NEWSFLASH: McDonald’s existed back when I was a kid

It's not all fast food. We live in a small town in the middle of nowhere, 20 miles from a town big enough to have a fast food restaurant. You know what? People are fat here, too, and most don't eat out more than once or twice a month. It's processed food and too much of it due to the expense of fresh foods in a tiny grocery store, not enough exercise, and sedentary jobs/lifestyles to blame, not fast food places. Heck, grapes are $5/pound. Families struggling are not purchasing fresh fruits and veggies, but instead cheap frozen meals, mac n cheese, breads, etc. I blame the higher cost of healthy food far more than the fast food places, especially for those who cannot afford to or don't have access to traveling to purchase lower-cost groceries. The kids whose parents have them walk to school, the library, the pool, and friends' houses are generally thin. Those whose moms cart them from place to place tend to be chunky. I bet those are the moms giving in to letting Jr. eat whatever he/she wants rather than preparing healthy options, too.

A good friend of mine has lost 60 pounds this year cooking and eating healthy food, but her two teenagers refuse to eat a fruit or vegetable, and both are still obese. They won't eat at home and then walk to the gas station and buy donuts and chips for supper. It CAN be done, but you have to want to do it.

Nobody is forcing you to eat at McDonalds.

The VA is the Department of Veterans Affairs. They provide healthcare to military service members who have separated from service. They are separate from the Department of Defense and receive funding directly from the government. They have been under fire for years now for not providing adequate and timely services to those who come to them for help - not necessarily the organization as a whole, but VA offices in different states. Like any other healthcare system or hospital, some are awesome, and some plain suck. And like any other healthcare system or hospital, they also have people with legitimate complaints and others who are just mad that things aren't going the way they want them to.

Thankyou, I appreciate it.
Do you mind if I ask, are they Governement funded or Government controlled or both?

Just wanted to throw out that I lost all my weight, dropped from 30% BF to 13-15%, improved all my health markers to the normal or perfect range all while eating McDonalds at least 5 times a week.

Great post OP. There is NOTHING wrong with McDonalds!

For the "McDonald's is EVIL crowd":

You do realize that if you went to a small corner mom-and-pop restaurant and ordered burgers and fries....you'd still be eating the same amount of calories right that you'd get at McD's right? You do realize you'd still get fat if you did that every day right?

You'd probably pay a lot more though.
I can get a large meal ( Burger / Fries / Drink ) at McD's for like £5.
If I go to a wee local restaurant or pub I'll pay about £8.
Although at the latter it'll probably be better quality meat / bread etc so worth the extra few £

You don't get more quality foods though. That's my point. Sounds like you're from the UK, but if you ever go to a southern "home-style" restaurant in America, you'd get about twice the amount of calories from McDonald's. My point is, McDonald's has no more of a responsibility to make "healthy" foods than your local pub. And since local restuarants aren't referred to as evil, it's a wee bit hypocritical to refer to the McD's that way.

No, they don't force me. I don't eat fast food often, but when people are busy and they need access to a cheap meal, they go to places like McDonalds and other places. It's not a crime to want a cheap lunch. The places that purport to serve food have a responsibility to the people they serve.

Companies have some responsibility to consumers. For example, they can't poison you. The next step is to ask them not to serve ridiculously processed crap to people. No, people don't have to eat it, but removing responsibility from the company is ridiculous. Or, to put it another way, Republican.

They do serve food. Its not up to your standards perhaps, or your desire, but it does meet regulation. So they salt it, so the put in HFCS etc... None of which is sawdust, heavy metals or illegal. They list their ingredients,and the nutritional content. You don't like it, vote with your feet and wallet. They are being responsible, legally.
So now you want to tell me what to eat and how much it should be processed? Go eat in your own sandbox and stay out of mine. If I want a serving of their fries then so be it, it's MY problem, NOT YOURS.
Same with the whiners who say McD's made them fat. Load of poo. Stop shoving it in your mouth and go get some exercise. Sheeze. And the do serve a salad with a grilled chicken breast. Pretty healthy in the grand scheme of what McD's offers.

No I don't work for them, but I am sick of people whining about McD's and the like. No I am not super fit, in fact I am about 45 lbs overweight right now, still eat some cape cod kettle chips - why? cause I like how they taste. Don't eat at McD's since I don't like their food in general, but on a road trip, I know what to expect and I can budget the calories appropriately and take responsibility for what I eat and work the weight off 1lb at a time.

For the "McDonald's is EVIL crowd":

You do realize that if you went to a small corner mom-and-pop restaurant and ordered burgers and fries....you'd still be eating the same amount of calories right that you'd get at McD's right? You do realize you'd still get fat if you did that every day right?

I would like you to frame this argument replacing McDonald's with the faces of those Southern Moms and Pops that serve fried porkbellies, chitlins, ribs, corncobs soaked in transfat "butter."

Go and get your protest face on and "occupy" the street corners in front of those restaurants. Call them evil. Thought not. It's just a lot easier to "occupy" evil, faceless companies.

Nobody is saying any of that though.

... I mean, you are I guess, but you're trying to say other people are saying those things and nobody is. Nobody has called for a boycott of McDonalds, even, except the people who say that it's unhealthy so just don't eat there instead of asking them to change.

Okay, maybe you're not calling for a boycott; but you're certainly holding McD's to a higher standard than your average mom and pops as evidenced by what you posted earlier....

