Sunday, December 12, 2004
not so healthy foodstuffs
hot dogs have got to be one of the shadiest forms of "nourishment" known to the american diet. forget about what we know (or don't know) concerning what goes into them....you can tell something's up when you're cooking them on the stove. it just can't be a good sign when yellow while you cook it (especially since that's not the original color of a hot dog). just makes you wonder, where does that excess coloring come from? i could probably come up with something if i sat around thinking about it long enough, but just as it is with the actual contents of a hot dog, i'm probably better off not knowing. sometimes ignorance is bliss. you just have to pick the right things to be ignorant about.
this of course hasn't, nor will it ever, stopped me from eating hot dogs. i had two for lunch thursday and three yesterday. and if it weren't for the combination of going out to meets some peeps for lunch today and the fact that there are no more hot dogs in the house thanks to my ridiculously healthy eating habits, i probably would have eaten more today. it's paradoxical and yet completely american that something like a hot dog would be such an ingrained part of our culture when we're so [seemingly] obsessed with health and especially physical appearance. grillin' out? i'm sure hot dogs are on the menu. fourth of july? you should be tarred, feathered and deported to france if you don't serve hot dogs. some kids birthday? hot dogs are probably the main item on the menu. we have contests to see who can shove the most hot dogs down their throat in the allotted amount of time for goodness' sake. the worst part about that is a tiny japanese dood always wins. what's up with that?
it's a quick and easy snack (plus you get to put ketchup on them) and was definitely a staple of my summer diet growing up. i love hot dogs, they're great. it's just an odd part of american culture that has perhaps become more salient as a result of my time living outside of the states....although i eat them all the time in argentina. they're called panchos and they come with crushed potato chips in the bun. good stuff, but i digress.
i think it says something about american culture that we obsess over physical health and appearance, yet so much of the food that's marketed in our country is quick and easy, but not exactly healthy. microwave this and that, minute rice, hamburger helper, and the list goes on. i just don't get how people can expect to be healthy and in shape when they're too lazy to prepare a healthy, well balanced meal, let alone do some physical exercise (this is probably the only country in the world where you can find a lazy health nut). they just get mad at mcdonald's for offering big macs with 500% of your suggested daily fat intake. all i have to say is i don't see anybody wearing a mcdonald's uniform shoving big macs down peoples throats on the street. i don't even like mcdonald's, and yet i find myself defending them. didn't see that coming.
oh, as you can see the commenting system is back in business, but i'm still not wild about these colors. perhaps someday this lazy american (who goes to the gym daily, by the way) will do something about it. until then, yay for the orange revolution.
symphonic melodies: zero 7 - end theme
food for thought: the 2003 chanticleer (duke yearbook)
hot dogs have got to be one of the shadiest forms of "nourishment" known to the american diet. forget about what we know (or don't know) concerning what goes into them....you can tell something's up when you're cooking them on the stove. it just can't be a good sign when yellow while you cook it (especially since that's not the original color of a hot dog). just makes you wonder, where does that excess coloring come from? i could probably come up with something if i sat around thinking about it long enough, but just as it is with the actual contents of a hot dog, i'm probably better off not knowing. sometimes ignorance is bliss. you just have to pick the right things to be ignorant about.
this of course hasn't, nor will it ever, stopped me from eating hot dogs. i had two for lunch thursday and three yesterday. and if it weren't for the combination of going out to meets some peeps for lunch today and the fact that there are no more hot dogs in the house thanks to my ridiculously healthy eating habits, i probably would have eaten more today. it's paradoxical and yet completely american that something like a hot dog would be such an ingrained part of our culture when we're so [seemingly] obsessed with health and especially physical appearance. grillin' out? i'm sure hot dogs are on the menu. fourth of july? you should be tarred, feathered and deported to france if you don't serve hot dogs. some kids birthday? hot dogs are probably the main item on the menu. we have contests to see who can shove the most hot dogs down their throat in the allotted amount of time for goodness' sake. the worst part about that is a tiny japanese dood always wins. what's up with that?
it's a quick and easy snack (plus you get to put ketchup on them) and was definitely a staple of my summer diet growing up. i love hot dogs, they're great. it's just an odd part of american culture that has perhaps become more salient as a result of my time living outside of the states....although i eat them all the time in argentina. they're called panchos and they come with crushed potato chips in the bun. good stuff, but i digress.
i think it says something about american culture that we obsess over physical health and appearance, yet so much of the food that's marketed in our country is quick and easy, but not exactly healthy. microwave this and that, minute rice, hamburger helper, and the list goes on. i just don't get how people can expect to be healthy and in shape when they're too lazy to prepare a healthy, well balanced meal, let alone do some physical exercise (this is probably the only country in the world where you can find a lazy health nut). they just get mad at mcdonald's for offering big macs with 500% of your suggested daily fat intake. all i have to say is i don't see anybody wearing a mcdonald's uniform shoving big macs down peoples throats on the street. i don't even like mcdonald's, and yet i find myself defending them. didn't see that coming.
oh, as you can see the commenting system is back in business, but i'm still not wild about these colors. perhaps someday this lazy american (who goes to the gym daily, by the way) will do something about it. until then, yay for the orange revolution.
symphonic melodies: zero 7 - end theme
food for thought: the 2003 chanticleer (duke yearbook)
