The largest burger backer was Northwestern Mutual, which had invested $422.2 million in publicly traded fast food corporations, including $318.1 million in McDonald's, according to Mohan's research.
Now I'm not as naive as you might think - I get it, insurance companies want to make some money. But here's the problem I see with it: if fast food chains are doing well, their stocks are up but our health is down. That means we will be submitting more claims, demanding more payment from the insurance companies to pay for statins, heart and gastric bypass surgeries. On the other hand, if (in my imaginary world) Americans jumps on the wellness bandwagon and skip the fast food joints and embrace healthier options, fast food stock plummets, insurance investments suffer. So while we might be more healthful and submit fewer claims, demand less payout from insurance, we have to worry whether our insurance policies will have any value after our years of premiums have been gambled away against us. Fortunately, in this utopic vision, we'll all live to 120, die peacefully in our sleep and there will be affordable public healthcare to all who need it.
nice! i'm with you. i know i'm a bastyrian, but honestly, eating fast food would never cross my mind. ever. who eats that stuff anyways?
ReplyDeleteI was thinking it would be a great April fools prank for all the nutrition students to sit in the caf with fast food. Note to self for next year...
ReplyDeleteEating healthy costs too much!
ReplyDelete(just kidding, please don't yell at me)
No, I completely agree with you! It's cheaper to eat processed foods made from subsidized crops - yet another element of the "conspiracy." Eating heathfully is expensive. But so is an Equinox membership. I'm just saying.
ReplyDeleteI spied Koutoubi today with none other than a COKE on his lunch tray! But, as it turns out, he just wanted to mess with peoples' minds...
ReplyDeleteThat is hilarious, Molly! Thanks for sharing :)
ReplyDeleteSaw Koutoubi with the same Coke on his tray today. I totally harassed him and he told me that he needed it for his son's science project and that it takes 40 years for a can to decompose. Kind of a disgusting and morbid thought, but I wonder how long it takes for a human to decompose if they only eat fast food?
ReplyDeleteRebecca, your grandfather lives on Coke. But at 87, he's not about to change his ways...even for his beloved Rebecca.
ReplyDeleteIn many ways though Grandpa has it right. While he enjoys his Coke, he always declines soup at the beginning of a meal because it will fill him up, and his mantra, from Grandma Frances, is "always leave the table a little bit hungry." This has always perplexed me as the least "Jewish" way of eating, but it's got some scientific support. In fact, it is close to the concept of "hara hachi bu" - eating until you are 80% full - one of the key concepts in the Okinawan diet, one noted for its populations' longevity, and the subject of much research.
ReplyDelete