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Fast food decisions

November 15th, 2007

Remarks as prepared by Lea Marshall for the “CC” middle school rezoning meeting. Delivered while munching on McDonald’s fries. Has there ever been such a selfless reason to eat french fries?

I drove through this fast food drive through on the way to this
meeting tonight. I drove through for several reasons but the main ones
were that I was hungry and it was convenient. I made a fast food
decision based on convenience and I feel that this rezoning of Raa is
also a fast food decision based on convenience.

It meets one need and one need alone, the need to have a neighborhood
school for Killearn. And you know what, my French fries met one need,
my hunger need, very nicely. But the empty calories and lack of
nutrition is really not doing me any favors in the long run.

A fast food or convenience based eating policy does not meet my future
needs of having a healthy body. Likewise, this school rezoning does
not meet future needs of a healthy school system and healthy community.

Fast food eating decisions lead to my doctor having to prescribe pills
to lower blood pressure and pills to lower cholesterol. Fast food
education decisions lead to prescribing magnet schools and taking
students from other areas to fill in gaps. Prescription drugs may have
some positive effects on a person’s health just as these prescribed
school initiatives may benefit a school, but there are always side
effects.

Wouldn’t it have been better to make the harder and wiser decisions
to begin with?

Look at me, i have made a lot of fast food decisions in my life. I am
an expert in convenience based eating decisions. I also realize that
there is a price to be paid for making fast food convenience based
decisions in my body. There is a price also in our school system, in
our community and in the legacy we leave behind to our children.

Consider the long term health of our city and work harder to make a
better choice. We may be “lovin it” now…but will we love what a
steady diet of convenience based decisions does to us in 5 years?

Entry Filed under: Fast food decisions, Economic segregation, Get Local: Tallahassee