Fast Food Nation

L

luvmylabs

Cathlete
I don't want to offend anyone by bringing this up, If I do I apologize in advance.

I got am email from BeachBody about Fast Food Nation. I don't think I will have the heart to go see this movie, but it makes me think more about meat in general.

I have been reading Eat to Live, and Rave Diet, which discourage meat eating, so I have been doing this for a few days now.

What do you think about this movie, I think it hits theaters this week, but there is a book, I am going to buy the children's version of it called Chew On This for DD.
 
I have the book and am reading it now. I've also read "Eat to Live" and "The Food revolution". I'm so glad I've read these books. They are definitely eye openers.
I'm very interested in seeing the movie. What does Beachbody say about it? Do they recommend seeing it?
 
I got the email from beachbody as well. The video is suppose to show footage at the slaughterhouse. I don't think I can handle that. The one thing the email mentioned was that they say most fast food hamburgers contain fecal matter. That's all I need to hear! Not a temptation anymore! Marnie
 
I know that I am the minority on this forum,as we raise beef for a living. All I am going to say is that peta and other groups of like mind falsify their coverage of these things. They take snippets here and there and paste and glue them together. What you see on this videos is not what really goes on. I can more than assure you that the beef that you eat is a heck of alot better for you than the french fries that are loaded in saturated fat and the super sized soda.
Heather
 
I read the book and barely ate meat for 6 months afterwards - then I had a bite of steak, then a pork chop the next week, and now I'm back to a meat-eating diet. I do want to see the movie, and as the prior poster said, I'm sure it will be edited to further the POV of the movie-makers. But still, the book was pretty horrifying, even if they just picked out the worst of the worst offenders, it's scary to see the background of the meat we eat. But for me I hate it when I go fishing with my husband and the poor little trout fight for life before we fry them up for lunch, but I have no problem buying fish at the fish counter at the grocery store. I guess the author of Fast Food nation would say I'm part of the problem...I sort of know the background of the meat I buy but I still buy it...
 
After seeing Oprah and Dr. Oz (I think that is his name) and discribing how meat is digested, it gave me pause to think. He said that fruits and vegetables are digested in 12 hours. Meat on the other hand takes two to three days to rot in your intestines. I was a little freaked out at first but then decided that we will have beef only twice a week and will incorporate at least three vegetarian meals a week. Grass-fed organic beef is a wonderful addition to any diet. I think the way to go with meat and dairy,is to make sure sure it is hormone free.
 
If humans are omnivores, how can organic beef "rot in your stomach" when it's one of the foods your body is designed to have?

I wish we could afford organic meats. We don't eat much red meat anyway. Sometimes I think if I eat another chicken breast I will start laying eggs!

Susan L.G.
 
>If humans are omnivores, how can organic beef "rot in your
>stomach" when it's one of the foods your body is designed to
>have?


Good question!

And according to who is meat one of the 'foods' our bodies are designed to have?

We may be able to eat an omnivirous diet because it allows us a better chance of survival (humans can adapt to eat a more varied range of diet than can carnivores, for example), but there is much physiclogical evidence that we are not designed to eat meat, at least not in any quantity (perhaps beyond that for immediate survival in crisis situations?). From the length of our intestines, to the make-up of our dental work, to the composition of our stomach acid, we are much more herbivorous than carnivorous.
 
About two years ago I went on a no red meat eating plan. I lasted almost seven months and one day I simply cracked! I had an In-N-Out burger, no fries or drinks just a simple burger. OMG I was sick with cramping, bloating, nausea and the list goes on for several days. That doctor oprah has on sometimes said it took days to digest red meat, and for me every cell in my body was rebelling! Yet during those seven months I lost weight, was full of energy and was never constipated. I just know that my body was rebelling and punishing me for that burger as it well should have. I wish I would get that sick every time I ate beef so eventually I would lay off permanently. I still ead red meat but maybe 1 or 2 times a month!
BooBoo39
 
