Amanda Jimenez

English 101

Fast Food

               I was exposed to fast food at a very young age. The place I ate the most fast food as a kid, was McDonalds. My mother would take my sister and me to McDonalds about once a week, or once every two weeks. However, my mother would never take us inside the fast food restaurant. She would often go through the drive-through, and we would eat our food at home. My mother would often take us to McDonalds after we helped wash her car, or finished cleaning the house, or performed any type of chore that took almost all day. Therefore, eating McDonalds for dinner was a sign of rewarding us for a long days work. My mother would buy thirty-nine cent hamburgers for the family. That way, when my dad came home from work we would all sit at the table and eat our hamburgers and French fries together. I remember loving the taste of a warm and soft hamburger. Tasting the extremely salty fries was mouth watering, and made a perfect addition to my meal. This made me love to finish my chores, because I knew what was to come shortly after. Overtime, I became used to the fact of being rewarded with McDonalds for completing my chores on time. It never entered my mind where the food came from, and how damaging it can be to the human body. I had just always assumed that because it was a reward, it had to be only good. I learned the horrible truth about McDonalds at ten years old. My mother had returned to college, and was taught about how all the fast food restaurants prepare their meat. This was life changing for my mother and soon became life changing for us as a family. My mother educated us about the awful truth. She showed us the documentaries she saw in school, and told us about books she had read. It all became so clear that year, and I was very glad to be educated. Soon after, mother changed our ways of eating drastically. She became a vegetarian, so there wasn’t meat in the house any longer. She bought many fruits and vegetables, which had to be organic. Then finally, she banned us from eating at McDonalds or any other fast food restaurant that served hamburgers. I understood her reasoning, and therefore didn’t complain or resent the changes she had made. It was a different lifestyle, but I had learned to accept it.

               Now that I am a teenager, many things have changed since 5^th grade up until junior high. My mother had changed isn’t as strict as she was. She is still a vegetarian, but she allows us to eat hamburgers only at in n out. I guess it’s because they don’t put hormones in their cows, and the food is a lot fresher than most fast food restaurants. Occasionally she buys meat, and packaged dinners from the store as well. I still don’t go out to eat much, maybe once every week or two, but when I do, I eat at subway. I have a job and am attending school full time, which makes it hard to find time to exercise. Therefore, I try not to eat out so much, and eat as healthy as I can. I know what fast food does to your health, and I want to live a long and healthy life. Therefore, I know I have to try my best to stay healthy in order to achieve that goal.