Intro:
It’s the smell that we receive first. We walk by a restaurant, diner, drive-in, or a joint and the air is thick with the smell of something cooking. That’s what we all receive. For me, it started when I was growing up. I would always ask what’s for dinner and both my parents would keep it vague: Chicken, fish, beef, or on occasion a surprise. So I would try to guess what they were adding. I’d be in a different room while the smell of honey and ginger or taco powder filled my nose. I would always get part of the meal right. That’s where I feel in love with food.

At a young age, food was my ally. It was always there and it always was will to work with me. Sounds like I'm dependant of food huh? In a sense we all are. We need it just to survive. Depending on what your outlook on the past is; it either started with a single-cell hunter eating its prey of in a garden where everything was give to us. For me, food has been this thing; a thing that is always beyond words. But like I said, it was the smell that I received first. I would try to guess what someone was cooking when I would be upstairs and on the other side of the house from our kitchen. Most of the time my guesses would be right. What I learned through smell was that different things smelled the same sometimes. It was weird to me. This is one thing and this is something different but they smell the same. I had a lot to learn.

I grew up in Oregon City. The end of the Oregon Trail. Home of the pioneers. The land of snow, sand, rock, and green. We always had fresh vegetables and fruits when I was growing up. I came into a farming family, so this whole going green thing that's going on right now, I've been living for a while. My dad was a farm of sorts. His main job was working for a coffee company until he was fired and then he worked for Clackamas County for little over a decade until his untimely death in 2009 while on a trip to Hawaii. Don't worry, it wasn't a shark attack. He grew up in the heart of the Willamette Valley. Just south of Albany, Oregon between the towns of Shed and Halsey. His father, my grandpa, was a butcher. He would cut into any meat and sometimes even raised his own. Dad learned about how to cook and grow his own food while living with his parents. It grew inside of him. He made things his mother had never heard of. He grew up and went away to Reed College where he received a degree in Chemistry or something like that. He moved east to study more but didn't like sitting down all day. So with two friends, he opened a resturant. My dad was a professional chef. I only found out about this after his death. My mom grew up in a very different atmosphere. Mom grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. She was the second of three kids. Dad was youngest of three. Mom didn’t really learn much about cook it seems which is not to say that her cooking is bad. She went into nursing school and somehow met my father and a few years later I popped into their lives. And the rest is history.

With my father’s death there was a void to fill so to speak. No one was cooking in the house. All the things that dad did where gone and replaced with nothing. This did not sit well with me. So I started cooking. It started very simply: Frozen hash browns. That was the first meal I ate after my father died that I cooked. It really wasn’t anything amazing. It was frozen potatoes cooked. But it started my whole cooking exploration. I wasn’t done with the potato. I stared making my own hash browns and trying different thing with potatoes just to see how they tasted. So far I’ve used rosemary, oregano, tarragon, pepper, salt, lemon pepper, basil, Italian seasoning, and garlic power. So far so good but I soon grew tried of the almighty spud. I would watch some shows on the Travel Channel and on Food Network where they made their own burgers. I had to try. I didn’t ground the meat myself. I wouldn’t know how. But I would pound it out and onions into the meat because I love onions and they’re good for you somehow. I would also put in one or two or three of those seasonings from the list up above. Two things I have found out from making my own burgers. 1) I make them way to big. 2) I use too much meat. I have gotten good results from making them. I just need to make them smaller.

There are those days where I just don’t feel like cooking. I think it happens to us all. We wake up and go through our day and when we get home we’re just tired and exhausted and nothing sounds good and we don’t feel like making anything. It happens. This is where fast food steps in. I will admit that I eat more fast food than I should but compared to how much I used to eat. My favorite place to go out to is Taco Bell. I’m a sucker for cheap fake Mexican food. Let’s face the facts; Taco Bell is not the real deal. I’ve seen real food from Mexico and Taco Bell is nowhere close to it, but they don’t claim to be. It’s a good place to go to on the road but I wouldn’t go there all the time. I have my limits to how many soft tacos and bean burritos I can eat within a week.

The question now is why. Why am I writing about this? Why does this matter? Food is the best way to talk to people. I believe that one of the best ways to get to know someone is to taste their cooking. The way a person cooks has been passed down through generations. Some of the best meals I’ve had have been passed down from one person to another. So why bring up fast food when I seem to have a heavy affection towards home cooked meals? I started asking myself if slow food or home cooked meals are being pushed out by fast food. I like both types of food but I started to think how different my choices in food are compared to other people. I like to cook but sometimes I just don’t want to. Is fast food becoming the new normal everyday thing instead of cooking? I’m from a generation that has grown up with fast food as an everyday thing. I don’t know what it’s like to not have that. So I decided to explore and see what I could come up with.

