Well there are a lot of different reasons for this conundrum, but just a few of them are...
Brand loyalty
Some very devious add campaigns
Flashy packaging
Food additives and Chemicals
Feel good memories
The highly adapted master of survival that is the human body
"This is a really weird list bro! I thought we where talking about food here"?
Oh Steve Steve Steve...
For starters, have you ever noticed that the worst offenders in the flavortastic excito-matronic (hell yah I just made those words up!) food industry often have a cartoon character as their spokes person?
Who do you think they are trying to appeal to? Companies spend countless dollars on ad campaigns and gimmick's directly targeting your kids, because they know if they get em young, they have a much higher chance of having them for life!
Now this wouldn't be so evil if the foods they were pedaling to poor little Timmy could actually be called food, and not some money hungry morally bankrupt companies science experiment made to look like food, that probably has a longer list of chemicals than real food ingredients. Some people will call this conspiracy theory, but many of those ingredients are in there BECAUSE THEY ARE ADDICTIVE.
"Why the hell can you not get enough of this stuff, even when it doesn't particularly taste good"? Answer. Enough clever food additives and chemicals to make a meth cook jealous! If you want to do some fun reading just look up MSG.
IF YOU SEE ANY OF THE FOLLOWING AT A PLACE YOU ARE ABOUT TO DINE, IT'S PROBABLY THE WORK OF A MURDEROUS CLOWN...
Play structures
Toys in meals
Flashy magical colors and characters, that look like they belong on your favorite Saturday morning cartoons.
You don't even have to leave your vehicle to get the food
Yes folks, all those fond memories of eating piles of golden delicious fries, and ice cold swirly frozen concoctions, is a clever construct of these companies and their clever ad campaigns, play structures, and toys which create those fuzzy feelings you will no doubt have when you think of them as an adult. So where do you think you'll go when your hungry, not having a good day, or life's got you down? To the places you felt good as a kid is a pretty safe bet.
So now that this ruthless maniacal clown has cooked up some goo in a beaker, and created a flashy oh so exciting dining experience with enough fun and magic to make Walt Disney envious...what does he do next?? He makes it sooo easy to get it! You don't even have to leave your vehicle. Just drive up to a window and order, and within minutes it's passed to you while you sit comfortably in your car!! For many people, in a time when we have no time, choosing the quick option is very enticing. I mean your off work late, there's a couple hungry kids waiting for you at home, and who wants to spend an hour in the kitchen after a full day of work? These companies have told everyone for years that "cooking is a drag, you don't have time, and we'll serve it up hot and fresh for you! Just sit back and eat eat eat! And BT Dubs... we'll even give your little one a toy"!
CALORIES = SURVIVAL!!!
If all of this careful plotting against you wasn't enough, it will really piss you off to find out that your body is in on the conspiracy!
"OMG, what are you talking about"! Your body is a highly adapted survival machine with more bells and whistles than a Swiss army knife! How does that have anything to do with fast food? These convenience foods are packed with calories. To survive the human body recognizes calorically dense foods and says, "holy crap mouth! you found some serious calories here! eat up man"! Now I know what you are thinking right now..."Oh yah smart guy, if your body is trying to get the best foods wouldn't it consider things like kale to taste better since it is far more nutrient packed"?! No! And here's why. Calories or lack thereof, are far more immediately detrimental to survival than nutrient deficiencies, which will take years to rear their ugly heads. A cheese burger is more calorically dense than kale. If you have no calories, you're dead much quicker. Once again your body is smarter than you!
CALORIE DENSE/ NUTRITIONALLY SPARSE = OVER FED /UNDER NOURISHED.
Piled high on top of this mountain of sabotage, is the fact that while convenience foods are calorically dense, as I stated before, they are not nutrient dense. This means that no matter how much you eat these foods, you will never feel satiated from them. Because your body is still seeking out the nutrients they are lacking, and that can lead to some serious over eating.
"Thanks a lot yah jerk! you ruined my childhood memories, told me I'm being pursued by a freakin creepy clown, and that my body is purposely making me fat"!
Calm down Steve, after all knowledge is power. Now that you know all of this, you can combat the forces of evil!
WORDS TO LIVE BY
If its fast, its not food! Stop being so dammed lazy! You aren't the only busy person on the planet! Nobody has "time" to workout or eat right. The people who do, make time for these things by sacrificing because they see the value in them.
An added benefit of preparing your own food is that it will make you much more conscientious of what goes into it!
So go ahead... dust off the apron grab the kids and go on a culinary journey in your own kitchen. Hell, you might even find that you enjoy cooking...once the brainwashing of a fast food nation wares off. But remember, the microwave isn't the only appliance in there.
Buy one item foods (apple, lettuce, and beef). Food manufacturers can't hide ingredients in huge labels on whole foods.
Lastly, when you go out shopping for food to shove food into your pie hole, please seek out the best food available to you. Buy organic! It's not just for hippies anymore! Besides, if you are what you eat...then your food is what it ate, and if you ate your food, then you ate what it ate. Trust me you don't want your food eating pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, and things they were not meant to eat (cows eating grains), or being altered (GMO or Genetically Modified Organism). Seriously, if you're going to spend extra money on anything, shouldn't it be on what you put in your body?!
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