We are poisoning oursleves America. Shoot, all the terrorists would have to do is buy up all the McDs, TBells and Coke-a-cola, using the insane profits from the oil they are selling us. Then they could destroy us from the inside out. (Yes, to you intellectuals, I know it's not really that simple, just being facetious). But c'mon people! Save your money. Think for yourselves. EAT REAL FOOD - BIKE TO WORK - STOP WATCHING TV - SPEND SOME TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY. Yes, you can kill yourself if you want - or you can learn to live. It really is your choice. That's what America is all about.

Hey, and get this, I'm a gun owning, Jesus loving American, not some liberal sheep who buys into the media's lies. Don't believe most of what the media tries to shove down your throat. Don't let them control your way of thinking. You want truth - You want life? Go read your Bible.    

Egg McMuffins are yummy. They are also less fattening and have less calories than a breakfast sandwich from Starbucks. McDonald's doesn't make one fat. Eating too much and exercising too little is what makes one fat. The Whopper at Burger King has more calories and fat than a Big Mac, even. Why doesn't someone pick on them for a change? Oh yeah... there was no movie about them.

Keep in mind, a Zero trans fat food, still may contain less than 1 gram Trans Fat.  The FDA does not require reporting if the trans fat is less than 1 gram PER Serving.  Take a 3 cracker serving with zero trans fat, eat 12 crackers and you may very well have consumed nearly 4 grams of trans fat.  As long as you see the word...hydrogenated..there IS trans fat. Be careful out there.  

Ok people let's look at this. Fast food healthy? obviously not the most healthful thing ever. However there is no reason to blame all the weight and health problems in this country on fast food restaurants. And to all of you saying Wendy's or KFC or whatever other place is more healthy, are you serious? It's all fast food people!! And another thing, size doesn't matter. Whatever happened to good old fashioned exercise. Send the kids out to play every once in a while. Fast food now and then will not kill you. It is a personal choice, and in live we need balance. So those of you that insist on eating fast food, by all means enjoy, but don't reject homecooked meals.

I think that it is good that Mcdonalds is receiving some heat, this is a chance for the company to move forward and start its own health trend in pop culture. It is our choice what we eat, and if the company would exploit that it could gain a huge lead over its competitors, anyways get outside and run thats the best advice you can receive for now

Seriously people...why are we getting so antagonistic over Macca's? Is it really worth it to get offended over some dodgy greaseball fast-food joint? I think not. Why quibble over a crappy restaurant that no one who bothered to leave a comment here even owns? I reckon we can do a whole lot better than this, people. Seriously

Let's just call a spade a spade.  Trans fats are trans fats - the worst possible kind of fat one could ingest. I love McDonald's burgers and fries...grew up on them.  But until they completely eliminate the trans fat and convert to only healthy oils (not questionable oil combinations), I will continue to avoid eating there - just as I have vowed to never purchase gas from and Exxon or Mobil station because of the environmental harm they caused and their unwillingness to clean up after the Exxon Valdez accident. A year of testing alternative cooking oils is more than ample time to decide and convert usage at all McD's.  What's the hold up?

Wow -- lots of people seem to know exactly how I should raise my kids. . .  I have an idea, though:  how about I teach my kids how to make healthy choices wherever they choose to purchase food, be it McDonald's, Macaroni Grill, or the grocery store?  How about I teach them about actual nutrition, not use sweeping generalizations about food genres?  Why, I could even teach my kids how to balance occasional splurges of less-than-healthy foods with a lifestyle of healthy and nutritious foods paired with regular physical activity!  What a terribly novel concept!

And, for those of you who argue that it's cheaper to feed a family at the grocery store than at a fast-food restaurant, it all depends on where you live.  In an inner-city grocery store, produce and meat are frequently poor quality and cost-prohibitive; it's the same for local groceries in rural areas.  If you live in the suburbs of a reasonably-sized city, you can get decent produce -- but it's still quite a bit more expensive than the box of pasta/jar of sauce/half-gallon of milk suggested in a previous post.  BTW, have you checked the sugar content of that pasta sauce?  Frankly, not a huge improvement over McDonald's.

