McHappy Life

 

I don't think any single restaurant (a term I am using loosely here) has marketed the American Dream to Americans more than McDonalds. The golden arches are synonymous with the USA. Personally I think that is really quite sad, but, along with Coca Cola, its one of the two most enduring things this country has given the world.

I am going to go on record and state that I have not given up Cokes, not yet. Its curious to me how ingrained Coca Cola is in my life. Its to the point where I feel like I can't eat a meal without a coke. Water won't do, or juice- I don't drink alcohol- just cokes. And I am fully aware that this wonderful American legacy delivers a ton of sugar, and is acidic enough to dissolve a nail or a tooth in a matter of days- this is how I totally understand the consumers for whom all this information is so daunting they have to tune it out- our proclivities define us. And if you fuck with our definitions of ourselves, its a major threat. If someone told me I couldn't have any more Cokes, I would be pretty lost. So I have put these on my 'yet' list, a short list of which I reserve the right to maintain. Some may think it hypocritical, but I think there is another way to look at it. I think it makes my journey more relatable- there is a struggle in it to change, and I am sharing my struggle, not preaching. And I am not preaching to the choir- those who have already adopted a very organic lifestyle don't need this information. I aspire to make these choices naturally, without hesitation, but it requires that I stay on point.

McDonalds and cokes. America. So the cokes- I got that out of the way- they are still on the menu for me. But McDonalds? No way. Yet its another one of those things I understand the difficulty of giving up, I do. They have the best French fries ever. Usually their soda to syrup ratio for cokes is one of the best. The double cheeseburger really hits the spot. And of course, like most Americans, my kids ate their fair share of happy meals. But on closer inspection of what is going on with the food product McDonalds is peddling, its easy to be disturbed. The American Dream, the McHappy life they are selling us isn't what it seems. The chicken is just barely chicken- all sorts of parts of chickens one wouldn't want to ever eat are ground up with the rest- eyeballs, feet, feathers- and its such an awful concoction that a lot of bleach has to be poured into it to disinfect it all. But the bleach then removes all the color and flavor, so then a slightly pink color is added, as well as...chicken flavor. what you are tasting when you eat a chicken McNugget is an artificial chicken flavor. Let me just give you a visual to go with those fries-

 

 

If you are a parent, and you have fed your kids the seemingly innocent chicken McNugget Happy Meal- how could you not be appalled at what you have been feeding your kid? And how could you ever willingly do it again?

One thing I have discovered- if I don't want to feed it to my kid, then I don't want to eat it, either.

One would think that its hard to tamper with French fries- they are so simple- cut up French fries deep fried in oil. At least I thought so. French fries were the one thing I thought it was okay to eat. But a glance at the 17 ingredients it takes McDonalds to make such a simple thing is alarming.

Mario Dupuis, a production manager at McCain Foods in New Brunswick, discussed where the potatoes are washed, peel and cut. They are also blanched to “remove natural sugars” that would cause colour variations then soaked in dextrose for an even colour. There’s also an ingredient to prevent greying, drying to remove excess moisture and a quick-fry for 45 to 60 seconds before the fries are frozen for shipping.

 The worst part are the ingredients. Instead of the standard two ingredients necessary to make french fries-potatoes and oil, there are approximately 17 as reported on the ingredients facts list on the McDonald's website.

They include:
Potatoes, canola oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, safflower oil, natural flavour (vegetable source), dextrose, sodium acid pyrophosphate (maintain colour), citric acid (preservative), dimethylpolysiloxane (antifoaming agent) and cooked in vegetable oil (Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with THBQ, citric acid and dimethylpolysiloxane) and salt (silicoaluminate, dextrose, potassium iodide).
At a glance, many of the ingredients above are hazardous to human health, including those which are genetically modified (canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil), hydrogenated (soybean oil), chemically preserved and antifoaming (THBQ, citric acid, dimethylpolysiloxane), and artificially colored (sodium acid pyrophosphate).

Let me add just one more little bit of awesomeness- McDonalds was found to be putting antifreeze in its frozen drinks. Oh, they call it ethylene glycol- but its the same thing. Did you think it was fruit and ice blended together? So did everybody else.

So now you have some facts. there are more out there, if you want them. Here is an amazing fact, that makes me proud of the human race- Bolivia has rejected McDonalds. The took the power of the consumer in their own hands and stopped eating at McDonalds, forcing them to shut down all McDonalds in the country. These people refused to be suckered into participating in this rancid exchange-

McDonalds- give us your money, and we will give you carcinogens, chemicals, GMOs, worm meal, ground up chicken's eyeballs and feet- and we will flavor it to taste good, package it in bright paper and sell it to you. We will make it super easy and convenient. We will make everything super sized! We will use a clown to sell it to you- everybody loves clowns- especially serial killers! We will make billions of dollars! 

America- Baaaa-aaaaa
Most of the world-  The Americans like it, lets do it too. Baaaa-aaaaa
Bolivia- Get the eff out of your country!

 

 

Whoever you are, reading this right now, I hope you can consider never eating McDonalds again. I hope you decide to find something else to feed your kids. We could do what Bolivia did, but it would take a lot of us talking about it to our family and friends. You could share this very blog with everyone you know, or you could write your own. It all starts with taking a stand- all movements start with one individual refusing to accept the status quo, and then some more, and then a whole bunch.

