Chapter Seven: The Meal (Fast Food)

I'm lovin' it?

"The meal at the end of the industrial food chain that begins in an Iowa cornfield is prepared by McDonalds's and eaten in a moving car." That's a lot different than a meal made in your backyard, prepared by your family and eaten around a dinner table. For his "first meal," Pollan brought his son Isaac, and his wife Judith to McDonalds in their car where they picked up "white meat" chicken nuggets, a double-thick vanilla shake, a "premium salad," a classic cheeseburger, two large fries, and a 32 ounce large soda. This four minute, fourteen dollar meal was provided to Pollan, who picked up a handout entitled: "A Full Serving of Nutritional Facts: Choose the Best Meal for You."
Long story short, the meal Pollan and his family ate contained numerous traces of corn--from the bun, to the salad dressing, to the vanilla shake. Not to mention the burger, the corn-fried fries and the soda. And his food contained traces of TBHQ (lighter fluid, a trace amount allowed by the FDA) and dimethylpolysiloxene (a carcinogen and mutagen). Overall, their meal was created thanks to more than six pounds of corn (actually, Pollan gave up after calculating six pounds, all the corn-created ingredients were too much for one person). The proportions of corn in Pollan's food were measured and ranged from 100% (soda) to 52% (cheeseburger) and filled in between: 78% milkshake, 56% chicken nuggets... "But then, this is what the industrial eater has become: corn's koala."
Oil was another factor, about 1.3 gallons of oil took to grow and process those 4,510 food calories, not to mention the gas the car was using while Pollan and his family devoured those calories. So fast food is bad right? Not necessarily: for many poorer people, these cheap calories, that taste good are a blessing. So do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages? I'm not yet convinced, let's continue on Pollan's journey of four meals!