Fast Food
vs.
Organic Lifestyles
A comparative presentation
Fast Food in the
United States
Living in the Fast Lane
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Americans seem to pursue instant gratification like
nothing else, and they apparently thrive on immediacy.
When they want something, they tend to want it now.
The vehicle, for many Americans, becomes like a home
away from home. People put on make-up, talk on their cell
phones, eat their meals, and do many other things while
driving.
Fast food drive-thru lanes facilitate this fast-paced mode
of living, where everyone is always on the go.
Fast-paced living can decrease the amount of time that
people have to simply enjoy life and their experiences.
Fast Food on the Go
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Drive-thru lanes allow people to
remain in their vehicles while
ordering and purchasing food.
People who lead busy lives and find
themselves on the road a great deal
often utilize drive-thru lanes at fast
food restaurants.
Drive-thru eating provides a
convenient way to save time on what
could be a very pleasurable
experience: enjoying a meal.
Fast food meals represent a quick
and easy way to fuel the human
body. Whether that fuel actually
provides what the body needs is
another question.
Fast Food Nutritional Value
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Fast Food meals
generally consists of
ingredients formulated
for a certain flavor and
to maintain freshness.
Fast Food products are
often full of
hydrogenated
vegetable oils that
contain high amounts of
trans fat.
Fast Food ingredients
undergo extensive
processing and contain
many additives that
reduce the nutritional
value.
Fast Food
• A cheeseburger
• French fries
• A soda or soft
drink
• Fast Food generally
refers to food that is
cooked in large
quantities then kept
warm or reheated to
order.
• Fast Food is
purchased ready-toeat from from fast
food restaurants that
are often franchise
establishments.
• Franchise
operations serve
standardized foods
shipped from central
locations or
distributors. Often,
these foods arrive
frozen.
Fast Food is Big Business
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Fast Food restaurant
chains have increasing
sales each year.
In 1970 in the United
States, consumers spent
$6 billion on fast food
meals.
In 2000, American
consumers spent $110
billion on fast food meals.
Fast Food Nation is a
novel that investigates the
local and global influence
of the United States fast
food industry.
Fast Food in the Movies
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Fast Food Nation, the
novel, was adapted into a
major motion picture.
However, it was not
received with nearly as
much acclaim as the
original novel.
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Super Size Me is a film
that was directed by and
starring Morgan
Spurlock. The film covers
a 30-day period in which
Spurlock ate only at
McDonald’s, which is
arguably the largest,
most globally-renowned
American fast food
company.
Energy Drinks
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Energy Drinks are quite
popular in the United States.
They seem to hold great
appeal to individuals who
maintain fast-paced lifestyles.
Energy Drinks are
essentially soft drinks
designed to provide energy.
The central ingredient in
both soft drinks and energy
drinks is caffeine. Other
common ingredients include
B vitamin, extracts from the
guarana plant, and other
herbal ingredients. Some
contain high levels of sugar.
Others are artificially
sweetened.
Energy Drinks as Fuel
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Energy drinks claim to fuel the mind and body with energy, with the
ability to keep going and doing.
Many energy drinks have names that refer to their alleged effects.
One called “Xcelerator” supposedly makes your mind and body
accelerate.
Other energy drinks are named, presumably, for what the person
becomes who drinks such a beverage. Among these, “RockStar” and
“Monster” are incredibly popular.
A Different Take on “Fast Food”
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Power Bars are a healthier “fast” food for individuals on the
run.
Power Bars, or energy bars as they are sometimes called,
provide quick, easy snack-type meals for people with busy
schedules.
Power Bars come in a wide range of flavors and generally are
more nutritious than candy bars, although some taste as good
as a candy bar.
Although power bars provide more nutrition than other snacks
like candy bars, they can not replace regular balanced meals.
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Vitamins
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Vitamins are considered
dietary supplements. They
are not meant to substitute
regular, well-balanced
meals. They can add into a
person’s diet essential
nutrients that may
otherwise be lacking.
Dietary supplements, or
vitamins, can be purchased
in almost all grocery stores,
drug stores, and even
convenience markets.
Vitamins encapsulated in
pill form are packaged in
bottles of 50, 100, or up to
1000 pills with labels
clearly listing the contents
and intended or suggested
uses.
Some vitamins make claims about health benefits that have not been approved
by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). If a pill has not been approved, its
effects are unproven, meaning that it may or may not do what it claims.
Choices and Priorities
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Eating healthy is an active
choice that has to be made
and reaffirmed on a daily
basis.
Nutrition often gets ignored
in the face or more pressing
concerns, such as work or
other projects that become
priorities.
Many people prioritize living
healthily below meeting
deadlines or saving time.
Vitamins, power bars, and
energy drinks do not
comprise a healthy diet.
These items and others like
them are not meant to
replace regular, wellbalanced meals, but for
many Americans they do.
Organic Lifestyles
The growing popularity of organic
lifestyles in the United States
What is an organic lifestyle?
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Avoiding the purchase of products grown
with synthetic chemicals and/or
hormones
Includes the purchase of food, clothing,
household items, and cosmetics
The most extreme organic lifestyle
includes growing one’s own food to
ensure its quality and freshness
For some people, this can become a
spiritual awakening
Why do people buy organic?
Belief that the use of pesticides is
harmful to the earth and contributes to
problems such as global warming
 Belief that eating or using products
grown with pesticides or hormones is
“unnatural” and has negative effects
on the body such as disease
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What is the government’s
role?
