McDonalds 'cheapest, most nutritious and bountiful food' ?
UNLESS19
Posts: 118
What is you view of this article?
It's not the Daily mail saying this, it's from a New York Post columnist and an economics blogger. I get the point of it's bulky for poor people but honestly- promoting McDonalds as a good thing? OK the calories in the burger isn't majorly bad but most people don't just have a burger. I'm interested to see what you guys think about this
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2380548/Is-McDonalds-McDouble-cheapest-nutritious-bountiful-food-existed-human-history.html
It's not the Daily mail saying this, it's from a New York Post columnist and an economics blogger. I get the point of it's bulky for poor people but honestly- promoting McDonalds as a good thing? OK the calories in the burger isn't majorly bad but most people don't just have a burger. I'm interested to see what you guys think about this
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2380548/Is-McDonalds-McDouble-cheapest-nutritious-bountiful-food-existed-human-history.html
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Replies
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Well yes.. if you only look at the calories.. and then assume the person is counting their calories. Also if you dont give a crap about, you know, nutrition.
Eating healthy food does not need to cost so much.. you just need to be smart about it... which I guess they assume "poor" people cant be? :huh:
ETA: I could live of a bag of nuts every day.. that would be fine in calories, and they have healthy fats! And cost pr calorie is fairly low too.0 -
Well yes.. if you only look at the calories.. and then assume the person is counting their calories. Also if you dont give a crap about, you know, nutrition.
Eating healthy food does not need to cost so much.. you just need to be smart about it... which I guess they assume "poor" people cant be? :huh:
ETA: I could live of a bag of nuts every day.. that would be fine in calories, and they have healthy fats! And cost pr calorie is fairly low too.
I agree, i was like, wow pretty offensive to basically say poor people can afford McDonalds but nothing else :P My first year of uni, i started this lifestyle change before leaving, so i had limited money and i still managed it!
I Just had to giggle a bit at the article, what happened to trying to get fast food healthier or trying to stop people going there so much?
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It's not though is it, for me and my three kids to eat at McDonalds you'd be looking at around £13 for one meal.
I spend £60 a week on all our meals, toiletries and cleaning products so £13 for one meal really isn't 'cheap'.
Also, I have never found McDonalds to satisfy, everyone's hungry again within an hour.0 -
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.0 -
You have to remember that when considering cost, time cost is also a thing.0
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I think the fact that the poorest counties in the United States have the highest incidence of obesity is strong evidence that getting enough calories isn't the problem.
I also argue with parts of their premise. I eat plenty of produce - although I rarely buy organic - and don't spend anywhere near 36 dollars a day to eat. Anyone who thinks a McDouble is more nutritious than a salad is crazy. Vitamins, minerals, and fiber from whole foods are always going to win over enriched white bread and an entree high in saturated fat. I'll take my mixed greens with chicken and chickpeas over the McDouble any day.0 -
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.0 -
You have to remember that when considering cost, time cost is also a thing.
Yes ofcourse...
it takes me 15 minutes to prepare a weeks worth of chicken breasts for the oven, then just wait an hour and poof I have food I can pick up and eat in less than 5 minutes for the rest of the week.
It takes me maybe 10 minutes to prepare salat, it would probably take ca 20 minutes for a family sized bowl of sallat to last for a few days. And I'm a slow cutter!
It takes me 5 minutes to pick out the fish I had thawing in the fridge and put it on the pan. 10-20 minutes to wait for it to fry (or boil if you preferr) and I got a healthy meal.
Rice takes 10 minutes to boil.. and they are CHEAP if you buy in bulk.
Cooking doesnt have to take long, and it doesnt grow exponentially with the quantities.
For a "quick" meal out you need to go there, wait for your order, and then get back home. In that time I could have made chicken wrapped in bacon with sallat on the side.0 -
I think the fact that the poorest counties in the United States have the highest incidence of obesity is strong evidence that getting enough calories isn't the problem.
Yeah, the way they worded it, it sounded like getting enough calories was a real issue.
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the egg mcmufin0
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I think the fact that the poorest counties in the United States have the highest incidence of obesity is strong evidence that getting enough calories isn't the problem.
