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Don't Eat This Book
For thirty days, Morgan Spurlock ate nothing but McDonald’s as part of an investigation into the effects of fast food on American health. The resulting documentary earned him an Academy Award nomination and broke box-office records worldwide. But there’s more to the story, and in Don’t Eat This Book , Spurlock examines everything from school lunch programs and the marketing of fast food to the decline of physical education. He looks at why fast food is so tasty, cheap, and ultimately seductive—and interviews experts from surgeons general and kids to marketing gurus and lawmakers, who share their research and opinions on what we can do to offset a health crisis of supersized proportions. Don’t eat this groundbreaking, hilarious book—but if you care about your country’s health, your children’s, and your own, you better read it.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
35 people are currently reading
1443 people want to read
About the author
Morgan Spurlock
10 books24 followersMorgan Spurlock was an American documentary filmmaker best known for his documentary Super Size Me, in which he only ate McDonalds food for a month. He earned a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film.
He was married to vegan chef Alex Jamieson, who wrote an diet book inspired by the Detox diet he had to take after the McDonalds experiment. The couple divorced in 2011.
He was married to vegan chef Alex Jamieson, who wrote an diet book inspired by the Detox diet he had to take after the McDonalds experiment. The couple divorced in 2011.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 219 reviews
July 7, 2008
Supersize Me is one of my favorite documentaries, and I watch it every so often as a reminder to veer away from those dangerous yet alluring drive-thrus.
"Don't Eat this Book" is a follow up to the film, as Morgan Spurlock takes us through some of the backlash he experienced from the film (lobbyists, Fox News, restaurateurs), as well as more details he gleaned during his research for the film.
Most damning is how evident the marketing of fast food is aimed at our children - and not just fast food, but packaged, processed foods on the supermarket shelves, too. Morgan also bemoans public school lunches, sodas in schools, and the disappearance of the daily Phys-Ed class for students.
The most galling moment to me is when Morgan reveals that McDonalds actually had the balls to open a restaurant right next to Dachau, the German Concentration Camp. Seems like you'd wanna create a little distance there - out of reverence, respect, and common decency. If nothing else, I don't think I'd want my Happy Meal forever linked in memory to genocide. But, there ya go.
This is, above all, a really entertaining book. Morgan's got a great sense of humor - and more than a little ego, but he's charming enough to get by without sounding like an ass. I listened to this as a book on CD and I think it's worth chasing down so you can hear him spin his tales rather than just reading off the page.
I'm surprised Mayor McCheese hasn't issued a hit on this guy.
"Don't Eat this Book" is a follow up to the film, as Morgan Spurlock takes us through some of the backlash he experienced from the film (lobbyists, Fox News, restaurateurs), as well as more details he gleaned during his research for the film.
Most damning is how evident the marketing of fast food is aimed at our children - and not just fast food, but packaged, processed foods on the supermarket shelves, too. Morgan also bemoans public school lunches, sodas in schools, and the disappearance of the daily Phys-Ed class for students.
The most galling moment to me is when Morgan reveals that McDonalds actually had the balls to open a restaurant right next to Dachau, the German Concentration Camp. Seems like you'd wanna create a little distance there - out of reverence, respect, and common decency. If nothing else, I don't think I'd want my Happy Meal forever linked in memory to genocide. But, there ya go.
This is, above all, a really entertaining book. Morgan's got a great sense of humor - and more than a little ego, but he's charming enough to get by without sounding like an ass. I listened to this as a book on CD and I think it's worth chasing down so you can hear him spin his tales rather than just reading off the page.
I'm surprised Mayor McCheese hasn't issued a hit on this guy.
November 4, 2014
A critical examination of our fast food culture
12 March 2012
There has been a lot written about the obesity epidemic that the United States (and to a lesser extent Australia) is facing and in many cases the finger is pointed directly at fast food franchises. Many people have probably heard of and even watched Spurlock's documentary where he sets himself a task (to the horror of his vegetarian girlfriend) of eating only McDonalds for a period of 30 days. Personally, there are a couple of flaws in his methodology, however I do believe it is something that we need to be aware of, especially if we ourselves want to live healthy lives.
I must admit that the better book was Fast Food Nation, however this book should be read alongside Spurlock's film not only because it is a companion guide to the film, but also because it is somewhat more light hearted than Eric Schlosser's more academic and journalistic look at the fast food culture. Anyway, the one comment that I have of the methodology is that it appears that Spurlock is generally a healthy eater, and as such switching from a relatively healthy diet to one consisting entirely of fast food can have significant health problems. I guess the closest analogy would be letting a car sit in a garage for six months, and then immediately using it to pull a trailer containing all of your worldly belongings halfway across town (I did that once). The reason that I use that analogy is because after sitting idle for six months, the car's engine needs to be warmed up and worked for a while before turning it into a workhorse, otherwise it will clog up and break down (which is what happened to me).
Like Australia, in America fast food is cheap and quick to make, and as such it tends to be the staple diet of the poor. I actually lived with a guy whose main meal of the day was McDonalds (and it didn't help that we lived across the road from one). This friend of mine was used to eating lots of fast food, so his body was used to it (though he wasn't the healthiest person that I knew). As for Spurlock, it seems that being on a healthy diet meant that switching to a high fat, high sugar diet, was going to have a worse effect on him than somebody who is already on such a diet.
In a way there is nothing strictly wrong with fast food, and since the beginning of the century we have seen a gradual change in the fast food culture. Okay, I don't like Subway on the grounds of certain franchising practices, however that is an example of a more healthier form of fast food franchise (though some do criticise the fact that they sell crisps and soft drink alongside their healthy sandwiches). The other thing about fast food is that it is quick to make and it is cheap, so where as going to a restaurant means that you might wait ten to twenty minutes (and sometimes more than forty) for your meal to arrive, with fast food it arrives within a minute or two. Our society has become so fast paced, and time such a commodity, that we simply cannot wait for our food any longer. However, one again, it is not necessarily something new. I still remember the food courts from the late eighties (and they still exist) where you would wonder past the Indian and Asian shops, and their offerings are laid out under a glass case, and all you do is point at what you want, the shopkeeper then fills a container with rice or noodles, and adds one or more toppings to it. That is just as fast.
I remember reading a book once where they talked about obesity being a sign of wealth (Creation by Gore Vidal). In many ancient cultures only the incredibly wealthy would have the access to food to gorge themselves and as such only the wealthy would suffer from obesity (though we still see this among some of the wealthy today, particularly one lawyer I remember waddling into a conference room). Today we are seeing something that we have never seen in the history of the world, and that is obesity arising amongst the common people. Either food is getting cheaper or we are becoming wealthier. I suggests that both answers are correct.
However, when I travelled to Hong Kong I noticed something significant, and that was while food was somewhat cheaper, particularly in the many restaurants that dot the back streets of Kowloon, the price of a meal at Burger King was the same as I would expect to pay here in Australia (though having gone their a second time I realise that that is not strictly the case). In fact, I questioned why I would want to eat at Burger King since I could get a meal half price or less in a small family run restaurant around the corner. This has led me to a bit of a dispute with a couple of guys at work. They are performing a task of attempting to live on only $2.00 a day to try to help them understand what it is like being poor. However, I pointed out that $2.00 will actually go further in places of Hong Kong and China (among other places) rather than here in Australia. They argued that the value has been adjusted to reflect prices here in Australia, however I have a feeling that that is not the case. There are laws and regulations that exist in Australia that do not exist in Hong Kong and China, as well as other aspects, that make food in Australia much more expensive.
