OPINION
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2004
www.kansan.com
STINSON'S VIEW
Zach Stinson/KANSAN
Eating habits hamburgled early
My friend Ross ate Chick-fil-A for two weeks straight. The tempting but greasy smells of fried chicken and hot, crispy waffle fries were too much for him. He couldn't stop himself from being led by his nose, not his head.
But then he stopped. It wasn't because he realized he was ruining his health. He moved on to pizza and fast food Chinese.
These fatty food choices are not poor Ross's fault. He thinks real food comes in white wrappers and pizza boxes.
Like most of us, Ross has been raised in a culture in which fast food has been our friend. It's there immediately when we're hungry. And then it goes straight to our tummies and butts and stays.
Fast food companies have seduced us since we were children, and they're here today on campus. As kids, we bugged our parents for sugary cereals. Now, when we get home from classes and there's nothing to eat, we cruise the drive-thru.
On campus we have the Underground in Wescoe Hall, unveiled in September. It serves fried chicken, oily Chinese stirfry and grease-and-cheese pizza. "Healthy" choices include Crustano's, a sandwich place, and a salad bar.
The Underground's strategy is not to fuel the student body with sound nutrition. It partnered with franchises guaranteed to make it money such as Pizza Hut, Chick-Fil-A and Jump. Fast food has followed us here, but it's partly because we asked it to.
Mike Myers, assistant manager of Kansas Memorial Unions, said food choices in the Underground were driven by a student survey. Students were asked to express their brand preferences and identify them in terms of "healthy" and "greaty."
Thirty percent of students surveyed chose brands that offered hamburgers, such as Burger King, and also identified the food as "greasy."
Thirty percent chose sub sandwiches, and identified that food as "healthy." (Meat, cheese and a few wimpy veggies on bread is healthy? Not very).
The rest of the students said they would prefer to eat Mexican food (not known to be lean) or the "other" category.
GUEST COMMENTARY
LOUIS E STAUFFER
lstauffer@kansan.com
One student said the most desirable food choices on campus would be the same ones they could get on 23rd Street (i.e. fast food mecca). It's not hard to figure out why students want this. Brand advertising targeted us as kids.
We watched Toucan Sam push Fruit Loops during Saturday morning cartoon commercial breaks. Tony the Tiger told us Frosted Flakes were "Grrrreait!" The only thing sugar-coated flakes are great for is pumping kids full of sugar, at 14 grams of it per serving.
One of my most vivid childhood memories is attending a fellow preschooler's birthday party at McDonald's. We got our own Happy Meals, complete with a toy. The playground was all ours, and we were visited by none other than Ronald McDonald. What wasn't there to like? Tasty food, a cool toy, a playground and a clown who sang it was OK to eat junk "if we believed in magic." We were sold at four years old.
Ronald McDonald has become a lifelong lunch-buddy for many. He taught us that whenever we were hungry, his food would always be there.
And so we grew to think that real food comes in bags. Or white pizza boxes.
Book It, a program by Pizza Hut that rewarded reading with pizza, hit my elementary school by storm. The more books you read, the more "free" personal-pan pizzas you got. I remember seeing fellow classmates at Pizza Hut on many a Friday night.
We ate our greasy pizzas with pride, and I'm positive we hadn't read about the 750 calories, 36 grams of fat (56 percent of an adult's daily value) and 15 grams of saturated fat (73 percent of an adult's daily value) we were ingesting in a supreme personal pan pizza. All we had to do to get another
er one was read a few more Babysitters Club books. Those same pizzas are sold at three locations on this campus.
Myers said Chick-Fil-A is the top-seller these days for the Kansas Unions, with Pizza Hut coming in second and Burger King third. A chicken sandwich from Chick-fil-A has 16 grams of fat, 28 grams of protein, 38 grams of carbs and 410 calories. An order of medium waffle fries has 350 calories, 17 grams of fat, 3.5 grams of saturated fat and 2 grams of trans fat.
Fast food isn't going to go away. But we need to realize that we're smart enough to beat these companies, and the Kansas Unions, at their own game. Real food isn't freezedried meat and pre-made pizzas.
Ann Chapman, dietician at Watkins Health Center, said most of the damage when eating this type of food is the saturated fat content, which can lead to an increased risk of heart disease.
"If that's steady in a diet, it really is dangerous over the years," she said.
Chapman said indulging in fast food once or twice a week is OK, if you eat healthfully the rest of the time.
The point is, junk food is not your friend. The same companies who pump little kids full of sugar and cheeseburgers are still peddling to us, and we're still eating it up. After college comes the real world, where some of us will work long hours sitting at a desk and then swing through the drive-thru on the way home. Eating healthy is not going to get any easier.
"We know we have room to improve," Myers said. "But ultimately, it's the responsibility of students to make healthy choices."
I've made a choice: I'm not going to give up an occasional snack of Cheez-its from campus vending machines. But, out of concern for the size of my butt, and my bodily health, I am swearing off the carb-fat-sugar pushers who have tracked us from childhood to campus.
Stauffer is a Holland, Mich., senior in journalism and English. She is Kansan special sections editor.
Free for All
Call 864-0500
some ten-brained, Kerry-supporting jobb just ripped my political sign off my door. That kind of makes me giggle, because she's going to watch our president, George W. Bush, in the oval office for the next four years. Go, Bush! We flushed the John!
Why does everything terrible happen to McColum? Please explain.
