Don't Eat This Book

Since my main goals in life right now are to get healthy and lose weight, I am addicted to learning about nutrition and the restaurant/fast food industry. While I don't eat fast food very often, I want to become informed so I can make good decisions for the rest of my life.

This week I am reading Morgan Spurlock's Don't Eat This Book. It's a companion to Super Size Me, which came out a few years ago. I think Kyle is tired of me chasing him around the house so I can read him the latest interesting passage. So instead, I will post some of my thoughts online. Here are a few highlights:

• Fast food contains even more chemicals than I thought and really shouldn't be classified as food.
• Only one-fifth of what you spend at a restaurant goes toward food (the rest covers a restaurant's operating expenses). This makes it easy for restaurants to give you a huge portion so you feel like you're getting your money's worth by stuffing yourself.
• There's a good chance the portion size/nutrition info on the website isn't even close to what you'll actually receive at the restaurant.
• McDonald's cooked their French fries in lard until 1990 (again with the lard!). Maybe that's why I remember Adventists eating at Burger King when I was growing up. Even after they started cooking their fries in vegetable oil, for many years they still added small amounts of beef flavoring. EEeeewww.
• McDonald's website actually states: "None of our products are certified as vegetarian." None?! Of how many other restaurants is the previous statement true?
  

D'leon's

D'leon's used to be my favorite Mexican fast food restaurant in Lincoln. Granted, there was hardly anything I could order, but still. The tortillas and hot sauce were worth it.

Until last Thursday.

I heard through the Seventh-day Adventist grapevine that D'leon's uses lard. Disheartened, I called to verify this terrible rumor. The conversation went like this:

Me: Hi, I'm wondering if your tortillas contain any lard.

Them: Just a little bit. Not very much at all.

Me: That's too bad. Do your beans contain any lard?

Them: No, we buy them dried, cook them, and fry them in a little lard.

I know...makes no sense no matter how you look at it. I'll occasionally ignore something like chicken stock in a soup. But anything that comes from a dead pig is another story.

Now I am obligated to ruin the D'leon's dining experience for everyone I know.

Today I sent D'leon's a polite email asking them at least offer a vegetarian option or indicate lard usage to customers. I wonder if anyone even checks that email address.

Now I feel paranoid when I think of all the Mexican restaurants where I have dined. How much lard have I unintentionally eaten? My answer is: no more! From now on, I am always going to ask before I eat.

Any suggestions on how we can unite to change the restaurant world?