My Nation of Food

She eats one for every meal. Can't you tell?

Noriega, Aaron

ENG 101, Weds. 6pm

1/28/13

My Food Nation

What is fast food? My definition of fast food would be, a convenient business that serves food in timely manner for people who are just too lazy to cook a proper meal for themselves. Fast food places serve meals that take less preparation time to cook or serve to a customer.  Growing up, fast food was always a choice. But, we were picky on where we would eat fast food. We knew fast food wasn’t healthy but from time to time my mother sometimes wouldn’t have the energy or time to cook.  I remember at times when I would get good grades, behaved, or if we had the extra money we would go and get desserts like shakes or ice cream from McDonalds. My favorite place would be Jack In the Box. They have everything and they serve breakfast and desserts all day. I didn’t think much on how bad fast food places were until I was about 15 years old.  About same time a teenager would take a health education class. That’s when it really taught me about fast food places and about preservatives, trans fat, and calories.

Looking back at on everything I’ve learned through my course of life, I would say fast food is bad for you. I remember once watching TV and heard that two out of three Americans are over weight. I can’t remember if it was a direct cause of fast food places but I’m sure it has a play little role in it.

For the past seven years I was in the Navy. Out of those seven years I spent about four years doing deployments on a ship or in Iraq. There’s not much selection to eat when on deployment, you ate what the menu of the day was. The D.O.D. makes sure that all food groups are met for each meal. It usually consisted of a good source of proteins, fruits, veggies, and all the necessary food groups I missed. Back when I was home I would go to the commissary and stock up for about two weeks worth of food. Getting some chicken breasts, stuff for salads, sandwich meat with whole wheat bread, some fruits, veggies, milk, juices, and some bagels. The Navy taught us how to eat healthy and stay in shape. Every year you are required to get weighed and your height checked. This is done so that they can find out your body mass index (BMI). By just age, weight, and height there are requirements that need to be met. The Navy requires you to have 22% body fat or less in order to stay in. Eating right and excising plays a huge role in my life and line of work. So, every time I think, pass by, or see fast food I have to think long and hard is it really worth it in the long run.