by Thomas Walters

Created on: November 12, 2008

McDonald's: A symbol of good food, ingrained into our brains from the moment we can see. Burger King: As soon as we get off the Chicken McNugget diet as kids and start to enjoy burgers, this is the Church of all who eat them. KFC: Who doesn't love chicken?

Need I say more about how fast food becomes our favorite food in no time. This is primarily due to witty and catching advertising, and, I can not lie, delicious food. MickeyD's has the Arches, Wendy's has that annoying little red-haired girl, and Burger King has the Letter shaped meat inside a bun. These symbols became icons years ago, and they have not lost ground.

Now, as anyone who reads this article knows, fast food kills a person's body. It seduces a person like nicotine. This must drive people crazy. The tongue is
saying' "Yeah Baby, down the hatch!" and the mind is thinking, "Whoa slow down there, Tiger, your stomach won't like me tomorrow." The battle between the two reminds me of a Bill Cosby act in which he describes the conflict of mind and body. When he gets up in the middle of the night, the toes tell him to turn the light on, but the mind's pride thinks it knows the way around the house, and it needs no light to navigate. With fast food it's instant gratification versus knowing what's good for you.

An argument for anyone who believes that fast food companies should not be held responsible for how unhealthy they make their food is, in a word, price.
Fast Food's advantage is it requires a small amount of cash.? You can get a good large burger for less than a dollar. Why would you spend more? Well, heart problems cost more than anyone short of Bill Gates can pay, and healthy food costs (this is a guess) 50 extra bucks a month. Lets see now 50 X 12 is 600 extra per year and over a span of 30 years that turns out to be a lot of money. But wait, 99 cents for a burger, a whole meal probably costs more. A whole meal would end up costing you on the upside of $2.00 for one person. Now I bet I can go grocery shopping and emerge with a sandwich on wheat bread, a cup of milk, and an apple, with less than $2.50 to spend. This would about equal what I spent at the fast food place, and be twice as healthy.

Now another argument on the fast food industry's side, "We serve healthy foods as well as burgers and fries." Yeah, but honestly folks, unless you are the most committed dieter ever, you are out of your mind if you take a McDonald's Salad over a McDonald's Burger. McDonald's has become synonymous with good burgers and that is why people go there. Who goes to a soccer store to get a basketball? Who wants a salad from a company that sells meat?

I know that when it comes right down to it, the person makes the decision, and the decision makes the person, but a nudge in the right direction always helps.

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