Seeking Wholeness

I was fortunate enough to have grown up eating home made wholesome meals that my grandmother cooked. I have, however, had my share of fast food.

I ate burgers from every fast food chain that I can think of, not to mention the french fries, smoothies, hot dogs, fish or chicken sandwiches, tacos, just name a (pre-2007) fast food and I probably have eaten it.

After moving out of my college dorm, I lived on cheap hamburgers and other fast food diets for a couple months. I clearly noticed how my health declined, how I gained weight and had cravings often. I got sick, so I purchased the college meal plan. I didn’t get that plan because I was a smart kid, as I just said I did get sick. I give total credit to my doctor who advised me to eat at the cafeteria for a while until my health improved, so I did. I loved that decision; going to the campus cafeteria was often a relaxing and nutritional daily venture. I kept eating there until I graduated.

Had I seen this picture and had I known what I know now about fast food, I would have likely purchased that meal plan right away, without getting sick, without the doctor having to suggest it.

I am not comparing McDonalds to BurgerKing or DQ or …anything else. I put them all in the same bucket. Well, just imagine a KFC family meal bucket, close your eyes and reach in, grab the first greasy thing you touch, whatever you get, you would have gotten that same from any other fast food joint. I mean, you get bad food. Now that we established that ‘all’ fast food is the same, i.e. ‘bad for you’, you will love this one:

This lady has saved a McDonald’s hamburger from the year 1996. The 1996 McDonald’s hamburger is on the left side of the picture. A 2008 McDonald’s hamburger is on the right side. Do you notice anything strange about the picture? If you said that the 1996 burger looks quite preserved to be 12 years old at the time the picture was taken, then you win — sorry, no-prize!

If you eat home made food, or even restaurant food, you know that if you don’t eat something eventually it goes bad. We are all familiar with mold in all its colors and varieties. Then, how come this burger doesn’t go bad? Isn’t food supposed to go bad?

Had this food been natural, or nutritional, you’d expect to see so much mold, in fact we’d have a bona fide eco-system thriving on that burger.

I teach a workshop titled Healthy Choices for Children. It’s a class for parents seeking solutions to how to improve the way they eat. It’s about the alternative food market, organics, and the top ten food additives to avoid and why, menu planning and more. It’s a 3 session fabulously informative interactive class.

Below is my absolutely favorite prop.

People are always astounded when I share this.

I have used this as show and tell for a very long time.

This is a hamburger from McDonalds that I purchased in 1996.

That was 12 years ago.

Note that it looks exactly like it did the very day I bought it.

I stopped eating McDonald and other fast food a few years ago. I do not even crave these things now. If I want a burger I eat an organic one, if I can’t find them in a restaurant I buy them and cook them at home.

If you still find it hard to resist the craving for fast foods, here is some homework reading for you: 15 Horrifying Reasons to Never Let Anyone You Love Near a McDonald’s

If reading this article made you crave fast food, well, I hope that you can quit this addiction in the future.

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