There are some terms I’m going to use that I think I need to explain a little before I begin explaining things.
1) Fast Food- Think of all those chains places. McDonalds, Wendy’s, KFC, Taco Bell, etc. That’s what I mean by that.
2) Slow Food- Home cooked meal. Some meal cooked in a house more or less.
3) Slow Fast Food- Think of this as a restaurant. Red Robin, Izzy’s, Chilies, etc. It’s not a common term at all. It’s something I’ll throw in every once in awhile.

History:
Where did it all start? Where was the first place that was considered fast food? Who started the fast food chain? To put it simply, it was the Romans. It wasn’t what we would think of fast food but it was food that was meant to be given out very quickly. Wine and bread where sold from vendors which anyone afford and it was a way to get food in a fast manner. So would the fall of Rome be the end of fast food until modern times? Not exactly. Noodle stands in Asia, flatbread and falafels in the Middle East, food was needed for the masses and they needed it quickly. What about the sandwich? I never really thought about someone making a sandwich for the first time when I was growing up. I saw as something to eat and nothing else. Of course someone had to make it for the first time. John Montagu, the forth Earl of Sandwich, has that claim. It was a rather simple idea: A piece or two of meat in between two pieces of bread. People started ordering that just by saying, “The same as Sandwich.” Makes sense to call it a sandwich. But our culture of fast food starter much later. Modern fast food started in 1912 with the opening of Automat in New York. Opening under the slogan “Less work for Mother.” Automat was the first. (Fast Food). The second was a little place called White Castle. It didn’t come along until 1921 in Wichita Kansas.

But who really made the break out for fast food? McDonald’s. The golden arches opened their doors 1940 in San Bernardino California. (McDonald’s.) What happened after that is all history. Or so I thought. I never really thought much about fast food beyond McDonalds and all the others until one night when I was watching the Travel Channel. They had a show on call Chowdown Countdown where they found the one hundred and one best places to eat in America. The number one spot was taken by a place in New Haven, Connecticut call Louis Lunch. Established in 1895. (Chowdown Countdown.) I bring Louis Lunch up because they are credited with making the first hamburger. Forty years before McDonald’s and only twelve years before Automat. They make the burger the same way today as they did back in the day. (Louis Lunch.) Now that’s something to sink your teeth into.

Slow food has a much different start. I think of the start of slow food when the first tribe or hunters went out for a hunt, killed an animal, brought it back to camp, and decided to cook it. Then comes the farming and growing of plants and such. That is my idea of slow food. The art or craft of growing and cooking yourself. So when was that exactly? A long time ago. But this gave way to one of the oldest professions in the world: Farming. Fast food has tried to push out the idea of slow food but not for a very long time. It wasn’t until 1986 when McDonald’s wanted to put a building near the Spanish Steps in Rome. It’s all business right? They just wanted to share the burger with everyone, so why not put a McDonald’s in Rome? Well fast food pushes out cultural cuisine from areas. A man by the name of Carlo Pretini started the Slow Food Movement. (Slow Food). Within a few years they grew from one city in Italy to fight against fast food to 132 plus countries holding up to the fight. (Slow Food). Who’s winning? Who knows but the fight will never be over.

So what about the food? Where did hamburger start? Is the tomato a fruit or vegetable? Don’t worry, I’ll answer these questions except for the tomato one. I hate tomatoes. I already talked about the sandwich and where it came from and who could have made it, but a sandwich isn’t a fast food icon. The hamburger on the other hand is the king of fast food. When you think of fast food the burger probably comes to mind as the first thing you think of. It’s the one item that can be the same and different every place you go if you want to eat out. How did the hamburger start? It depends on which story you want to believe. The word itself is interesting if you think about it. Hamburger. Ham-burg-er. Ham: The meat from a pig which is odd considering a hamburger isn’t really made from ham. Burg: A German word meaning castle or king’s abode. (Hamburger). It comes down to pig meat castle if you think about it. One would think that with a name that so closely looks like Hamburg, Germany, that the hamburger is actually from the country of Germany. It doesn’t come from Germany at all. The hamburger was made here in the USA. So who made the first one? Hard to say really. The burger was made in either Hamburg, New York; Seymour, Wisconsin; New Haven, Connecticut; Athens, Texas; or Tulsa. (Hamburger). Each has their own claim on the burger. Wherever it really started from the burger itself has grown into a huge success. It has become a normal part of the fast food culture whether it is fried, grilled, or steamed. The burger is our own claim to good eating.