I also argue with parts of their premise. I eat plenty of produce - although I rarely buy organic - and don't spend anywhere near 36 dollars a day to eat. Anyone who thinks a McDouble is more nutritious than a salad is crazy. Vitamins, minerals, and fiber from whole foods are always going to win over enriched white bread and an entree high in saturated fat. I'll take my mixed greens with chicken and chickpeas over the McDouble any day.
I agree with this. The article suggests that a person has to eat organic in order to eat healthy and that is just hogwash. The fact is ppl are brainwashed into believing lifestyle changes are expensive by the very corporations that want them to remain addicted to high fat, salty, nutrient deficient foods.0 -
I think the fact that the poorest counties in the United States have the highest incidence of obesity is strong evidence that getting enough calories isn't the problem.
So you are saying only poor people eat at McDonalds? Last time I checked you could not get a McDouble with a foodstamp card. But you can buy Boxes and boxes of little debbies and Coke and pepsi. I for one thing McDonalds gets a bad wrap since they are a easy target.0 -
I think it's a fair point. It's a cheap, hot, cooked, tasty meal of (basically) bread and meat. No preparation, no cooking, no washing up.
I think that where I am, people use bakers more for fast food, though. Again, you can get hot/warm food fairly cheap, although you don't usually get as much meat content. But you do get a good amount of calories for your money. You could buy a cucumber for about the same price, but it wouldn't provide many calories, would be low in protein, would need to be washed and would be cold. If you bought a variety of ingredients to make a salad at home, it would end up costing you much more than something cheap from the bakers. Of course, I DO buy the ingredients and make salads at home, and only have "junk" food, occasionally, but I do see the point being made.0 -
You have to remember that when considering cost, time cost is also a thing.
Yes ofcourse...
it takes me 15 minutes to prepare a weeks worth of chicken breasts for the oven, then just wait an hour and poof I have food I can pick up and eat in less than 5 minutes for the rest of the week.
It takes me maybe 10 minutes to prepare salat, it would probably take ca 20 minutes for a family sized bowl of sallat to last for a few days. And I'm a slow cutter!
It takes me 5 minutes to pick out the fish I had thawing in the fridge and put it on the pan. 10-20 minutes to wait for it to fry (or boil if you preferr) and I got a healthy meal.
Rice takes 10 minutes to boil.. and they are CHEAP if you buy in bulk.
Cooking doesnt have to take long, and it doesnt grow exponentially with the quantities.
For a "quick" meal out you need to go there, wait for your order, and then get back home. In that time I could have made chicken wrapped in bacon with sallat on the side.
+1
People convince themselves that they don't have time to prepare nutrient dense, healthy foods and the fast food corporations reinforce this with their marketing schemes.
All a person needs to do is click on Youtube to find out how to cook chicken in bulk. Less time than it takes to drive to McD's and back.0 -
You have to remember that when considering cost, time cost is also a thing.
Yes ofcourse...
it takes me 15 minutes to prepare a weeks worth of chicken breasts for the oven, then just wait an hour and poof I have food I can pick up and eat in less than 5 minutes for the rest of the week.
It takes me maybe 10 minutes to prepare salat, it would probably take ca 20 minutes for a family sized bowl of sallat to last for a few days. And I'm a slow cutter!
It takes me 5 minutes to pick out the fish I had thawing in the fridge and put it on the pan. 10-20 minutes to wait for it to fry (or boil if you preferr) and I got a healthy meal.
Rice takes 10 minutes to boil.. and they are CHEAP if you buy in bulk.
Cooking doesnt have to take long, and it doesnt grow exponentially with the quantities.
For a "quick" meal out you need to go there, wait for your order, and then get back home. In that time I could have made chicken wrapped in bacon with sallat on the side.
+1
People convince themselves that they don't have time to prepare nutrient dense, healthy foods and the fast food corporations reinforce this with their marketing schemes.
All a person needs to do is click on Youtube to find out how to cook chicken in bulk. Less time than it takes to drive to McD's and back.
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?0 -
As I sit here in my hotel, looking around for a microwave, a refrigerator, I see nothing here to create a nutritious meal. I do see a McDonalds next door. Watching the people come and go, I see many McDonlads bags.