Personally, I'm more concerned about teaching my kids the value of being aware of what they're eating than I am in burning Ronald McDonald in effigy.  I rather doubt that telling my kids fast-food is the devil will improve their decision-making ability when they're old enough to choose for themselves.

But Virginia, now you can call Pizza Hut and have them deliver pasta!  No more pesky boiling!  

Susan wrote:
"To C. who said the parfaits are made "ONCE or TWICE daily, more if they actually manage to run out."  Not true. The McDonalds near me makes them ONCE a day and if you ask for one after 5 pm they tell you they don't have any more! One time I asked them how they ran out and they admitted, well we don't have them made. How hard is it to dump yogurt and fruit into a cup? And 9 times out of 10 the fruit is still frozen."

How often the parfaits are made depends on how an individual store is run, and how fast they sell through parfaits.  We make at least 20 each morning, and they are all usually sold by 10:30am when the breakfast menu ends.  We then make more, most of which are usually gone by 4pm.  At my store, we then make more.  The only way we are allowed to not have parfaits at all times is if we are literally out of yogurt or strawberries -- if we just get "lazy" and don't make them, telling customers they can't buy one, and we are caught, we're in trouble.  (This may or may not be because our store is corporate-owned, rather than being an owner-operator franchise store.  I am not saying that one is "better" than the other, only that the two types of stores are often run somewhat differently from one another.)

As for "9 times out of 10 the fruit is still frozen", the fruit is kept in the freezer, and parfaits are made while fruit is frozen.  I'm sure it's small comfort, but if your parfait's fruit is still frozen, at least you got a very newly-made one.  (I have a few customers who actually prefer to get them this way, because they are buying them during breakfast to put in their workplace fridge for their lunch break.)  The fact is, a store may sell out, and you happened to arrive just as or just after new ones were made.  Should it be better timed, so that new ones are made before the previous ones are gone, and so the fruit can thaw before serving?  Yes.  Does it always happen that way?  No.

If you get to your local McD's after 5pm, and you really want a parfait that bad, tell the person waiting on you, "That's okay, I'll wait while you make one."  If they refuse, there is a toll-free customer service number on medium cups (and probably other packages) -- get the store number, and use it.  Or go to the McWebsite and email your complaint.  The website, I believe has a store-finder; if you get the store number at the store, make sure they don't have two numbers (we have a corporation number and a national number).  If they do, find out which is which, so you're commenting about the correct store.  Get the name of the manager on-duty if possible, and make sure to state it in your complaint.

I STILL to this day have no idea how or why people are willing to put this kind of stuff into their stomaches. Fast Food places are just disgusting and degrading. It clearly shows what kind of people we are. We obviously take food for granted, and have completely lost the idea that food is a very important thing. And even more disturbing is the fact that most of us have the nerve to actually complain about our environment and garbage, when we are willing daily to support the very companies that produce the most trash and rain forest depletion ( Not many people know that McD's uses rain forest acres as cattle grazing grounds, and you cant use the same grazing grounds twice as the cattle wont feed in areas that have already been used, so every new graze of cattle has to be grazed in a new acre). These companies produce more trash in a day than just about every other operating company. Every McDonalds parking lot I drive by is constantly littered with trash all over the grounds. Fast Food is just despicable and anyone who consciously makes the decision to eat what they offer, deserves the very stomach ache they receive from it.   IT'S FOOD, THE ONE MAIN THING THAT KEEPS YOU ALIVE! IT  IS THE MOST IMPORTANT SUBSTANCE YOU COULD EVER PUT INTO YOURSELF, WHY WOULD ANYONE CHOOSE FAST FOOD? That just baffles me! You know, if most people just spent a measley 15-20 minutes a day reading up on the products they use and the companies that produce them, I'd bet that we wouldn't have as many complaints because we then wouldn't be using much of them.  