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Only products with 95-100% organic ingredients can
use the USDA organic symbol
As promised by the USDA, the regulations:
 Reflect National Organic Standards Board
recommendations regarding which substances used
in production and processing are allowed or
prohibited
 Prohibit the use of irradiation, sewage sludge, or
genetically modified organisms in organic production
 Prohibit antibiotic and synthetic hormone use in
organic meat and poultry
 Require 100% organic feed for organic livestock
Arguments promoting
organics
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The average non-organic fruit
contains more than 20 pesticides
Organic food is much more rich in vitamins,
minerals and fiber and retains the levels of
nutrients for much longer
Eating dairy or farm produce means also
eating the chemicals, drugs and
growth hormones given to the animals
See full article
“Organic Health Food” by Eric Medina
Organic health food stores have been around for a long time, but the number of organic
products has greatly increased in recent years. Organic food products have been around for well
over a decade. Slowly but surely, people have been finding out that artificial fertilizers,
pesticides, and other additives can have seriously compromising health effects. Nonetheless,
other kinds of consumer awareness have been a little bit slow to come. Nowadays, there are
organic beauty products, organic health care products, and even organic clothing. It is
unfortunate that our world is run in such a way that we have to specify when we don't want to
have harmful additives in the things that we use every day. Nonetheless, it is fortunate that
people are finally starting to wise up to it. Through organic products, we can all have healthier
lives.
No matter what you are using, you can probably find an organic product version of it. There is
even organic soda nowadays! Nevertheless, just because something is an organic product does
not mean it is healthy. Different states have different rules on what constitute organic products.
In some of them, such as California, there are very strict standards on organic food and other
types of organic products. To be considered organic, something has to be free of artificial
additives, growth hormones, antibiotics, and other impurities. In other states, however, you can
say anything is organic if you want to. A lot of the time, organic standards are industry controlled
on a voluntary basis. In practice, that means that the consumer has very little protection. Finding
non-GMO food products can be very difficult if you don't live in California.
In reality, the best way to make sure that you are using organic products is to buy locally grown
produce. If you can buy food, clothing, crafts, skin care products, and other consumer items that
are made in your area, it is quite easy to verify whether or not they are organically prepared.
Although these organic products can cost a little bit more, you can feel good about yourself for
using them. Not only do you know that you are living a healthier life, but you also will be
supporting local industry. It is always nice to be a will to give something back to your community,
and by making wise decisions about the food we eat and the clothing we wear, we can do just
that.
Organic Athlete is a global network of
athletes
 Their common goal is to promote
organic lifestyles
 The Portland Chapter organizes local
groups that share a passion for
exercise and healthy eating
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The Controversy
Some believe purchasing organic
products, or withholding their
purchase of “unsafe” products, allows
the consumer a voice in a capitalist
society
 However, the organic marketplace is
sometimes criticized as a deceiving
marketing ploy and trend
 See full article
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The effects of marketing
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How are the stores designed to attract
customers?
“Is Whole Foods Straying From Its Roots?”
by Marian Burros
They came together in what seemed like a perfect marriage: earnest former
hippies and Whole Foods, the clean, well-lighted version of the old natural
food store. The chain’s stores were filled with organic foods and socially
responsible ingredients. They were decorated with pastoral scenes of the
local farmers who sold to them; signage explained why local and organic are
better for the environment.
The food may have been more expensive, but for many shoppers it was
worth it. Since opening its first store in Austin, Tex., in 1980, Whole Foods
has grown from a small business to a mega-chain with 193 stores, capping
its rise last week with a deal to acquire the 110 stores of its largest rival, Wild
Oats.
The newer stores are getting bigger, too: 60,000- to 80,000-square-foot
supermarkets, they have extensive prepared food offerings, along with instore restaurants, spas, concierge shopping services, gelato stands,
chocolate fountains and pizza counters.
While many shoppers find the new stores exhilarating places to shop, the
company also faces critics who feel it has strayed from its original vision. In
angry postings on blogs, they charge that the store is not living up to its core
values — in particular, protecting the environment and supporting organic
agriculture and local farmers. In interviews, some of the customers who
describe themselves as committed to these values say they have become
disillusioned and taken their business elsewhere.
(Article Continued)
Bill Bishop, president of Willard Bishop Consulting, a retail food consulting firm,
said that Whole Foods has drifted toward the middle, which has made the store
more popular with a broader range of people. Many of today’s Whole Foods
shoppers are more interested in prepared foods than in whether the eggs are
organic. But that carries a downside. “The folks truly devoted to organic and
natural can’t get them all in Whole Foods and have to go somewhere else,” he
said.
“There is a segment of shoppers,” he added, “who have moved ahead of Whole
Foods. They think it is important to have a smaller carbon footprint and to want to
help small farmers.” He said that John Mackey, the chief executive officer and cofounder of Whole Foods, “is lagging behind his leading shoppers.”
Wall Street has also become a bit disillusioned, and the stock has dropped by
nearly 40 percent in the last year. Whole Foods faces competition from chains like
Trader Joe’s, Wegmans, Safeway and Kroger, stores which have successfully
copied many of its strategies: organic and natural products, expanded prepared
foods and attentive service. Those stores have ample opportunity to capture the
Whole Foods shopper. Mr. Hale of Nielsen said that even dedicated Whole Foods
shoppers make many trips to other food stores because they tend to see Whole
Foods as a “special occasion” trip.