Daryl’s Back Pages
From the perspective and pen of California Newspaper Publishers Association Gold Medal winning journalist and writer Daryl Fisher, join us as Daryl talks positively about family, friends and the interesting people and places that have shaped his life. He does so with a gentle hand and a quirky sense of humor, drawing on the simple, joy-filled experiences of everyday living. He is interested in personal snapshots, not grand panoramas, although he’s not shy about trying to pass along a few insights into the human condition whenever the opportunity presents itself. Fitting into your busy day, lighthearted views of life around 5 minutes each.
Daryl’s Back Pages
Can an Extra-crispy KFC Dinner Kill You?
Join us for another episode of Daryl’s Back Pages, “Can an Extra-crispy KFC Dinner Kill You?”. Podcasts with thought-provoking insights about life in around 5 minutes.
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“Look, Dad, just because you’ve become a fanatic in your old age about eating all the right stuff doesn’t mean I have to,” he said with emphasis. “I’m still young, you know, and actually care about the way that food tastes!”
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Can an Extra-crispy KFC Dinner Kill You?
Did you see on the news the other day where an organization calling itself The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) has filed a lawsuit against Kentucky Fried Chicken trying to force it to stop frying foods in what it says is an artery-clogging fat? The suit is actually targeting Yum Brands Inc., which also owns the Pizza Hut and Taco Bell fast-food chains. Anyway, CSPI is demanding that KFC either use a healthier frying oil or start displaying warnings at its restaurants saying that “KFC fried chicken and certain other foods contain trans fat, which promotes heart disease.” The suit goes on to say that some KFC meals are “startling” high in artery-clogging trans-fat from oils used for frying and that a typical three-piece extra crispy combo meal (my personal favorite by the way) contains a whopping 15 grams of fat.
KFC is certainly not the only fast-food chain to have a problem with trans fat, which, as I understand it, is known to increase LDL (the bad cholesterol) in our blood streams. I remember reading a couple of years ago that McDonald’s was going to get rid of the trans fat from its fries, but since they still taste the same, something tells me nothing has changed. But to tell you the truth, I can live without McDonald’s fries, but the thought of no longer being able to scarf down at KFC is almost too unbearable to imagine.
First, a little history. When I was young (long before the colonel ever came up with his secret recipe), both my granny and my mother cooked the best fried chicken imaginable! Although they both prepared it often, it was never often enough for me, and I basically could have lived on the darn stuff. In fact, I remember one summer my mother took my siblings and me on a three-day train ride to see my granny, and since fried chicken apparently doesn’t spoil too easily, my mom made a big old batch of legs, thighs and wings to take with us, and unlike my brother and sister, I happily munched away on cold fried chicken all the way to Missouri.
Actually, my KFC cravings have become somewhat more manageable over the years. I mean, considering that there was once a time when I more or less wished that the colonel would come up with a way to distill his secret recipe so I could just put it in a syringe and mainline it, I think I’m doing pretty good nowadays. But I’m not so sure that’s the case with the younger generation when it comes to fast-food and nutrition. For instance, to my knowledge, my oldest son has never in his life eaten a vegetable, although my wife has dutifully placed them before him since he was a little boy. And when he brings home one of his beloved burgers from a fast-food place, the very first thing he does is sit down and remove the tomato, lettuce and onions on it just to make absolutely sure that there is no nutritional value whatsoever on the darn thing. And my middle son is much the same way when it comes to fruits. Although he will happily wolf down breakfast cereals, donuts, cakes, candy, ice cream and soda (and most anything else with lots of sugar in it), the thought of ingesting anything that even resembles a wholesome piece of fruit makes him gag. I told him the other day that it was just a matter of time before he came down with scurvy like sailors used to get at sea from having no fresh fruit in their diets, and it led to the following little conversation:
“Look, Dad, just because you’ve become a fanatic in your old age about eating all the right stuff doesn’t mean I have to,” he said with emphasis. “I’m still young, you know, and actually care about the way that food tastes!”
“Do you know what happens when you get scurvy?” I asked him.
“Not really,” he said, “but I’m guessing the captain of the ship throws you over the side of the boat.”
“I’ll tell you what happens,” I said, “your gums become spongy, and all your teeth start to fall out.”
“Well,” said my son, “I would rather not have any teeth at all than eat some of that yucky stuff that you do.”
“What’s wrong with the stuff I eat?” I demanded to know.
“You eat squash, Dad! That’s not even a real food – it’s mush.”
“It’s good for you,” I said.
“And you even eat broccoli and cauliflower, which smell and taste like they were either made in test tubes or died a horrible death before they ever got packaged up for sale.”
“They’re both high in vitamins A and C,” I quickly reminded my son.
“Worst of all, Dad, you eat all those tasteless bran cereals that a person can hardly swallow without wanting to throw up!”
“But they have lots of roughage in them,” I tried to explain.
“So,” said my son, slowly and sadly shaking his head from side to side, “is that what life has really come down to for you, Dad – roughage?”
Well, pretty much so, I thought to myself. That and a secret trip over to KFC now and then.
