Food Tech: Now We Know How Americans Became Obese – Burgers and Fries and Fat and Salt and Tricks of the Trade
I don’t often watch the show Food Tech, but today when I viewed it to see if there was some redeeming quality in the information; I found out how people in this country became OBESE. It’s happening in other countries as they try to westernize their food establishments, so armed with this conclusion – it might prevent some folks around the world from suffering the same fate of fatness.
Food Tech took to the field to see how the various components of cooking hamburgers and french fries actually are done from field to fast food joint. I was aware of most of the processes involved in the supply chain, but a few things were revealed that made me realize that this industrialization of our fast food made people fortunes while making so many people fat and addicted to burgers and fries largely because it became convenient.
I can imagine that Obesity would have been rare had people been forced to raise their own cattle, grow their own wheat to bake buns, pickled their own cucumbers with garden-grown dill and garlic, harvested their own tomatoes after growing them to perfection on the vine, tended their garden to grow iceberg lettuce, and perfected the processing of cheese to get it to melt evenly on the grill.
The chances that anyone would take all of that on and repeat it frequently would have surprised most of us! Then they would have to have acres upon acres of potato plants and turn spuds into fries with oil that they pressed from some nut or vegetable while they were drying salt from their ocean property. Meanwhile, they have to harvest sesame seeds and onion seeds, too. It boggles the mind how many different food processing systems from different regions of the country have to come together daily to supply the fast food establishments with the goods that comprise your typical hamburger and fries.
The systematic and mechanized way that our country manages crops and animals have allowed the burger and fries phenomena to grow exponentially into having three or four choices of franchises on most major intersections in most towns and cities across the country. Sure, there are some of the Mom and Pop Burger Joints that make their beef patties from scratch and support the local growers for produce and baked goods. Still…most of the burgers and fries eaten daily are made from processed foods that provide large quantities of ingredients to make their way to restaurants inexpensively and rapidly.
The real cost is not seen at the burger palace! The REAL cost of eating burgers and fries is found in the hospital bill when you have consumed thousands of burgers and fries over the years which resulted in a heart attack, cancer, liver disease, or other complications from obesity and degenerative diseases. The human body just was not designed to deal with the artificial chemicals, the synthetic hormones, the excess salt, the lack of nutrients, heavily saturated fats, or the deficiency of energy in this type of food. It takes its toll…
Did you know that a cow enters at 800 pounds and goes to 1200 pounds within weeks before slaughter, being pumped full of synthetic hormones and fed feed to put on more weight and fatten the meat for the market to produce hamburger patties? The hormones given to the cattle account for an additional 7% which could easily make one surmise that those chemicals induce a comparable response in the human body. Thank goodness you have alternatives!
You can break the cycle of fast food burgers and fries by purchasing healthy grass-fed beef patties and other cuts of meat. When you cook them at home in your own kitchen, you can control how much salt, oil, condiments, and cheese go on your better burgers. You can substitute iceberg lettuce for healthier greens and use organic mustard and ketchup along with onions, pickles, and tomatoes from organic growers. You can build a better burger.
You can also find organic potatoes and use healthy oils with sea salt and organic spices to season your french fries. You can use organic ketchup or make an dip that comes from fresh organic ingredients that contribute to your wellness, instead of that future heart attack. Better yet, you can bake that potato or boil it and make some mashed potatoes for a change. When you prepare these foods yourself, they tend to be much healthier for you and you can still make them exactly the way you love them. Make them ‘your way’ in your kitchen!
The Food Tech episode was all about the steps that it takes to get the whole cheeseburger and french fries to you. It amazes me that our accomplishments in industry and technology solves the problem of mass production, yet it still forces us to ask if this is the healthiest choice for us. I haven’t eaten at Burger King or Dairy Queen or McDonald’s or any other burger joint for quite some time…too long to count. I do enjoy my own cooking of healthy beef, turkey, and veggie patties into burgers, but I still won’t throw cheese on them. I prefer sauteed onions, balsamic vinegar, and mustard. No buns for me!
You have to make a conscious decision: Processed foods and fat…or healthy sources of beef, organic produce, sea salt, and organic oils and lean on me? It’s important to know your options!
