I’d like to think that I am pretty tapped into what is going on in the world of food.  I love to eat, talk about food, and read about food.  Therefore, I am pretty pleased about the recent movement seen in films like Food Inc. and FRESH – both which make people think about what they are eating and where it comes from.  I think this is a step in the right direction – away from the highly processed, chemically-engineered, HFCS-infused products that dominate the super market aisles.  The fact that our food system has gotten so far out of whack really hammers home the need for change. 

For me, this change starts locally.  After seeing this article in the Huffington Post about the country’s best farmer’s markets, I thought how this kind of widespread action would send a positive ripple effect in all directions.  I love farmer’s markets – they are good for you (healthy/delicious), the economy (local farmers), the environment (lower transportation costs) and everything else.  We have to start somewhere, people, and this is a great way to begin to turn the tide. 

H/t to HuffPo for the picture from NYC’s own Union Square Greenmarket, which is fantastic.

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I recently read that Congress is considering a proposal that would require nutritional info to be put on menus next to every food item at fast food and chain restaurants.  Some states already require fast food restaurants to display this material.  While I think that this concept of labeling works pretty well for fast food, I think that’s as far as it should go.

As a consumer, I don’t want to be bombarded with a calorie count and the grams of saturated fat I am about to eat.  When I go out to a sit-down restaurant, I want to eat good food, relax and enjoy myself.  Feeling guilty about the huge plate of pasta I knocked out is not so appealing.  I know this country has an obesity epidemic, which is why I advocate for the fast food option.  But I think that is far as this should go.  What do you think?  Nutritional info on all menus?  None?

H/t to Consumerist and LA Times for the pic.  Also, be wary of chain restaurants, as Eick referenced here.

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Photo via the Applebee’s website (hence why it looks kind of fresh, and good).

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Exhibit #1: the shake

2,310 Calories
108 g Fat (64 g Saturated/2.5g Trans)
266 g Sugar
Cholesterol 295mg

Now, these numbers may not make alot of sense without context, although pretty much everyone knows that the basic recomended daily diet consists of around 2,000 calories – and this is 300 more than that.  That said, I thought a fitting barometer might be the famous Quarter Pounder with Cheese.

Exhibit #2: the burger

510 Calories
40g Fat (61 g Saturated/1.5g Trans)
9 g Sugar
Cholesterol 90mg

While the calories of the shake are clearly beyond the scope of human reasoning – in that they are 4.5 times more than a QPw/C – I also find the sugar and cholesterol levels facinating. First, how much sugar is 266g, you might ask.  How about over 1 cup, or almost 19 tablespoons!  Gross.
On the cholestol front, the shake has 3.25 times more than that fatty cheesy burger.  Wow.

Is this what we’ve resorted to as a culture?  Death by shake?  All I know is that you better stay away from here:

*Also thanks to Foodio54 for naming this the ‘Worst Drink in America”.

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Apparently the DNC had such a long list of “guidelines,” that caterer’s feared not getting hired due to deviating from the proposed suggestions. Among these suggestions:

- Half a meal made up of fruits and/or veggies

- At least three of the following five colors on a plate – red, green, yellow, blue/purple and white (garnishes don’t count)

- No fried foods

- At least 70 percent of ingredients (based on precooked weight) certified organic and/or grown or raised in Colorado

- Use of reusable serviceware

- No bottled water, use pitchers instead

- Encourage staff to use alternative modes of transportation.

Ok, I get it, they’re trying to be healthy and not to harm the environment, but a color scheme? Dictating what kind of vehicle the food arrives in? That seems a bit ridiculous. Where are they going to find purple food in Colorado? And I just love the “garnishes don’t count,” way to catch the cheaters before they even try! I’m all for health and am a huge fan of fruits, vegetables and the environment, but as a former waitress I feel bad for the dishwashers who have to wash all that ‘reusable serviceware!’ If anything, this shows us that Barack Obama means business… he doesn’t just talk the talk, he walks the walk.

Conversely, the RNC has placed no restrictions on the menus during the convention. The only request they’ve made is for shrimp and tenderloin type fare. This fits actually. Having unhealthy and environmentally unfriendly food now and not worrying who will have to suffer the future consequences. It kind of mirrors the Republican party platform – act now on impulse and deal with the fallout later!

via Rocky Mountain News

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Some of the common assumptions it wanted to correct: that its hamburgers and chicken nuggets are made of “leftover parts”; that its milk shakes and ice cream contain lard; that its sausage patties contain additives that make people want to eat more; and that its cheese contains meat product.

The page allows you to click on any of their many ingredients, from beef to chicken to lettuce. With each ingredient, they print the answers to several “common” questions about that food.

No word on how many hormones are given to the cows before they become beef, or how many additives or preservatives are added to the ground beef before it gets cut into patties by McDonald’s.

McDonald’s is also promising a closer look at their production process, vowing to go out into the fields with cameras, to show McDonald’s customers where their food originates (not available on the website yet, but coming soon).

In the past few years, I’ve become increasingly critical of the levels of hormones, additives and preservatives that America fast food companies seem to rely on.  That being said, when it comes to the strategy of brand protection, this is a smart, pro-active approach by McDonald’s.