I personally have a myoplex shake and a granola bar sitting on the hotel desk, so it keeps me from running next door for some easy food.
Lets not forget that not everyone has the same lifestyle as everyone else. I travel 3 weeks out of the month and being home every night would make this whole lifestyle easier, being with my family for support, being able to plan my meals, with the ability to actually cook would double my efforts..
Not everyone has access to the same tools and skills, I am betting most of the people coming and going from this hotel would burn boiling water, or after travelling all day, fighting traffic, the TSA, are beat down just like me and just calling for room service. A $34 grilled chicken breast and steamed veggies is as unappealing as my protein shake. Our expense accounts aren't what they used to be thanks to the economy, so stopping at Wally world or a grocery store is still the safest bet. Then again, I have my car, I can choose to go somewhere else. $34 room service or $9 McSomething.. Decisions, decisions.
I do however welcome McDonalds' efforts to keep those calories down.0 -
Cost per calorie - certainly.
Cost per nutrient - unlikely.
Having said that, for the cost that is a remarkably good value product. The problem, as ever, appears to be quantity - portion control.0 -
I loves me a chicken sandwich....
:drinker: :bigsmile:0 -
It's an OpEd by a film critic...nothing to see here.
Macro and calorie wise it is very cost efficient. He basically creates a false dichotomy (which many people on this site do) to bash supposed leftist-liberal marxists who shop at farmer's markets0 -
I see their point but if it's all I eat for lunch I'm going to be starving!0
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Don't forget that they taste great too. "As part of a calorie controlled diet" 0
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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.
Of course everyone can choose what they want to eat and not be judged for it but I really can't see how eating this type of food would be of any benefit to me. I prefer to make my own hamburger if I would eat one. I like real food not chemically enhanced food that I don't trust.0 -
MSN posted this article about an hour after posting the top 14 foods you should never eat which included McDonalds (but also included strawberries, wheat, beef, beansprouts, popcorn and ice cream!!)
Scaremongering at its worst :noway: According to these posts I should be riddled with cancer, have lung damage, be morbidly obese but at least have had a cheap, satisfying meal...0 -
Well yes.. if you only look at the calories.. and then assume the person is counting their calories. Also if you dont give a crap about, you know, nutrition.
Eating healthy food does not need to cost so much.. you just need to be smart about it... which I guess they assume "poor" people cant be? :huh:
ETA: I could live of a bag of nuts every day.. that would be fine in calories, and they have healthy fats! And cost pr calorie is fairly low 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.0 -
This!^^^We are a family of 6 (although the baby is still just eating baby food) but if we had 3 meals per day of fast food it would probably run us about $75 (maybe more)...how is that cheap?It's not though is it, for me and my three kids to eat at McDonalds you'd be looking at around £13 for one meal.
I spend £60 a week on all our meals, toiletries and cleaning products so £13 for one meal really isn't 'cheap'.
Also, I have never found McDonalds to satisfy, everyone's hungry again within an hour.0 -
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.0 -
I think (in my biased opinion) that fast food is not innocent when it comes to the obesity epidemic. Do I think it is the direct cause, absolutely not. I hate the fact that fast food is cheaper than produce, but if produce was cheaper (in a perfect world) I still think people would choose fast food. One because it is quick and easy, and two because knowledge. If people would find out what is in fast food, they may or may not buy it. Others would simply not care. I am not knocking it, but I choose not to eat it for various reasons.0
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Who is saying eat McDonalds for three meals a day?0
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McDonalds gets a bad wrap for sure. But I have to say that there has been times where I was so broke that Mcdonalds SAVED ME. I would usually get 2 sandwiches off the dollar menu, switching between Mcdouble and McChicken. Came to $2.16 after tax. I guess some could argue that you could pack a lunch that would equal that cost per meal at a better nutritional profile, but thats assuming you have enough to front the initial purchase of all that food. So the times where I would have $10 dollars to last a week until my next paycheck, I was SO grateful for the dollar menu. So grateful in fact, that I couldn't give a damn how the nutrition was. It was just nice to be able to put warm food in my belly and be able to finish another day at work.
Things are completely different for me now financially and I rarely go to McDonalds now, just trying to show a different side of the argument.0 -
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.0
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