Fast food? Aren´t Americans a bit silly?

[Don Cool]

I was watching a few shorties on Youtube today and I was reminded that if I can´t blame the gun for killing, how can I blame fast food for the overweight problem?

I live in Denmark, next to me I have both McDonalds and Burger King yet I don´t know anyone who is overweight, sure, a few people with a six pack in their belly due to stop caring when you reach 50, some care, some don´t. But no one close to what I constantly see in US, do we have overweight issues? Yes, it´s only a matter of how far up the ladder the problem goes.

Why blame fast food? No one is forcing burgers and fries down people´s throats? I dont live particularly healthy, I hate veggies, I like my meat but I have been brought up the hard way in extreme poverty, my mother always said: Eating too much is bad for you and I got slapped silly if I stole from the fridge. <----- This is not how you should raise your kids.

What am I getting at then? Responsibility, you alone decide your intake of any given food category and quantity, no one else is doing it for you. Don´t blame the adds, don´t blame the sugar in the bread, blame yourself.

I love to cook, maybe that´s been my saving grace, my better half and friends all hate too cook though, so I doubt it´s that. In Denmark I have been indoctrinated with the term responsibility, something I wasn't taught in Portugal where I come from, I was taught to be number 1, it was me ... then everyone else (Portugal has changed though A LOT in the past few decades, so my upbringing no longer applies).

But it´s the sense I get from many Americans, that they live in this weird fantasy world where they are the centre of the universe and when something bad happens ... it´s everyone elses fault, another problem seems to be low self esteem covered with this narcissistic mask.

Hmmmm, I think I got triggered by watching a few people blaming fast food for all their problems, I know a few Americans, all good, decent and responsible people ( I think) and understand that my title is a bit provocative, sue me :-D

[Don Cool]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Electric Cupcake:

Full Hamlet in Danish, yay or nay?

When it comes to Shakespeare or culture in general I am as dumb as your front door, I used to watch out the window during history lessons and dream of princesses and dragons. I am a computer and languages nerd, the rest is beyond the scope of my understanding, call me limited in my interests. Human behaviour does interest me, so in that regard it´s actually silly of me to not read more than I do.

And btw, I am actually a Portuguese who moved to Denmark as a kid, know just as little about Portuguese culture but I do speak the language.

[Electric Cupcake]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Don Cool:

languages nerd,

That's also an important aspect. Shakespearean Early-Modern English was right in the middle of the Great Vowel Shift, and much scholarship has been done about the pronunciation of his dialects.

I wonder if Danish fits into Iambic Pentameter very well. I've always loved Richard II's elegant, quotable Heroic Couplets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UHaMJEE0MM

[Aesthier]

Yes humans are silly.

[Phénomènes Mystiques]

Cold dish casual dining is still fast food but can be healthy and organic.

[Moogal™]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Delta (EB):

You live in Denmark? Nice. Do you eat herring on bread?

Yeah, Denmark is a responsible country, more than can be said about Sweden.

[Frankie]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Plaid:

Diposting pertama kali oleh Frankie:

The UK are victims of fast food industry too.

So much so there are endless propositions and suggestions that our run-down National Health Service should not give health assistance to these 'overweight/obese people because it's a self made problem and fault/blame based.

So we are told to eat healthy but the realty for the poor people who have to go to endless food banks have a very different perspective and also many people who are working to..

The US are not alone with this potential 'persecution' of the victims' of the industry

I don't know about the UK specifically but I know Europe and other countries bans a lot of the chemicals and substances used in teh U.S. versions. That's why I found the McDonald's test done in Sweden, to study the claims of Super Size Me were a little suspect. They use different and higher quality ingredients. That's not to say that Super Size me wasn't being disingenuous in many respects, however.

I'm still not sure what kind of fat other countries use

What a coincidence the director and filmmaker of Super Size Me - Morgan Spurlock - has been reported as having just died of cancer at the age of 53.

I was just reading your post when it came on the TV news.

[xjulep]

Another victim of Ronaldo McDonald

[Frankie]

Diposting pertama kali oleh xjulep:

Another victim of Ronaldo McDonald

That documentary was 20 years ago...

[Plaid]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Frankie:

Diposting pertama kali oleh Plaid:

I don't know about the UK specifically but I know Europe and other countries bans a lot of the chemicals and substances used in teh U.S. versions. That's why I found the McDonald's test done in Sweden, to study the claims of Super Size Me were a little suspect. They use different and higher quality ingredients. That's not to say that Super Size me wasn't being disingenuous in many respects, however.

I'm still not sure what kind of fat other countries use

What a coincidence the director and filmmaker of Super Size Me - Morgan Spurlock - has been reported as having just died of cancer at the age of 53.

I was just reading your post when it came on the TV news.

Damn :(

[WhiteKnight77]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Don Cool:

Diposting pertama kali oleh WhiteKnight77:

When I go to Wendy's, I spend not quite $10 for a Baconator and small fries.

I am so glad we actually got a somewhat constructive debate going, one of my favourite hobbies is to tease Americans, I tend not to act too trollish and hurtful though. I do think that I might have jumped the gun a bit too fast, your comment reminded me of something I have seen countless times, a dilemma where it is actually hard to blame folks, you eat what you are served, right?