"Companies have some responsibility to consumers. For example, they can't poison you. The next step is to ask them not to serve ridiculously processed crap to people. No, people don't have to eat it, but removing responsibility from the company is ridiculous. Or, to put it another way, Republican."

Or were you including every locally owned restaurant as part of your argument when you say "companies?"

For the "McDonald's is EVIL crowd":

You do realize that if you went to a small corner mom-and-pop restaurant and ordered burgers and fries....you'd still be eating the same amount of calories right that you'd get at McD's right? You do realize you'd still get fat if you did that every day right?

I would like you to frame this argument replacing McDonald's with the faces of those Southern Moms and Pops that serve fried porkbellies, chitlins, ribs, corncobs soaked in transfat "butter."

Go and get your protest face on and "occupy" the street corners in front of those restaurants. Call them evil. Thought not. It's just a lot easier to "occupy" evil, faceless companies.

Nobody is saying any of that though.

... I mean, you are I guess, but you're trying to say other people are saying those things and nobody is. Nobody has called for a boycott of McDonalds, even, except the people who say that it's unhealthy so just don't eat there instead of asking them to change.

Okay, maybe you're not calling for a boycott; but you're certainly holding McD's to a higher standard than your average mom and pops as evidenced by what you posted earlier....

"Companies have some responsibility to consumers. For example, they can't poison you. The next step is to ask them not to serve ridiculously processed crap to people. No, people don't have to eat it, but removing responsibility from the company is ridiculous. Or, to put it another way, Republican."

Or were you including every locally owned restaurant as part of your argument when you say "companies?"

That's an interesting angle.

Locally owned restaurants should obviously not serve crap either, but then that's for that local community to focus on, learn about and lobby together.

McDonalds is a global issue, so the global community reacts to it.

No, they don't force me. I don't eat fast food often, but when people are busy and they need access to a cheap meal, they go to places like McDonalds and other places. It's not a crime to want a cheap lunch. The places that purport to serve food have a responsibility to the people they serve.

Companies have some responsibility to consumers. For example, they can't poison you. The next step is to ask them not to serve ridiculously processed crap to people. No, people don't have to eat it, but removing responsibility from the company is ridiculous. Or, to put it another way, Republican.

They do serve food. Its not up to your standards perhaps, or your desire, but it does meet regulation. So they salt it, so the put in HFCS etc... None of which is sawdust, heavy metals or illegal. They list their ingredients,and the nutritional content. You don't like it, vote with your feet and wallet. They are being responsible, legally.
So now you want to tell me what to eat and how much it should be processed? Go eat in your own sandbox and stay out of mine. If I want a serving of their fries then so be it, it's MY problem, NOT YOURS.
Same with the whiners who say McD's made them fat. Load of poo. Stop shoving it in your mouth and go get some exercise. Sheeze. And the do serve a salad with a grilled chicken breast. Pretty healthy in the grand scheme of what McD's offers.

No I don't work for them, but I am sick of people whining about McD's and the like. No I am not super fit, in fact I am about 45 lbs overweight right now, still eat some cape cod kettle chips - why? cause I like how they taste. Don't eat at McD's since I don't like their food in general, but on a road trip, I know what to expect and I can budget the calories appropriately and take responsibility for what I eat and work the weight off 1lb at a time.

The point is that consumer rights groups are the reason why the information about mcdonalds is out there and why they have also tried to make healthier changes. They serve less crap to less people because lots of people took action for themselves and each other.

If you want to eat the crap instead of the salads, go ahead! It's not a personal campaign to change what YOU eat.

For the "McDonald's is EVIL crowd":

You do realize that if you went to a small corner mom-and-pop restaurant and ordered burgers and fries....you'd still be eating the same amount of calories right that you'd get at McD's right? You do realize you'd still get fat if you did that every day right?

I would like you to frame this argument replacing McDonald's with the faces of those Southern Moms and Pops that serve fried porkbellies, chitlins, ribs, corncobs soaked in transfat "butter."

Go and get your protest face on and "occupy" the street corners in front of those restaurants. Call them evil. Thought not. It's just a lot easier to "occupy" evil, faceless companies.

Nobody is saying any of that though.

... I mean, you are I guess, but you're trying to say other people are saying those things and nobody is. Nobody has called for a boycott of McDonalds, even, except the people who say that it's unhealthy so just don't eat there instead of asking them to change.

Okay, maybe you're not calling for a boycott; but you're certainly holding McD's to a higher standard than your average mom and pops as evidenced by what you posted earlier....

"Companies have some responsibility to consumers. For example, they can't poison you. The next step is to ask them not to serve ridiculously processed crap to people. No, people don't have to eat it, but removing responsibility from the company is ridiculous. Or, to put it another way, Republican."

Or were you including every locally owned restaurant as part of your argument when you say "companies?"

That's an interesting angle.

Locally owned restaurants should obviously not serve crap either, but then that's for that local community to focus on, learn about and lobby together.

McDonalds is a global issue, so the global community reacts to it.

Again ... no. The choice to eat fast food or not is personal. The choice to drink large or small beverages is personal. The portion size I buy is a personal choice as well.

The only reason why you know that is IN the food, the only reason you know the information you can use to educate yourself, is because people more socially conscious than you have been working hard to make McDonalds more accountable to the consumer.

You can eat whatever you want. You have more of a choice because people are spreading information.

To put it simply, how do you get the information you use to base your personal choices from? Why does McDonalds give a lot more information and serve more salads now?