Free for All callers have 20 seconds to speak about any topic they wish. Kansas editors reserve the right to omit comments. Slanderous and obscene statements will not be printed. Phone numbers of all incoming calls are recorded.
--some ten-brained, Kerry-supporting jobb just ripped my political sign off my door. That kind of makes me giggle, because she's going to watch our president, George W. Bush, in the oval office for the next four years. Go, Bush! We flushed the John!
I just saw a mail truck on a tow truck. No wonder my damm mail is always late.
For more comments, go to www.kansan.com.
I would just like to say congratulations to those of you who made the wrong decision and cast an un-informed vote. Way to continue to make every country in the world suffer.
some ten-brained, Kerry-supporting jobb just ripped my political sign off my door. That kind of makes me giggle, because she's going to watch our president, George W. Bush, in the oval office for the next four years. Go, Bush! We flushed the John!
An election is not like the SuperBowl. One side does not win and the other side does not lose. In addition to this, political parties are not like fashion accessories.
Sixth floor Oliver rules!
some ten-brained, Kerry-supporting jobb just ripped my political sign off my door. That kind of makes me giggle, because she's going to watch our president, George W. Bush, in the oval office for the next four years. Go, Bush! We flushed the John!
图
No, it doesn't. Sixth floor sucks. Ninth floor rules
If a duck only had one leg, would it swim in circles?
If Dr. Pepper could run for president, I'd vote for Dr. Pepper.
I took an online quiz today with a magic 8-ball.
Both sixth and ninth floor suck. Third floor rules.
If knees were backwards, what would chairs look like?
Hey, Chicken Man. This is Gorilla Man. What's going on?
If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?
some ten-brained, Kerry-supporting jobb just ripped my political sign off my door. That kind of makes me giggle, because she's going to watch our president, George W. Bush, in the oval office for the next four years. Go, Bush! We flushed the John!
I just learned how to sign the word "bear" by watching "Sesame Street" for three consecutive hours.
Mmmmm, Ryan Adams.
Damn, Ryan Adams is hot!
I just want to say how pumped I am that KU is bringing Ryan Adams. This is gonna be awesome.
-
Hey, I'm down with Bush.
Thanks a lot, Bush. You made my friend cry
What about Lawrence and all the potholes? I mean, it's like it has acne for roads or something.
Think about it: Sex solves all the world's problems
Sex solved my problem, what about yours?
Lew Perkins needs to have more sex, definitely.
Sex helped me lower my cholesterol.
I stole my roommate's cell phone and called the Free for All. How awesome is that?
(in the background) What, are you calling the Free for All again? I hate you.
---
Hello, I am the Weather Forecast and I say it's too cold.
My friends and I went to the bars tonight and I got hit on by a guy and he wanted my number, so I gave him the number for the Free for All.
-
OK, to the idiots pulling fire alarms in McCollum at 2:45 in the morning: Not a good plan. Some of us need our sleep, OK? Stop.
图
Isn't it great that sugar has no fat?
Hi. I just want to say that my Halloween is pretty good, except for when my roommate's crazy stepmother tried to seduce her girl roommate, me.
图
For everyone who lives in Hash: Halloween was last weekend.
Mrs. E's stole my virginity.
The recreation department sucks. Why can't 18 girls who want to play volleyball play volleyball? Why do they have to kick us out for basketball when it's only three people?
Dan Rather's a moron.
-
---
图
Amazingly, Bush won on a pro-apocalypse platform.
-
This is really creepy. There are people all over campus and no one is talking. It is completely silent out here. What the hell is going on?
TALK TO US
Henry C. Jackson
editor
64-4810 or hjackson@kansan.com
Donovan Attkinson and Andrew Vaupel
managing editors
864-4810 or datkinson@kansan.com and avaupel@kansan.com
Anna Clovis and Samia Khan opinion editors 864-4924 or opinion@kansan.com
Justin Roberts business manager 864-4358 or advertising@kansan.com
Stephanie Graham
retail sales manager
864-4358 or advertising@kansan.com
Malcolm Gibson
Malcim Gibson
general manager and news adviser
864-7687 or mgibson@kansan.com
Jennifer Weaver
sales and marketing adviser
884-7666 or jweaver@kansan.com
EDITORIAL BOARD MEMBERS
Ty Beaver, Ryan Good, Anna Gregory, Jack Henry-Rhoads, Kelly Hollowell, Nate Karlin, Jay Kimmel, Taylor Price, Noel Rasor, Ryan Scarrow, John Tran, Anne Waltmer and Michelle Wood
The Kansas welcomes letters to the editors and guest columns submitted by students, faculty and alumni.
The kansasan reserves the right to edit, cut to length, or reject all submissions. Letters to the editor should be no longer than 200 words and guest questions should not exceed 550 words. To submit a letter to the editor or a column, e-mail the document to opinion@kansan.com with your name, hometown, year in school or position and phone number.
For any questions, call Anna Clevis or Samia Khan at 864-4924 or e-mail at opinion@ kansan.com. General questions should be directed to the editor at editor@kansan.com.
GUEST COLUMN GUIDELINE!
**Maximum Length:** 650 word limit
**Include:** Author's name
Class, hometown (student)
Position (faculty member)
Also: The Kansan will not print guest columns that attack another columnist.
Maximum Length:
200 word limit
LETTER GUIDELINES
Include: Author's name and telephone number Class, hometown (student) Position (faculty member)
SUBMIT TO
E-mail:
opinion@kansan.com
Hard copy:
Kansan newsroom
111 Staffer-Flint
---