Not so fast.....(this is) food?

On a whim and a successful pre-screening, I took part in a fast food focus group last week. An independent research group was gathering information (for, what a friend deduced from questioning ~perhaps~Taco Bell?). They wanted opinions from "creatives" about their experience of fast food. They asked questions in the pre-screening like, "If you were a fast food, what would you be?" (ok, so I lied on this portion of the Q&A to ensure my participation in the focus group, and said I'd be a crispy taco bell taco and how many times I ate fast food (6 a month = 6 times a year, at best). During the 45min. in-home filmed interview, my friend and I were asked things by three interviewers like, "What do you like about the the meal you like to eat at your favorite chain?" (A: textures, food that looks like recognizable food parts with the option of eating in at a thematic (read: kitschy) dining area), "What constitutes a meal vs. a snack?" (A: Sitting down and taking time vs. squat and gobbling, respectively), "If you went to a Fast Food chain would you choose a burger or a salad?" (A: duh, the burger. I'm obviously not there for my health. guilty pleasures.) At one point I said that maybe super-sized fast food was a form of darwinian population control.

They gave me a questionnaire asking about the food I buy and eat (e.g. spices, veggies, snacks, etc…). There was also a section that asked that I make a collage about how I feel about food without any images of food. I ended up doing three. Yeah, they're hokey, but I kinda like the last one. Cut and pasting sans 'puter was very refreshing.
(click on image to enlarge, then refresh page if necessary)

1st collage: Comfort

2nd collage: Feel

3rd collage: Food Chain (distilled)