I know I could not stomach seeing the movie - it would be much too upsetting. I do eat animal byproducts (poultry, seafood - and OCCASSIONAL beef/pork, but that's very rare). The more educated I become, the less I can stomach eating it. I feel better physically when I don't, as well. As for our diets and eating of beef - our bodies were designed to digest proteins, yes. But our caveman ancestors also ate it occassionally - they subsisted much more on grains, fruits and vegetables than on protein - and the protein was generally lean (seafood and wild game, depending upon where they lived). Now, people eat hormone-injected, fat-fed, 24 ounce porterhouse steaks, and fried burgers every day. Not even remotely the same diet. Remember - Mad Cow is a Man Made disease - because the "industry" that is the beef industry decided they knew better than nature (cows are herbivores!) and decided to feed cattle chopped up other cattle to increase the meet production!! Sick!!
Think about that the next time you take a bite.
One last thing, and then I'll get off my soap-box:
Prickly-Pear = you don't "raise beef" (as if you're tending a field of steaks). Beef is a by-product. You raise ANIMALS - in your case, cows - living beings that you then sell to slaughter for profit. This kind of thinking is what Fast Food Nation is about - this disconnected thinking of food not coming from an actual place, but rather, just appearing. In this country we kill 50-60,000 cows EVERY DAY to feed the gluttons that we have become. We grow more corn to feed cattle than we do to feed people. And more water is consumed for the same purpose. Next time you walk through the grocery store, instead of just shopping, look around. Every thing came from somewhere. Just imagine the quantities of everything it takes to make everything. Check out the freezer case of turkeys and see not plastic wrapped packages, but actual birds. It is truly eye-opening to consider where it all comes from. It actually boggles the mind. Perhaps if we each had to slaughter and/or grow our own food, as our ancestors did, we would become a more thoughtful and healthy society.
The end (I'm done now). Thanks for your consideration.
 
That is why I love living here in Alaska. My freezer is full of organic meats such as moose, deer, halibut and salmon. No hormones and I know how it was processed (by me and my husband).

Sherri
 
Heather, I often wonder why there isn't a huge movement and lots of books encouraging us to boycott the giants that make soft drinks. It is certainly a major cause of childhood obesity.
 
>
>One last thing, and then I'll get off my soap-box:
>Prickly-Pear = you don't "raise beef" (as if you're tending a
>field of steaks). Beef is a by-product. You raise ANIMALS -
>in your case, cows - living beings that you then sell to
>slaughter for profit. This kind of thinking is what Fast Food
>Nation is about - this disconnected thinking of food not
>coming from an actual place, but rather, just appearing. In
>this country we kill 50-60,000 cows EVERY DAY to feed the
>gluttons that we have become. We grow more corn to feed
>cattle than we do to feed people. And more water is consumed
>for the same purpose. Next time you walk through the grocery
>store, instead of just shopping, look around. Every thing
>came from somewhere. Just imagine the quantities of
>everything it takes to make everything. Check out the freezer
>case of turkeys and see not plastic wrapped packages, but
>actual birds. It is truly eye-opening to consider where it
>all comes from. It actually boggles the mind. Perhaps if we
>each had to slaughter and/or grow our own food, as our
>ancestors did, we would become a more thoughtful and healthy
>society.
>The end (I'm done now). Thanks for your consideration.

Very well said! That's all I'm sayin'.
:)
 
Yes organic meat "rots" in your stomach. The point was to eat it less frequently thus giving it time to exit the system. Organic grass fed beef is more sustainable and envirmental friendly. It is also kinder to the animals. I know this sounds hypocritical, but everyone does the best they can. My oldest daughter is a vegetarian and I can see both sides of the coin.
 
I don't believe meat rots in my stomach, unless that's how you're defining digestion, as the systematic breakdown of food into usuable parts. Leaves and dead flowers do the same thing, only we call it mulching.

It follows that all food rots in the stomach then. It just may be easier for the body to break down plant matter than animal matter.

I don't think society at large (ha- no pun intended!) reallizes how little protein you need each day, and that there are plenty of sources for it besides animals.

I do believe humans were 'meant' to eat meat. We have the teeth and musculature for it. I don't think eating meat is a moral wrong; however, the way we treat the animals is shameful.

I also reallize for something to live, something else has to die - including plants.

It's sad that the world population has gotten so out of control that providing food for the very same humans also has gotten out of control, leading to the horrible conditions for the animals we eat.

Now I'm depressed. Sigh...
 
I remember years ago, I worked in a predominately vegetarian restaurant. People would ask me what "tofu" was (okay, I'm showing my age again!), and when I'd tell them they'd say "Oh, gross!" I always wondered what they'd do if they had no idea what "hamburger" was, and someone had to explain it to them. The disconnect between the "animal it was and the meat it became" is just bizarre to me. And I have a friend who claims to be such an animal lover, but when I say something about the meat industry and how horrible the animals are treated she just puts her hands over her ears and says, "I don't want to hear it! I don't want to know!" How can anyone not know where meat comes from????
 