Why allow rumors and negativity about the quality of McDonald’s products to fester and spread online? It is wise for McDonald’s to address these issues head on. The fact that they are doing so on their own website also means they can set the agenda for what questions get asked/answered. This allows them proclaim their food to be quality while avoiding tough questions that they might face in a more open forum.

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“Evil version of Ronald McDonald or a character from Twisted Metal?”

This man realized that McDonald’s burgers are so chock full of chemicals that when left to sit out in the open air, they do not grow moldy or decompose like a normal burger does. Remarkably they maintain their basic shape and form for years and years!

“We use a highly scientific cataloging method known as ‘index cards’.”

Read on for more pictures and a YouTube clip about the “Bionic Burger.”

His collection is extensive, with at least one burger per year having been saved since 1989.

In fact, the “Bionic Burger” YouTube clip about this has been viewed over 900,000 times.

However, if you watch the video, you might notice that this man’s “burger museum” is no longer just a private hobby, it has been commandered to plug a website called “The Best Day Ever.” The site promises that those who join will get access to the secrets of their “Super Food Success System.”

But just keep in mind that the site is run by David Wolfe, a.k.a. this guy:

“Well hello there ladies. Wouldn’t you love to tossle these curly locks? Remember, I’m not just a diet guru, I’m a nutrition pioneer.”

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The only stipulation the group’s creator makes, is that while he promises to eat all the burgers, nuggets and fries associated with the various value meals in one sitting, he does not have to drink all 12 sodas, and is free to drink as much or as little as he wants during the process.

For those of you not up-to-date on your McDonald’s value menu, the list of all 12 meals appears below.

#1 – Big Mac
#2 – 2 Cheeseburgers
#3 – Quarter Pounder w/ cheese
#4 – Double Quarter Pounder w/ cheese
#5 – Big N’ Tasty
#6 – Double Cheeseburger
#7 – Chicken Ranch BLT Sandwich
#8 – Premium Chicken Club Sandwich
#9 – Chicken McNuggets (10 piece)
#10 – Chicken Selects
#11 – Premium Chicken Classic Sandwich
#12 – Fillet-O-Fish

I just went over to check out McDonald’s Nutrition Facts and determine what the total caloric intake for this feast would be. Assuming that each meal is eaten with the standard medium fries, the total caloric intake of this endeavor would be….wait for it….wait for it….. 10,710 calories.

To give you a sense of what it would take to burn those calories off, you would need to run 82 miles at an 8 minute pace OR have sex at a moderate pace for 87.8 hours. Hmmm…seems like an easy choice, and not just because I hate running.

So I have a few questions and rule clarifications I would like to address to those who are proposing this endeavor.

Questions:

• Do all 12 meals need to be purchased at once?
• If yes, must they all be eaten in the restaurant? Or can they be taken home?
• If they can be taken home, is any reheating of the meals allowed? Or will the food be allowed to get cold?
• What is the definition of “one sitting?” Is the eater not allowed to stand up until done eating all 12 meals? Or are reasonable exemptions allowed for bathroom and stretching breaks?
• Does the food need to be eaten in a customary manner, or are eating “tricks” allowed? For example, does each burger need to be eaten like a normal burger, or can a pile of burger patties be eaten separately from a pile of buns?
• Is the eater allowed to deliberately cause themselves to throw up at any point in order to accelerate their ability to put down more food?
• Does each individual meal have to be eaten on its own, or can the eater mix and match? For example, could all 12 bags of french fries be eaten first, then the burgers, or vice versa?
• If an entire meal must be eaten separately before the next meal is tackled, can the eater go in any order of the 12 meals that they wish? Or must they start at meal #1 and work up to #12?

Personally, I think that all 12 meals should be eaten in order, from #1 through #12. Why? that will set up the final stage of the man vs. fast food challenge with perhaps the most intimidating McDonald’s sandwich of all: The Filet-o-Fish!

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Info and picture via Daily Mail.

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So what is a pickle sickle? Dill pickles are pressed to extract as much of their juice as possible, then that juice is put in a plastic tube, much like flavor ice. The product is shipped unfrozen, but it is expected that once you get it, you will pop it in your freezer.

Although people have been eating pickle juice in various forms for a long time (including turning it into an energy drink for athletes), this product’s birth was a year ago, when a Texas family began selling the pickle pops at their roller skating rink and arcade. People loved them so much they decided to take the pickle pops to a bigger audience.

The product is being pitched to school cafeteria’s as well as consumers. Not a bad idea. Pickle juice doesn’t give you any calories, so this can be seen as a tasty frozen treat that even a diabetic could enjoy.

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According to the NY Times:

“A team of nine students instructed volunteers to take a bite of a wheat cracker and dip the cracker for three seconds into about a tablespoon of a test dip. They then repeated the process with new crackers, for a total of either three or six double dips per dip sample. The team then analyzed the remaining dip and counted the number of aerobic bacteria in it.”

Despite George’s dismissal of the idea that double dipping could transfer bacteria, the results of the study show otherwise:

“On average, the students found that three to six double dips transferred about 10,000 bacteria from the eater’s mouth to the remaining dip. Each cracker picked up between one and two grams of dip. That means that sporadic double dipping in a cup of dip would transfer at least 50 to 100 bacteria from one mouth to another with every bite.”

Something to consider before you double dip that chip at this weekend’s Super Bowl party.

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