Food and Its Impact on Health and Environment - Research Paper Example

The Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese: I have selected a very popular fast food item on the menu of fast food chains, the Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese. It is one of my favorite meals too but I have got to know many impacts it holds upon our health and long term living, also not to mention the impacts on animals and environment. A very popular documentary “Super-Size Me” was based upon the very similar issue. The maker of the documentary tries to gauge the impacts of fast food on his health and he goes on to eat McDonald’s meal every day three times for a period of 30 days.

The impact it has on his health are enormous; he picks up a lot of fat and weight in the process. The doctors who had analyzed him said that he was also suffering from depression and anxiety and the meals had caused great damage to his heart. The documentary proved extremely shocking for many since it brought about the very true picture of how bad the impact of fast food is on our health. Composition of the Quarter Pounder: Now let’s delve into the ingredients of what makes a Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese so interesting.

The double quarter pounder contains 4 oz. beef patty, 2 slices of cheese and a sesame seed bun. Well it is also served with barbeque and mushroom sauce on many occasions. The calories count is 740 which are very high on any scale in the world. Its nutrition grade is also D. The amounts of calories are predominantly fat and cholesterol. (Calorie Count) The Sourcing & Production of its Ingredients: The Beef Patty is composed of beef usually locally sourced depending upon the location of the food chains.

The beef patty is composed of corn fed beef which gives it the crisp and color. A United Nations study has found that almost 18% of greenhouse gases come from the ranching and slaughtering of cows. Due to the various techniques of cow breeding and corn based feed, the beef is now much cheaper and fattier than ever before. (Ecoliteracy) The beef processing is done by large conglomerates and a patty may contain meat form many different cows. The cows are bred in a very inhumane level and through different scientific treatments are grown bigger than their bones and body can sustain.

After slaughtering, the beef is transported in its raw form to different places across the country where the beef is processed. The beef is processed in machines that bring together the mince and process them with corn to form patties. These patties are then hauled to local fast food producers where they are deep fried in oil and used in the burgers. The Cheese is very similar to this. Cows are given heavy dosage of stimulus and steroids to expedite milk production which not only causes diseases in animals but also decreases their life and may also transmit some of that in the milk too.

The milk is then transported for further process where it is made into cheese and shipped to local food stores. Now a lot of fuel is being burnt in the process and global warming is one of the causes of fuel burning through transportation. On average a food related products has to travel almost fifteen hundred miles to reach to a store and this transportation accounts for about thirty eight thousand tons of greenhouse gas emission per annum. (Ecoliteracy) Health Impacts: 1 – Headaches The processed meat is contained in the burgers that is a cause of