Fast Food

So, yesterday I found out something which I wasn't too excited about. According to the grades on Chuck White's website, I got a "U" in his class this semester. Problem. I'm done at SAU, but I need that class to get my degree. He told me in an e-mail I could finish up the readings his chart says I didn't complete, and that should raise my grade high enough to pass. So, this morning I'm reading Augustine's Enchiridion; I decided to take a break and write about some thoughts which have been floating around my head lately.

I often think it's easier to get fast food when I'm hungry. I can be sitting in my room and think, "I should go to Subway and get something to eat." Normally, however, the place I'm living has enough food for me to make a meal, even if it's a small one. Still, my thoughts materialise something like this: "Well, this isn't enough," or, "I don't feel like eating this right now," or, "This will take too long to make. Fast food is cheap, it sounds pretty tasty right now, and it won't take a half-hour to make."

There are some issues here. First, regarding the price, fast food is definitely cheap, but if I already have food in the house, is it not cheaper to eat what I have? I'll be saving money from my wallet immediately, and I will not be using gas from my car; I likely would be if I got fast food. Also, I'm not exactly a skinny guy. I can survive on small meals, and it will probably be better for me in the long run than stuffing myself full of McDonald's or even Subway, depending on how much I actually buy there. The food in my house right now, especially, is much better for me than fast food.

The second issue is this: many fast food chains try to make their products so they are as addicting as possible. Maybe some of you get that inexplicable desire for McDonald's cheeseburgers; you can't explain it, but you really want one, and no other food will quite do the trick. I know that feeling, at least. One of my friends (who may be reading this right now) once told me a story about when he was still a vegetarian. He went to McDonald's and ordered a cheeseburger without the burger. After eating it, he realised he couldn't even tell there wasn't meat in it, because it tasted exactly the same. Gross. It's obvious to most people that fast food chains are just trying to get people hooked on their food, but few people actually make the decision to forego fast food because of health reasons. This even relates back to money: fast food grabs my desires so well that I used to want it all the time, sometimes even letting food I already had go completely to waste, and I end up spending more and more money on it when I don't need to. Now I try to think of it this way: If the food is designed so I become even slightly addicted to it, wouldn't it be better for me to eat something else?

Third, fast food makes me lazy. I think, "Oh, driving a mile and grabbing a quick lunch at Subway will be faster than cooking the pasta in the cupboard." The moment I go through with it, I've given in to laziness, and am wasting the resources God has provided for me. I'm not pointing fingers at people who stop for fast food when they really don't have enough time to make a meal at home; I'm talking about myself, when I'm sitting at home and don't feel like making my own food. When I do this, I'm both hindering the growth of good habits in my life (patience, diligence, thriftiness, moderation) and engendering the growth of bad ones (impatience, sloth, wastefulness, excess).

In short, getting fast food may seem easier sometimes, but it's actually making life harder in the long run: it harms God's temple (my own body), it uses up more money than it appears to outwardly, and it harms my own spiritual and personal growth. I understand fast food can be helpful in certain situations, but making it a regular part of life is not a good idea.

Put differently, it's even more convicting to me: By choosing fast food when I don't need to, I'm deciding I want pleasure now and couldn't care less about the long-term consequences. Anyone reading this, whether you're a Christian or not, should be able to understand that this is not a healthy mindset. However, following Christ specifically calls for a lifestyle which is the polar opposite of this one, so I would hope my argument here would especially resonate with them. Unfortunately, I often find Christians actually care less about their bodies than the rest of the world; a very sad state of affairs, indeed. A case can be made that Christians should not focus their entire lives on the pursuit of health and wellness (and this is true), but a case cannot be made that Christians should not care for their bodies. I see people live out this mindset too often: "Well, I'm working for God's kingdom, so how I treat my body here doesn't matter in eternity." The first part is true enough, but who's to say God's kingdom isn't on earth right now? Maybe we should be setting an example with our lives. Just a thought.

Peace.