Alright, I tried to resist this one but I'm caving. I don't want to be a troll (I have a shamefully low post count and this topic is historically controversial), but I just have to share. Sorry in advance for the long post. To me, this issue really a no brainer. Veggies and fruit are super healthy, meat and other animal products not so much. Sure, eating some meat probably won't hurt you, but it's certainly not a health food or a necessary part of a healthy diet. I'm quoting Dr. Fuhrman (who has helped me lose 14 lbs. in 6 weeks!):

"More than a thousand well-designed studies have led to all major health authorities around the world to conclude that saturated fat (i.e. fat found in animal products) is a leading contributor to high cholesterol, heart disease, and many cancers. In spite of that, some still believe the earth is flat, and saturated fat is not harmful.

Fat soluble petrochemicals such as PCB’s and dioxin, as well as other toxic elements such as mercury are transferred to humans predominantly via the fatty portions of fish, dairy, meat, and poultry and in that order. Fatty fish that are rich sources of omega-3 fats are also typically heavily contaminated with harmful pollutants.

Animal products contain no fiber, and almost no antioxidant vitamins such as vitamins C, K, E and folate. They also are lacking in all the anti-cancer phytochemicals, bioflavonoids, lignins, and carotenoids that are so essential to protect us against chronic illnesses, immune system disorders, and a premature death."

I read Fast Food Nation and I may see the movie. I don't think I could stand the slaughterhouse scenes either, but it is of some comfort that those poor animals aren't suffering for me.

I'm glad that us humans can adapt to and survive on a variety of foods, but I'm even more glad that I can choose the optimal diet, which is a balanced vegan diet in my opinion. And there's lots of evidence that humans are closer to herbivores than meat eating animals. Here's some info I dug up on the "internets" (as W calls it).


Meat-eaters: have claws

Herbivores: no claws

Humans: no claws


Meat-eaters: have no skin pores and perspire through the tongue

Herbivores: perspire through skin pores

Humans: perspire through skin pores


Meat-eaters: have sharp front teeth for tearing, with no flat molar teeth for grinding

Herbivores: no sharp front teeth, but flat rear molars for grinding

Humans: no sharp front teeth, but flat rear molars for grinding


Meat-eaters: have intestinal tract that is only 3 times their body length so that rapidly decaying meat can pass through quickly

Herbivores: have intestinal tract 10-12 times their body length.

Humans: have intestinal tract 10-12 times their body length.


Meat-eaters: have strong hydrochloric acid in stomach to digest meat

Herbivores: have stomach acid that is 20 times weaker than that of a meat-eater

Humans: have stomach acid that is 20 times weaker than that of a meat-eater


Meat-eaters: salivary glands in mouth not needed to pre-digest grains and fruits.

Herbivores: well-developed salivary glands which are necessary to pre-digest grains and fruits

Humans: well-developed salivary glands, which are necessary to pre-digest, grains and fruits


Meat-eaters: have acid saliva with no enzyme ptyalin to pre-digest grains

Herbivores: have alkaline saliva with ptyalin to pre-digest grains

Humans: have alkaline saliva with ptyalin to pre-digest grains

Based on a chart by A.D. Andrews, Fit Food for Men, (Chicago: American Hygiene Society, 1970)
 
Pixiesis,

Thank you for the additional info. I was just curious about how everyone felt about this subject.. I am reading Eat to Live now, by Fuhrman.. I used to think vegetarians and Vegans were nuts!!! but I have been only eating this for a few days now, not even a week, and I feel so much better already, my 2 year old never cared for the texture of meat in his mouth, I am always picking meat out of something for him, last night , he took my salad bowl from me and dug right in..:) , I wonder if he was a natural born Vegan!!:) The more I read on the subject the more I don't need eat. I just checked out Fast Food NAtion from the library yesterday, so I will be reading that once I finish Eat to Live, which is taking me forever to read for some reason.
 
Hi luvmylabs! I'm glad you liked my crazy long post! I just posted a new thread about my experience with ETL. I think you'll really like how you feel on Dr. Fuhrman's plan. Good luck to you and to your little guy.
Amy
 
I read FFN years ago when it came out, and really enjoyed it. Of course like all things it should be taken with a grain of salt :D

Regarding meat, DH and I don't eat alot of it, because I think it's expensive. But we do eat it on occasion simply because we enjoy it. There are lots of things out there that aren't meant to be the bulk of one's diet but that can be enjoyed moderately as part of a varied diet. Of course if someone has an ethical objection that's a different story :)

Sparrow

My garden is filled with papayas and mangos
My life is a mixture of reggaes and tangos
Taste for the good life, I can live it no other way
- Jimmy Buffett
 
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