As for the book, one of the things that stood out was a comment made very early on that the size of a portion of food that can been bought at a restaurant has increased over time. This is something that I can relate to especially since some restaurants that I have been to I struggle to finish the meal. My mum generally served us smallish portions when she cooked dinner, normally about half the size of what they serve at restaurants. However, the increased portion also comes along with an increased price, and there generally is no options (in many cases) of having a half-portion. This I don't like because it is effectively wasting food, and I do not like wasting food. Granted, while our scraps and left overs will not make it to Africa, at least they could be composted and used to return nutrients to the soil.
I won't go too deep into the production aspects of our food because that is covered more in Schlosser's book 'Fast Food Nation' (and it is quite scary at that, especially when you realise that our entire production system is reliant on the cheap and easy access to oil). Spurlock does look at this, however he is more concerned about what we eat and what we are giving our children. Then there is the addictive nature of fast food, particularly with things like transfats. We need to remember that our ability to freeze and preserve food is actually a double edged sword. When we freeze and preserve food we destroy its taste, meaning that we have to create artificial taste so as to make the food palpable. Then there is the Happy Meal, which includes a toy. In a way it is a work of marketing genius, however it is of concern because it is like giving an addictive substance to our children at a young age. It is not so much the food itself, but the fat and sugar that goes into the food.
Look, I'm not the healthiest eater myself, eating crisps and curries, as well as drinking bucket loads of beer. The catch is that buying and eating healthy food is not the easiest thing to do, especially if you live by yourself and feed yourself. Meat is expensive, and fresh vegetables and fruit, unless used quickly, end up spoiling. When I buy potatoes, carrots, or even lettuce, unless I am using it quickly, it ends up going off and needs to be thrown out. However, that is no excuse to regularly eat McDonalds. In fact, as I consider it, and I am sure if I were to do some research and do my sums correctly, I suspect going to the supermarket and buying groceries for the week will end up being substantially cheaper than buying takeaway on a daily basis. I guess that I why I always try to take a packed lunch to work. In fact, I look at all my collegues who complain about not having any money, and then at lunch time running down to Subway or another nearby takeaway, and buying their lunch.
12 March 2012
There has been a lot written about the obesity epidemic that the United States (and to a lesser extent Australia) is facing and in many cases the finger is pointed directly at fast food franchises. Many people have probably heard of and even watched Spurlock's documentary where he sets himself a task (to the horror of his vegetarian girlfriend) of eating only McDonalds for a period of 30 days. Personally, there are a couple of flaws in his methodology, however I do believe it is something that we need to be aware of, especially if we ourselves want to live healthy lives.
I must admit that the better book was Fast Food Nation, however this book should be read alongside Spurlock's film not only because it is a companion guide to the film, but also because it is somewhat more light hearted than Eric Schlosser's more academic and journalistic look at the fast food culture. Anyway, the one comment that I have of the methodology is that it appears that Spurlock is generally a healthy eater, and as such switching from a relatively healthy diet to one consisting entirely of fast food can have significant health problems. I guess the closest analogy would be letting a car sit in a garage for six months, and then immediately using it to pull a trailer containing all of your worldly belongings halfway across town (I did that once). The reason that I use that analogy is because after sitting idle for six months, the car's engine needs to be warmed up and worked for a while before turning it into a workhorse, otherwise it will clog up and break down (which is what happened to me).
Like Australia, in America fast food is cheap and quick to make, and as such it tends to be the staple diet of the poor. I actually lived with a guy whose main meal of the day was McDonalds (and it didn't help that we lived across the road from one). This friend of mine was used to eating lots of fast food, so his body was used to it (though he wasn't the healthiest person that I knew). As for Spurlock, it seems that being on a healthy diet meant that switching to a high fat, high sugar diet, was going to have a worse effect on him than somebody who is already on such a diet.
In a way there is nothing strictly wrong with fast food, and since the beginning of the century we have seen a gradual change in the fast food culture. Okay, I don't like Subway on the grounds of certain franchising practices, however that is an example of a more healthier form of fast food franchise (though some do criticise the fact that they sell crisps and soft drink alongside their healthy sandwiches). The other thing about fast food is that it is quick to make and it is cheap, so where as going to a restaurant means that you might wait ten to twenty minutes (and sometimes more than forty) for your meal to arrive, with fast food it arrives within a minute or two. Our society has become so fast paced, and time such a commodity, that we simply cannot wait for our food any longer. However, one again, it is not necessarily something new. I still remember the food courts from the late eighties (and they still exist) where you would wonder past the Indian and Asian shops, and their offerings are laid out under a glass case, and all you do is point at what you want, the shopkeeper then fills a container with rice or noodles, and adds one or more toppings to it. That is just as fast.
I remember reading a book once where they talked about obesity being a sign of wealth (Creation by Gore Vidal). In many ancient cultures only the incredibly wealthy would have the access to food to gorge themselves and as such only the wealthy would suffer from obesity (though we still see this among some of the wealthy today, particularly one lawyer I remember waddling into a conference room). Today we are seeing something that we have never seen in the history of the world, and that is obesity arising amongst the common people. Either food is getting cheaper or we are becoming wealthier. I suggests that both answers are correct.
However, when I travelled to Hong Kong I noticed something significant, and that was while food was somewhat cheaper, particularly in the many restaurants that dot the back streets of Kowloon, the price of a meal at Burger King was the same as I would expect to pay here in Australia (though having gone their a second time I realise that that is not strictly the case). In fact, I questioned why I would want to eat at Burger King since I could get a meal half price or less in a small family run restaurant around the corner. This has led me to a bit of a dispute with a couple of guys at work. They are performing a task of attempting to live on only $2.00 a day to try to help them understand what it is like being poor. However, I pointed out that $2.00 will actually go further in places of Hong Kong and China (among other places) rather than here in Australia. They argued that the value has been adjusted to reflect prices here in Australia, however I have a feeling that that is not the case. There are laws and regulations that exist in Australia that do not exist in Hong Kong and China, as well as other aspects, that make food in Australia much more expensive.
As for the book, one of the things that stood out was a comment made very early on that the size of a portion of food that can been bought at a restaurant has increased over time. This is something that I can relate to especially since some restaurants that I have been to I struggle to finish the meal. My mum generally served us smallish portions when she cooked dinner, normally about half the size of what they serve at restaurants. However, the increased portion also comes along with an increased price, and there generally is no options (in many cases) of having a half-portion. This I don't like because it is effectively wasting food, and I do not like wasting food. Granted, while our scraps and left overs will not make it to Africa, at least they could be composted and used to return nutrients to the soil.
I won't go too deep into the production aspects of our food because that is covered more in Schlosser's book 'Fast Food Nation' (and it is quite scary at that, especially when you realise that our entire production system is reliant on the cheap and easy access to oil). Spurlock does look at this, however he is more concerned about what we eat and what we are giving our children. Then there is the addictive nature of fast food, particularly with things like transfats. We need to remember that our ability to freeze and preserve food is actually a double edged sword. When we freeze and preserve food we destroy its taste, meaning that we have to create artificial taste so as to make the food palpable. Then there is the Happy Meal, which includes a toy. In a way it is a work of marketing genius, however it is of concern because it is like giving an addictive substance to our children at a young age. It is not so much the food itself, but the fat and sugar that goes into the food.
Look, I'm not the healthiest eater myself, eating crisps and curries, as well as drinking bucket loads of beer. The catch is that buying and eating healthy food is not the easiest thing to do, especially if you live by yourself and feed yourself. Meat is expensive, and fresh vegetables and fruit, unless used quickly, end up spoiling. When I buy potatoes, carrots, or even lettuce, unless I am using it quickly, it ends up going off and needs to be thrown out. However, that is no excuse to regularly eat McDonalds. In fact, as I consider it, and I am sure if I were to do some research and do my sums correctly, I suspect going to the supermarket and buying groceries for the week will end up being substantially cheaper than buying takeaway on a daily basis. I guess that I why I always try to take a packed lunch to work. In fact, I look at all my collegues who complain about not having any money, and then at lunch time running down to Subway or another nearby takeaway, and buying their lunch.
