Fast Food Is On The Decline In America

[xchrom]

http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-the-slow-decline-of-fast-food-in-america-2014-11


What a Big Mac actually looks like.

New York (AFP) - The hospitals of the Truman Medical Centers in Kansas City, Missouri no longer serve fast food in their cafeterias, after ending a contract with McDonald's in 2012 -- two years ahead of schedule.

In Kentucky, Kosair Children's Hospital signed up to serve Big Macs and Chicken McNuggets to its patients when it opened in 1986. But it has now followed in TMC's footsteps.

The reversals by hospital chains that once embraced McDonald's reflect a waning love affair with fast food in the United States, as consumers become increasingly aware of the benefits of eating better.

"Fast foods have their place, but I am not so sure their place is inside the hospital," recalled John Bluford, the former TMC chief executive.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-the-slow-decline-of-fast-food-in-america-2014-11#ixzz3IZWhQtFl

[Recursion]

1. Side note: a friend of mine is a food photographer

Once I spent a day with him at his work I'm even more aware of how different the actual food looks from the ads. The worst fast food restaurant about that is Taco Bell.

[Ms. Toad]

10. Yes, but that particular Big Mac is stragegically rearranged

to look as little like the picture as possible. It looks no more like any Big Mac I've eaten than McDonald'spicture does.

[jmowreader]

25. I don't think it was "strategically" rearranged

I think the guy who got it just shook the shit out of the box, pulled it out and took the "look how awful McDonald's food is! It's not even made right!" picture.

[cherokeeprogressive]

28. This^

[JimDandy]

31. Our McD's burgers were "rearranged" so they had no meat in them!

No kidding. We couldn't believe it.

Now that would have made an awesome comparative photo.

[Ms. Toad]

33. That could be, too. n/t

[Demeter]

2. Fast food Quality has been on the decline for years

Glad to hear that its volume is dropping, too.

[jtuck004]

3. So has the income to buy it with. Mixed blessings. n/t

[HomerRamone]

4. Where do you think we long-term unemployed eat out, steakhouses?

Good that HOSPITALS aren't serving it, though (the hospitals around here are a good source of somewhat healthier cheap-ish meals)...

[Le Taz Hot]

5. When my husband was out of work for 3-1/2 years

we ate at home. I budgeted $200.00 a month for food for two people and cooked everything from scratch. That leaves 0 dollars for restaurants or fast food.

[HomerRamone]

6. You deserve a break today...

[Le Taz Hot]

8. At McDonald's?

Nahh, I have some nice vegetarian black beans on the stove and corn bread in the oven. Put a nice relish tray with that and that beats anything McDonald's could come up with.

[Lenomsky]

9. Healthy if not wealthy :)

It's amazing what healthy meals can be created with a bit of elbow grease on a tiny budget and the positive benefit of the feel good factor as made from scratch and freeze the extra into portions. That's my idea of fast food

Hospitals should definitely not be fast food friendly it's counterproductive.

[Le Taz Hot]

11. We were fortunate enough to have a garden

during those years, plus, I live in a farming area and, since people know I am the canning queen, it wasn't unusual for someone to show up with a case of this or a lug of that. It ALL helped.

[drray23]

27. good job

That is what my wife and I still do even though we can afford to eat out. I do all the cooking because I love preparing food from scratch.
It taste so much better and if you get organized on what to buy it is indeed cheaper than even fast food.

I have found that we can eat pretty good food for around $10.00 a day for the two of us. A mcDonalds menu meal is what? $6.00 ish ? so for two that would be more than what we spend and way less tasty.

[jtuck004]

21. No, we long-term unemployed don't eat when there is no money, not just get ignored

for making time-wasting remarks on the Internet.

bye

[HomerRamone]

22. That people not even having the income to buy fast food is a "mixed blessing" is one of the nastiest

most elitist statements I've read here. Don't waste MY time with your insults...

[pangaia]

7. Somehow I don't see 'fast food' and 'equality' as belonging in the same sentence.

[yeoman6987]

29. I just hope they don't start laying off workers.

That is usually what happens when volume drops. Very scary. Life is tough! On one hand this should be good news, but in reality it isn't for those making a living there.

