Delicious turkey, savory roast, scrumptious casserole, tasty mashed potatoes and… Pink slime? That's right! Most of the "fast food" we eat these days really isn't food at all! Fast food is a Molotov cocktail of chemicals and pre-processed junk that obliterates our health. With the age of technology comes the age of "we're too busy" and "who needs home-cooked meals?" it may not seem so, but these types of thoughts are dangerous. Dangerous because they lead to the deterioration of families and loss of tradition. Also, this leads to an unhealthy younger generation. An entire generation of children who don't know that chicken shouldn't always be in nugget form. Home-cooking and Home0cooked meals are all around better choice for not only families, but all Americans across the board.

My family is not the perfect model. Of course we have evenings when none of us want to spend the necessary amount of time preparing food for the rest of the family, but there is a difference between having fast food as your go-to food choice and the occasional indulgence of greasy euphoria. One of the many downfalls of fast food is directly stated in the name. Fast food is, well, fast. It does not allow families the quality interactions they need in order to keep a stable family unit. If a family chooses fast food every single night, they are effectively choosing alone-time for each individual family member, every single night. Although it may seem a little far-fetched, we all know it's true. Even in my own family, we must sometimes remember to set aside the electronics and "Big Macs" and experience actual family bonding time over a steaming hot pan of freshly-baked lasagna. Something else a family, specifically the children, may miss and not realize it, is a sense of tradition. In my family my Grandmother's recipes are handed down from generation to generation as if they are priceless jewels. It fills me with endless sadness to think that works of art such as these recipes will be lost because parents are choosing "Happy Meals" over happiness, in the form of made-from-scratch multi-generational favorites. Together, loss of family and loss of tradition seems too great a price for a "Baconator" and a large fry.

Health also plays a large role in this "war of foods". My Aunt used to make biscuits and gravy. She did it so often it was practically a tradition for my entire family to sit in her kitchen and shovel it into our mouths at the speed of light. Now, I know what you're saying, "That doesn't sound a whole lot healthier than a "Mcmuffin!". I know. And, maybe, it's not. But it still remains to be seen that in the long run it was much healthier. Auntie's homemade gravy didn’t have any additives or chemicals in it, something she prided herself on. A Mcmuffin, on the other hand has been preserved, frozen, shipped, frozen again and then slapped on a fryer when you order it. I don't know about you, but I'm not all that confident in the safety of that practice. Who knows how all of these harsh chemicals will affect us late in life? I certainly don't! And I sure don't want to be the one to find out.

Some may say that fast food is a great alternative to home-cooking because it provides us with more free time. But my question is this; what will everyone choose to do with all of this new found extra time? Sure, some families will make a valiant effort to spend their free time together, but we all know what will happen eventually. We will lose our young generation to technology. We will be reduced to communicating through screens and texting when we wish to talk to someone a flight of stairs away. His deterioration has already begun and if we are not careful it will continue until there is nothing left.

The Food Wars; an epic name for an epic battle of will. Which side will win? Home-cooking in the name of family tradition and health or fast food in the name of nuggets and pre-processed slime? You Decide.