McDonalds 'cheapest, most nutritious and bountiful food' ?

ndj1979

you can eat healthy at mcdonalds you just have to make the right choices...

get the egg white mcmuffin instead of the bacon egg and cheese biscuit...

or sub in one of their side salads for fries...etc...

it can be done...I just rarely go to the place because I would rather eat my own lunch that I make...

rachseby

I ate McDonalds for the first time since Christmas Eve a few weeks ago after a boozey Friday. Not only did it not fill me up or satisfy my hunger, it also made me feel significantly worse.

People who say McDonalds is cheaper than making a healthy and filling meal are simply a) lying to themselves b) too lazy.

You can make a crap ton of Soup for example for way under £5. That with some bread or whatever is a perfectable acceptable and cheap meal that will last.

I used to think like this too! Unfortuanately it is true were the lower class (even with a perfect budget) can simply not afford these meals and have to go the fast food route. You are right however, there is a good majority of people who can change that lifestyle but won't and still use that excuse.

There is a book by Barbara Ehrenreich called "Nickle and Dimed". It gave me a lot of insight into poverty, and some of the choices that being poor takes away. There are many people who live in areas with no supermarkets, just little marts that only have prepackaged items. Or there are people who live in weekly motels and do not even have a hot plate to prepare food. Or people who at times live out of their cars. She encountered one woman whose meal for the day was a diet coke and bag of chips, b/c that was all she could afford.

babydiego87

I ate McDonalds for the first time since Christmas Eve a few weeks ago after a boozey Friday. Not only did it not fill me up or satisfy my hunger, it also made me feel significantly worse.

People who say McDonalds is cheaper than making a healthy and filling meal are simply a) lying to themselves b) too lazy.

You can make a crap ton of Soup for example for way under £5. That with some bread or whatever is a perfectable acceptable and cheap meal that will last.

I used to think like this too! Unfortuanately it is true were the lower class (even with a perfect budget) can simply not afford these meals and have to go the fast food route. You are right however, there is a good majority of people who can change that lifestyle but won't and still use that excuse.

What is the correlation between the lower class and education? If you are not educated, of course you are going to go for the easy option that is available to you.

Joehenny

For $1 I can get a burger with 390 cals in it. $1 dollar!!!!

Ophidion

I don't eat it personally but want this thread on my feed to check later because inevitably this is going places...

stefjc

Well, my OH works away, on the road between jobs, cheap digs, microwave if he is lucky. He used to eat fish and chips etc (never McDs cos he hates the stuff, taste wise).

I bought him a selection of plastic tubs, a mini salt and pepper mill and a bag to put them in. Now he shops in a normal supermarket and buys all sorts if normal foods. Far cheaper, far more edible, far mor healthy. All he has to do is watch out for those things that need fridging.

And he often works 18 hour days. So it is possible to eat more healthily if you live out of your car. You just need to get organised, which OH wouldn't usually claim to be


Then again, a dollar for a burger? I have no idea why pre-cooked food should be so cheap. Then again the attempts of the food industry to make food ever cheaper have backfired a lot recently.

rachseby

I ate McDonalds for the first time since Christmas Eve a few weeks ago after a boozey Friday. Not only did it not fill me up or satisfy my hunger, it also made me feel significantly worse.

People who say McDonalds is cheaper than making a healthy and filling meal are simply a) lying to themselves b) too lazy.

You can make a crap ton of Soup for example for way under £5. That with some bread or whatever is a perfectable acceptable and cheap meal that will last.

I used to think like this too! Unfortuanately it is true were the lower class (even with a perfect budget) can simply not afford these meals and have to go the fast food route. You are right however, there is a good majority of people who can change that lifestyle but won't and still use that excuse.

What is the correlation between the lower class and education? If you are not educated, of course you are going to go for the easy option that is available to you.

A lack of education does not necessarily imply ignorance. People from all socioeconomic backgrounds eat fast food. And there are people with little education who eat healthy food. Correlation does not equal causation.

iceqieen

Prep time? Grocery shopping time? Washing up time? Standing around and waiting for it to cook time? Plus the fact you have to be much more organised to make sure you are using up food before it goes bad which also takes time and effort if you aren't a naturally organised person.