November 22, 2007
From a blog post I wrote in 2005:
Morgan Spurlock wrote this after his documentary Super Size Me came out to much accord. He covers a lot of the same material as the movie but adds some behind the scenes anecdotes and a lot more research results.
Spurlock continues his attack on McDonald's and the whole fast food industry with a lot more data. One thing I found interesting is he had an independent lab test some of McDonald's items for their food values (calories, fat, etc.). Turns out the figures McDonald's post on their website are significantly lower (and therefore, healthier) than the independent tests showed. He also delves more into school lunch programs and the increasing availability of soda and candy machines on campus.
Spurlock's got a great writing style with a lot of snarky comments (sorta like mine only he's getting paid to do it, damn him!). Excuse the pun, but there's a lot of food for thought in this book and I found it fascinating.
Morgan Spurlock wrote this after his documentary Super Size Me came out to much accord. He covers a lot of the same material as the movie but adds some behind the scenes anecdotes and a lot more research results.
Spurlock continues his attack on McDonald's and the whole fast food industry with a lot more data. One thing I found interesting is he had an independent lab test some of McDonald's items for their food values (calories, fat, etc.). Turns out the figures McDonald's post on their website are significantly lower (and therefore, healthier) than the independent tests showed. He also delves more into school lunch programs and the increasing availability of soda and candy machines on campus.
Spurlock's got a great writing style with a lot of snarky comments (sorta like mine only he's getting paid to do it, damn him!). Excuse the pun, but there's a lot of food for thought in this book and I found it fascinating.
August 24, 2014
Whenever I go somewhere that sells books, I am always on the lookout for anything related to health. You’d be surprised by how much is out there, and sometimes I stumble upon some really interesting titles. So it happened to be that I was looking through a library book sale a few weeks ago and I found this book called, Don’t Eat this Book. I couldn’t resist.
Many people have heard of Super Size Me, the 2004 hit documentary that followed Morgan Spurlock through a 30-day diet consisting of nothing but McDonald’s. Even I, before my health conversion experience several years ago, had seen the documentary. I don’t know what possessed me to watch it. I was a regular at the McDonald’s drive thru at the time, as well as at several other fast food chains. Even after watching it, I remember feeling really grossed out and knew that I shouldn’t eat McDonald’s anymore, but it didn’t last long. Within a week, perhaps less, I gave into my cravings and I was back at McD’s again, probably ordering a McChicken or McDouble (my favorites at the time.)
Even though watching Super Size Me didn’t change my life, I enjoyed the movie and appreciated the courageousness of Spurlock to willingly put his body through that. I was surprised to find that Don’t Eat This book was written by the same man, sort of a sequel to the movie. The book promised to be funny and entertaining, something I hadn’t been getting much of in my previous reads.
My expectations from this book were that I would have a lot of fun reading it and maybe learn a couple things. That’s basically what happened. Spurlock does a really good job of presenting the information in an easy to read format, making clever use of humor throughout the book. I really enjoyed it for that reason alone. For example, here is a short excerpt where Spurlock writes about his his inspiration for filming Super Size Me.
"I never said I wanted to risk my health making my first movie, but what the hey? Everybody suffers for their art, right? Van Gogh lost an ear. Kurt Cobain lost his life. Poor Britney twisted her knee and had to cancel her summer 2004 tour. These things happen."
When he’s not talking about his movie, Spurlock spends much of his time talking about the disastrous situation of the health in our nation and the role that fast food has played in creating it. Much of what he writes about, the sad situation of food in schools, the growing obesity epidemic, advertising junk food to children, is not new news to me. For many people who are not aware of how bad the food has become in our nation, they will be very surprised at what he has to say.
Some people might ask how Spurlock could write a book related to health even though he is not a doctor. My opinion about that is that some of the best books on health that I have read have come from regular people. These books were the result of investigative journalism, boiling down years of exhaustive research into a few hundred pages. I admire that kind of effort. Such books as Salt, Sugar, Fat, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, Caffeine Blues, and Fast Food Nation are all excellent examples. Still, while preparing for his movie and in writing this book, Spurlock called upon the advice and support of a small team of physicians and health experts including a cardiologist, nutritionist, gastroenterologist and hematologist, ear, nose, and throat specialist, and a gynecologist.
From the time I left home until I had my health transformation, I ate a lot of fast food. Much of it was at McDonald’s. From my own experience and from everything that I’ve read and researched up til now, I can say without any doubt in my mind that the kind of food that is served at these places is a major cause of many of our health problems today. But you don’t have to take my word for it. If you look at the research, you will come to the same conclusion as me. For example, in 2005, The Lancet (one of the oldest and best known medical journals) published a study1 examining the connection between fast food use and weight gain and insulin resistance (Type II Diabetes). Their conclusion? I quote:
"By comparison with the average 15-year weight gain in participants with infrequent (less than once a week) fast-food restaurant use at baseline and follow-up (n=203), those with frequent (more than twice a week) visits to fast-food restaurants at baseline and follow-up (n=87) gained an extra 4·5 kg of bodyweight (p=0·0054) and had a two-fold greater increase in insulin resistance (p=0·0083)."
No surprise here. Thank you for this book Morgan Spurlock. Any book that brings greater awareness and education to the public and empowers people to make better choices for their lives is welcome anytime.
1. Pereira MA, et al. Fast-food habits, weight gain, and insulin resistance (the CARDIA study): 15 year prospective analysis. Lancet 2005;365:36-42. [Pubmed]
Many people have heard of Super Size Me, the 2004 hit documentary that followed Morgan Spurlock through a 30-day diet consisting of nothing but McDonald’s. Even I, before my health conversion experience several years ago, had seen the documentary. I don’t know what possessed me to watch it. I was a regular at the McDonald’s drive thru at the time, as well as at several other fast food chains. Even after watching it, I remember feeling really grossed out and knew that I shouldn’t eat McDonald’s anymore, but it didn’t last long. Within a week, perhaps less, I gave into my cravings and I was back at McD’s again, probably ordering a McChicken or McDouble (my favorites at the time.)
Even though watching Super Size Me didn’t change my life, I enjoyed the movie and appreciated the courageousness of Spurlock to willingly put his body through that. I was surprised to find that Don’t Eat This book was written by the same man, sort of a sequel to the movie. The book promised to be funny and entertaining, something I hadn’t been getting much of in my previous reads.
My expectations from this book were that I would have a lot of fun reading it and maybe learn a couple things. That’s basically what happened. Spurlock does a really good job of presenting the information in an easy to read format, making clever use of humor throughout the book. I really enjoyed it for that reason alone. For example, here is a short excerpt where Spurlock writes about his his inspiration for filming Super Size Me.
"I never said I wanted to risk my health making my first movie, but what the hey? Everybody suffers for their art, right? Van Gogh lost an ear. Kurt Cobain lost his life. Poor Britney twisted her knee and had to cancel her summer 2004 tour. These things happen."
When he’s not talking about his movie, Spurlock spends much of his time talking about the disastrous situation of the health in our nation and the role that fast food has played in creating it. Much of what he writes about, the sad situation of food in schools, the growing obesity epidemic, advertising junk food to children, is not new news to me. For many people who are not aware of how bad the food has become in our nation, they will be very surprised at what he has to say.
