However, the bloom falls off the rose when some corporate research chef works with a CFO to produce a menu item that absolutely positvely should not be made available to already obese Americans. That's right. I am talking about the Double Down. Perhaps you have seen it advertised on television or in the print media as Monterrey and Pepper Jack cheese with bacon strips sandwiched in between two fried chicken breasts with a special sauce. This gives a whole meaning to the word "chicken sandwich" with the chicken serving as the bun. What of course will not be advertised is the fact that it will have 540 calories, 1,380 milligrams of salt and believe it or not the "healthy grilled chicken breast option" actually has 1,430 milligrams of salt, which is insane given the American Dietetic Association recommends a daily intake of 1,500 milligrams of sodium. Let's not forget the sandwich packs in 32 grams of fat accounting for most of the calories.
I was impressed when KFC rolled out its 395 calories for $3.95 menu option and had us UnThink fried over roasted chicken. But the Double Down is plain dumb and ill conceived given the epidemic of obesity in this nation for the sake of making a buck. Yes, I know the counter argument that "it is a free country and Americans can choose not to purchase this item for the sake of their health" which is bullshit. We all know that KFC would not make this investment without supporting it with millions of dollars of advertising to convince consumers tjhat they have to Double Down. Let us also not forget that fast food corporations are clued in to the fact that menu items loaded with fat, salt, sugar makes us crave more fat, sugar and salt. If you think I am making this up please read Kessler's "The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite" which reports on the actions being taken by food companies to make you crave their offerings -- even though they absolutely know they are not good for you to consume more than an occasional basis.
So, hopefully we can have a current events conversation with students this week about social resonsibility of large food conglomerate's, like Yum's KFC brand, and not doing things that negatively impact the health of American consumer over the return to shareholders. So if you gotta double down, do it at your local casino. You might lose a little money but will not gain a ton of heart clogging calories.
2 comments:
I agree but at the same time disagree! I think eating out should be done occasionally I do not think the problem is KFC but the culture in general. Most kids I get in have no idea where to start in the kitchen. I even did a demo for some older adults in their late 40's and the had no idea how to even fabricate a chicken. I remember watching and learning from mom and grandma. But these kids rarely have a home cooked meal nor is it expected of us as a society anymore. So my question is what action should we take disgust with? The company that making a profit? The downfall of society that does not cook at home? The society that can not grow a simple garden? The society that is to lazy to cook? the society that is so industrialized that they have little to no option for any self sustaining food? Don't get me wrong I agree with the Bullshit comment however have we not created this as a society norm? Have adopted this as the norm for generations. So how do we bring society moral food code back to individuals and take it away from the companies!!??
Excellent point. We have to do it one student at a time in our classrooms to be better consumers when dining out and not fearing the idea of making a home cooked meal, even though it is disappearing from too many time starved, cash strapped families. It also comes from people like Jamie Oliver coming to America and teaching healthy cooking on television. At the end of the day the worst thing we can do is to do nothing. By the way, your points are underscored in the book the McDonaldization of Society by Ritzer which would make an eye-opening summer read.
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