I liked your small comment about having to spend about 12 hours in a grocery store if you wanted to find would, using the example you used, without high fructose corn syrup. I just wanted to add to that that I have to do that very thing. I went to the grocery store a few weeks ago, not in search of products that were low in HFCS, but in search of healthy products (low cal, low fat). I don’t normally search for the healthy food, so this was new to me – my motto is usually “sometimes you have to splurge.” That motto wasn’t working out for me too well… Anyway, I would find a product I liked and thought was healthy, then I would look at the label and come to realize that while this little jar of goodness only had about 150 calories, there was like 8 servings inside!!! I think it’s crazy how America feels like it needs to fatten people – but then also is aware of how fat we really are getting. And on top of that, companies go ahead and make healthy foods cost more than an arm and a leg.
Anyway. That’s my lil speech.
I agree with everything you said, though. Down with McDonalds!
… but I love their breakfast sandwiches!!!
Hi! I was surfing and found your blog post… nice! I love your blog.
Cheers! Sandra. R.