How Can Anyone Eat This Stuff?

How can anyone eat this stuff? Because tastes differ.

I don't eat that stuff, don't think it's tasty, let alone "hyperpalatable". Some people don't agree with me. Meh.

Companies give the public the kinds of food that many people vote with their dollars to say that they want. If en masse we wanted shelf-stable single-serve organic roasted brussels sprouts in ecologically responsible packaging, and would pay for it, those packages would be on every spinner rack and at every fast food joint.

Collectively, we don't want that, we want cheap burgers, fries, pop and/or a so-called milkshake that never melts even after it gets warm.

Popular isn't the same as good, let alone good for a body. I'd say the same about popular music, popular books, popular anything: Not necessarily the best of the best, but popular anyway.

Sure, part of it is that the ads tell us that all the happy, pretty people eat that food, use that perfume or deodorant, dance to that music, whatever. But that's not the whole story.

I’m just going to say - at least US fast food is fast. In the UK “fast food” arrives slowly, is therefore cold and is… kind of pointless? I am also not a fan of most junk food (never had it as a kid - lived too rural and didn’t have the money) so my palate has never adjusted. But when I’ve needed food and I’m out, there seems no point at all trying to get a burger or KFC. Tesco ready meal is much quicker 🤣🤣

It's an acquired taste😁

My mom worked full time in the 80s and was a terrible cook, so I grew up eating stuff like that all the time. I pretty much lived on fast food and Stouffers. It seems, for me, like it was so tasty back then and then very slowly over the 45 years started tasting worse and worse, so that I haven't noticed.

Anyway, join me on the 🚫 fast food 2025 challenge!😋

Totally agree. McDonald's fries, when done right, are really good (to me, amyway).

I despise McDonald's food and nearly all fast food in general. I haven't eaten any in years. My Hubs, who ate Mcdonalds since he was a young child and worked in a McDonald's in the early 1980's, says the quality of the food has gone way downhill: no fresh peeled potatoes for French fries, no real ice cream in the shakes, no real cod fillet in the McFish (now it's some kind of minced pollack), no whole chicken pieces for the McNuggets (again, minced chicken and mostly not breast meat). And the prices have gone way up…..no wonder McDonald's is losing customers. For a couple of dollars more you can buy (or make) much fresher, much healthier, much better tasting food.

I agree, Fast food may look nice on the advertising board... but the times I've actually had it I've been very disappointed in the taste and quality of the food... not to mention about 2 years ago I had food poisoning off a Subway sandwich and I've never eaten from there again! That really put me off.

Now for me fast food is last resort stopping during a long drive (which i do like 4/5 times a year really). Otherwise it's all home cooked food for me.

Fussy eaters tend to like fast food because it's consistent. Every strawberry you get will be different (some sweeter, more sour, or juicier). Every steak you get will vary in fattiness, seasoning, etc. But, a McDonald's quarter pounder with fries will taste pretty much the same every time.

I'll have McD's occasionally and still enjoy a quarterpounder with cheese. Eh, I grew up on the stuff as a kid. In elementary school back in the day, we were allowed on Friday's to walk to the McD's (about 200 yards) and have lunch there with no chaperone. Mind you this was in the mid 70's.

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Yeah , not tempted at all. Travelling with friends on a 15 hour golf road trip 4 years ago, late at night it was going to be McDonalds and I ordered a Big Mack and fries with a coffee. Anyway, took a bite of the burger and spit it back into the bag and finished a few fries and tossed them as well. Enjoyed the coffee which wasn't actually that bad, I remembered it was undrinkable, but this was acceptable, so not a totally useless place for me in a pinch.

To quote Voltaire "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." cheers.

Basically the philosophy of the U.S. military, @neanderthin .

I really don't understand what seems to be the natural human inclination, when it comes to matters of taste preference - or really any individual preference - to think that our own tastes are the good tastes, and other people's tastes are bad tastes. I mean, fast food may taste bad to me, but I don't think people who enjoy it are lesser beings who have "bad taste".

I freely admit to being a total snob when it comes to my own food, but I certainly don't think anyone who likes fast food has bad taste. There are some fast foods I enjoy, my fav Subway sandwich is a thing of beauty (though it's just a meat, cheese and salad sandwich, I don't really consider it "fast food"?), and I miss Arby's roast beef sandwiches with my soul, though it's been 15 years so they may be far better in my memory. When Taco Bell opened here I was so excited (and then disappointed, not only does it taste different, the price is outrageous).

I also love trying food that a lot of people wouldn't go near - street food cooked over scooter motors on the side of the road, deep fried crickets, jiggly things I can't identify in soups served in plastic bags haha. At least McDonalds is identifiable ingredients served in hygienic, regulated conditions. There's a lot more out there to go "WTF, how can you eat that??" than McDonalds… and I'll probably eat most of it 🤣There's some things I draw the line at though.

I've always hated McDonald's french fries. They just taste like old fryer grease to me and they're usually unpleasantly gritty with salt. I can't remember the last time I ate there though. It's probably been well over 10 years since I've had anything more than a sundae or a shake.

A&W is awesome, they'll put a meatless patty in any of their burgers. And they have onion rings as an option instead of fries.

My idea of fast food these days is shawarma, since I've discovered that I can get a Beyond Meat shawarma wrap. I get one maybe every couple of months.