Some people might ask how Spurlock could write a book related to health even though he is not a doctor. My opinion about that is that some of the best books on health that I have read have come from regular people. These books were the result of investigative journalism, boiling down years of exhaustive research into a few hundred pages. I admire that kind of effort. Such books as Salt, Sugar, Fat, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, Caffeine Blues, and Fast Food Nation are all excellent examples. Still, while preparing for his movie and in writing this book, Spurlock called upon the advice and support of a small team of physicians and health experts including a cardiologist, nutritionist, gastroenterologist and hematologist, ear, nose, and throat specialist, and a gynecologist.
From the time I left home until I had my health transformation, I ate a lot of fast food. Much of it was at McDonald’s. From my own experience and from everything that I’ve read and researched up til now, I can say without any doubt in my mind that the kind of food that is served at these places is a major cause of many of our health problems today. But you don’t have to take my word for it. If you look at the research, you will come to the same conclusion as me. For example, in 2005, The Lancet (one of the oldest and best known medical journals) published a study1 examining the connection between fast food use and weight gain and insulin resistance (Type II Diabetes). Their conclusion? I quote:
"By comparison with the average 15-year weight gain in participants with infrequent (less than once a week) fast-food restaurant use at baseline and follow-up (n=203), those with frequent (more than twice a week) visits to fast-food restaurants at baseline and follow-up (n=87) gained an extra 4·5 kg of bodyweight (p=0·0054) and had a two-fold greater increase in insulin resistance (p=0·0083)."
No surprise here. Thank you for this book Morgan Spurlock. Any book that brings greater awareness and education to the public and empowers people to make better choices for their lives is welcome anytime.
1. Pereira MA, et al. Fast-food habits, weight gain, and insulin resistance (the CARDIA study): 15 year prospective analysis. Lancet 2005;365:36-42. [Pubmed]
August 1, 2008
Don't Eat This Book: Fast Food and the Supersizing of America by Morgan Spurlock is probably best thought of as the companion book to the author's award-winning documentary, Super Size Me. They both cover a lot of the same ground: fast food is EXTREMELY unhealthy for you, fast food corporations are predatory in their marketing practices, schools are negligent in their duties to facilitate good nutrition and physical education, and beneath its thin veneer the "big food" industry is more unwholesome as you can even imagine. The slight difference is that while the movie spent most of its time following Spurlock's McDiet, the book branches off a bit. But not a whole lot.
Now, I have some issues with Spurlock. Following the success of Super Size Me he produced and sometimes starred in a television show called "30 Days." Each week someone did something improbable and diametrically opposed to his/her worldview for 30 days to see what we could all learn. Examples included a Christian fundamentalist living with a Muslim family and a soccer mom binge drinking like her college age daughter. It's the evolution of the neat hook that Super Size Me had, but my problem with Spurlock is that even when he's making arguments that I agree with, many of the supposedly genuine situations were obviously forced and contrived for the sake of whatever point he was trying to ram through. (If you want examples, ask in the comments of this post and I'll provide them.) The disengenuineness got so bad that I quit watching the 30 Days show.
So that's where my mind was going into this book. Fortunately, it's not that bad. Spurlock mainly sticks to straight forward arguments in the book, railing against McDonalds and its ilk. He also gives some background information about how the documentary came to be and what his life was like afterwards. None of this was news to me --I know fast food is awful and awful for you, and I know that most Americans (myself included, most weeks) don't exercise enough. Yet Spurlock does manage to communicate the degree to which all of this is true, and that's pretty motivational and got me to think more about my eating habits (not to mention those of my young daughters). So that was good. It certainly had an impact on me.
On the other hand, Spurlock continues to have problems with credibility. Not that I necessarily disagree with most of his statements, but he often comes across as puerile in his ranting. This is most apparent when he makes stupid puns at the expense of his targets, like referring to fast food as "McCrap" or calling the late Robert Atkins (of the Atkins Diet fame) "Dr. Fatkins." And in the audiobook version I listened to, when Spurlock --who himself narrates the audiobook-- reads quotes from his opponents he often does so using an exaggerated and mocking tone, like he's providing the voice for some cartoon weasel. Quotes from those supporting his arguments aren't given the same treatment. These kinds of ad hominem arguments are probably meant for comedic effect, but they distract from Spurlock's own credibility even more. And then there's the stuff about how he accuses the providers of McDonald's beef of feeding ground up bits of cows to other cows (a practice which the FDA banned years ago, though he doesn't mention it) and how the omission of the word "Milk" from the name of McDonald's shakes is due to their containing some unholy chemical instead of dairy (even though McDonald's own website lists "whole milk" as one of the main ingredients).
So, all in all I'd suggest that before picking up this book you watch the movie, Super Size Me instead. It's a lot better and more to the point. If you've already done that or if you're still hungry (figuratively) for more, read Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation. It's a better book on the same subject and it's free from many of this book's faults.
Now, I have some issues with Spurlock. Following the success of Super Size Me he produced and sometimes starred in a television show called "30 Days." Each week someone did something improbable and diametrically opposed to his/her worldview for 30 days to see what we could all learn. Examples included a Christian fundamentalist living with a Muslim family and a soccer mom binge drinking like her college age daughter. It's the evolution of the neat hook that Super Size Me had, but my problem with Spurlock is that even when he's making arguments that I agree with, many of the supposedly genuine situations were obviously forced and contrived for the sake of whatever point he was trying to ram through. (If you want examples, ask in the comments of this post and I'll provide them.) The disengenuineness got so bad that I quit watching the 30 Days show.
So that's where my mind was going into this book. Fortunately, it's not that bad. Spurlock mainly sticks to straight forward arguments in the book, railing against McDonalds and its ilk. He also gives some background information about how the documentary came to be and what his life was like afterwards. None of this was news to me --I know fast food is awful and awful for you, and I know that most Americans (myself included, most weeks) don't exercise enough. Yet Spurlock does manage to communicate the degree to which all of this is true, and that's pretty motivational and got me to think more about my eating habits (not to mention those of my young daughters). So that was good. It certainly had an impact on me.
On the other hand, Spurlock continues to have problems with credibility. Not that I necessarily disagree with most of his statements, but he often comes across as puerile in his ranting. This is most apparent when he makes stupid puns at the expense of his targets, like referring to fast food as "McCrap" or calling the late Robert Atkins (of the Atkins Diet fame) "Dr. Fatkins." And in the audiobook version I listened to, when Spurlock --who himself narrates the audiobook-- reads quotes from his opponents he often does so using an exaggerated and mocking tone, like he's providing the voice for some cartoon weasel. Quotes from those supporting his arguments aren't given the same treatment. These kinds of ad hominem arguments are probably meant for comedic effect, but they distract from Spurlock's own credibility even more. And then there's the stuff about how he accuses the providers of McDonald's beef of feeding ground up bits of cows to other cows (a practice which the FDA banned years ago, though he doesn't mention it) and how the omission of the word "Milk" from the name of McDonald's shakes is due to their containing some unholy chemical instead of dairy (even though McDonald's own website lists "whole milk" as one of the main ingredients).
So, all in all I'd suggest that before picking up this book you watch the movie, Super Size Me instead. It's a lot better and more to the point. If you've already done that or if you're still hungry (figuratively) for more, read Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation. It's a better book on the same subject and it's free from many of this book's faults.
September 30, 2019
I read this book so long ago and it's the reason I don't eat beef. Very interesting and ultimately upsetting
October 9, 2012
Jacob D. Bruns
Bryan Neuschwander
English II
1 October 2012
Don’t Eat This Book sounds simple enough. Written by Morgan Spurlock, it chronicles his fight against “Big Food,” and the making of the indie-documentary, “Super-Size Me.” I would first recommend that you see the movie before reading the book.
