Chew on this exposes kids to perils of fast food

by Kristin Darguzas (Subscribe to Kristin Darguzas's posts) Aug 7th 2006 10:00AM

Categories: Teens & tweens, Eating & Nutrition, Media

When I was a teenager, I subsisted almost entirely on McChicken sandwiches and caramel sundaes with nuts. Occasionally, I'd throw in a Dorito or two, and I knocked back Pepsi like it was going out of style.

It makes me slightly queasy to think what I put in my body in the days I knew everything and was destined to be young forever. I wish I had seen this book then. Perhaps it would have stopped me.
Chew on This is written by investigative journalist Eric Schlosser, the bestselling author of Fast Food Nation (2001). The difference is, Chew This is aimed at kids 11 and older.

The books is meant to appeal to children's natural curiousity (and fondness for being grossed-out) by taking them through the raising and slaughtering of animals destined to become fast food. Kids will also learn about the potential health consequences of fast food through a pictorial tour of the human body.

Just a few of the facts illustrated in this article about the book make me want to banish myself (and Nolan) from Burger King forever:

Did you know that the meat in one hamburger might have come from hundreds or even thousands of cows?

That one can of Coke contains more than 10 teaspoons of sugar?

Or that Chicken McNuggets have more fat per ounce than a hamburger?

Perhaps the book might be a start in getting your teenager to back away from the french fries.

Source

Comments (9)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

beckamac 8-07-2006 @ 10:05AM

Ever since we watched Fast Food Nation we have banished ourselves and our kids from fast food. Yuck, yuck, yuck!

Scott 8-07-2006 @ 10:06AM

A great guide for avoiding fast food restaurants in your neighborhood and when you travel is Healthy Highways (Ceres Press). Check out HealthyHighways.com

John 8-07-2006 @ 10:41AM

Ugh. More scaremongering by Schlosser. Please keep in mind that he works in the Michael Moore fashion - that is, take small factual elements and distort the heck out of them to fit his agenda. See more of what I mean here - http://www.heartland.org/Article.cfm?artId=19129

ann adams 8-07-2006 @ 11:46AM

I do what I call the french fry allotment. One, or at the most two, junk food visits per month.

I'm not sure what I'll do when they get to high school with its open campus at lunch time but I have 3 years to figure that out.

They're veggie and fruit lovers so I may not have a problem.

Isn't that quad burger obscene? My son and I stopped at BK last night and even he wouldn't eat one of those things.

Belinda 8-07-2006 @ 11:58AM

I would rather teach my daughter about the fast food and eating in moderation because I don't want her to be SHOWN the slauddering of cows and that it takes that many cos to make a burger because I want to eat meat and don't need a child crying becasue she is eatting a cow. She will learn soon where the meat comes from, and it will be from me.

Tony 8-07-2006 @ 12:00PM

I slightly agree with John. I've read that book, off a recommendation from a 'hippy-friend' (who I like dearly) Schlosser can make anybody, even mother Teresa, into Hitler.

Besides, although I rarely eat fast food, I don't want to know what goes into every piece of food I eat. Then I would eat only plants that don't cast shadows.

Lea 8-07-2006 @ 3:27PM

Okay, will try to keep this post from being another book--

Just be aware that the Heartland article that John links to has its own agenda, too. Too often "libertarian" and "free market" means not "make your own decisions" but "protect the status quo for big companies," like agribusinesses.

I agree with Ann (#4) that we need to be aware and decide for ourselves and our children what we think is right. Some people think "no fast food," others (like our family) that it's okay a few times a month, others that it's a weekly or even daily thing.

We need to put our money where our mouths are. If we want better quick-serve menu options, we have to find and buy the good ones that are out there now. One example is Panera's kids' menu with organic and naturally raised ingredients. Others might be the plain hamburgers, rice and bean burritos, lowfat milk, and fruit cups that are now widely available.

I haven't read this book yet, but thought Fast Food Nation was quite solid, and I know a great deal about the quick-serve industry and proper journalism. If the books were inconsequential junk, the industry wouldn't pay any attention. Instead, agribusinesses and their interest groups are launching web sites and commercials to counter the books.

AT THE SAME TIME, as consumers learn more about mass food production, and partly to defuse the effects of books like this one, the chains are offering us better choices today. As consumers, we can move that trend forward by buying those better choices.

Books like Schlosser's do help people learn more and make better decisions--or decide not to change their habits at all.

OK, I'll stop. It's just that this post hits close to home, or, rather, close to blog.

- L

Rob O. 8-07-2006 @ 8:41PM

Fast Food Nation was quite solid, as Lea mentioned. The way that livestock are grown is far more factory-like than most people would ever imagine. And Schlosser isn't advocating that fast food be abandoned. Instead, he's simply encouraging people to purchase real food products made by companies who adhere to some moral principles. McDonalds & the PepsiCo chains treat their employees reprehensibly and offer products that are not real food, but chemically-complex and far less healthy variants of real food that a "mom n' pop" fast food restaurant would serve.

I agree totally with Schlosser's stance that there needs to be much more focus brought to bear on the way the big fast food and beverage companies target children. The way Coke & Pepsi have wormed their way into school systems is predatory and downright insidious. Sure, you can pass on your nutritional values to your children in the hopes that they'll avoid some of the junk, but what about the hours of the day that they're in school?

One Chic Mama 8-08-2006 @ 7:19AM

I have read Fast Food Nation and thought it was very timely. Yet, has it made a difference? Fast Food is creeping up (or has already crept up) on the population of kids and teenagers and biting them in the rear. It's time to see the major fast food players take responsibility for what they are pushing and get rid of the trans-fat, get rid of the high-fructose corn syrup, get rid of the fat-laden decadence on a bun and make some real choices that can affect both our kids and our planet in a very positive way. The demand is there for healthier alternatives but when people choose the "ignorance is bliss" mindset, it just keeps the machine running, churning out stuff that, if we knew what REALLY went into it, we wouldn't touch with a ten-foot pole, much less enourage our kids to eat it.

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