Industrial Meat and My Fast Food Experience

Well I'm beyond the industrial farming section in the Omnivore's Dilemma, but I am still haunted by how bizarre our food system has become. I knew large amounts of antibiotics and estrogen were being used to treat factory livestock, but I was not aware that they were blended with liquefied fat (which includes beef tallow) and supplements to be dumped in the feeding trough continuously. Apparently, without the daily dose of antibiotics large feedlots would never be able to operate.

The CAFO Poky Feeders in Kansas where Pollan visits

Why do the cattle need so many antibiotics? One answer is corn. The digestive system of cattle is not designed for a strictly corn diet, they are grazing animals. The stomachs of cattle and other rumen are fairy neutral, opposed to our acidic stomachs. The corn makes their stomachs more acidic leading to bloating, diarrhea, ulcers, rumenitis, and liver disease. In fact, it is estimated 15-30% of all feedlot cows have abscessed livers. Basically these poor animals are barely kept alive long enough to be slaughtered. There is no way they would be able to sustain long-term conditions like a CAFO (confined animal feeding operation).

To conclude the industrial food section Pollan eats a meal from McDonald's in his car- the perfect end to following the planting of commercial field corn in Iowa. Pollan once again describes how fast food is entirely the result of food scientists and is all processed. Most of the food contains soy or corn, especially high fructose corn syrup. But this was McDonald's, I knew their food was fake. What about other restaurants. Well, I drove past a Culver's yesterday, a fast food restaurant that started in Wisconsin and now has spread throughout the Midwest. I had eaten at one a couple years ago and it seemed a cut above most fast food joints. So I went in. I had to.

I rarely eat processed foods anymore and I can't remember the last time I had eaten fast food. I gave it up more for health and ethical reasons than taste. So I wondered, did it still taste good? I ordered a cheeseburger, fries, and soda. Then I grabbed their allergen chart that was sitting by the napkins. They were out of nutrition guides so I asked the lady at the counter if they had anymore. She finally dug one up by the drive through window. Well for the curious here is what I found:

*According to the allergen sheet the only food listed that do not contain soy or corn are their classic lemon ice, strawberries (for sundaes), raspberry vinaigrette dressing, dill pickles, unsweetened and hot tea (which oddly contain gluten), a carton of milk, mild and spicy mustard, picante sauce, and green beans (which contain dairy). Even the nuts for toppings contained soy, perhaps because they were produced in the same factory that used soy.
*None of the sandwiches or burgers contained under 600 mg of sodium. Most contained over 1000mg.

As for the meal? It wasn't tasty at all. Everything tasted like salt. There was no way I could finish my soda. I made sure to try and savour the food to bring out any flavour, but there was little to be brought out. A perfect quote from Pollan regarding fast food is this, "The more you concentrate on how it tastes, the less like anything it tastes. So you eat more and eat more quickly, hoping somehow to catch up to the original idea of a cheeseburger or French Fry as it retreats over the horizon. And so it goes, bite after bite, until you feel not satisfied exactly, but simply, regrettably, full."

To make matters worse, about an hour later I had a mild case of indigestion. Pollan suggests that one and three children in the US eat fast food everyday. I guess they have built up an immunity to it better than my stomach. I feel better after a triple-americano than that food.

And of course another relevant Onion article.