Spurlock makes a wonderful narrator, for he is witty and driven by his cause. “The cattle industry buys millions of dead dogs and cats from shelters... feeds them to the cattle. Remember how sad you were the day you took poor ol’ Scruffy to the pound to be put down? Well, don’t worry. You’ll be reunited with him again. At your local burger joint.” (105) For those of us that do not understand this quote, the meaning is this. You may or may not be being fed meat that was raised on your dead pets that may or may not be named Scruffy.
Spurlock has many witty observations,“The Ronald doll has stiff arms... If you raise his arm over his arm over his head, had the hand been palm-down he would’ve looked like he was giving the Nazi salute.” (148) I myself remember the ups and downs of Happy Meal toys, there is the amazing first minutes after retrieving the toy from the bag, and the immediate depression that resulted from receiving the same toy twice. “Basically, Dr. Isaacs said, my liver was turning to pâté. Oh, and my blood pressure was up, another bonus.” (209)
America is fat. Food intake is increasing and exercising is decreasing, which makes for a gargantuan problem. This is a major problem for our country, not only the overweight percentage of the population. The added bulk is simply weighing down the country. Obesity has tripled in the last 10 year to 20% of the teenage population. This book looks to the food industry as the main cause of this problem. Don’t Eat This Book advocates smart decision making on food intake and proper exercise habits to match your diet. And no one knows how to infiltrate your subconscious and derail your healthy thoughts like McDonald’s.
The leader of the fast food industry is McDonald’s. McDonald’s business model hooks kids when they are young with their cradle to grave advertising strategies, children can often distinguish the McDonald’s logo before they can even read. Young children are drawn in by the toys and the indoors playgrounds. The quality of the food they serve is atrocious, “Not only are cows fed dead chickens, but chickens are fed dead cows.”(105) “The USDA found that a pound of ground could be made from leftover scraps collected from a dozen, a few dozen, or as many as 400 cows, all smashed together.” (103) Many parts of the chapter on food preparation made me sick to my stomach. Some other parts really made me crave some fries, maybe Spurlock described them too well?
Just reading Don’t Eat This Book incites responsible living. Are the large fries really necessary? Do you really need to have enough soda to bath a small dog? Just use common sense when it comes to dietary choices. If common sense fails you and you need additional guidance, do not look for dietary information from the business.
I would suggest reading this book to anyone, unless you love your Mikey D’s and don’t want to feel guilty about ruining your life.
Bryan Neuschwander
English II
1 October 2012
Don’t Eat This Book sounds simple enough. Written by Morgan Spurlock, it chronicles his fight against “Big Food,” and the making of the indie-documentary, “Super-Size Me.” I would first recommend that you see the movie before reading the book.
Spurlock makes a wonderful narrator, for he is witty and driven by his cause. “The cattle industry buys millions of dead dogs and cats from shelters... feeds them to the cattle. Remember how sad you were the day you took poor ol’ Scruffy to the pound to be put down? Well, don’t worry. You’ll be reunited with him again. At your local burger joint.” (105) For those of us that do not understand this quote, the meaning is this. You may or may not be being fed meat that was raised on your dead pets that may or may not be named Scruffy.
Spurlock has many witty observations,“The Ronald doll has stiff arms... If you raise his arm over his arm over his head, had the hand been palm-down he would’ve looked like he was giving the Nazi salute.” (148) I myself remember the ups and downs of Happy Meal toys, there is the amazing first minutes after retrieving the toy from the bag, and the immediate depression that resulted from receiving the same toy twice. “Basically, Dr. Isaacs said, my liver was turning to pâté. Oh, and my blood pressure was up, another bonus.” (209)
America is fat. Food intake is increasing and exercising is decreasing, which makes for a gargantuan problem. This is a major problem for our country, not only the overweight percentage of the population. The added bulk is simply weighing down the country. Obesity has tripled in the last 10 year to 20% of the teenage population. This book looks to the food industry as the main cause of this problem. Don’t Eat This Book advocates smart decision making on food intake and proper exercise habits to match your diet. And no one knows how to infiltrate your subconscious and derail your healthy thoughts like McDonald’s.
The leader of the fast food industry is McDonald’s. McDonald’s business model hooks kids when they are young with their cradle to grave advertising strategies, children can often distinguish the McDonald’s logo before they can even read. Young children are drawn in by the toys and the indoors playgrounds. The quality of the food they serve is atrocious, “Not only are cows fed dead chickens, but chickens are fed dead cows.”(105) “The USDA found that a pound of ground could be made from leftover scraps collected from a dozen, a few dozen, or as many as 400 cows, all smashed together.” (103) Many parts of the chapter on food preparation made me sick to my stomach. Some other parts really made me crave some fries, maybe Spurlock described them too well?
Just reading Don’t Eat This Book incites responsible living. Are the large fries really necessary? Do you really need to have enough soda to bath a small dog? Just use common sense when it comes to dietary choices. If common sense fails you and you need additional guidance, do not look for dietary information from the business.
I would suggest reading this book to anyone, unless you love your Mikey D’s and don’t want to feel guilty about ruining your life.
January 23, 2009
Don't Eat This Book
is the follow up to Morgan Spurlock's award-nominated documentary, Super Size Me. I'd seen Super Size Me a few years ago, and enjoyed it. It was one of those enlightening moments in life where you think "Holy crap! What have I been doing to myself?!"
I made a decision after seeing the film to reduce the amount of fast-food that I ate. I didn't really stick to it, though. It's so convenient, and easy to go grab a burger, or a taco, or whatever.
This book gives a little bit of back-ground on why Spurlock made the film to begin with, but mainly focuses on the legion ways that the food industry tries to get us to consume. I know that we are becoming slaves to marketing and advertising, but I didn't know just how shameless and insidious that marketing has become. For that reason, if nothing else, I am glad that I read this book. It's apparent that people, animals, life, health, happiness and freedom are no longer important in corporate America. That's one of those things that you don't want to think about, really. That your gov't would not only allow, but condone and sometimes even participate in causing the people harm--because junk food IS harmful--is really unbelievable.
I've read other books, and I've seen other documentaries, and in general tried to inform myself. But I still didn't want to believe. Even so, I made myself a new New Year's resolution to drastically cut-down on the crap I eat. Just a sort of all-encompassing "eat better" motto. But the book did assault me with the kinds of statistics that I need to see to change my bad habits, for good.
After 30 days of eating McDonalds, Spurlock's cholesterol, blood-pressure and weight sky-rocketed. He had signs of liver damage and warning signs for heart disease and diabetes. After ONLY 30 DAYS. I really have to be more conscious of what I eat, and why, or I could end up with diabetes by 30. And I'm 26. That's scary.
It also showcased how corporate marketing firms and lobbyists are all for freedom of choice, as long as that choice benefits what they are selling. They don't want you to know what's really in the food you eat, or the cigarette you're smoking, because then you'd choose not to eat or smoke it. Shameful. We're nothing but dollar signs. This book didn't single-handedly make the case for all of those things I mentioned above. But it did put another weight on the side of the scale marked "Believe it".
But that isn't an unknown fact. We all know it, deep down, somewhere. We just don't want to admit it. I will be taking Morgan's advice, and from now on, I will be more conscious of the power of my fork. :)
I am all for people making their own decisions. Educate yourself, and decide for yourself what is best for you. Don't let some corporation make the decision for you.
I made a decision after seeing the film to reduce the amount of fast-food that I ate. I didn't really stick to it, though. It's so convenient, and easy to go grab a burger, or a taco, or whatever.
