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NYC_Gal
Joined: 08 Dec 2009
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 Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 9:27 pm Post subject: |
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| Bloopity Bloop wrote: |
| NYC_Gal wrote: |
| Cerberus wrote: |
yeah, but what doesn't make sense is that despite getting porkier, they're still nowhere near whale like Western/American standards. |
They may not be as fat (though I've been seeing more and more fatties here) but they've got one of the highest gastro-intestinal cancer rates in the world. It's a mix of everything. Sure, loads of western food is crap, but loads of Korean food is crap as well. Usually foods in institutions tend to be on the lower end. Again, healthy is relative. While white rice may seem healthy, as it's a carbohydrate, it's one of the less healthy ones. Brown rice or barley are definitely the way to go. And for Darwin's sake: LESS SALT! |
You can believe me or not, but I remember reading a study a few months ago reporting that Korea obesity levels are currently where the United States was 20 years ago.
Going against all the rules of statistics, I will support this study with a few personal observations:
- my 3rd graders are the fattest
- in Seoul, fast food chains are filled with young families and young adults.
So there: KOREA'S GETTING FATTER AND FATTER!
Today's lunch:
- jjajjiang rice (ugh--I personally despite Korean-style Chinese food)
- sour strawberries
- potstickers: the saving grace of the meal
An overrall 6/10. The kind of meal I'd pay a dollar or two for but would probably never order at a restaurant if other 1 or 2 dollar options were available. |
I read either that or a similar article. The whole world is getting fatter.
Today's packed lunch:
2 sliced fuyu persimmons
2 mandarin oranges
black tea with milk and honey
(I was too lazy to make rice or a sandwich this morning.) |
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jvalmer
Joined: 06 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 9:44 pm Post subject: |
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| Bloopity Bloop wrote: |
| You can believe me or not, but I remember reading a study a few months ago reporting that Korea obesity levels are currently where the United States was 20 years ago. |
But will the ever catch up, or even exceed the USA in obesity levels?
The USA, or UK, will be number 1 in this category forever. |
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ennoncha
Joined: 02 Aug 2009
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| Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 10:12 pm Post subject: |
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| For the first two weeks I was here I ate the school lunches out of politeness. I'm vegetarian so this usually ment rice, fruit and water. After two weeks, I realized that rice, fruit and water was not nearly enough to sustain me through a day of teaching. Now, I pack my lunch every day. Today I had a moroccan style stew, orange couscous, two tangerines and some almonds with cinnamon and brown sugar sprinkled on top! Yum! My co-teachers are constantly amazed by the fact that I pack my lunch and are always trying bits of it, haha. |
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Senior
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
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| Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 7:14 pm Post subject: |
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Crumbed fried shrimp.
Vermicelli noodles in a spicy, but otherwise bland broth
Radish gim chi
rice.
The noodles and soup were quite tasty, though I prefer meat soup. If you could load up on the shrimp, then this meal would get a 10. Unfortunately, there was a moral, though not explicitly stated, imperative to go easy on the shrimp. Of course a few people loaded up. I feel sorry for the people who have class now, and will file in at the end. They will probably miss out.
My only criticism is that the meal wasn't large enough.
