When curiosity meets change
Morgan Spurlock’s documentary Supersize Me debuted at the Sundance Film Festival the same year that I started college, but all I knew was that some guy ate McDonald’s for 30 days and it destroyed his health, until I went to see him talk at a theater on campus my Junior year. Confession: I haven’t watched the film start to finish. But that talk is more vivid in my memory than most (maybe all) of my nutrition lectures. He started with the story of a toddler (Nephew? Son? Friend’s kiddo?) who, when asked what was favorite restaurant was/is, excitedly replied, “McDonald’s!” Spurlock said, “He had NEVER been to a McDonald’s.” Problem.
That film got the people of the golden arches all riled up! Following its release they have tried time and time again to convince you that their food won’t destroy your health (but it probably will), they’ve launched “healthier” menu items, they’re trying all-day breakfast to appease the masses, they introduced a coffee lineup that rivals competitors for Most Loaded Sugar Bomb, the list goes on. Oh, and one more thing…
They eliminated the option to “super-size” your menu items. But they say that had “nothing to do with the film.” Sure, guys.
Was this a flawless evidence-based way to prove that fast food is one key pillar holding up our obesity epidemic?
Nope. Far from it. But it caught our attention in a way that no health article, blog, book, or news headline had up to that point. It was a catalyst. It blindsided the industry. It continues to have an impact.
Some might argue that any attention is good attention, or that some of these fast food changes have benefited certain populations — I’m not saying either of those are untrue, I’m just saying LOOK at what happened simply because one filmmaker was curious. Because he was willing to conduct an “unscientific experiment using himself as the guinea pig.”
How many of us are willing to be that guinea pig?
What’s something we’re so annoyed, frustrated, or baffled by in the public health space that we would be willing to put our own life on hold for 30 days — 5 days? 1 day?? — to conduct a similar (probably a little more Type-A scientific) experiment and prove a point?
I tried something I generally disagree with for a few days last summer and came away as a completely different dietitian. I didn’t give it a great go, but I learned SO much and it completely flipped by POV. Why didn’t I say more about it? Why didn’t that stand out to me as something significant and important to do more often? Why did it take me so long to do it? (Admittedly, it was research for work and I probably would never have thought to do that on my own.)
Ten years after we first “met” in that auditorium, I listened to Spurlock again this morning (Tim Ferriss Show interview here), and the wheels were turning. Spurlock was a struggling filmmaker in some serious credit card debt, and then he launched a low-budget experimental film. And then one of largest fast food company in the world CHANGED THEIR MENU.
I know/trust/hope there are people who are doing these things with a smaller audience, on a smaller scale, that are equally worth highlighting. I want to meet those people. You think your voice is small, and maybe it is, until it’s not.
Are you one of these people? And/or do you know someone risking something to bring public health problem-makers to our attention?
Would you be up for an experiment of sorts? Can we change the nutrition game ourselves, instead of standing by while the media and big food companies slowly dilute it?
Let’s chat! Let’s team up.
Let’s not just say, “I wish {insert trendy diet} would die a slow painful trendy death!”
Let’s start to put them to rest ourselves.
Who’s in?
Feature photo source. Post originally published on heathercaplan.com