Review of Lit:

In the fight of fast food and slow food both sides make their stand and both sides also show no signs of moving. Both stand firm in their beliefs. Slow food is there to make sure that fast food doesn’t push the idea of slow food out of countries and to keep culture cuisine around. Fast food just wants to bring fast and easy food to the masses. Both noble ideas but both sides also have their dark sides to their ideas.

Nutrition:
We know the saying: You are what you eat. Most of the time this is said to make us realize what we are eating and why we are eating it. If we don’t like the taste of something, we add things to it to make it taste better: Butter, salt, pepper, and bacon. We add one or two or all those and then some other stuff just to make it taste better. Is that healthy? I don’t think so but we do it anyways. Food always goes down better when it tastes better but doing this can have a major problem within our bodies. We never think of the negative outcomes of eating food sometimes.

If you go to a fast food joint today, you’ll find nutrition charts for the food they serve. Fast food and nutrition don’t really seem to go hand in hand but it’s always a good idea to see what you’re putting into your body. Let’s take a look at the big mac from McDonald’s.
Big Mac-
Total Calories- 540
Fat Calories- 260
% Calories from Fat- 48
Total Fat (g)- 29
Saturated Fat (g)- 10
Cholesterol (mg)- 75
Sodium (mg)- 1,040
Carbs (g)- 45
Fiber (g)- 3
Protein (g)- 25
Not bad if you consider the fact that the Big Mac is a burger with three pieces of bun and two patties of meat. The special sauce probably doesn’t help much with the sodium. I used to eat these every time I went to McDonald’s after I stopped eating the happy meals.

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day or at least that’s how people see it. MD made breakfast a fast food item and made a killing at for a while. I used to like their breakfast items. I didn’t really think much of until I saw what the Deluxe Breakfast dished out on a regular basis.
Deluxe Breakfast-
Total Calories- 1,140
Fat Calories- 530
% Calories from Fat- 46
Total Fat (g)- 59
Saturated Fat (g)- 20
Cholesterol (mg)- 575
Sodium (mg)- 2,250
Carbs (g)- 115
Fiber (g)- 7
Protein (g)- 36
(Fatcalories).
That is without syrup or margarine and with a large biscuit. I’m breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but I’d rather have a grapefruit instead of that. But what about my favorite eatery? What does Taco Bell have to offer? Well it isn’t as high up there like McDonald’s but it’s not exactly healthy. Here are the facts for a bean burrito, which is my favorite thing to get.
Bean Burrito-
Total Calories- 350
Fat Calories- 80
% Calories from Fat- 23
Total Fat (g)- 9
Saturated Fat (g)- 4
Cholesterol (mg)- 5
Sodium (mg)- 1,190
Carbs (g)- 54
Fiber (g)- 8
Protein (g)- 13
Not as bad but still not healthy. Taco Bell is my favorite because of taste and price. Mostly price; cheap is always good. Fast food is meant to put something in you and then get you on your way. If you want to be healthy, don’t eat any or a lot of fast food. Be very mindful of what you are putting into your body. Everything that goes in doesn’t always come out.

Eating Right:
We all make bad choices when it comes down to food. Some of us don’t do it as often as others but we all still make bad choices when eating food. The best way to lose weight is to diet right and exercise. It works and it feels good. But we are a fast paced nation. We need food at a moments notice. There’s no time to cook a full meal so we go to a fast food joint to get our food and then we go on are way, moving a quick pace just so we have enough time to get everything done. The quick fix of food is the only we can get on with our day. We don’t if it’s greasy, fried, buttered, or battered. We just want it so we can eat it and move on. I can understand why we do this but we should really stop and think about what we’re putting into our bodies. There is a website called HelpGuide.org that gives tips and ideas on eating healthier when eating fast food. If you think before you eat, everything should be a little better by the end of the meal.
Make Careful Menu Choices:
Be aware of how food is prepared. If something is deep-fried, pan-fried, basted, batter-dipped, breaded, creamy, crispy, scalloped, Alfredo, au gratin, or has a creamy sauce. Avoiding these types of prepared food is tough. Some place focus on these as an overall idea for the food. KFC big push is fried and crispy chicken. Avoiding all these is a lot easier said than done. Just be aware and don’t always go with the easy choice.
Drink Water:
Instead of soda, beer, or wine with your meal drink water. There’s nothing in water usually. It’s a lot healthier than anything else mostly because it’s just plain old water and nothing special.
“Undress” You Food:
Don’t be afraid to order food without dressing or sour cream or anything like that. All those do is add to sodium and calories. It’s alright to not have any dressing on a salad or order a burrito without the sour cream. It will be better for you in the long run to eat without than with it.
Special Order:
Burger King used to say, “Special orders don’t upset us.” It’s a good idea to go by for ordering. If want something a little different than what is normal, don’t be afraid to ask for it. If something has refried beans, get it with black beans. If a burger you want comes with bacon but you don’t the bacon, get it without bacon. Special orders can also be bad but just keep in mind what’s healthy and everything should be fine.
Portion Size:
This is a major problem. Always be mindful of how much you’re eating. Everything thing at stores tells you how much is in a serving size. I think this is hard for everyone to do because we always want to snack on stuff. Over eating is bad. Just watch out for how you’re eating and you’ll be fine.
Salt:
Too much salt can be very hazardous to ones health. Cutting back on the amount of salt you take in can save your life in the long run of things. Salt is very common in fast food just look for a nutrition chart and look for the items with the least amount of sodium.
Avoiding Buffets:
You have to avoid buffets completely, just overeating and all the fried food. Stick with boiled and steamed food. Also eat things with olive oil and vinegars to cut back on fats and other bad things.
Keeping all these things in mind is a lot of work but it’s really worth it when you’re not laying in a hospital bed with a good amount of tubes coming out of your body and doctors telling you to cut back on your eating. It’s nice to go out to eat sometimes but just keep in mind what you eating. It’s worth it to have a healthy life. The longer you live the more food you can eat.

