Eric Walters - Stuffed

Eric Walters

orac currents

Copyright Eric Walters 2006

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced
or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical,
including photocopying, recording or by any information storage
and retrieval system now known or to be invented, without permission
In writing from the publisher.

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Walters, Eric, 1957
Stuffed / Eric Walters.

(Orca soundings)

ISBN 1-55143-519-5 (bound) ISBN 1-55143-500-4 (pbk.)

I. Title. II. Series.

PS8595.A598S88 2006 jC813.54 C2006-900400-5

Summary: Ian decides to take a stand against a fast-food multinational.

First published in the United States, 2006

Library of Congress Control Number: 2006921004

Orca Book Publishers gratefully acknowledges the support for its publishing
programs provided by the following agencies: the Government of Canada
through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program (BPIDP), the
Canada Council for the Arts, and the British Columbia Arts Council.

Cover design: Lynn ORourke
Cover photography: Getty Images

Orca Book Publishers Orca Book Publishers
PO Box 5626, Stn. B PO Box 468
Victoria, BC Canada Custer, WA USA
V8R 6S4 98240-0468

Printed and bound in Canada

09 08 07 06 5 4 3 2 1

For those who make healthy choices in life.

Authors Note

I had just finished two presentations at Kortright Hills Public School in Guelph and was waiting to go out to lunch with the teacher/librarian and two students. As I sat there I watched them bring in lunch for hundreds of the studentsSubway sandwiches. I thought about how this was a pretty healthy fast food. I started talking to the parent volunteer about a documentary Id recently seenSuper Size Meand the impact it had on me. From that conversation to the point where we sat down to have lunch, I had the whole outline for this book. Oh, by the way, we ate at Wendys and I had a Number One comboa burger with lettuce, onions and tomatoes, a side salad with no dressing and a medium Cokeand I didnt Biggie Size anything.

The credits started rolling up the screen. Behind the credits were pictures of people overwhelmingly overweight people with rolls of fat bulging over jeans and busting out of tops, with triple chins, and wearing clothes big enough to be circus tents.

The lights came on and Mrs. Fletcher walked to the front of the classroom, turned off the DVD and clicked off the TV.

That was quite an interesting documentary, she said.

It was called Stuffed, and it was all about Frankies, the gigantic fast-food chain. It was all about how their food was filled with fat and chemicals and how eating it could make people overweight, unhealthy, sick and could basically kill them.

Comments? Mrs. Fletcher asked.

That was disgusting, Julia snapped. Julia was one of my best friends. Just disgusting!

It was pretty gross, Oswald agreed. He was my best friend.

Two weeks ago he might have agreed or he might have disagreed with Julia. Now he did nothing but agree with anything and everything she said. Two weeks ago he and Julia had stopped being friends and started being boyfriend and girlfriend.

It made me hungry, Trevor said. A chorus of laughter followed his words.

Hungry? Julia demanded, sounding not only surprised but offended. How could you possibly even think about eating after what we just saw?

I like Frankies food, Trevor said. Its tasty and bigreally bigand I like big food.

Trevor looked like he could have been in the documentary.

Julia opened her mouth to answer, but Mrs. Fletcher cut her off. What do other people think? she asked.

I thought that was pretty smart on her part cutting Julia off before she said something about Trevor that we were all probably thinking but nobody should have said.

Other people joined into the debate. It was creating a lot of opinionsbut then again, it was a pretty strong documentary.

The film was about some guy who lived on nothing but Frankies food. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, he ate nothing but Frankies. Sausages and coffee and hotcakes and hash browns for breakfast; burgers and fries and onion rings and Coke and root beer for lunch and dinner. Every day, every meal for sixty days. By the end he was fat and sluggish and depressed.

What was the most interesting thing you learned? Mrs. Fletcher asked the class.

That they put sugar in everything, including the French fries and onion rings, a girl said.

I couldnt believe the amount of sugar that guy had eaten, another boy said. It was like a small mountain!

There had been a scene in the movie where sugarequal to all the sugar hed eatenwas piled on a table. The amount of sugar was so massive it slipped off the edges of the table.

What grossed me out the most was all that fat! Julia said.

That was sick! Oswald agreed. And I dont mean that in a good way.

After the sugar scene they had glass jars filled with greasy, slimy fatequal to the amount hed eaten during the two months.

Those were both wonderful visual displays. How many people are now less likely to eat at Frankies? Mrs. Fletcher asked.

Three-quarters of the class put up their hands.

Those who didnt raise their hands, could you explain why it didnt affect you in the same way?

Frankies food tastes the best, a boy said.

Yeah, Trevor agreed, especially the triple bacon cheeseburger melt. Trevors eyes were closed as if he was picturing the burger in his mind. I wouldnt have been surprised if a string of drool had come out of his mouth.

That was actually my favorite burger tooI liked it, but I thought Trevor was in love with it.

And you still would eat one of those after watching the film? Julia questioned.

Why not? Trevor asked.

Did you fall asleep during the movie? Julia demanded.

Julia, Mrs. Fletcher cautioned.

But Mrs. Fletcher, thats the very worst thing on the whole menu! Julia protested. Each one has over twelve hundred calories and more fat than anybody should eat in an entire day! That guy gained thirty-seven pounds because of that burger!

It wasnt just the burgers, Trevor said. And besides, its not like Im going to eat there every day.

Trevor has a point, Mrs. Fletcher said. Now, this documentary focused on just one fast-food chain, but what about the others?

Theyre all the same, Julia said.

Are they? Mrs. Fletcher asked.

Sure they are. They all serve fried, fatty, sugary foods.

Yes they do, but dont most chains offer healthy alternatives? Mrs. Fletcher questioned.

Well

Cant you get salads and fruit platters and yogurt, mineral water and juices at most of the other places?

I guess so, Julia said.

So at most fast-food restaurants it is possible to eat healthier, if not healthy.

But not at Frankies, Oswald said. They dont have any of those things. Its like theyre proud of being unhealthy.

Their commercials do brag about offering the biggest servings of fries, the largest soft drinks and the most gigantic burgers, another person added.

Ian, Mrs. Fletcher said, and I startled in my seat. What do you think about all of this?

Me?

You. Youve been very quiet through this whole discussion.