Fast Food Permeates the South
The South has a culinary tradition so rich that without it the sum of “American Cuisine” would be little more than turkey and genetically modified corn. That is why I was so disturbed by a recent piece by Zagat entitled 40 Fast-Food Capitals. The gist of the article was to find the 40 most fast food dominated cities and it is not a list anyone should ever want to be on. Sadly, seven of the top 10 cities and half of the list are in the South. Even worse ten of the 40 are in the five states that constitute the Third Coast.I can understand a high concentration of fast food establishments in locals that depend on tourism so Orlando, Miami and Tampa you get a pass. Jacksonville, not so fast. Shame also cloaks the Texas cities of Lubbock, Plano and Houston. In Alabama, Birmingham (#10) and Montgomery (#15) as well as Baton Rouge, LA (#7) also bring a dishonor to themselves. Congratulations to Mississippi who didn’t have a single city scratch the list, the same for tourist heavy New Orleans and Mobile.
As a resident of Alabama I have taken great pride in the back-to-back football national championships and Heisman Trophy winners won by the student athletes at the University of Alabama (2009) and Auburn University (2010). But I am equally embarrassed that Birmingham and Montgomery are in the top 15. In Birmingham there are 73 fast food “restaurants” for every 100,000 residents and Montgomery has 62 per 100K.
This is so disheartening to me. America, and the Third Coast especially, have no reason to be in such a hurry. 20% of us don’t even have jobs so clearly we have time to make a sandwich. I am not saying that we abandon them altogether but we must exercise moderation. We owe ourselves better.
It’s hard to see the draw of fast food anymore. The two things fast food offered – speed and convenience – went away decades ago. As has actual food at many of them. Taco Bell was recently under fire for using unapproved genetically modified material in their taco shells and for only having 80% beef in their 100% beef taco filling. Well Taco Bell has admitted 80% but independent labs have found that the number is closer to 36%. Virtually everything you buy at McDonald’s and Burger King is more corn than whatever they call it – according to The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan it was revealed that the Chicken McNugget is actually 56% genetically modified corn.
And just so you know, genetically modified corn is not real corn. GM corn has proven to be the source of two decades worth of e coli outbreaks. GM corn, in the form of High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS), is also the root cause of the nation’s obesity epidemic as well as the increase in liver disease, pancreatic cancer and type 2 diabetes. In this era of corrupt government it should come as no surprise that Monsanto, the company that invented GM corn, has purchased itself a rather large office space in Washington – they call it the USDA.
Think about that the next time you duck into the drive-thru. I’m not saying don’t order, just think about it. Here’s another short video from our pals Burger and Soda:
Fun Fast Food Facts with Soda and Burger
Here’s a cartoon that cuts through the conjecture surrounding fast food and how healthy it is or isn’t. It’s an adult discussion:
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Review: Burger King Ribs
I was, to put it mildly, apprehensive when I saw a commercial for Burger King’s new “Fire Grilled Ribs.” I have survived the McRib, Hardee’s Fried Chicken, Popeye’s Chicken Pita, KFC’s Double Down, Taco Bell’s BLT Taco and the results of the “King’s” other atrocities from the Kitchen of Dr. Moreau, Chicken Fries and those infamous BK Tacos (a kid burger inside a half-cooked taco shell).
Last week, whilst in the throws of moving from my apartment to my new house, I decided I would give the BK Ribs a try. I was hungry so I opted for the 8 piece combo over the 6 piece. With tax I dropped $10 and with the service I also lost 30 minutes of my life waiting for the only other person in the drive-thru to get their Whopper Jr. combo meal.
Now clearly I was not expecting pork ribs to be healthy. It’s called a splurge. So once I was able to track down the carefully hidden nutritional information I was not surprised by the 12g of saturated fat (6 piece portion) nor the 66% of calories from fat.
However, I was surprised to find that though they looked a good deal like pork ribs they did not taste like pork ribs. The texture was quite off-putting. It was somewhere between a dry rib and those beef jerky steak bites. They were gnaw off the bone tender. They certainly were not smoked but rather roasted with a touch of liquid smoke and brown sugar but no detectable spices or rub. They come dry (which has two different meanings in the case) with BBQ sauce dipping cups on the side. Use as much sauce as possible as it is the only thing that makes these palatable.
It isn’t bad enough that these fast food ribs taste like, well fast food ribs, but they cost as much a REAL ribs. I live in Alabama, there is no shortage of great barbecue and if I am going to plop down $10 for ribs I want great ribs. But what should I expect from a company that professes to let you “have it your way” but that has never been the case.
I once walked into a Burger King and ordered a Whopper made my way, “Fresh ground grass-fed beef, a whole wheat bun free of High Fructose Corn Syrup and hydrogenated oil, vegetables that were allowed to fully ripen on the vine at a farm within 150 miles and REAL cheddar cheese.” They looked at me like I had asked them to fix me something that wasn’t poisonous.
Have your tried BK Ribs? Culinary revolution or porcine abomination? Use the comments below to tell the world what you thought of them.
Obamas Getting Tough On Obesity?
This week we learned, ”People who drank two or more soft drinks a week had an 87% increased risk — or nearly twice the risk — of pancreatic cancer compared to individuals consuming no soft drinks,” says Noel T. Mueller, MPH, lead research associate at the Cancer Control Program at Georgetown University Medical Center. This from the recently published study in a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research, Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention?
The study was done to test a theory that high glycemic beverages like soft drinks and commercial grade fruit juices are a major contributor to pancreatic cancer. The study found that commercial grade juices, though extremely high on the glycemic scale, do not effect pancreatic cancer risk. So what could be the difference?
Oh yeah, juice contains a natural sugar. Soft drinks contain a synthetic one, High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS). Coincidence?
HFCS of course is the brainchild of one of the wealthiest corporations in the world, Monsanto.
This week we also learned that the Obama’s have announced a new child obesity initiative with cheflebrity Jamie Oliver, Let’s Move. This would be exciting if it weren’t such an utter fraud. While Oliver is genuine, Mrs. Obama made her announcement with USDA chief Tom Vilsak (legendary Monsanto lobbyist) and Surgeon General Regina Benjamin (a Burger King consultant) at her side.
Also standing with the first lady was Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, a career politician with absolutely no experience or training in social services or nutrition. Ms. Sebelius has degrees in political science and public administration, the academic equivalents of basket weaving.
With a stroke of his mighty pen, President Obama signed an executive order that outlines the ever expanding federal government’s role in a problem that affects one-third of the school-age children in the country. An issue that he claims as, “one of the most urgent health issues we face in this country,” with all of the sincerity of a fox offering to guard the hen house.
While proper exercise is another key factor in childhood obesity the chief cause is diet. Between diet and exercise, diet is the most important. If children enjoy a proper diet then the amount of exercise they receive in an average school day would suffice. But a diet of processed foods containing HFCS and hydrogenated oils requires much more exercise to negate the negative effects of that diet.
That’s why the Obama’s Let’s Move serves as little more than a diversion from the real issue. The people the President has appointed to make the decisions about what is and is not healthy are not qualified to make these decisions. People like Sebelius, Benjamin, Vilsak and many others do not base their policies on what is best for the country but what is best for their corporate masters.
If President Obama were genuine he would not have traded our children’s well-being for campaign contributions. He likely did not chose his appointees because of careful examination of the facts but more likely to repay the people who financed the most expensive Presidential campaign in history. Clearly they where not chosen based on qualifications. Holding a press conference vowing to end the obesity epidemic while surrounded by the very people championing the chemicals causing that epidemic is at best hypocritical.