Education:
Slow food is a good idea for the family that wants to have a nice meal where they can sit down and talk to each other. I like it and everyone seems to have some affection to it. What is there to hate in slow food? To answer this I turn to the great state of California. In California, slow food has entered the school system in the form of gardens. Kids can go outside and work on a garden and learn how to take care of it and grow their own plants. Sounds like a good idea. This idea was started by Alice Waters. She wanted kids to learn to grow their own food and to live a healthy life. Still sounds good until you think about what the garden takes place of: Academics. These kids aren’t learning anything. This comes from an article written by Caitlin Flanagan called Cultivating Failure. She explains what the kids are missing out on when they work out in the garden. Kids need to have basic academic skills to make through school. The garden doesn’t really teach that. All it teaches is how to grow plants. Flanagan talks to Michael Piscal about this idea;
I started to ask Michael Piscal, founder and CEO of the Inner City Education Foundation Public Schools, which runs 15 successful charter schools in South Los Angeles, what he thought about the Edible Schoolyard and school gardens in general, but he cut me off. “I ignore all those e-mails,” he told me bluntly. “Look,” he said, when pressed, “there’s nothing wrong with kids getting together after school and working on a garden; that’s very nice. But when it becomes the center of everything—as it usually does—it’s absurd. The only question in education reform that’s worth anything is this: What are you doing to prepare these kids for college? If I can get a kid to read Shakespeare and laugh at the right places, I can get him to college. That’s all that matters to me.”

Reading does seem a little more important than growing your own plants. I came from a farm family. I never wanted to learn how to grow my own plants when I was younger. Why would I want to do it in school if I didn’t want to do it at home? It seems like Waters wants to push her ideas on more flexible minds. I’m sure it’s helpful for some kids but in the overall view of things are gardens really going to help these kids get into a good school or are the gardens going to get in the way?

Slow food and fast food are tow different styles of food. Slow is a healthy, well-balanced, family friendly way to cook a meal and enjoy it with others. Fast food is quick, greasy fix so you can on your way very quickly. Both mean well even though both seem to have their good points and their bad points. So which is better? It really depends on who you are and what you like. Some people like fast food a lot more than slow food and the other way around. Food is an interesting thing when you think about it. It’s both an art form and a science. People create and display food like an artist would but it also takes a scientist to know all the right ways to cook a meal. Some might have a better eye for this but anyone can cook. But it’s still a person’s choice whether to side with fast food or slow food. I wanted to get the opinion of normal people about fast food and slow food.

It was just another average January night in Oregon City rainy and cold. Lucky for me I have a very close friend living not too far away from me in Oregon City. I’ve known my friend Koby McConnell since the first grade when we were on the same tee ball team together. He’s just like me in the fact that we both like a good meal. When I went over to his house on a rainy night, I didn’t really know what to expect from his answers. I get into his house where Koby and his girl friend Kate have already begun to cook. On the menu for the night would be a mixed seafood pasta. You name a salt-water animal and it was in the dish. We each do our part: Koby prepares some crabmeat; Kate cleans an octopus for the meal, while I stir the cream sauce. We laugh and make jokes when I asked them, “What’s better for you guys, fast food or something like this?” Immediately Koby replies with, “I hate f@#$ fast food.” I wasn’t really surprised by his answer or how fast he answered back.