Glorifying Gluttony

 

I was at the gym tonight and I saw the most disturbing show on one of the televisions.  Every time I go, there is at least one channel showing some kind of food program.  Talk about the wrong thing to watch!  This time though, I was so utterly disgusted I think I threw up in my mouth a little. 

Now because I couldn't hear what was being said, I only have the half of it, but there was a host talking and it flashed to pictures of ridiculously portioned fast food.  There was a piece of fried, breaded chicken (I think it was chicken!) that stuck so far out of the bun that you could barely even hold it.  It kept flashing to these huge pieces of meat coming out of the deep fryer, dripping hot, yucky grease.  People happily smiled and chowed down on this heart attack on a bun over and over and over again.  I was almost sick.

The next thing I saw was a burger called "The Big Ugly" and, you guessed it, it was big and ugly!  The thing was two pounds of hamburger meat topped with mayo, and all the fixings.  I don't think the thing could fit in my stomach even if I wanted to consume that much meat.  The host of the show, a hefty man, was standing in front of a wall of pictures of people who had beaten the Big Ugly.  So, of course, he had to take the challenge.  But the challenge wasn't just to finish one of the hulking burgers, it was to eat three!  That's six pounds of meat, with buns, toppings and all.  Six pounds!  My whole family eats less meat than that in a week, and there are four of us!  The poor host couldn't finish the last burger, but I can't imagine how he ate even two.  It was absolutely astounding.

The thing this made me think about is the fact that this kind of consumption is culturally acceptable in North America.  We glorify this food that will eventually kill us so much that we make television shows about it and have walls of people who have conquered the challenge.  Why do we do this to ourselves?  I just don't get it.  It really makes me remember why I choose not to eat lots of deep fried, fat ridden foods, and when I do crave them, I remember that I shouldn't eat them all the time.  I don't think there's anything wrong with eating fast food once in a while, when you already have a healthy, balanced diet, but to glorify food that will eventually kill you...what is that?  I don't know, I just don't get it.  I just don't get it.