It’s back to school for term three and for some of you with kids already at boarding school, its time for that dreaded long car trip.
Here at Boarding Schools Expo we are very familiar with the long car trips, our business is based out west near Dubbo so we have had plenty of those seven hour trips. A car full of kids, books, sport gear, musical instruments that may or not have been practised and your list of jobs for the city, things to pick up and trying to limit how many stops you have to make.
On these long car trips most of us just want to get there, so food options are normally limited to Fast Food Drive-through on the way through town. But before you order the Double Big Mac Meal, the kids happy meal or foot long sub here are a few issues that have been brought to our attention in the media lately, and from one of our favourite organisations – Generation Next.
Dr Ramesh Manocha published a blog article which references an article relating to McDonald’s advertising campaigns and the way they are targeted at young children. The article states that in a recent victory for children’s advocates the Advertising Standards Bureau found McDonald’s in breach of industry standards over their website. The finding highlighted the fact that McDonalds is using their websites and social media to push unhealthy options onto children with the knowledge that children are vulnerable to online fast food advertising. (smh.com.au, 2012)
In another recent complaint against Fast Food Chains, this time featuring Subway, consumers found that the “Chicken Fillet Sub” was made of processed chicken meat and not any part of the chicken fillet. Subway was forced to withdraw all false advertising material and rename the product ‘Chicken Classic’. ( Reported by Cara Waters on smartcompany.com.au in 2012).
A further study of media articles on Fast Food revealed some interesting facts about Australia’s Fast Food chains. In the article “The Best and Worst of Australia’s Fast Food“, International Business Times found that Red Rooster’s Free Range Garden Salad offers the best choice for health conscious consumers with 479 kilojoules while Hungry Jacks holds the worst menu items in Australia with the Ultimate Double Whopper containing 80grams of fat, 2386mg of sodium and 5085 kilojoules. (In 2011, the suggested daily intake for an average adult is 8700kg, 70g fat and 2300mg of sodium)
And don’t be fooled by the healthy options now on most fast food menus. Aloysa Hourigan, the senior dietitian at Nutrition Australia, emphasizes the clever marketing ploy behind the healthy choices options, “It takes you into the fast-food environment, so while mum might choose the healthier option, the child will probably still end up with the burger and fries. At the end of the day, the fast-food restaurants are interested in sales and their biggest sellers are fries and soft drinks.” (Body and Soul, 2012)
While fast food is the easy option, it is arguably not the best option and we should be wary of their tactics of misleading advertising, the ways in which they try and influence our children and the unhealthy foods they encourage us to eat.
So as parents we can do something to avoid the easy and unhealthy option when travelling.
Our suggestions are:
- Pack your own lunch i.e. food that travels well
- Buy some deli ham/chicken, salad and rolls and have a picnic at a nice rest stop
- Visit the local takeaway store and get some takeaway salad sandwiches/rolls
- Visit a local cafe in the town you choose to stop in, they would love the extra business
- Visit a friend or relative and get some fresh air and good conversation to keep you going for the rest of your journey.
- There are plenty of lovely parks you can eat your lunch, the kids can stretch their legs and you can have some fresh air and space.
And above all, we hope you travel safely and get there in one piece.
References:
1. Sydney Morning Herald Online, 9th July 2012 “Maccas Website Breached Ad Rules” by Clare Kermond, Available online: http://www.smh.com.au/national/maccas-website-breached-ad-rules-20120708-21pjv.html
2. Generation Nexxt Blog Online, 9th July 2012, “Macca’s website breached ad rules” Available online http://www.generationnext.com.au/2012/07/maccas-website-breached-ad-rules/
3. International Business Times Online, 8th June 2012 “ The Best and Worst of Australia’s Fast Food”
4. Body and Soul, “Can any fast food menu options be healthy?” by Sharon Labi. Available online
5. Smart Company Online, 29th June 2012 “ When is a Chicken Fillet not a fillet? Subway’s menu mayhem” by Cara Waters. Available Online http://www.smartcompany.com.au/food-and-beverages/050452-when-is-a-chicken-fillet-not-a-fillet-subway-s-menu-mayhem.html