How do you want your food? Processed? Reconstituted?
Breaded? Fried? Frozen? The choice is yours. Or is it?
As I read the book "Fast Food Nation" by Eric
Schlosser I am taken back by the shocking ways our nation produces our foods.
The paragraph that bothered me the most is:
“After six months of intensive research, the Keystone lab
developed new technology for the manufacture of McNuggets – small pieces of
reconstituted chicken, composed mainly of white meat, that were held together
by stabilizers, breaded, fried, frozen, then reheated. The initial
test-marketing of McNuggets was so successful that McDonald’s enlisted another
company, Tyson Foods, to guarantee an adequate supply.” (digital page 345)
First off, it is sickening to have the words food, manufacture and lab all
in the same sentence. When I think of the word food, I think of family dinners around our kitchen table; with
delicious food that my mom made when we were at school. When I think of the
word manufacture, I think of car
companies; manufacturing cars/car parts. When I think of the word lab, I think of high school biology and
chemistry; creating science experiences in the lab. I definitely don’t associate
these words with the way food is made; nor should these words be associated
with food. I have to admit, that I am guilty to occasionally eating a McNugget
or two. When we take family road trips we usually stop at a drive thru, for
time’s sake.
It is very challenging to constantly find foods that: don’t have
stabilizers added to them, aren’t breaded, fried, frozen or reheated. It is unfathomable
to me that our food industry functions the way it does. Hopefully one day the
foods we put into our bodies won’t be processed and manufactured and instead be
fresh and not mass produced.
I hope so too, and I'm fairly optimistic that we'll have no choice but to live healthier some day. Nature probably isn't going to tolerate unsustainable practices forever
ReplyDeleteI am reading the same book as you and I thought it about the same way you did. I also agree when you say how the food in our bodies won't be processed and manufactured. It would be nice to change the way food is produced since many foods today have been processed so much that are not healthy for us.
ReplyDeleteWhen you gave your own personal definition of food, lab, and manufacturer I thought that was pretty cool. If only your definitions were true with these words :(
ReplyDeleteIt is so true that it is hard to find good, real food these days. No one has time to figure out exactly what they are eating. Food companies should be making it easier for us to feel safe about what we're eating, not the opposite. Gross.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it seems that once you start describing the food industry techniques it's hard to retain the same appetite for it.
ReplyDeleteIt is really disturbing that those three words are used in the same sentence describing food that I'm sure we've all eaten a time or two. And you are right saying that it is hard to find food that we know what we are eating, and that is not good. I hope one day, like Matt said, we are forced into eating healthier one day.
ReplyDeleteAs a big fan of McDonald's chicken nuggets I can say that it is always a little unsettling hearing about how these pieces of "meat" are created. I too am a huge fan of home cooked meals made from scratch and hearing about some issues with fast food chains will make me reconsider those chicken nuggets next time!
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