Musings on food security and systems, nutrition, and gastroecology
The Guardian posted some photos comparing food advertisements to the real food. And just as you imagine, the adverts are much more appetizing then the real deal. My favorite is the Arby’s beef and cheddar sandwich posted below. Shame on you for even thinking Arby’s would produce something that looked edible.
Arbys beef and cheddar monster
When we were driving across the country recently, we saw lots of billboard signs, mainly in the middle bulge of America, displaying “meatatarians unite.” This I realized later was a Wendy’s ad campaign done about a year ago, promoting the consumption of meat.
The Highly Esteemed Council of Meatatarians is an establishment of meat lovers and eaters whose goal is to eat meat, and only meat, without the inclusion of other non-meat products, while celebrating meat with the utmost regard. Our goal is to continue our dominance atop the food chain and bring meat lovers to a new understanding of their nature, their calling to become true Meatatarians.
Wendys even created viral videos around the campaign like this one in which a head of lettuce devours a hamburger.
I think this is supposed to be funny as is the whole campaign. I find it a bit ridiculous and irresponsible with all of the recent issues of livestock production, food safety and obesity epidemic/fast food industry influence.
Food Network has a funny, yet scary posting on food tattoos. Check out some of the photos but this one is my favorite, on the fat belly no less…and is that a thumbs up?
chicken and biscuits
KFC comes out with a new sandwich. The bread is made of two fried pieces of chicken, with cheese and bacon sandwiched between. Can KFC be sued for this?
A great article in the Economist this week on the demographic shift of Africa – meaning, women are having less children. Let’s give out a shout out to our sisters. Not an easy task in the African context.
Maybe US school lunches programs will finally stop serving tater tots and fish sticks.
A rip on Michael Pollan, by a farmer no less.
Getting your kids to eat well, requires that well, you eat well. Good luck america.
Posting calories on menus of fast food joints. Not a novel concept but a novel law taking effect in New York City this week. By Monday, McDonalds and Burger King will unveil their new menu boards that will post the whopping calories of a Whopper and will put the B back into a Big Mac.
But will the average NYer understand what those calories mean? Does the average NYer know how many calories they should consume each day or even what the heck a calorie actually is? I would bet not. The nutrition literature on calories in = calories out is so confusing to the average consumer that a 1,130 caloric rich lunch of a big mac, order of large fries and a diet coke may not sound that bad at all to some.
With that said, It will act as a deterrent for some, hands down. Now you can compare food item to food item. Besides price, which is often a major factor in whether or not someone buys something, there is another number added to the equation. Now you have a measure of price and of “health.”
The funny thing is, the law takes effect during Restaurant Week in NYC although the restaurants impacted by the law, the major fast food chains, are not the type of places you want to “eat famously” at if you know what I mean…you won’t be seeing calories on the menu of places like the ecogastronomic WD50 or Mario Batali’s Babbo. Should we though? Maybe we should know how many calories are in Batali’s beef cheek ravioli. Or maybe it is just better to not know…
