Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with junkfood

Is marketing fast food by public schools a common thing?

dejah420 — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 17:22:35 -0800

Is it common for public schools to directly market fast food to children under the guise of "school spirit"? My son started 1st grade at public school this year. So far, about once a month, the Chick-fil-A cow shows up at their school, wanders the hall and hands out these fliers that say that the class with the most kids that show up and order fast food on Date X wins a free chicken nugget party with said cow and a free recess. The class in second place of the spending race gets a free recess.

Not only that, but he brings home fliers from the school that announce that "spirit night" is coming. Today, we got a call (from the system that I thought was designed to only be an emergency announcement system) that reminded us to go to Chick-fil-A and spend money. Then, when I picked him up from school, he and all the other kids were plastered with a giant branding sticker in the center of their little chests reminding the parents to take their kids to Chick-fil-A tonight.

He was heartbroken when I told him that we would not be going. Apparently, they've been drilling them all week about getting a "free party" and a "get out of class free" period.

Is this as outrageous as I think it is? Is it common, and I'm just overreacting?

My opinion is that I should call the ISD superintendent to inquire why the school is trying to turn my kid into a mindless fast-food eating consumer-bot. But other parents around here don't seem to think it's an issue, and in fact were taking pictures of their kids covered in branding standing next to the cow when school let out today.

Before I go all crusader on the school district, am I being irrational about this?

(For the record; I didn't have an issue with this company before all this marketing to my kid started, and tonight as I was trying to google whether this sort of marketing was common, I came across the information that Chick-fil-A supports tea-baggers and funds homophobic organizations...so thanks to their aggressive marketing to my 6 year old kid, they're now added to my ever growing "boycott" list.)

Snacking around the world

doift — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 13:39:03 -0800

Blogs about regional junk food and snacks? I'm mildly obsessed with regional junk foods, and know that there are lots of folks like me. Some of them must have blogs, either writing about the specialties of their own region or seeking out treats from other areas. Bonus points if the blogs are especially well-done or popular.

I'm in the U.S. but I'm interested in American and international snacks. Beverages count, as do regional homemade specialties.

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants. But also bacon?

slow graffiti — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:48:37 -0800

Should I listen to my cravings for high-calorie food? If weight loss is not a concern, and I eat healthy food and still want bacon, should I have the bacon, too? I've been trying to incorporate healthier things into my diet along the lines of In Defense of Food- i.e. eat [real] food, mostly plants. I do a pretty good job of it about 70% of the time. However, I still crave "junk food" regularly; it's a very specific mood where I intensely want something that's starchy/sweet/fatty, basically the opposite of a raw vegetable, and usually I cave to the impulse. I've seen this old post asking if cravings mean anything, and I'm wondering the same thing, but I'm not like that poster, or most Americans for that matter- I don't need to lose weight. I'm already naturally skinny and losing weight would be bad (would push me toward the underweight side of the BMI scale). By extension I've never counted calories in my life. I eat whenever I'm hungry, and my desire to eat healthier things is mostly for cardiac benefit and ecological soundness. I rarely eat to the point of feeling really full, and I'm completely omnivorous, moderately active (no intense sports/exercise mania).

So how much should I listen to my cravings for "bad" food? Should I pass it all off to junk food addiction and tell myself to have a carrot instead, or are the cravings a way of telling me I need the more high calorie food (in moderation) along with the healthier stuff?