Just saying, if you are working long hours, possibly even two jobs, and driving long hours to get to work and back, picking up some fast food on the way does take less time and I don't think you can deny that.

Not that it matters to me. I think it's stupid that McDonalds gets the blame for obesity when it's between meal snacking that tends to creep up on people, and people are buying those snack foods with their groceries in very very cheap multipacks. Who is blaming the shops for selling people cheap junk food?

Prep time: <15 minutes
Grocerie shopping: 1 hour / week (including the 40min walk to & from the supermarket! less if I use the bus, more if I take time to think during shopping.. but thats where shopping lists come in)
Standing around waiting for cook: I dont. I take a shower, clean up, do the dishes, prep the next meal.. you dont have to stand and look at the food for it to cook.
Washing up time: See "standing around".

This is for cooking for up to 4 people. Funny thing is, the more people you cook for.. the time does NOT multiply. It gets a bit longer but not doubly so (exponentially). I can prepare a 5-8 person dinner, as in full on everything, in ca 1 hour including cooking time.. and that wasnt with precooking a weeks worth of meat or precutting 3 days worth of vegetables.

The time saving gets even better if you prepare your rice, potatoes, bread, etc before hand too.

It IS more expensive in some parts of the country (US) to eat healthier things. I've noticed when I lived in NH, it was much more expensive than here in NC. I can see how someone in the south can have no issues eating healthier for less, but in New England, it's costly, especially in the winter.

I live in Norway.. you can live off of 300 kr / week.. or you can live off of 3000 kr / week depending on where you shop and what you buy. Yes some things will be more expensive than others.. but buying rice and frozen things in bulk is usually fairly cheap.. and worth the busride if you have to take that.


I might be lucky, both my grandmothers tought me how to do things the way they did it - with hardly any income and waaaaaay too many kids. My family lived in a village where there was NO SUPERMARKET just overpriced "store on the corner" style so mom would drive for 7-8!!! hours to a supermarket every few months to buy bread and such in bulk (as well as do the clothes shopping for school, take us to the dentist, see family, and all the other stuff you cant do living in a small village :P ), and made sure she bought meat in bulk when it was in season (dad was a sailor so fish wasnt an issue). So yeah I learned how to manage food with bulkbuying and large families in mind, even though I dont really need to know it now. Even now people at home will make monthly 3 hour drives to the nearest supermarket (in the summer, in the winter its not really safe :P ). Milk and vegetables and stuff you cant keep for long gets bought in the local store.. often you need to special order it!

So while I can easily go towards the 3000 nok /week if I dont watch myself and do what some people do (who also complain about lack of time and cost) I can get down to 300 nok/week when I need or want to and usually save time while doing so.

Its a life skill.. and you need to stop making excuses and do what is needed to reach your goals. If your goal is to eat healthy and at a low cost you *will* find the time and means to do so.

LaserMum

I ate McDonalds for the first time since Christmas Eve a few weeks ago after a boozey Friday. Not only did it not fill me up or satisfy my hunger, it also made me feel significantly worse.

People who say McDonalds is cheaper than making a healthy and filling meal are simply a) lying to themselves b) too lazy.

You can make a crap ton of Soup for example for way under £5. That with some bread or whatever is a perfectable acceptable and cheap meal that will last.

I used to think like this too! Unfortuanately it is true were the lower class (even with a perfect budget) can simply not afford these meals and have to go the fast food route. You are right however, there is a good majority of people who can change that lifestyle but won't and still use that excuse.

What is the correlation between the lower class and education? If you are not educated, of course you are going to go for the easy option that is available to you.

So ... people who eat at McDonalds are lazy and uneducated?

When was the last time you held down 2 jobs and looked after a house, a husband and a disabled child? Lazy? I think not.

What is your Mensa membership number? And do you have the letters B.Sc.(Hons) after your name? Uneducated/stupid? I think not.

McDonalds is an excellent, cheap way to OCCASIONALLY be able to "eat out" when you can't afford to have a rest from preparation/cooking/clearing up any other way.

Get real, dear!

WendyTerry420

It tastes like crap on a plate. No thanks.

icimani

At 390 calories, 23 grams of protein, 7-percent of the daily value of fiber, 20-percent of daily calcium and 19 grams of fat.

