Is Fast Food Destroying Your Life?
Friday, April 4th, 2008
“The journey of a thousand pounds begins with a single burger.” –Chris O’Brien
Every day, millions of people around the world stop by their local McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, and Taco Bell. These people are in a rush, looking for convenience, or just do not feel like fixing any food in their own home. They order value meals with Biggie Fries and a Biggie drink, paying $5 or more per person.
These people understand that they are paying for convenience, but they do not understand the other high costs associated with eating at these fast food establishments on a regular basis. Eating at fast food restaurants diminishes a family’s “togetherness,” makes them psychologically dependent on the food , forces them to spend more time and money than they are expecting, and destroys their health.
The first added cost that fast food chains give to their customers is the fact that customers lose valuable family time. The fast food industry makes being in a rush a very acceptable part of everyday life. Instead of waking up in the morning and sitting at the table eating breakfast with your family before work and school, everybody wakes up at the very last possible second; quickly taking their showers and then heading off in their different directions; stopping to grab food on the way. Then, on the way home, one of the parents usually grabs a to go order from the nearest place to bring home for the family. Then, the family will grab their own order and go eat in their own individual rooms.
There are very few times throughout the day that families have the opportunity to be able to spend any kind of quality time together. I understand the busy lifestyle of families these days; kids have their extra-curricular activities and parents have long work weeks. Each day, these families should make it a goal to eat at least one meal together. Instead of trying to get as much sleep as possible, these families could wake up 20 to 30 minutes earlier and plan on having a good healthy breakfast. If the kids are old enough, another possibility would be for every night of the week, have a different member of the family cook the dinner. This would be a great, and sometimes adventurous, way to spend 30 minutes together as a family. On top of that, it would teach children cooking skills they need in order to live a healthy life.
