Super Size Me

[topaz]

This morning I saw this article: Krispy Kreme plans to give students a free doughnut for every A on their report cards.

It reminded me of the web of connections between junk food manufacturers and public schools described in Super Size Me. So I went looking on their web site for an address where I could send this news, and I saw that the filmmakers are looking for letters of recommendation:

Morgan & Super Size Me are going on a speaking tour of America's schools this Fall and we need letters of recommendation regarding the film and its message. Help us spread the word about leading a positive, healthy lifestyle to our nation's kids.

So, please tell us what you thought of the movie and why it's so important that others need to see it!

So here's my letter. If you've seen the movie and you're enthusiastic about it too, please consider sending a note to letters@supersizeme.com too!

To Morgan and the rest of the Super Size Me crew:

I consider myself pretty well informed about personal health and junk food. Like the people interviewed in Super Size Me, I have "always known" that fast food isn't very good for you. A parent of two small kids, I try to avoid taking them to fast-food restaurants whenever possible, and discourage snacking on empty-calorie foods like pretzels, potato chips and cookies. We use whole-wheat bread exclusively at home and make sure that our kids always have fresh fruit available to them.

So when I went to see Super Size Me last month, I expected that it was mostly going to be yesterday's news.

Far from it.

What I found was a film that opened new doors to me that I hadn't even known existed. I learned startling details about the depth and complexity of the connections between the fast-food industry and our country's public health policy. I discovered compelling evidence about the health issues of fast food -- not just that it's bad for you, but that almost no one realizes just *how* bad for you it can be. I saw a film that addressed the intricate issues of nutrition, free enterprise and public policy -- topics that would normally be too dry for anything but a government white paper -- in an intelligent, engaging, even exciting way.

I think everyone in the country should see this film. Even those who think they already know all about the issue. Especially those who think they already know all about the issue. If my experience is any guide, your film still has a thing or three that they haven't seen.

I no longer try to avoid taking my kids to fast-food chains. I avoid them completely, if there is any other alternative at all within range. (The experience has made me acutely aware of how cannily the chains make children part of the marketing process -- my older son begs me for fast-food meals, not for the food, but for the toys that accompany them.)

Thank you for making such a clever, arousing and infuriating film.

[EDIT 12:49pm, adding the Krispy Kreme connection]

Comments

[weegoddess.livejournal.com]

Dang, boy. You should write movie reviews more often.

That was an eye-opening movie; I'm glad we got those Krispy Kremes before seeing it. It was likely the last donut I'll ever have. I wish that there was even a chance of that movie being shown in the schools. But we know better.