When a person make a conscious decision to buy and or use something from somewhere the COMPANY can never be at Fault. If you CHOOSE to pick and eat the lowest of the low of foods, then seriously, don't dare act surprised or concerned if something bad happens to you because of it!!  

I have to say that I agree with those of you who say that its not wrong to eat'fast food', the 'wrong' comes when fast food is overindulgent.  But food, regardless if you make it at home or buy fast food, needs to be eaten in moderation...excluding the right fruits, veggies, whole grains, and good meats.  Buy a frozen pizza or ordering it from Pizza Hut, or making a homemade hamburger or going to your local burger joint is going to be just about the same.

And I also wanted to add that while somethings that can be bought from a grocery store and cooked at home, food IS relatively expensive...especially with a big family and/or having a tight budget.  Fast food resturants are on every block on every street.  Its very easy to pull into a drive thru and buy a fast food meal, go home, chow down, and get ready for a 8,9,10 hour day the next day.  For those of you who are calling people 'LAZY' for not making a homecooked meal that is healthier...in some cases, that may very well be true for those who DON'T work.  For some, it may be a little tiring, SOMETIMES, to want to go to the store and go home to spend more time cooking.  Picking up food can at time be convienient.

Also, healthier, organic foods are too expensive even for a small family.  Instead of picking on 'fast food' resturants...why not stress the point the even if people wanted to buy healthier, organic foods...how is that possible with when its so expensive?  If eating fast food is 'bad' for you, no one is picking on the organic growers who charge an arm and leg for the products.

Yes. McD's is fattening, and not good for you, but what happened to "in moderation"? when I was growing up, McD's breakfast was a treat that my parents took us for once every couple of months(if that. Now, as a fully grown adult capable of shopping and preparing my own food, I still eat at McDonalds. Certainly not every week or even once a month sometimes but I do eat it. Nobody forces people to eat McD's, they choose too. Everything in MODERATION!!

Thank you Tiffany in Virginia!!!  I totally agree with your comment.  This food isn't that bad if people consider moderation in their diet.  I eat McDonald's food like once or twice a week but I also do exercise workout and is in my best fit ever!

Ever notice that most of the dieters/anti-fast-foodies/vegetarians are always so damned cranky?

Hmmmm....

I worked at another fast food place for years and ate there daily. I'd eat at McDonalds when I was tired of food where I worked. I gained less than 4 lbs in the little over 4 years that I was there. And it still put me at 8 lbs underweight. And yes, I ate full meals, with large fries, yum!
Let people eat what they want. There's no reason to villainize McDonalds.
It's their choice if they don't exercise or choose to eat in moderation.

So, if so many people haven't "eaten that garbage" in years, how is it that this company is sustaining?  They have been going for over 50 years and have been doing well despite the less than ideal economic conditions, and it isn't only dollar menu items that are selling.  Salad saled and higher priced menu items as well have been reportedly selling very well, and the articles about the success of the new coffee line that they are planning have been flooding the internet.  This company appears to be pretty resilient when 5 or 6 years ago, they were predicting the worst for them and now, in a time of strained economics are getting critics raving about their lattes.  Come on people, to each his own, honestly, but keep your judgmental attitudes to yourself.  McDonald's has not made people overweight, again, as stated previously several times, it's lack of self-control.  McDonald's never forced people to eat it's products, and honestly, if you read the nutritional information you can make the educated choice to eat their healthier products.  I do work for them, I have for over 10 years, am a size 6, clear skin and have no health problems.  Some people just seem very close-minded and misinformed, maybe that's who this campaign is marketing towards. Sure, you may not eat this "garbage" but I'd be willing to put money on the fact that you don't have any problems going to Burger King or Wendy's and putting that "garbage" in your mouth.    