Yesterday I bombarded the Mcdonalds facebook page with links to the above information. They blocked me! But before they did, a few people saw my posts and liked them. We could all bombard their page! Share the link from youtube about the mcnuggets. use social media to disseminate information- you could do a lot of damage in a couple of hours on facebook. And by damage, I mean good work, I mean supporting your fellow humans in discovering a better way to live. What other good work is there?

On that note, check out this amazing kid and what he has to say about 'the dark side of the industrialized food system." I would like to think this boy is the future of our society- to me, he IS the American Dream. He is my hero! And his message is important for everyone.  Share it!

 

Now tell me, who inspires you to action more? This amazing boy, or the freaky clown? Even if the only thing you ever do to further the cause is stop eating fast food, its a start!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Revolutionary Eating- its not for sissies

Since I am writing this not so much for those who have mastered the art of revolutionary eating, but for those who are just bellying up to the bar like myself, I think its important to talk about the challenges inherent in this endeavor.

One of the challenges I have been writing a lot about is that of being blinded by branding- just see yesterday's post. Recently on facebook I posted- well hell, I will post it here, too- that awful behind the scenes look at the making of McDonald's chicken mcnuggets. Here, this is what I posted-

Its terrible, awful, nasty and BAD. There is nothing right about this. And its a staple for moms in a hurry to give to their kids. I've done it a thousand times, when my kids were younger. So I posted this on facebook, and someone said, "Yeah, but they sure are yummy!" Its exactly that sort of cavalier attitude, unconscious slavery to our tastebuds and unwillingness to question deeply that will destroy humankind. That's why its so important that there is an antidote, and that is why I call it 'revolutionary eating'.

So that is not only a brand issue- its McDonalds! What could possibly scream America more than McDonalds? But a taste bud issue. And that is a whole diabolical affair, the issue of our tastebuds. We don't train them, we haven't mastered them- they have mastered us. When it comes to eating, the tastebuds are like...like when we say a man thinks with his you know what. Our tastebuds dominate our good senses and we reach for the thing we simply want to taste at that moment.

I was at work yesterday, and we hadn't gotten in our food delivery, so the only thing that was appealing to me in the cupboards was my stash of Kraft Deluxe mac and cheese. This has been a lunchtime staple for me for so long, its a running joke in my workplace. Everyone laughs about my predilection for mac and cheese, and everyone knows not to touch those boxes when they see them on the shelf. I kid you not, its really like that. So, I was hungry. And there was a part of me that would have felt so satisfied by my mac and cheese, you have no idea. Its so easy! So fast! So yummy! But some other part of me said "No effing way. I'm not gonna eat that crap."

I am not used to listening to that part of myself. I would even go so far as to say that this part of myself didn't exist prior to a couple of months ago. Its like my body simply refused to partake, and it was louder and more insistent than my tastebuds.

So I ended up eating a peanut butter sandwich instead. Maybe not much better- it was JIF peanut butter, and I know that is on the no-no list, but its also on my short list of things I can't give up yet. Yet. Still, it was progress.

Today I went to work with a Tupperware of organic zucchini from the local farmer's market that I had marinated in garlic, cilantro, olive oil and lime juice. And I threw them in the skillet and cooked them up for lunch. The housekeeper, my dear friend Glendis, looked almost frightened. "Ashley, what is this? Dios Mio! What are you doing? This is not your food!" She said, eyes wide in shock. She knows. Its not a small thing. Its not only how I have identified myself but how others identify me- people would shake their heads at the way I would eat- and I thought it was cute!!! I really did.

The zucchini didn't satisfy me in the same way a big bowl of gooey fake cheese and macaroni product would have- its weird to not eat a processed, chemically enhanced flavor which is telling me its delicious- but my body was happy with it, and that's a new sensation and hasn't been categorized in my brain as satisfaction yet. Weird, right?  It is causing a new relationship with everything- because I am the type to find deeper hidden meanings in everything. For example- this scenario causes me to wonder in what other areas have I accepted, ne'- embraced with absolute vigor, a substitution? In what other areas have I allowed myself to be told what to like, what to think, what my preferences should be, and I followed along without questioning- and yet still felt like it was my very own idea? How many times have I smugly said- "I like what I like," as if that was answer enough? How do I really know what I like, when it comes right down to it, if I don't stop and ask myself why, who, what, how?

It just goes back to a concept I write a lot about in my other blog about recovery and spirituality-howlinghive.blogspot.com- I want to de-program myself, unlearn what I have learned, re-train myself in ways that are more in keeping with my core truth and values. That means I have to get to my core self, and that is a whole other story. I couldn't adopt revolutionary eating if I had not been examining my life already- I would have been too defensive, too stuck, too proud, too attached- it would have threatened too much and required too much to change so why even start? In short, I don't want to be a robot, programmed by every commercial jingle from my childhood, lulled into comfort by brands from my childhood.

I am ready for something completely different, in all areas of my life. For those of you that are new to this, you know how radical this can be. I feel you. This is NO BULLSHIT. But at the end of the day- you win. You win and the corporate foodfucks with their GMOs and toxic chemicals and hormones and false promises don't win. Sure, they may win in the grand scope of things, maybe- but they won't win YOU. That's why its revolutionary. You refuse to be a slave, a robot, a zombie. So do it, even if it is just baby steps. If you do, it will change your future, and if enough of us do it, it will change the future of the planet. Revolutionary eating is radical, and its the antidote to rampant apathetic zombification that is so obviously pandemic these days. Its not for sissies!!