Why do you think people buy lost food, even though they know it is not good for their health?
1. Convenient location
2. Quick sẻvice
3. Large portions
4. Taste
5. Cheap price
6. Advertising
7. Peer pressure
Sample answers
(A) At work, I only have a short time to eat and run personal errands, so I don‘t have the time to go to a nice, relaxing restaurant for a pood meal. I save that luxury for the weekends. My office is in an area where there are dozens of small fast-food restaurants, so I have a wide choice of menus and I can finish my meal quickly.
(B) People eat in the popular fast-food places for the same reason that they listen to popular music and wear popular fashions: because it is “popular" to do so. The giant corporations understand very well the value of advertising and image-creation. Most people actually prefer high-quality food that is individually prepared, served to them by a friendly waiter or waitress, and consumed in a comfortable, relaxing environment; but they still spend most of their ear- out budget at the assembly-line food outlets.
Speak your mind
1. What is your favorite fast food?
2. How often do you eat at a fast-food restaurant?
3. Are there any problems associated with fast food?
4. Why do many people, especially kids, seem to be addicted to fast food?
5. What should the fast-food producers do to help consumers?
6. Do you think parents are at fault for their children's bad eating habits or are the kids themselves most responsible?
Speak with your mind helpers
1. What is your favorite fast food?
(A)
I don't think I could survive a day without a delicious ice cream cone. It always makes my day go better. If I am tired of studying and need a break, I go to the nearest ice cream vendor and order a double dip cone or sundae, with lots of hot fudge, nuts, and fruit filling. I don‘t care what flavor the ice cream is — they're all good!
(B)
I like them all, but chicken is the healthiest fast food. Even though it is fried, the chicken still has a lot fewer calories and less fat than a hamburger or pizza. And I can eat a lot of it without feeling ”too fuI|.” So, although I visit all of the fast food places from time to time, I visit the various chicken outlets far more often than the others.
2. How often do you eat at a fast-food restaurant?
(A)
I'm a very busy person, on the go all the time. So I live mainly on fast food. It‘s not unusual for me to eat out three times a day. Fortunately, there are many kinds of fast food available, so I am not stuck in a boring routine. Not only do I get to choose between chicken, hamburger, or pizza, among others, but the products from different companies in the same category have noticeably different tastes, and the restaurants themselves are constantly introducing new items as well.
(B)
I never go to a fast-food restaurant. At work sometimes or if I'm visiting someone's house, I‘ll eat fast food if that is the only thing available. But if I have a choice, I always avoid fast food. It's expensive and unhealthy at the same time! I don't understand why anyone eats the stuff. A good home-cooked meal or eating at a nice restaurant is always more nutritious and better tasting. In fact, if I had my spy I would make fast-food chains illegal.
3. Are there any problems associated with fast food?
A)
I don't think so. To stay in business, the makers depend on their customers being happy. So all the meat and vegetables and other ingredients are carefully inspected and prepared. The effort is to make sure that the food is consistently the same quality and taste every time. The ingredients that are used are always very basic components within the major food groups, the same sort of healthy food we eat at home. So I don't understand the criticism that people make about fast food.
(B)
The food itself may be basically healthy; that is probably true. But the combinations the major groups offer are high in fat, high in carbohydrates, and high in cholesterol. And, for reasons of economic competition, not dietary considerations, the servings are too large. So people who eat a lot of fast food tend to be overweight and lacking in many essential ingredients that a healthier balance would provide. Along with the extra weight, consumers are faced with higher blood pressure, poor blood circulation, and increased risks of heart trouble. There is even the possibility of high cancer risks, though the data on this aspect are not yet complete.
4. Why do many people, especially kids, seem to be addicted to fast food?
A)
What the makers don't want to tell you is that the food has a lot of sugar and other addictive substances added, because these additives either make the food taste better or help preserve its freshness. At home, people will eat hamburger or chicken which is fresh and unadulterated, but the same thing consumed in a fast-food store will be heavily salted and sweetened. We become addicted without realizing it.
(B)
The real addiction is the social role. People eat in fast-food restaurants together with their friends. They can be noisy and actively intimate within that circle of friends in ways that would not be acceptable in a traditional restaurant. The noise, the activity, the bright lights and colors combine to form a very enjoyable atmosphere of social entertainment. Modern society tends toward individual alienation and isolation, and the fast-food environment is an antidote.
5. What should the fast-food producers do to help consumers?
(A)
They should put the same marketing efforts into promoting the healthy items they sell, such as salads, as they put into their main items. They should also, clearly and prominent/y, display all the relevant dietary information such as calories, fat content, etc., so informed customers can make better choices for themselves. And the typical com do meal provides more calories than the recommended daily allotment; nobody needs to consume such large helpings at a single sitting. So, the chains should cut back drastically on the quantity of food they provide, instead of constantly pushing towards super-sizing everything.
(B)
The main thing for a fast food owner to remember is that his children eat it too. So he should do everything possible to make sure it is healthy. Instead, he is only interested in making money. So he adds more drinks. Even though sugar is mainly just empty calories with no dietary value, he adds it to as many products as possible because it tastes good and is addictive. So sugar is not only in the drinks and ice cream but even in the chicken or hamburger or pizza!
6. Do you think parents are at fault for their children's bad eating habits, or are the kids themselves most responsible?
F: I don't know what to do about my son.
M: Why? What's the matter?
F: No matter what I Qtr at home for him to eat, he hardly touches it. When he does eat, he's listless. It's like he has no appetite for good food.
M: Oh, he's probably just infatuated with somebody. Nobody who's “in love” feels like eating, you know.
F: No, I don't think so. Mainly, he only wants to eat fast food. He foods up on it before he gets home, and then of course he isn't hungry any more.
M: That should be an easy problem to fix. Just don't give him any money.
F: That wouldn't help. He would just borrow some cash from his friends, and I'd end up having to give him money to pay them back. And I don’t want him to be a beggar; he needs to stand on his own.
M: But he's making terrible food choices. How did he get such bad habits?
F: It's probably my fault. When I used to take him out shopping, we'd stop at some fast-food place for lunch. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now I'm sorry.
M: Don't be too hard on yourself. Everybody buys fast food now and then. Sometimes there just isn't any convenient alternative.
F: But it isn't good for him to make it his main source of meals. He needs to have a more balanced diet with fewer empty calories and less fat.
M: Have you talked to him about it?
F: Many times. But he doesn't even seem to think there's a problem. He says all his friends eat out, and he just wants to be with them.
M: Well, I guess ultimately he has to make his own choices in life. He's not your prisoner.
F: No, lie isn't. But I can't help worrying about him.
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