The Feb. 20 panel discussion on Eric Schlosser’s “Fast Food Nation” at the Grace Van Dyke Byrd Library focused on the cultural, agricultural and nutritional impacts of the fast-food industry, all while tying the discussion in with the recent recall of 143 million pounds of beef, the largest in U.S. history.
The panel consisted of Bakersfield College English professor Scott Wayland, BC animal science professors Billy Barnes and Gay Gardella, and BC nutrition professor Leah Carter and nutritionist Jodi Friedlander.
The speakers were introduced by BC librarian Nancy Guidry, who is on the steering committee for the “One Book, One Bakersfield… One Kern” program. The committee chose “Fast Food Nation,” which is about the impact the fast-food industry has on society, as this year’s featured book.
Wayland described the fast-food industry as “barbaric and decadent,” a “pervasive” element of American culture that “allows you to be detached from the eating experience to maximize profits.”
According to Wayland, “We have a sacred relationship with what we eat.” People take pride in the meals that they make for themselves and for their families, and when people don’t have to cook their own food and can have that food taste exactly the same every time, they buy it. This “works against human interactions” and promotes a “monoculture” of taste, Wayland said.
Wayland said that while people believe that they have the freedom to choose whether or not to eat fast food, “cradle to the grave” marketing takes away that freedom. According to Wayland, children watch an average of 30,000 commercials every year, and many of those commercials promote fast-food companies that “drive the consumerist machine.”
Toward the end of his presentation, Wayland described a counterculture that has emerged called the “slow food” movement. The “slow food” movement is self-described as a “progressive” movement that seeks to promote authentic and regional cooking styles.
According to Gardella, who is also a beef producer, the primary reason the beef produced by the Hallmark Meat Packing Agency was recalled was because of how the cattle were treated, not because the meat was tainted. The animals were being pushed and prodded to slaughter, which is against U.S. Department of Agriculture regulations.
Gardella emphasized that while she was not at the panel to “defend” the beef industry, it has “the safest food system in the world because of [its] protocol.”
Barnes, who specializes in pork production, said that Hallmark’s improprieties will lead to jail time for the individuals accused of breaking protocol. According to Barnes, the Iowa Beef Producers is a federal organization that teaches producers the proper way to handle cattle, and those outlined procedures were not followed by Hallmark.
Barnes went on to discuss changes going on in the production of livestock. National Animal Identification (NAID) tags are placed on livestock to indicate where the livestock was produced and by whom, so that if a contamination occurs in the food chain, it is easier to determine where the contamination came from. Right now, the NAID program is voluntary. However, Barnes said that “in the next couple of years, the NAID will be a mandatory idea.”
Carter said that there are two causes for the obesity epidemic in the U.S. The first is the consumption of fast food. According to Carter, there are an average of 2,200 calories in one fast-food meal, more than what is required for a person to consume in one day. Also, since fast food lacks the necessary vitamins and minerals people need, “You’re over- nourished in one sense and malnourished in another,” said Carter.
People are also overweight, said Carter, due to inactivity. Technology has made people, especially children, lead more sedentary lifestyles. Exercise is such an integral part of a healthy lifestyle, said Carter, that “not exercising is actually a risk factor for disease.”
Friedlander described how the high fructose corn syrup in fast food and in processed food is a contributing factor in the obesity epidemic, a concept outlined in her essay “How America’s Corn-ucopia Is Making Us Fat,” co-written with Bauman College of Holistic Nutrition and Culinary Arts Director Edward Bauman. High fructose corn syrup gets shunted into the liver and must be stored into fat.
Corn, which has little nutritional value, is the most subsidized crop in the country. As a heavily subsidized crop, corn is in a vast majority of livestock feed, including feed for cattle. Since cattle do not have a digestive system designed for grain, they have too great an intake of protein and require antibiotics.
According to Friedlander, over-inflammation is the leading cause of most degenerative health conditions. She argued that since the leading causes of over-inflammation are stress and overeating, and since stress cannot be controlled, people need to control their overeating.
“We must understand what we put into our bodies because we can control that,” said Friedlander.