This book gives a little bit of back-ground on why Spurlock made the film to begin with, but mainly focuses on the legion ways that the food industry tries to get us to consume. I know that we are becoming slaves to marketing and advertising, but I didn't know just how shameless and insidious that marketing has become. For that reason, if nothing else, I am glad that I read this book. It's apparent that people, animals, life, health, happiness and freedom are no longer important in corporate America. That's one of those things that you don't want to think about, really. That your gov't would not only allow, but condone and sometimes even participate in causing the people harm--because junk food IS harmful--is really unbelievable.
I've read other books, and I've seen other documentaries, and in general tried to inform myself. But I still didn't want to believe. Even so, I made myself a new New Year's resolution to drastically cut-down on the crap I eat. Just a sort of all-encompassing "eat better" motto. But the book did assault me with the kinds of statistics that I need to see to change my bad habits, for good.
After 30 days of eating McDonalds, Spurlock's cholesterol, blood-pressure and weight sky-rocketed. He had signs of liver damage and warning signs for heart disease and diabetes. After ONLY 30 DAYS. I really have to be more conscious of what I eat, and why, or I could end up with diabetes by 30. And I'm 26. That's scary.
It also showcased how corporate marketing firms and lobbyists are all for freedom of choice, as long as that choice benefits what they are selling. They don't want you to know what's really in the food you eat, or the cigarette you're smoking, because then you'd choose not to eat or smoke it. Shameful. We're nothing but dollar signs. This book didn't single-handedly make the case for all of those things I mentioned above. But it did put another weight on the side of the scale marked "Believe it".
But that isn't an unknown fact. We all know it, deep down, somewhere. We just don't want to admit it. I will be taking Morgan's advice, and from now on, I will be more conscious of the power of my fork. :)
I am all for people making their own decisions. Educate yourself, and decide for yourself what is best for you. Don't let some corporation make the decision for you.
January 23, 2016
I finished reading this book. So the reason is the America's favorite fast-food joint McDonald's is so-well representative that it has those references from the movie "Super-Size Me". I've watched the movie a few months before and it was the greatest documentary I've ever seen!! Now that I rented the book from the library (same as the movie), Why did I had a chance to love this book too? It was published by him who was the Academy Award nominator of the movie.
It's all Fact-packed and funny, this offshoot of Spurlock's Oscar-nominated documentary Super Size Me serves both as a substitute for and addition to the movie. Spurlock spent a month not exercising and eating nothing but food from McDonald's, filming his declining health and ballooning size. It was a terrific premise for a movie; the book provides even more of its backstory and outtakes. Spurlock describes America's obesity epidemic, its relation to the fast food industry, the industry's cozy relations to U.S. government agencies and how the problem is spreading worldwide. He details the long-term and often fatal (albeit well-known) health hazards of the high-fat, high-sugar, factory-farmed fast food diet combined with the sedentary lifestyle prevalent among Americans. The statistics, while grim, aren't as compelling as Spurlock's often humorous descriptions of his own gradual disintegration into exhaustion, mood swings, liver deterioration and high blood pressure as his month progresses. Spurlock's wisecracks make the statistic-laden information easily digestible and possibly useful as a classroom text. He includes inspiring examples of schools that provide healthy, local (even student-grown) food in their cafeterias, and offers lists of resources for parents and educators wanting to make changes in their own communities. Spurlock is surprisingly optimistic about the future, and his book is a powerful tool in his rip-roaring campaign to turn around America's love-hate relationship with fast food.
Morgan Spurlock filmed 30 days worth of eating nothing but McDonald's and he had a lot of his epic change:
1. He gained 24.5 pounds in just 30 days (He weighted 185.5 pounds by day one, his final weight was 210 pounds. It took him several months to lose all those pounds he gained)
2. He increased the blood pressure
3. He doubled the risk of getting Heart Disease
This book was written 10 years ago and the premise of the movie was the one who described fast-food change and how it affects people with obesity. I'm hoping to buy this book soon if I need to and of course if I have a lot of money. I'm going to read this again.
If you are a fourteen year old like me, get this book now whatever you saw a movie or not. This book goes 5* rating for having dramatic references from one of these restaurants or the information. A Great-Great Book!!
It's all Fact-packed and funny, this offshoot of Spurlock's Oscar-nominated documentary Super Size Me serves both as a substitute for and addition to the movie. Spurlock spent a month not exercising and eating nothing but food from McDonald's, filming his declining health and ballooning size. It was a terrific premise for a movie; the book provides even more of its backstory and outtakes. Spurlock describes America's obesity epidemic, its relation to the fast food industry, the industry's cozy relations to U.S. government agencies and how the problem is spreading worldwide. He details the long-term and often fatal (albeit well-known) health hazards of the high-fat, high-sugar, factory-farmed fast food diet combined with the sedentary lifestyle prevalent among Americans. The statistics, while grim, aren't as compelling as Spurlock's often humorous descriptions of his own gradual disintegration into exhaustion, mood swings, liver deterioration and high blood pressure as his month progresses. Spurlock's wisecracks make the statistic-laden information easily digestible and possibly useful as a classroom text. He includes inspiring examples of schools that provide healthy, local (even student-grown) food in their cafeterias, and offers lists of resources for parents and educators wanting to make changes in their own communities. Spurlock is surprisingly optimistic about the future, and his book is a powerful tool in his rip-roaring campaign to turn around America's love-hate relationship with fast food.
Morgan Spurlock filmed 30 days worth of eating nothing but McDonald's and he had a lot of his epic change:
1. He gained 24.5 pounds in just 30 days (He weighted 185.5 pounds by day one, his final weight was 210 pounds. It took him several months to lose all those pounds he gained)
2. He increased the blood pressure
3. He doubled the risk of getting Heart Disease
This book was written 10 years ago and the premise of the movie was the one who described fast-food change and how it affects people with obesity. I'm hoping to buy this book soon if I need to and of course if I have a lot of money. I'm going to read this again.
If you are a fourteen year old like me, get this book now whatever you saw a movie or not. This book goes 5* rating for having dramatic references from one of these restaurants or the information. A Great-Great Book!!
January 27, 2013
A companion piece of sorts to Spurlock’s documentary, Super Size Me. In addition to sketching a few of the more memorable scenes and lessons of the movie, Spurlock crams the book with all manner of terrifying statistics, from obesity rates to Big Food’s symbiotic relationship with the government to the quality of school lunches.
Because I’m interested, I didn’t find the book just a mass of scary numbers, however. Spurlock writes with passion — it’s clear he cares a lot about the state of America’s health – and he comes across as a reasonable guy, not an extremist vegan nut, despite the unending pessimistic anecdotes. Certainly, any parent or teacher would be a fool, and a politician corrupt, not to treat this book as food for thought. Haw, geddit?!
Because I’m interested, I didn’t find the book just a mass of scary numbers, however. Spurlock writes with passion — it’s clear he cares a lot about the state of America’s health – and he comes across as a reasonable guy, not an extremist vegan nut, despite the unending pessimistic anecdotes. Certainly, any parent or teacher would be a fool, and a politician corrupt, not to treat this book as food for thought. Haw, geddit?!
January 20, 2009
If you've seen Supersize Me, then you've read this book. Or, if you've read Fast Food Nation then you've read this book. I'm not saying it's a bad book. It's just a rehashing of stuff I've already read or seen. I don't think there was anything new in this book, though Spurlock's voice is entertaining enough to keep me reading. True, this was a book for a public health class. I would have had to read it regardless of the author's witty pacing. For me, it's two stars for content and one extra star for Spurlock's writing style.
