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Morgan Spurlock
Filmmaker
School lunch programs are a huge contributor to this [obesity] problem, because we're feeding kids junk in schools, and we're building a foundation for them to eat unhealthy.
Q: Didn't you know what would happen if you ate fast food every day?
You had an idea what was gonna happen. I had 3 different doctors who said maybe my cholesterol would go up a little bit. Maybe I'd gain a couple pounds. But to have my body degrade the way that it did over the course of the month was shocking to everyone.
Q: Why did you choose McDonald's?
'Cause everybody says you can't blame McDonald's for the obesity epidemic in America, and I don't blame McDonald's. For me, McDonald's is iconic of the problem. They are iconic of fast-food culture and this fast-food lifestyle that we live on a daily basis. Not only do we live here in America, but then we franchised out to over 100 countries on 6 continents around the world.
So for me, they represented this typical ideal of how we're living our lives. And I picked them because they are the leader. Everybody emulates their business practices. So I wanted to pick the company that in my mind could most easily institute change if they wanted to.
Q: How do school lunches contribute to young people's eating habits?
One of the biggest things we talk about in the movie are the school lunch programs because school lunch programs are a huge problem. And they are a huge contributor to this problem because we're feeding kids junk in schools, and we're building a foundation for them to eat unhealthy.
In his 12 years in the industry, filmmaker Morgan Spurlock has conceived and created more than 60 projects. His first feature, the controversial Super Size Me, examines fast food and obesity in America.
Related Episode
Recommended Web Sites
Helpguide's "Healthy Restaurant Eating / Fast Food Nutrition" is a guide to making healthy choices.
The CalorieKing.com Food Database has nutritional information for over 45,000 American generic and brand name foods.
The Yale-New Haven Hospital's Nutrition Advisor explains why fast food doesn't have to equal fat food.
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Published: September 15, 2005
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