Those are good numbers, you add a salad to that and you have a great meal that will fill you up and keep you moving.

My mouth just started watering. I've been proudly McD free since last Halloween though.

Yeah - but when did you ever see a McD's burger look like that?! They're always all smashed - not nearly so delicious looking!

WendyTerry420

For $1 I can get a burger with 390 cals in it. $1 dollar!!!!

Yeah, but you gotta eat three of them to feel full, then you still wish it actually tasted like a burger should. I'd rather have a "Mamma's Burger" in my own kitchen, with real cheese and maybe some mushrooms....mmmm.

iceqieen

Despite being an article in the New York Post (but I have read only the article linked, not the ariginal one) , I think it's absolutely stupid what it says.
Firstly, I don't know in UK, but in most European countries (Italy, Spain, France, Portugal, Switzerlanad) Mc Donalds isn't cheap at all and I suppose that that article could be valid only for US.
Second, it makes no sense consider totallly organic-super expensive-only from farmers-food as the only possible alternative to macdonald. It's absolutely not true in Europe and, for what I know, even in the United States.
Third, of course mcdonald offers nutrients that we actually need at very affordable prices, but cheesburgers also contain things we don't need at all (too much sugar, saturated fat). Assuming a diet of 1500 calories (4 double cheese) in which we eat only double cheeseburgers, we actually eat 46,2% of fats (too too much), 28,2% of carbohydrates (too few), 25,6% of proteines (too much, considering that is only from meat). Moreover, tha article considers positive that a double cheese covers our fiber needs for 7% but 7x 4 (number of cheesburger in a 1500 kcal diet) is 28%...And what about vitamines?

In conclusion, I think that a cheeseburger occasionally do not kill you, but to pretend that it's a healthy meal seems to me pretty busive.

:flowerforyou:

MarioLozano16

Yeah the Mcdoubles are pretty good

mmm_drop

At 390 calories, 23 grams of protein, 7-percent of the daily value of fiber, 20-percent of daily calcium and 19 grams of fat.

Those are good numbers, you add a salad to that and you have a great meal that will fill you up and keep you moving.

My mouth just started watering. I've been proudly McD free since last Halloween though.

Yeah - but when did you ever see a McD's burger look like that?! They're always all smashed - not nearly so delicious looking!

I don't go there often, but when I do I have a Mcdouble; they usually look this glorious too. I take a moment to appreciate it's yumminess and then NOM.

mattschwartz01

I would call that article author an industry shill!

SassyCalyGirl

At 390 calories, 23 grams of protein, 7-percent of the daily value of fiber, 20-percent of daily calcium and 19 grams of fat.

Those are good numbers, you add a salad to that and you have a great meal that will fill you up and keep you moving.

My mouth just started watering. I've been proudly McD free since last Halloween though.

19grams of fat is NOT a good number.
McDonalds=YUK

capnrus789

Funny, I'm totally going to McDonalds for dinner. We get my kid a Happy Meal every once every couple of weeks, as a treat. It's the only beef he gets. And the only chocolate milk. I'm cool with it.

I'm getting the McWrap, grilled sweet chili chicken. Pretty solid numbers on that one, too.

MyJourney1960

I didn't read the whole thing.

and i am not a fan of fast food, nor do i think it's nutritious and good. I do indulge once in a blue moon (maybe 4-5 times a year) mostly foods of the falafel/shwarma ilk, which to me are more "real food" and less of the McDs et al.

however, this sentence

Produce may seem cheap to environmentally aware blond moms who spend $300 on their highlights every month, but if your object is to fill your belly, it is hugely expensive per calorie,' Smith writes.

is really really stupid, annoying and untrue. I am not a blond mom, nor do i spend 300$ a month on highlights. in fact, i don't spend ONE dollar on highlights. and yet, i would prefer to buy fresh produce , organic/sustainable when possible , and not fast food. It's a question of priorities and not a question of money.

kaseysospacey

You need nutrition and healthy fats etc or you will get sick. Thin people get heart problems etc. McDs isnt a good choice for that. Its the lowest possible quality meat to feed to humans.