May 24, 2016
This is the best thing I have read lately on the subject of food and what it does to your body. Morgan Spurlock is famous for the film Super Size Me, in which he eats a diet of McDonald’s fast food for one month, gaining 20+ pounds and a host of incipient health problems in the process. More than anything else, this book tapped into my common sense about diet and weight loss. Common sense is something that is easy to forget in this climate of diets that purport to give you the freedom to “eat what you want and still lose weight”. I haven’t seen the movie, and I’m not sure I want to watch in horrified fascination, but I do get the message.
April 4, 2017
A good supplement for the Super Size Me documentary. Reading this was a great reminder of why I want to stay away from fast food! And although there are a lot of facts, numbers, and stastics in this book, sometimes I think he taints his credibility a bit when he presents some of his facts with his own sarcastic, denigrative opinion.
But the main points of his book ring true enough that I would recommend others to read it. Sometimes a little bit of knowledge of where your food comes from goes a long way!
But the main points of his book ring true enough that I would recommend others to read it. Sometimes a little bit of knowledge of where your food comes from goes a long way!
May 2, 2017
Rating - 7.5
A poor person's Fast Food Nation (seems to borrow from Schlosser) that is intended to capitalize on the success of Supersize Me - should actually resonate better w the average reader more than FFN
Carries enough facts to warrant the read & hopefully will scare some readers (including myself) into a better way of living but I won't pick up another Spurlock book (topic is better than the author)
A poor person's Fast Food Nation (seems to borrow from Schlosser) that is intended to capitalize on the success of Supersize Me - should actually resonate better w the average reader more than FFN
Carries enough facts to warrant the read & hopefully will scare some readers (including myself) into a better way of living but I won't pick up another Spurlock book (topic is better than the author)
September 15, 2010
Pretty disappointing. Basically just reiterated everything that was said in the documentary (Supersize Me), although not nearly as successfully.
I was hoping for something more substantial (weightier, perhaps? No pun intended...), but it was just skin-and-bones (argh). See the movie instead!
Prime example of that rare, "the movie is better than the book" experience.
I was hoping for something more substantial (weightier, perhaps? No pun intended...), but it was just skin-and-bones (argh). See the movie instead!
Prime example of that rare, "the movie is better than the book" experience.
February 26, 2009
a lot of silliness, but the message is clear - we are a SICK nation that needs to stop eating crap and get some exercise. Spurlock also writes about some of the corporate backlash he received from McD's after Supersize me was released. good information on lobbyists and so called independent studies on the affects of fast food.
December 10, 2012
This book talks about fast food and a bit about the author's journey and what he learned during his McMonth. It was amazing. I like how he made the book educational yet funny. I enjoyed every second of reading this book, and after doing so, I will never, ever, eat at McDonalds or any fast food place again. Or for a long time.
January 15, 2009
the movie put into words.
January 2, 2019
I read this as a follow-up to watching the Super Size Me documentary. The book mentions his month-long experiment and its surprising results(well, maybe not surprising...I knew it would be bad...but didn't realize HOW bad, until I heard about how many pounds gained, how high his cholesterol got, etc. after only a month), but it also covers a broader range of topics, like the rise of fast food in America, marketing to children for fast food, successful changes that some communities have made in their schools, lawsuits against Big Food Corporations, the influence of fast food companies and their executives, and the spread of fast food across the globe (and the impact on the health of the populations there). The nutritional stuff that's in this book I already knew (why HFCS, sodium, chemicals, fat, sugar, and excess calories are bad), so it was the other stuff that I found more interesting. But if you've never thought about what's wrong with the food itself, this book does cover that as well.
The tone of the book was light-hearted and humorous, mixed with some outrage...a fun read overall. The funniest part was reading about the Olympic gymnast who was going to be featured in McDonald's advertising when McDonald's was an official sponsor of the Olympics. She was asked by a reporter when was the last time she ate McDonald's, and her innocent reply was that she doesn't even remember, because she can't really have McDonald's now, being an Olympic athlete.
Since this book was from 2006, I'm curious how much has changed in the past decade. Have there been even more improvements in school lunches? Has the 'healthful options' offered by fast food chains gained more traction, and actually become 'healthy' (rather than just sounding healthful?but still loaded with sodium and fat and calories?) Has the frequency of eating at fast food falling among the population?
The tone of the book was light-hearted and humorous, mixed with some outrage...a fun read overall. The funniest part was reading about the Olympic gymnast who was going to be featured in McDonald's advertising when McDonald's was an official sponsor of the Olympics. She was asked by a reporter when was the last time she ate McDonald's, and her innocent reply was that she doesn't even remember, because she can't really have McDonald's now, being an Olympic athlete.
Since this book was from 2006, I'm curious how much has changed in the past decade. Have there been even more improvements in school lunches? Has the 'healthful options' offered by fast food chains gained more traction, and actually become 'healthy' (rather than just sounding healthful?but still loaded with sodium and fat and calories?) Has the frequency of eating at fast food falling among the population?
November 20, 2016
Don't eat this book.
Lot of lectures by the creator of Supersize Me, Morgan Spurlock. I was expecting it to be all about the documentary but that was only a small portion, maybe a third. Those parts were really interesting--how he threw up on the first (or was it second?) day; how sluggish he felt, almost from the beginning; how he got to where he hated the food even while he craved the sugar-fat rush he got from it; how his metabolic indicators plummeted so badly that his doctors were alarmed and wanted to take him off the "diet".
But mainly it was lectures on topics only too familiar these days--what fast food is made of, where it comes from, why it's so cheap. More shocking is his description of how junk food is marketed to children from a freakishly early age. Fast food has the money to fund video game development, school activities, and even sports games. I wonder how fast you'd be ejected if you'd tried to hawk Burger King products at the 2012 Olympics?
He spoke of, but didn't attempt to quantify the ultimate cost to society of the stuff. It's a hard number to quantify, but I think we'd find that the our dollar menu chicken nuggets ends up costing us five times that. Too bad we can't make junk food manufacturers subsidize health care.
If you don't already know all this, read this book. You'll start to wonder when Big Macs will start coming with warning labels--and you'll know why they never will.
Lot of lectures by the creator of Supersize Me, Morgan Spurlock. I was expecting it to be all about the documentary but that was only a small portion, maybe a third. Those parts were really interesting--how he threw up on the first (or was it second?) day; how sluggish he felt, almost from the beginning; how he got to where he hated the food even while he craved the sugar-fat rush he got from it; how his metabolic indicators plummeted so badly that his doctors were alarmed and wanted to take him off the "diet".
But mainly it was lectures on topics only too familiar these days--what fast food is made of, where it comes from, why it's so cheap. More shocking is his description of how junk food is marketed to children from a freakishly early age. Fast food has the money to fund video game development, school activities, and even sports games. I wonder how fast you'd be ejected if you'd tried to hawk Burger King products at the 2012 Olympics?
He spoke of, but didn't attempt to quantify the ultimate cost to society of the stuff. It's a hard number to quantify, but I think we'd find that the our dollar menu chicken nuggets ends up costing us five times that. Too bad we can't make junk food manufacturers subsidize health care.
If you don't already know all this, read this book. You'll start to wonder when Big Macs will start coming with warning labels--and you'll know why they never will.
August 2, 2017
Såg ni filmen Super size me? Morgan Spurlock bestämde sig, efter att två tonåringar i USA stämt McDonalds, att under 30 dagar enbart leva på mat från McDonalds. Fick han frågan "super size" var han dessutom tvungen att säga ja. Det hela övervakades av läkare och dietister och på dessa 30 dagar gick Morgan upp 11kg fick smärtor i bröstet och svåra leverskador, blodtrycket och kolesterolhalten steg och han drabbades av lätt depression.
