Today is my annual jury duty day. I get called up every year yet my wife never gets called. Don't know why. She votes too. Anyways, they don't have a frig, so I don't bother sack lunching it. I am aware of the ills from fast food. The health, social, and environmental impacts probably are worse than driving. But I like the taste. So I indulge myself once a year as an illicit reward for the 6-8 hour ordeal. Am I fooling myself that because it's so infrequent, I'm not really making an impact?
McDonalds sells somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 million hamburgers every day. Think about that for a second... On the one day you eat fast food, you're 0.000025% of the problem (if we ignore everything else they sell, and all other fast food chains). That means for the year, you're .000000068% of the problem. Personally, if i were you i'd be more worried about getting the runs from that greasy stuff, if you're system isn't used to it... If you ask me, the problem with fast food isn't any of the impact you mentioned - it's the obesity it causes in such a huge percent of our population. That leads to higher medical costs, lower productivity, and overall a worse quality of life for everyone.
Eating fast food once a year? Very, very bad. How do you expect to help the economy if you don't eat fast food more often?
I've just been thinking lately that its a shame that I've been unemployed for a year, but never called for jury duty. If I ever get a job again, they will probably send me a notice during my probation period. As far as fast food, yes you are bad when you eat it, but its okay for me to eat it. :madgrin:
So what specific fast food were you thinking of indulging in burritos? Is there an independently owned fast food joint near the court house that you can patronize (so at least you'd be supporting small businesses)?
Yeah, I think moxiequz is onto something. If you plan on indulging yourself, take a little bit of time to find a cute little family-owned place. A little more research might find a family-owned place that does vegetarian and/or vegan well. Unless, of course, you have a serious intent to eat a big ole greasy slab of overly-processed meat-like substance originating from unknown sources. If that's the case, knock yourself out!
You could always pack a lunch from home that didn't need to be cooked or refrigerated. Like say, an apple, a banana, a bell pepper, some cookies, and maybe a little bag of mixed nuts, seeds, and dried fruit. Cheaper, more nutritious, less wasteful...
Almost all McDonald's stores are independently owned franchises, so eating McDonald's supports a small business. Once a year, no problem, you can't get much more moderate than that. I personally don't like Maccas food, I prefer Hungry Jacks (Burger King).
Go to a health food store and buy some activated charcoal capsules. After eating a suspicious meal, pop a couple of the capsules. My wife and I were traveling in Europe a while back, and ate a meal that didn't agree with either of us. I popped some charcoal, and my stomach calmed down. My wife didn't approve of the stuff, and she got really sick and ended up staying in the hotel for several days while I played tourist. Now she carries charcoal whenever she travels, and has used it successfully several times. Just my unblinded N=2 study... It turns out that activated charcoal has been used medically for ages. It soaks up just about everything, and renders it inert. Particularly food with bugs in it that you're not accustomed to. The one warning is that it also soaks up drugs, so if you depend on them, the charcoal is going to deactivate most of them as well. Another warning - I'm talking about human consumption quality activated charcoal. The charcoal that you grill on is not edible.
You're gonna be a fattie... you're gonna be a fattie... Neener neener neener... As for is it ok once a year... sure... sure it is... if you wanna be called fattie. I eat fast food once a week. But I've always been fat...
Ah yes, true. I meant non-franchised, non-chain local restaurants. I understand McDonald's and other stores are independently owned but it's still nice to support worthy businesses that aren't seen in every freaking strip mall across the US. That said I don't mean to imply that all franchise or other types of chains are universally bad (hell, I'm Peets devotee and one of my favorite bagel shops is part of the Bagel Street Cafe chain). And I've had plenty of indifferent or flat out horrid "family cafe" dining experiences. On the whole though the best 'fast food' I've had tends to be with restaurants or cafes that haven't expanded past a few stores at most.
That goes double if you put lighter fluid on your charcoal. Triple if you have already lit it on fire.:flame:
Define fast food. Is Subway fast food? They just make a sandwich for you. "The health, social, and environmental impacts probably are worse than driving" Even Mcdonalds sell's a salad, so it's still your choice about how healthy you eat. Also, all food has environmental impact, some worse than others of course. I don't see the existance of fast food as a problem. I see the reliance on fast food by lazy and/or cheap people as a big problem though.
I just watched "Food Inc " on DVD. They show a poor family eating fast food ,then show them shopping at a grocery. They literally cant afford to buy vegetables whereas the fast food is cheaper.
I get called for jury duty every 3 years like clockwork. During lunch break, I take a very brisk walk and find some local spot to grab take out (ethnic food, if at all possible). I figure the walk makes it all OK and will help me get through the rest of the afternoon. Also fun if the courthouse is some place I don't usually hang. But no, one fast food meal a year won't hurt.
One day is assuming that you dont get on a 6 month murder trial. Im self employed and cant afford to do jury duty. I was out of town when I received my last jury notice. I was not able to respond nor attend. Odd thing is that was 4 years ago. No repercussions and no more yearly notices. Not that Id recommend that anyone avoid their civic duty. I just cant do it.