The reason people like me " anti-fast foodies" are "cranky" about this kind of stuff is because of how other people's decisions to participate and or support companies like these directly affects my life. The more trash out there, has a direct result on my health and my environment, call me strange but I just don't like the idea of the possibility that fast food bags may attach themselves to my shins when I'd like to take a walk. Or maybe the thought that people feel that having a chemically preserved cheeseburger for a dollar is worth the tree cut down for it in the rain forests, which directly affects my breathing. Or even the time when during midday I tried to drive through the parking lot to get to my bank and cash a check of mine in time but was held back and completely blocked by the insane line wrapped through said parking lot of people yearning for a drive through lunch and wouldn't move even a little bit because of their fear of losing some of their spot, with one ways and the way the parking lot was built there was no way for me to back out or turn out, I was held prisoner in my car by rude fast food junkies for close to 20 minutes. All for the sake of a fake chicken nugget. <-- (which is just a strange story that I wanted to rant and not a complete valid reason) and also a new released study that showed the results of sewage by people who eat fast food and other processed foods has been found to have very bad reactions in sewage pipes and treatment center containers as we our bodies can't digest most of the food from these places and leaves even more chemicals in our waste and mixes with their neighbors and has the potential to cause explosions, bacterial infection and new bacterial disease (created by the direct result of undigested chemical), that may be able in time to make me sick just by breathing it in. Yes THAT harmfully and mentally affects me too. Many coudl go on with valid reasons they may be completely offended by people who choose fast food. And yes there are many other companies that are just as bad, and yes all the pharmacueticals we mindlessly pump into ourselves have a huge effect on our new sewage system scare as well(and I will post responses to and about them as well when teh story comes up, but this one is about MCD's fast food, so I post about that). But as much as many would like to try and ignore it, many things that you may choose to do, can heavily affect other peoples lives. I am not perfect by any means, but I do try to think about all the effects of all my actions daily, because, call me strange or crazy one more time, but I like that I care about and respect the lives of other people, and daily I'd like to think that I consciously limited some or a large amount of ways I could've negatively or harmfully affected somebody else as a direct cause of my conscious decisions. And I am sorry but by fact, Fast Food companies are one the worst industries in our world and the harm they produce far outweighs its good. It just doesn't make any sense t me why people would risk so much for a cheeseburger. and the thing is, it's not completely the companies fault, because the more people want what they offer, the more people will be affected by it. Maybe I am weird, but I'd just like to think that other people may think about thsi stuff as well. and that, other people just might think about me the same way I think about not trying to negatively affect them, through my decisions or purchases or actions. It's not me being "Cranky" it's really "Dissapointment" I just like to believe that maybe soon we could start acting as advanced as we think we are.

More directly, It really angers me that someone is willing to affect me and steal a few breaths from me and a few trees from me because they wanted a fake cheeseburger for a dollar.

Or maybe its just time to take ALL the warning labels off of everything and start letting the problem take care of itself.

san diego, I could not agree more.  It is not McDonalds or Wendys or even Hardees.  There is a serious problem that started years ago when they started injecting the food chain with antibiotics. No wonder our immune systems are getting weaker each decade.  The fish we eat come from polluted waters and again the milk comes from cows injected with antibodies.  Is there any question to why cancer and other diseases are increasing at such an alarming rate?  Instead of playing the blame game at the fast food places, How about starting with the beginning of the food chain process.  Also by the way McDonalds has now eliminated transfats from their cooking oils.

i think you all sound totally obcessed and neurotic about food issues, don't you realize there are people killing eachother with food wars as we speak?
gosh, we are a fat, lazy and spoiled country here in America! get real, get  a life. you cannot blame fast food places for making us fat. we just jave too much and take too much for granted. get  a little common sense!

Listen to the people in San Diego...there is a reason we are one of the most fit and healthy cities in America. Moderation is great but you can't fill your body with thousands upon thousands (not an exaggeration!)of chemical additives and expect to be healthy forever. That's what's happening when you eat the vast majority of America's food supply...McDonald's is only the bad of the bad.