Too many presents

serazin — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 10:28:50 -0800

My neighbor is very generous - too generous! Her young son and my kids play together fairly often, and each time my kids go to their house to visit, my neighbor sends my kids home with several gifts. Sometimes if she sees my kids playing in the back yard she just hands gifts over the fence. Last time it was a large tin of cookies, a box of Whoppers candies, and a Vitamin Water style drink. In the past gifts have included a hand-knit scarf, brand new clothes, a doll, a box of donuts, and a large plate of homemade fried chicken. At Lunar New Year she gave each of my kids ten bucks plus a box of sweet rolls. I don’t know this woman well at all. We’ve said ‘hi’ a few times but her English is limited and I don’t speak her language which I believe is Thai. I get the sense that our different expectations around gift giving are related to cultural differences (she’s an immigrant from SE Asia, I’m white, born and raised in California), and maybe also that she is just a particularly (or maybe compulsively) gift-giving person. I really want to be polite and respectful. I’d like my kids to get to keep playing with this neighbor kid. But I’m not into my kid eating all the junk food they send over and I’m uncomfortable with the volume of presents. At first I tried to reciprocate. After we received our first bag of gifts I sent over a plate of homemade donuts that I happened to be making, but I can’t possibly keep up with all of her gifts and now I’m afraid if I give them anything else I’ll just escalate the gift arms race! Now I shake my head “no”, cross my hands in front of myself, and smile and say “No Thank You” when I see the neighbor giving stuff to the kids and the neighbor just nods and smiles and keeps handing stuff over. Especially given our cultural and language differences, I’m just at a loss for how to deal with this conflict.

Yours is the only grub what satisfies my gut-worm

dong_resin — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 04:33:21 -0800

Brits: is there any American junk food which you covet? I realize this is sort of like calling Switzerland from a Wal-Mart and asking if I can pick them up a clock, but I'm trying to get a care package together for a person in Scotland, and I want to include some American junk food which isn't readily available across the pond. Anything from The States which you enjoy is welcome as a suggestion.

But what was more like a drug was the food.

synecdoche — Thu, 02 Mar 2006 23:08:18 -0800

Do my food cravings mean anything? Or, rather, how can I satisfy that feeling without reaching for the junk food? (Way too much more inside). Over the last ~~few~~ many months, I've totally revamped my lifestyle. I've been eating right, exercising five days a week, and have been feeling wonderful. I'm right at the weight I want to be at, and am looking forward to maintaining this weight with exercise and a healthy, balanced diet. I've discovered foods I'd have ago shunned are actually quite wonderful.

The last couple weeks, though, have been incredibly hard. I seem to be giving into cravings left right and center. I was doing fine until about three weeks ago, when I was housesitting. I was under orders to eat whatever I liked, and I thought that that was fine-- I'd just bring my own groceries over anyway. But they had chocolates and nuts, and I sort of ate more than my fill of those. Anyway, housesitting ended, and I got back on track.

But now I'm housesitting again, and the same thing has happened, only this time with ice cream. See, when I am at home, this food is easy enough to avoid, because I just don't buy it. Done and done. But I'm worried about the long term practicality of this. Obviously I won't be able to avoid this stuff forever. It's going to be available.

So what I am asking is twofold, I guess. First of all, I am wondering if when I get a psychological craving (and I know it is psychological, because I don't really feel hungry-- it is more of the "Wow, that'd taste good!" type thing) if my body is trying to tell me something, like I am not getting enough of some nutrient or something, and if so if there is some way to substitute things. Second, if there is not some physiological need that needs addressing, if anybody has any other tips to, well, bolster my willpower, I guess.

Like I said, I am eating a pretty balanced diet. The last few weeks, I have been monitoring my dietary intake with that sparkpeople site, and usually I am within the healthy range for everything (though I find it more difficult to avoid sodiium, liking soy sauce as much as I do). Typically for breakfast I'll have oatmeal (sometimes with cinnamon and brown sugar) and then some fruit mid-morning; lunch is usually soup (from scratch if I've made some recently and froze it, or from a can) and a salad or a sandwich (either way with some protein, like a chicken breast in the salad). Dinner is usualyl some sort of meat with vegetables (I switch these up all the time, rarely having the same veggies twice in a row) and some grain (barley or brown rice; recently couscous) or potatoes. When I snack it is usually fruit, or popcorn in the evenings.

Everything else health-wise seems to be going fine.