Jag och extra allt är bokversionen av filmen Super size me. Den innehåller förstås lite mer av allt och fler fördjupningar.
Spurlock fick förstås jättemycket kritik för sin film ("finns ju ingen som äter alla sina mål på McDonalds") men jag tycker han är tankeväckande genom tillspetsad humor. Jag tror dessutom det är helt sant att snabbmatsindustrin lägger enorma pengar på reklam och då särskilt den som riktar sig till barn.
Jag och extra allt innehåller inte jättemycket mer än filmen, men gillade man den kommer man gilla den här.
Jag och extra allt är bokversionen av filmen Super size me. Den innehåller förstås lite mer av allt och fler fördjupningar.
Spurlock fick förstås jättemycket kritik för sin film ("finns ju ingen som äter alla sina mål på McDonalds") men jag tycker han är tankeväckande genom tillspetsad humor. Jag tror dessutom det är helt sant att snabbmatsindustrin lägger enorma pengar på reklam och då särskilt den som riktar sig till barn.
Jag och extra allt innehåller inte jättemycket mer än filmen, men gillade man den kommer man gilla den här.
August 3, 2017
Maybe it is the Libertarian in me that shies away from calling for more government regulations, maybe it is my strong opinion that every individual is responsible for his or her actions rather than blaming major corporations for our health problems, or maybe I am a decade late in reading this book and the data just seems obvious, but for whatever reason I didn't enjoy this book as much as I expected to. The final nail in the coffin was the chapter in which Spurlock went after Ronald McDonald Charity House. Having witnessed first hand the amazing work this charity does for kids and their families, I could not believe how obnoxious and ridiculous Spurlock sounded when criticizing such a solid organization.
Read
May 4, 2016Jag läste boken före jag såg filmen, men har sett den sen dess (brafilm). Boken känns inte riktigt lika slarvig som filmen gör. Och den utvecklar lite mer.
Framför allt är det intressant att läsa om effekterna av filmen, Fast Food Nation och andra som uppmärksammat frågan de senaste åren.
Framför allt ur ett marknadsekonomiskt perspektiv. De hittar alltid tillbaka till våra plånböcker. Hur många produkter har inte lanserats i år utan tillsatt socker? Nu med fullkorn?
Som The Economist påpekade var ingenting av detta en betydande omsvängning för McDonald’s grundläggande mission att vända hamburgare. ”Sallader sänder ett budskap till miljontals kunder: det är nu acceptabelt att äta på McDonald’s igen eftersom menyn är ‘hälsosammare’ — även om den stora majoriteten fortfarande beställer en hamburgare och pommes frites.”
Hälsa genom blotta samröret med sallad igen. Redan genom att sälja sallader får de ju folk att tro att på något magiskt sätt, genom grönsaksosmos, allting annat på deras syltor blivit nyttigare. Artikeln i The Economist fortsatte:
”Det är ingen tvekan om att vi tjänar mer pengar på att sälja hamburgare och ostburgare”, säger Matthew Paull, McDonald’s chefsekonom. Försäljningsökningen drivs, säger han, av ”gloriaeffekten” av att hälsosammare mat dyker upp på menyn …
Jag och extra allt, s 265-266
Till och med gloria-effekten är antagligen kalkylerad.
Förresten, att en sorts flingor nu har lågt sockerinnehåll betyder i bästa fall att de bara är lite mindre skadliga. Bara för att de mexikanska kött- eller kycklingrätterna eller glassen är ”kolhydratfattig” är det inte säkert att man kan proppa i sig och ändå gå ner i vikt.
Inget bolag erbjuder dessa nya ”förbättrade” produkter för att de bryr sig om din hälsa. De bara reagerar på förändringar på marknaden och konkurrerar med varandra om din uppmärksamhet. Affärer är affärer.
Ibid, s 274
En sak som känns slarvig i filmen är hur han hanterar Subway-killen. I filmen är det som hämtat från ett Subway-pressmeddelande. I korthet: Fet kille blev smal på Subway-mackor. Filmen visar honom på ett Subway-event där han traditionsenligt får visa upp sina brallor. Men de nämner inte alls vad han gjort för skillnad, förutom att byta diet. Snubben hade börjat träna. Ett ganska ambitiöst program. Så Subway-målen han åt varje dag hade inte så mycket med hans förändring att göra. I boken har Morgan gjort lite mer research och visar dessutom upp andra Subway-mackor med mer än ett dagsbehov av kalorier.
Egentligen har jag problem med fokuset på vikt och smal. Men jag har ännu större problem med hälsoproblemet motsatsen leder till. Jag vill inte vara en del av eskalerande sjukhuskostnader på grund av slarvig livsföring. Jag slutade inte röka för att jag tyckte det var äckligt. Jag slutade inte snusa (igen) för två veckor sedan för pengarnas skull. Jag gick inte med i Viktklubben för att bli snygg.
Det låter ju extremt högfärdigt. Men ett av mina största motiv för förändring är samhället. Samhället ska inte bära sjukhuskostnader som jag orsakat genom sånt jag kunnat låta bli. Att vara en bättre förebild för JN och JNjr i andra hand och min hälsa i tredje. Kanske lurar jag mig själv. Men när jag försöker analysera mig själv landar jag där.
Problemet med att ta ställning är att det, på sätt och vis, lägger en börda på omgivningen. Jag har varit involverad i alldeles för många samtal om vikt de senaste månaderna. Och jag vrider mig lika obekvämt i stolen varje gång. Jag gör mina val och de är mina. Jag vill inte lägga börda på någon annan, egentligen. Och jag blir en del av smalkulturen oavsett vad jag lurar mig själv att mina principer lutar sig på. Och frågan är komplex då både arv och miljö styr vårt beteende.
Nästa ställningstagande bör väl hur som helst bli att knulla mer:
Om man livet i genom är riktigt sexuellt aktiv, och har sex tre-fyra gånger i veckan så halveras risken för en stroke.
Aftonbladet Rädd för höstförkylning? Ha sex! (2005-08-29)
Uppdatering (2006-05-04)
Inte för att han är ensam orsak till det här, men han är definitivt en del i det:
The nation’s largest beverage distributors have agreed to halt nearly all sales of sodas to public schools ‚Äî a step that will remove the sugary, caloric drinks from vending machines and cafeterias around the country.
[...]
The agreement should reach an estimated 87 percent of the public and private school drink market, Neely said. Industry giants Cadbury Schweppes PLC, Coca-Cola Co. and PepsiCo Inc. and the ABA have signed on. Officials said they hope companies representing the other 13 percent of the market would follow suit.
Yahoo! News Soda Distributors to End Most School Sales (2006-05-03)
January 12, 2021
In case you were still uncertain about the nefarious ways corporations infiltrate our lives and how we are but cows to be milked dry by the hands of capitalism. Yes, the book is about the fast food industry, one of the most obvious and yet destructive choices, but I urge you to look beyond that. This stuff is happening everywhere, and it has to do with the way we live as a whole.
October 5, 2021
Mixed feelings. Spurlock combines actual rational arguments and thoughts about the American fast food industry and obesogene habitat with emotional nonsense (one burger patty can be made out of a thousand different cows! So what?). All in all an enjoyable read but also very preachy.
October 9, 2017
I'm challenging myself to quit McDonald's for a month!
January 4, 2019
I had to read this for a collage class. This not my usual genre of book, so my evaluation of it may be a bit low because of that. It was informative and entertaining, it just didn't resonate with me.
May 19, 2019
Real shame about the crazy fatphobia and the man himself
November 27, 2019
A good supplement to the movie, but definitely dated at this point. Picked up this audiobook as an impulse borrow from the library.
Read
March 15, 2020Did not finish.
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