Another solid meal. Thanks lunch ladies. 7/10. |
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ChilgokBlackHole
Joined: 21 Nov 2009
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| Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 7:48 pm Post subject: |
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| Senior, what, do you work for some kind of hotel and tourism magnet high school or what? |
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dirving
Joined: 19 Nov 2009
Location: South Korea
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| Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 7:50 pm Post subject: |
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| Bulgogi, white rice, kimchi, and some sort of soup: 5/10. |
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cj1976
Joined: 26 Oct 2005
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| Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 7:58 pm Post subject: |
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| Today was a mixed bag. 3rd time this week that my heart sunk when seeing what was for lunch. Mainly because of the dreaded seaweed soup. I can't stomach this stuff, and I am honestly mystified why no Koreans find it similarly repulsive. I thought that at least 1 out of 10 Koreans would agree with me! |
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Senior
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
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| Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 7:59 pm Post subject: |
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| ChilgokBlackHole wrote: |
| Senior, what, do you work for some kind of hotel and tourism magnet high school or what? |
Run of the mill PS. You've got to remember that 7/10 is relative to other school cafeteria food. It isn't relative to, say, a decent steak. Compared to food at a restaurant, or even food you can cook yourself, it's more like a 2.5/10. |
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reactionary
Joined: 22 Oct 2006
Location: korreia
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| Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 8:00 pm Post subject: |
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| fish spine soup, rice, mustard-root kimchi?, some mixed veggies with melchi (good but i picked aorund the little guys), and a big fried chicken breast with honey mustard - this would've been a welcome treat had it not been completely cold. 6/10 |
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Senior
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
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| Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 8:00 pm Post subject: |
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| cj1976 wrote: |
| Today was a mixed bag. 3rd time this week that my heart sunk when seeing what was for lunch. Mainly because of the dreaded seaweed soup. I can't stomach this stuff, and I am honestly mystified why no Koreans find it similarly repulsive. I thought that at least 1 out of 10 Koreans would agree with me! |
The straight seaweed mixed with water soup is an abomination. I really like the anchovy broth, with seaweed and other sea creatures soup. |
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Bloopity Bloop
Joined: 26 Apr 2009
Location: Seoul yo
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| Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 8:06 pm Post subject: |
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| jvalmer wrote: |
| Bloopity Bloop wrote: |
| You can believe me or not, but I remember reading a study a few months ago reporting that Korea obesity levels are currently where the United States was 20 years ago. |
But will the ever catch up, or even exceed the USA in obesity levels?
The USA, or UK, will be number 1 in this category forever. |
Actually, the latest OECD report on obesity rates shows that UK has actually been (belly) pushed out of the top 3! The 2009 report has the United States in 1st (worst 1st place ever) with 34.4% fatty rate, followed by Mexico with 30%, and finally New Zealand ROUNDING out the BIG three with a whopper... er, whopping 26.5%!
Okay, so if 34.4% of Americans are obese (probably even more now), what is the percentage of generally overweight folks? I took a trip home a few weeks back and I honestly believe there are way more overweight Americans than average or even cute/pudgey ones. And I'm from California  SCARY STUFF FOLKS! GET YOUR FITNESS IN ORDER.
According to a recent LA Times article, Americans might slowly be getting their act together: http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/14/science/la-sci-obesity14-2010jan14
Is this a turning point? I don't know.
Do I think Koreans have the gastronomic fortitude to go belly-to-belly with Americans in the obesity department? Probably. Like NYC_Gal said, the whole world just seems to be getting fatter. It doesn't help that it's now become glamorous, in some respects, to be fat in the States. There's all those "Love yourself" and "Big and beautiful" campaigns.
Blah blah blah
Anyway, lunch...
- FRIED CHICKEN (mmm mmm good) with a mayonaisse-based sweet sauce
- salad (drenched in said sauce)
- beansprout soup
An overrall 9/10 meal. The chicken was as spectacularly tasty as it was spectacularly cruel to my arteries. |
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jvalmer
Joined: 06 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 8:21 pm Post subject: |
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| ^ If India ever got to the GDP levels of western Europe, I think they could be contenders for #1. I also wonder what the obesity levels are in some of the arab countries. |
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NYC_Gal
Joined: 08 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 8:31 pm Post subject: |
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| Bloopity Bloop wrote: |
| jvalmer wrote: |
| Bloopity Bloop wrote: |
| You can believe me or not, but I remember reading a study a few months ago reporting that Korea obesity levels are currently where the United States was 20 years ago. |
But will the ever catch up, or even exceed the USA in obesity levels?
