The sole remarkable call (piggybacking, mind you) comes from Friday's edition: "This is to the person who called in complaining about banning guns and trans fat. In the Constitution, it says, 'Right to bear arms.' It does not say anything about 'Right to eat trans fat.'"
When the fervor over trans fatty acids reached peak pitch in this country, I thought to myself (as someone who takes physical improvement seriously after years of not giving a Twinkie in Hell about it), "Well, good one on 'em, then. Maybe something can be done to curb this, raise some awareness, give options."
What makes trans fat so damn unappealing is that unlike calories, cholesterol, or any other type of fat--which the body needs, albeit in sensible quantities--it has no proven benefit, and increases a person's risk of coronary heart disease. Many nations have taken considerable steps to limiting the amount of trans fat its citizenry is exposed to, and finally America has joined in.
"Finally", you said. Hmm...wait a sec. Is this right? Should there be laws made to change what we eat? Can we, as a fast food nation, deal with a KFC bucket free of the stuff that just maybe went a long way toward making it so addictive, in addition to clogging our arteries? Oh sure...it's for "our own good" to futz with the recipes. I'm sure it'll be equally swell when they mandate those federal ID cards and ban guns, right? One seemingly innocuous law passed in the name of the public good opens the door for ten more designed to hitch the puppet strings. It's not right. I don't know why we can't be trusted enough to be given information about this trans fat, what we can do as individuals to lower its presence in our daily lives--IF WE SO CHOOSE--and if other people say, screw it, we all die and I'm gonna go eating a burger the size of a piglet cooked in a defiantly unhealthy way, they should have that right.
Yeah...I really said "finally". Lemme share a familial story with you.
I have a niece who is 11 years old and 200 pounds. She is not being "raised" by her single mother, she is being "lowered" by her single mother. The mama in question is the type of parent that assures a future generation of overweight, apathetic, depressed, unhealthy folks. She wants to be her daughter's "friend". I, mother of none but observer of many, know this to be folly. Children do not need mom or dad as "friends"; to quote more than one person I've spoken with on the matter (people who have actually breeded), "If your child doesn't say they hate you at least once before they leave the house, you're not doing your job as a parent." I suppose in this age of seemingly crazier kids with more avenues of personal expression, mothers and fathers are getting scared. Not of the big bad world their poor sweet babies are going out into--scared of the kids.
Now, a parent may say, "So long as my kid doesn't turn into some drug-crazed criminal, I'll be happy." And being overweight certainly doesn't devalue a human being (praises be!). But an 11 year old who is 200 pounds sets a child up for a future that her mother should fear. There are many parents in her position, unfortunately, and faced with the dilemma of doling out some cash to stuff their child's face with overportioned greasy fast food or fixing a meal made with 93% lean beef, hold the mayo, you don't need the soda have some water or juice--well, which is simpler? Which takes less time out of their day? Simple--the former option, a devastatingly efficient choice that goes a long way towards assuring they will live to see their children die. Unless the parent has equally unsavory habits, in which case, well, it's a race to the finish line.
Parents are not doing this to kill off their children; the simple, quicker option is just there.
Bravo. No really, great stuff. But, um, you just said you're not a parent. Neither am I. Devil's advocate has waaaay too much on their plate to be bothered with such fleshly trifles. I'm responsible for me, and only me. I still don't like Big Bro comin' down with vats of peanut oil and ordering the removal of trans fat from foods. I understand what trans fat is, how bad it is for you...can't people be given the choice? I mean, what if somebody just doesn't care? We all do stuff that's bad for us. Ban trans fat on Wednesday, ban alcohol on Friday. I'd like to see what your blog would look like then.
I can't lie...the whole "ban trans fat" thing sounds great, but it's glossing over a lot of stuff in a way unique to this country. Zero trans fat doesn't mean calories or other fats don't matter. I can just see thrice-weekly visitors to the newly-TFF KFC putting on weight steadily and wondering, "Huh? But...but...." And then the backlash? Maybe.
I'm still not sure whether these trans fat rulings come down to, "The government is bullying the populace again" or, "The populace cannot make the right decisions".
trans fat
By the way, having to change "Parents are trying to kill their children" to "Parents are not trying to kill their children" is the greatest post-publishing edit I have yet made.