[valerief]

12. It's not fast food. It's McFood. nt

[vkkv]

13. While in line at, take a photo of the food menus displays- then take a pic of what you're served.

BIG difference!

Blatant false advertising.

Americans are so used to being lied to in advertisements that we now EXPECT our politicians to lie to us as well.

[NickB79]

14. LOL, they extol Chipotle as a good substitute for McDonalds

The success of the restaurant chain Chipotle Mexican Grill symbolizes the new face of the American diet.

Launched in 1993, Chipotle advertises that it uses hormone-free meat and locally-raised organic vegetables.

"From the very beginning, Chipotle has used really high-quality fresh ingredients, and prepares all the foods we serve," company spokesman Chris Arnold told AFP.

"So from the beginning, we were doing something which is pretty different than what was happening in traditional American fast food."

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-the-slow-decline-of-fast-food-in-america-2014-11#ixzz3IaQZFoS4

While I do enjoy Chipotle WAAAAY more than McDonalds (I eat there maybe once a month, if that), and love the quality of ingredients they use, a single burrito there can pack over 1,000 calories and high amounts of sodium and fat, depending on the ingredients you add to it.

I don't know if there are any McDonald's meals that pack that kind of caloric content.

And yes, I know, "Just eat half of the burrito and bring the rest home." Easier said than done. I can't recall seeing anyone do such a thing at the local Chipotle my wife and I visit from time to time.

[woolldog]

16. Burritos are 1000 calories?

So what?

[NickB79]

20. The OP was about the unhealthiness of eating fast food like McDonalds

And they're using Chipotle as an example of a healthier substitute.

My favorite burrito there comes up at 1100 calories and 40.5 g of fat, 16 g saturated: http://www.chipotle.com/en-us/menu/nutrition_calculator/nutrition_calculator.aspx

A McDonald's Quarter Pounder meal also comes up at 1100 calories and 38 g of fat (no saturated info available): http://calorielab.com/restaurants/mcdonalds/1

The burrito still gets the nod for being healthier simply because it's using better ingredients and far more vegetables, but it's still not something one would consider a healthy meal due to the ridiculous portion sizes.

[woolldog]

23. eat a light dinner then.

There's nothing inherently unhealthy about high calorie foods.

When I built my burrito using that link it amounted to 800 calories, 300 less than your "favorite."

[jmowreader]

26. There is a problem with the comparison

Chipotle's 1100 calories is just for the burrito. Unless you intend to wash it down with water, your meal's calorie count will be higher.

OTOH, McDonald's 1100 calories also gets you a soft drink and fries.

[Codeine]

17. We do that all the time.

I can't finish a Chipotle burrito at once and I'm a serious, dedicated eater. We do have to stop our ten-year-old daughter from devouring the whole thing at a sitting, but she'd eat an entire refrigerator of food a day if left to her own devices. After she sits for a moment she realizes she's full.

[CrispyQ]

15. Hospitals were serving fast food to patients????

Or just fast food in the cafeteria?

on edit: Re-read it & they were serving it to the patients. Unbelievable.

[Codeine]

19. Fast food used to be something occasionally illicitly smuggled into a hospital

during visiting hours for sick friends or family who were craving outside food. The notion that you would feed it as a main diet to sick people is disgusting.

[Gore1FL]

24. It's a cost-effective way to induce vomiting, I suppose. n/t

[yeoman6987]

30. I think it was for those visiting

[AZ Progressive]

18. Serving fast food in Hospitals has got to be one of the stupidest things that can be

Why has it taken until recently for hospitals to change? Ughh, why can't things make sense in this country?

[BlindTiresias]

32. That shit is expensive

I could grab a nice sub at a local pizza place for 6-7.50 and it'd be at least marginally better for me and more filling. Yeah you don't get fries and a huge soda but nobody really needs that kind of carb bomb in their diets.

Edit: Better yet I'll just make some dal fry and chapati at home.