Restaurants in the US seem to serve a lot larger portions than their European counterparts, I have seen portions in the US which are unlike anything I have ever seen in Europe and believe me, I have been around as an interpreter. This would require a lot more self discipline than perhaps even I have, to just leave food at the table because it´s unhealthy to eat that much.

It all depends on the restaurant and what they serve. I have been to some that serve so much, it is equal to two meals and I cannot eat all of it. Other places I have been serve such a small amount of food and I think to myself, "where is the rest of the meal?" In the first case, I will get a doggie bag (a box that you can place the extra food in to eat at another time, or as the name implies, take it home to your dog, though not necessarily a good thing). I do often order a larger order of Chinese food for delivery so that I can have 2 meals out of it. I even cook that way myself, I make stuff for multiple meals such as spaghetti, chili, BBQ, taco/burrito meat, lasagna. These all give me multiple meals which reduces costs. per meal.

[Poyzo]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Goldias:

Fast food is far cheaper than healthy food though

Why do people keep saying this when it's not true.

[doug]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Angel:

I'm not American nor never been to America. But I can see why fast food is popular within their culture. It's more affordable, portions are a lot more generous and it's simply a quick and easy food type to get. America seems saturated with fast food marketing/commercials and it's become the norm there for a long time.

Australia can relate but not to that extent; as many mentioned, healthier options are more expensive. In America's economy (for common households), people/families will take their financial situation into consideration as cost-of-living/inflations increase yet wages are low/remain the same.

It's still cheaper to cook in Australia, and we don't have deliberately engineered food deserts.

[WhiteKnight77]

Diposting pertama kali oleh Poyzo:

Diposting pertama kali oleh Goldias:

Fast food is far cheaper than healthy food though

Why do people keep saying this when it's not true.

Fast food most certainly has gotten more expensive as of late. For about the same price of a Quarter Pounder with Cheese meal, one can get a pound of hamburger meat, cheese, buns and frozen fries and have multiple meals.

[Dutchgamer1982]

in europe people have become more overweight than a few decades ago too...

while our food in the supermarket is generally a lot more healthy than in usa.. and more accesanle... there ARE a lot more "snack oppurtinities" than there were even 20 years ago.

there WERE no candy and soda machines on rail stations.. there was a small botique selling sandwitches and coffee
now you have littlerly fast food chains INSIDE the stations...

likewise on schools there were NO such machines, nor was the food cathered out.. instead you were forced to bring your own lunch from home and a few teachers or parents kept guard..
at BEST you had the concierge sell handmade sandwitches for like 50 cent.. as they did it as cost price whith volenteers preparing it.


remove all that.. including the heavy advertisement (advertising was much stronger regulated upto the 90s).. and we too will be more fit.


why americans are way worse off than us europeans...
-their car centric culture.
**we dutch bike everywhere... and even for other european nations.. while not as bike frantic.. our public transport is much better and walking to places is normal.. european city has pedestrianised centers.. america you can't go ANYWHERe without a car. this is by design everything is made on purpuse as deadly and unfriendly to anything but driving.. and this made the american fat. they won;t even walk across a street to something on the other side..

-this car dependancy in turn makes for americans going to the shop MUCH more a hassle than for us dutch who litterly have fresh produce affordable near us..
if you shop for a week or more.. you more likely going to buy stuff thats full of preservatives.

****fresh produce is also prohibitingly expensive in many area's of the us. If you live in a poorer neighbourhood of the usa.. than you usually have few shops near you.. and their prices are much higher... a bag of fresh potatoes will cost much more than potato chips...
again this is due the chain.. if your idea of a shop is bigboxmart.. than where they aint things are expensive.. and bigboxmart will want to have food with long shelf lifes..
where in europe we have much smaller stores with much fewer items on inventory allowing better quality and more spread..

than there is the american goverment :
**american processed food.. legalation in europe has banned many aditives that are legal in the usa. aditives that are bad for your health
**american goverment also has pressed the use of corn (syrup) in insane amounts.. this has made american food unbearingly sweet to the european pallet. (your bread contains more sugar than our cake.. our bread contains NO sugar)
->
while our goverment has limited the amount of salt and sugar than can be added.. for example our processed food now contains 35% less salt and 20% less sugar than it did 20 years ago.. while in usa those already much higher amounts kept high or went up..

if you all of the sudden remove halve of the sugar out of a thing.. people won't like it.. but if you gradually remove 1% of it each year.... than people are weened off it...

finally culture.. while this IS reinforced by all of the above.. if everybody around you is fat.. than far gets normalised... if not you stand out.. and are more likely to correct yourself..
same with unhealthy eating habits... monkey see, monkey do.


an american idea of a home made recepy
: mix 3 types of processed powders, and add more sugar, and an egg.

to americans thats "normal"
to an european that invokes an instant you are completely MENTAL thats not cooking!

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Diposting pertama kali oleh WhiteKnight77:

Diposting pertama kali oleh Poyzo:

Why do people keep saying this when it's not true.

Fast food most certainly has gotten more expensive as of late. For about the same price of a Quarter Pounder with Cheese meal, one can get a pound of hamburger meat, cheese, buns and frozen fries and have multiple meals.

I thought 5 guys was cheaper then mcdonalds. Went in got 5 meals for me and my family and it came to $118.74 plus a 15 dollar tip.