ReplyDeleteit should be noted how stupid people can be, freedom of speech sure, but can some people honestly think outside of what their pastor or their local politician tells them? what about a corporation?
ReplyDeleteI came of age in the early 90s, and i remember fondly all the McDonald's commercials aimed at children, especially the McWorld adverts, adults didn't know any better then and kids certainly don't have any control of anything, they are too impressionable, and certain sprawl-mart have menus at their counters that a little too low for adult eye levels
lets go over the McDonald's menu as it stands today,
a regular Hamburger, the original, 250 calories, 9g of fat, 3.5g saturated fat, 0.5g trans fat, it only constitutes 13% of your daily recommended fat intake, now for a burger that ain't too bad
The Big Mac - 540 calories, 29g of fat, 10g of saturated fat, 1.5g of trans fat, 45g carbohydrates, 45% of your daily recommended fat, 51% of your saturated fat daily dealy, notice how i add carbs now, as big and infamous this Pittsburgh born mega-burger is, the patties on it aren't the largest they use, it's mostly bread
the Double Quarter Pounder w Cheese - the biggest burger on the menu, 740 calories, 42g of fat, 19g of saturated fat, 2.5g of trans fat, 40g of carbohydrates, 65% of your daily fat recommended, 96% of your daily saturated fat intake, less bread drops the carbs by 5g, but two quarter pound patties increase the saturated fat content nearly 2 fold over the big mac not to mention an extra gram of trans fat, and since we are talking about this burger, there was a commercial a year ago where a group of black people are sitting around, and the party host want to serve h'orderves but doesn't have any, so his very linebacker sized friend (fat you could say perhaps, but built) pulls out a bag of a dozen double quarter pounders and sticks kabob skewers through them and serves them too some hotties, and the voice over in a very deep masculine commanding order tells you to "Pound One", but i refrain to directing this into a piece about racially directed fast food marketing, just had to mention that quite memorable commercial for this one sandwich
and now you are asking, what about the trans fat? 2.5 grams even for their largest sandwich doesn't seem horrible even if we should have any at all, well.....i'm just getting started
Fries - the very smell can arouse some and disgust others, especially the beef tallow infused kind that McDonald's fries in their partially hydrogenated soybean oils
ReplyDeletea small fry - 13g of fat, 2.5g of saturated fat, hey it's not looking so ba...oh crap 3.5g of trans fat, 30g of carbohydrates, ok i get the carbs, it's potatoes, but for a tiny paper bag of fries there is a gram more of trans fat then their largest burger
a large fry (by the way in the late nineties, after the super-size portion was introduced, they made the super-size bigger and made the large size listed here as big as the original super-size) 570 calories (more then Big Mac), 30g of fat, 6g of saturated fat, and oh shit: 8g of trans fat and 70g of carbohydrates
thats bad, maybe some chicken would be better
Chicken Select Strips (10 piece) - when i first saw pictures of this, i thought immediately they found an item that make their McNuggets look like a fried holy McGrail, 1270 calories, 66g of fat, 12g of saturated fat, and dear me if the 66g of fat doesn't do it the 9g of trans fat will, 92g of carbohydrates, and also 3100mg of sodium
that ladies and gentlemen of the hipster jury, this is the worst non meal-sized item on the menu -
the most fat, the most calories, the most trans fat, the most sodium and the most carbs
(the deluxe large size breakfast meal is the worst thing on the menu but is a whole meal, no need to think about that one, you'll have a heart attack trying to comprehend it about it)
and oh yes 2g of trans fat in their Oreo McFlurry, so your breakfast, lunch, dinner, and desert are waiting for you down the street, inside your sprawl-mart, hell there is also another McDonalds in the same center in Hagerstown, not to mention a 2 story one on the east side, one next to the martins on dual highway, one on the north side next to the golds gym, and one down in the south side near the greyhound terminal
if you want to check out all the nutritional info, it's all available on McDonalds own site, meant for full disclosure of everything on their menu, including the ingredients
the stats for the chicken selects just blow my mind.
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