Filmmaker Morgan Spurlock made headlines when he ate nothing but fast food from McDonald's for his 2004 documentary, Super Size Me. The Academy Award-nominated feature is now available on Hulu, where you can witness Spurlock stuff his face with Big Macs and fries for 30 days straight. In between the Egg McMuffin sandwiches and apple pie desserts, the film shows us the toll on Spurlock's health and explores the fast food industry's influence on our society. Spurlock gained more than 24 pounds during his month-long experiment; it took him 14 months to lose the weight — and he hasn't been back to McDonald's since. Below, the director answered some questions about the film and his latest projects for us.

Hulu: What prompted you to create a film about McDonald's?

Spurlock: The idea came up around Thanksgiving 2002, when we heard about the girls suing McDonald's [alleging they were overweight because of McDonald's food]. At the time, we thought it was insane that someone would sue McDonald's when they were choosing to eat the food. But McDonald's then came out and said "our food is healthy and nutritious," and I realized both sides were wrong.

Many documentaries explore a subject by following other people going through an experience. But you put yourself into this story: you put yourself on an extreme diet. What led you to do this?

The goal was to have someone else go on the 30-day McDiet, but I couldn't trust that someone else would stick to the plan and not sneak in some broccoli when they got home. Having myself eat their food — and only their food — for 30 days was the only way to do it.

What did you learn about yourself during the project?

I learned that I have a stomach that can take a lot of abuse and that the liver is very resilient. At the end, when the doctors compare my liver to that of an alcoholic's, they just couldn't believe the damage could happen so quickly.

What did you learn about our society?

We've not only embraced the fast food culture, we've adopted a fast food mentality. Our time has taken front seat to our health and families. We set out to maximize our time to make more money.

How did you feel about the options presented on the menu? Was there enough variety?

I think I went through everything on the McDonald's menu three or four times during filming — there are only 20 or 30 items on the menu, so it doesn't take long to cycle through. You can't help but get bored. At first it was an 8-year-old's dream, but it quickly became a 35-year-old man's nightmare.

McDonald's has been in the press lately for its "recession-proof" menu. What are your thoughts on that?

I think McDonald's sales went up when people started losing their jobs. And the McDonald's in the U.K. recently posted its highest profit in five or six years. The people I spoke to in the film look at McDonald's as their best option — the cheapest option. I think some of the people who think this way don't really know how to cook. They don't realize there are cheaper ways to cook, and they consider the affordable options "peasant food." But you can cook things like rice and beans for less than $5. It's all about time now, and people are thinking, "My time is more important."

Part of Super Size Me focuses on the impact the food industry and lobbyists have on our government and legislation. How involved should the government be?

I don't think you can expect corporations to stop having lobbyists representing them in legislation, just like the government can't ban fast food. That won't work. Instead, I think there needs to be greater education and easier access to nutritional information, starting in schools. One of the scenes I found most disturbing in filming this was when we went to the schools. They were filled with the worst food you could give a kid. They teach nutrition and fitness in health and gym class, but then the students go to the cafeteria and learn that it's ok to have a pretzel for lunch or pizza or Ding Dongs every day. The lunchroom needs to be looked at as a part of the learning curriculum. When kids are still in elementary school, and even high school, they're still under guidance. Why should children make decisions about their diets? Schools will say the kids are learning to make choices, but they're not making healthy choices. Parents need to start paying attention to their schools' lunch offerings.

What was McDonald's reaction to your documentary?

When Super Size Me was released, McDonald's pulled the super-size options off their menus and introduced the Go Active happy meal for adults. They said this was menu simplification, nothing related to the movie. But their menu can't get much simpler, and it hadn't changed since 1972.

What do you think about having your film on Hulu?

Hulu is fantastic. One of the things I always say about it is that's consistent, and the quality of the player and images are amazing. And it's starting to push other content on the backs of the NBC and Fox shows that made it a destination. The reach of Hulu and what it's accomplished so far — name recognition, quality programming — is remarkable.

What are you working on now?

I just finished shooting Freakonomics, which should come out in late 2009. Chad Troutwine who produced Paris je t'aime saw it as anthology shot by several great filmmakers — Alex Gibney (Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room; Who Killed the Electric Car?), Eugene Jarecki (Why We Fight), and Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing (Jesus Camp) — and I said, "I'm in, sign me up." We started in September and I'm delivering in March. It's been nice to be involved with something that's complete in such a short time.