第646期:Fast Food

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Mike: Hi, this is Mike from Singapore and I'm talking to Clare from America about obesity and food in our respective countries. So Clare, what about America? What makes it so infamous for having food that is very, very so-called "unhealthy"?

Clare: Well, in America we were the country that invented the fast-food chain, I think. There are very many famous fast-food chains that got their start in America and they became popular because Americans were working very long hours in the cities and in small towns and it was a lot easier, it was very new, to have a convenient meal ready for you. Well, unfortunately, these meals were not prepared in a way that was healthy. There were very little veggies, I mean french fries are fried potatoes, burgers are fried, so the way they're cooked it ... they're made quickly but they're not made in a way that's healthy, there's no boiling or steaming so ... because these chains had a very good product being offered in one respect, that they were fast and easy and convenient to get to, while on the down side they were very fattening, people sort of just chose what was convenient I think, and there are so many of them because they really are popular. It's sort of a cycle where even though people know it's bad they choose it because it's convenient and because it gets so much business more chains open in a city or along roads because Americans have ... travel very long distances for commuting to get almost anywhere. For example, where I live in Texas, along the road very small towns separated by miles and miles of desert, every small town where highways come together have at least one burger joint or ice cream place that serves burgers and fries and so it's a little bit of, I wouldn't call it American culture, its just sort of what we got used to.