Blog Entry 16: Let Them Eat Fat

          On a daily basis I come out of work and think to myself if there would be time to eat a full healthy meal at home or if maybe I would need to stop by somehwere quick to get a bite. Now I've noticed I don't work in the "richest" neighborhood and also that there are an abundance amount of schools around. With that being said I estimate at about a 10 block radius there are about five fast food restaurants on a single avenue. Fast food restaurants have been known to target poor income tax communities opposed to the higher income communities. Now why is it structured that way? It's pretty simple, it is highly believed that because the hard working low income tax workers need a bite they can feel perfectly pleased with a five dollar meal at Wendys. This is very tragic towards the lower class citizens because of the amount of calories that are consumed in every bite.

             In the super speed society that we live in today, most people seek the faster, cheaper way to go. And what better use of this saying then with the food we consume. But fast-food food chains thought to themselves that they need something new to catch the eye of the consumer and for the last 20 years they started on a theory of "super sizing". Super size meals have grown extremely popular for the average low class citizen. For a mere seventy-nine cents they can go from a regular size meal to jumbo size. You might think well that's great I just doubled my meal for less than a dollar how much better can it get? But what some don't realize is that they are also going to be doubling the amount of calories being consumed. I've caught myself plenty of times falling for the "super sizing" theory, but then felt guilty after I saw how many more calories I have taken in instead of going for the normal meal. So this causes a great deal of concern because our poor inner-city folk are getting bigger and bigger each day that passes by which can lead to many health issues.

So ask yourself next time what is the difference in calories that I will be taking in between choosing a jumbo meal or a regular one? Well recent studies have show. That the average calorie consumption at a fast food restaurant is around 680 calories. Compare that to 1340 calories in a jumbo meal. This brings many concerns to nutritionists who see that we are also living in a day in which physical activities are at a all time low. So Instead of going the easy unhealthy way use those five dollars to buy some pasta and Ravi sauce. I believe it fills you up a bit more than a jumbo meal at Mcdonalds plus leftovers.