The USA, or UK, will be number 1 in this category forever. |
Actually, the latest OECD report on obesity rates shows that UK has actually been (belly) pushed out of the top 3! The 2009 report has the United States in 1st (worst 1st place ever) with 34.4% fatty rate, followed by Mexico with 30%, and finally New Zealand ROUNDING out the BIG three with a whopper... er, whopping 26.5%!
Okay, so if 34.4% of Americans are obese (probably even more now), what is the percentage of generally overweight folks? I took a trip home a few weeks back and I honestly believe there are way more overweight Americans than average or even cute/pudgey ones. And I'm from California SCARY STUFF FOLKS! GET YOUR FITNESS IN ORDER.
According to a recent LA Times article, Americans might slowly be getting their act together: http://articles.latimes.com/2010/jan/14/science/la-sci-obesity14-2010jan14
Is this a turning point? I don't know.
Do I think Koreans have the gastronomic fortitude to go belly-to-belly with Americans in the obesity department? Probably. Like NYC_Gal said, the whole world just seems to be getting fatter. It doesn't help that it's now become glamorous, in some respects, to be fat in the States. There's all those "Love yourself" and "Big and beautiful" campaigns.
Blah blah blah
Anyway, lunch...
- FRIED CHICKEN (mmm mmm good) with a mayonaisse-based sweet sauce
- salad (drenched in said sauce)
- beansprout soup
An overrall 9/10 meal. The chicken was as spectacularly tasty as it was spectacularly cruel to my arteries. |
The USA was originally a meal ticket (how ironic) for poor people from other countries. Not all immigrants were poor, but many were starving, and this land of plentiful food was very appealing. Of course, people worked hard in the physical sense, so the burned off all of the food, hence the term corn-fed, beefy Americans. Look back 60 years. Our men were HOT and our women looked lovely. Now, people eat the same amount, if not more, due to industrialized slop that as flavor injections added to create addictions. KFC is everywhere. Korea will catch up. At least Americans are aware that adding mayo to everything isn't good. I went for sushi the other day and a) there was no brown rice option <<sigh>> b) I didn't know they were going to drench it in sauce. To me, sushi should be very simple. NO MAYO OR SWEET SAUCE!
Today's packed lunch:
Pumpernickel toast with cheddar and Branston pickle, 2 mandarins, and a cuppa tea.
The school's offerings:
Plain white rice, baechu kimchi, ddeok guk, teeny shrimp with mini hot dogs, what looked like bbq pork in loads of sauce, and a quarter of a large orange, peel still intact. |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 8:35 pm Post subject: |
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Radish Kimchi
Bean Sprouts
Hash Browns with Peppers and Onions
Lightly Breaded and Fried Fish
Millet Rice
Spicy Soo Jae Bi
This was a pretty good meal. I love Bean Sprouts and they were nice and crunchy. The Hash Browns are always a highlight. A little greasy, but man they taste good. The fish was good, no bones too. The Soo Jae Bi was okay. The only downer was the lack of green veggies. I'd rather have had Korean Spinach than Radish Kimchi. 3 and 1/2 Stars. |
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Bloopity Bloop
Joined: 26 Apr 2009
Location: Seoul yo
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| Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 8:47 pm Post subject: |
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| NYC_Gal wrote: |
At least Americans are aware that adding mayo to everything isn't good. I went for sushi the other day and a) there was no brown rice option <<sigh>> b) I didn't know they were going to drench it in sauce. To me, sushi should be very simple. NO MAYO OR SWEET SAUCE!
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Yeah, see, THAT'S the worst part of it. We probably have the most exposure and access to nutritional information and health resources and it still doesn't matter to most of us. If you take home a decent wage in the States, you can eat both healthily AND well far more easily than anywhere in Asia, for sure, and just as well compared to any other country. People get carried away with the 'well' and kick the 'healthily' to the curb. I definitely took healthy options in America for granted.
I had a similar sushi experience the other day. My "dragon roll" was 90% rice (no vinegar, either), filled with imitation crab, and topped with paper-thing avocado drowning in mayonaisse.
Let me get a 1/10 for that! |
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