Test the Effect

I felt it was quite ironic that today we watched “Super Size Me”, in which Morgan Spurlock undergoes a 30-day McDonald’s diet test, and we read New York Local, in which the author undergoes a weeklong local food diet test. Although Morgan Spurlock wanted to test the effects that solely eating fast food had on his body, and Adam Gopnick wanted to see if it was even possible to eat only local food from five boroughs in New York City, both experimenters chose to eat only one kind of food for an allotted time, and then reported the trials and tribulations of their food encounters.

“Super Size Me” was probably one of the most eye-opening films I have seen in a long time. The documentary not only showed Morgan’s thirty day journey, but it explored the effects of fast food all over the nation- especially with children- from the unhealthy school lunches to the lure of toys and playgrounds that McDonalds offers. I was so shocked to find out that it costs about the same amount of money to have healthy food choices as it does to have junk food and frozen boxed meals. I feel as if the healthy food companies need to advertise themselves more, make their food available in as many cities as they can, and to press school districts and local communities to make the changes.

I do think that some communities are beginning to push for a focus on healthier food in schools. At my high school I definitely saw a shift in the food from my freshman to my senior year. During my freshman year we had at least 9 soda vending machines on campus; by my senior year they had all been changed to water and juice machines. Furthermore, the cafeteria my freshman rarely had anything besides pizza, bagels, doughnuts, fries, chicken nuggets, cookies, chips, and other junk food. My senior year there were all of the previous options plus veggie sticks, salads, sandwiches, salads, milk, baked chips, and just overall healthier options. While this shift is great, it in no way rids of the problem of the junk food consumption on campus. The only people who chose to eat the salads and sandwiches were those who were used to eating healthy, and were now able to eat the cafeteria food because of the options. I feel as if you have to rid the cafeteria of all junk food in order to really cut back on the problem. Even if there are healthy options, many kids are only going to choose them if they don’t have any other alternative.

I was pleased that “Super Size Me” focused so much on the issue of children’s health and implied that the problems of obesity in our nation are rooted in our health as kids. I think all schools, especially elementary level, should only have healthy food, ensuring that at least one meal a day is a healthy one for our nations children.

On the contrary to “Super Size Me”, the New Yorker article we read evoked some feelings of hope for me. It is fascinating to read about the local foods found in the middle of New York City. I was most astounded by the honey, created on local roof tops, I never would have imagined such a thing was possible nor attempted. And although Adam Gopnik’s chicken quest wasn’t quite the success he had hoped for, it was amusing to read about his drug-deal-like adventures in the world of underground chicken slaughtering.


I thoroughly enjoyed both “Super Size Me” as well as “New York Local” for their attempts to break the common eating rituals and test the effects, limits, and possibilities of food.