What bothers me is people saying you could eat a salad here....the salads are at least as bad as the burgers. Sure the calories are a little lower (although in all honesty, you could get just about anything but a Big Mac for the same number of calories), but the salt content is astronomical.  Who needs salt in a salad???  900mg of salt in a grilled chicken salad??? and that doesn't even include dressing.  The dressings range from 400 mg to 700 mg of salt. And the fresh fruit--do people mean the apple dippers for kids? With caramel? Why for the love of all that is holy would someone give their kids this stuff. And the salads are as bad as the burgers. Even the grilled chicken ones have more cholesterol than the smaller burgers and have a higher percentage of your total fat intake.  The only way those salads are mildy healthy is to get them without meat and without dressing.  Not much of a salad anymore....

(I just looked all of this up--please see for yourself.  I'm not condemning anyone--the thought of an unhealthy salad is not a normal conclusion one would reach. I"m just trying to help!)

To me the anti-foaming agent makes sense! Ever boiled a chicken breast? A white foam floats to the surface of the water, especially if it's over high heat. Mcdonalds cooks the nugget in really hot liquid lard of course it will foam.
Yes McDonalds is gross and will probably kill you if you eat there everyday but really compared to other fastfood places it's not that bad.

As a former employee of McDonalds...I find it laughable that everyone thinks they are devil.  Every meal is a choice and some people make better choices than others.  

When people would come thru the drive thru ordering the biggest sandwich on the menu supersized with a DIET COKE....who are they kidding?  The diet coke isnt going to save them from the 1500 calories or so....bcz they already piled up the calories.

No one is forcing you to choose McDonalds everyday

Everything is in moderation.... Life is a choice and so is McDonalds.....otherwise stay home and cook if you dont like their food!

What a relief to see that many people are beginning
to take charge of their lives!  Indeed----who is that
makes us spend our money for things and at places
that do not have the greater good at heart!  They
would rather make money than to try to see to it that people are healthy.  What is really pitiful is that
the ones who buy these franchises are those who see only money.  They don't even want to feed us as those who genuinely love people do.  That's the pitiful
part.  But, isn't that the way of the world?  Many times the talented and gifted people cannot get the funds to do what they have the passion for; therefore, the greed ones rush right in.  I once asked an owner of a Jack in the Box (a fast food place) what was in one of the menu offerings.  His
answer to me was that he didn't know because he didn't eat it.  That told me a lot.  When you start cooking at home at first it seems hard----but if you persevere----after a while it actually seems something very good to do.  However, we must be sure to buy as much organic food as possible.  I know it is generally more expensive, but once your body gets used to being nourished, you will want less food and the price will even out.
I am so happy to know that people out there are beginning to catch on to what is really going on.

Helenne

It's ok to check on ingredients, fats, etc., but you're missing an important point: A healthy life is not just what you eat...excersise, pick up some outdoors activity, don't be seating the whole day either at work, watching tv or playing XBox. Neither in Latin America, nor in Europe I've seen so many obese people as in the USA, and that's the result of daily habits. Take care,

I'm downing a Double Quarter Pounder with cheese as we speak, and all I can think it that I wish they made a triple. Thank goodness I super-sized or I'd be hungry in a half hour.

Stepanie Lansdale
You say
"There is absolutely NO reason whatsoever to buy anything from McDonalds....It is disgusting non-food and is full of harmful chemicals and fats and salt.  Disgusting. I have not eaten fast food in almost ten years..."
If you haven't eaten fast food in ten years are you really qualified to comment on how it tastes now?
B

I have been overweight most my life, and part of the reason for that is because when I was younger I was never told not to go to mcdonalds, I wasn't aware of all the health issues. My parents were both working, and had 4 children. I do not blame them entirely but they had a hand in me being overweight.
As i grew up, i learned all that could be bad with it and I still ate it anyway...Sometimes daily. It wasn't until I decided to change the way that I ate and ran my life, did I stop eating there.
I have lost over 90lbs and I know I would not have been able to do that if I still ate McD's every once and a while.
It is not the company's fault that I am/was fat. It was my own. And even though I dont think they should be able to sell food that is like that, they can and they do. So what is our responsiblity? Just to stop going there to eat. If everyone did that, they wouldn't have anyway of staying open.

those of you who said they lost weight by eating there regularly, may I please have your metabolism??

Oh my gosh, please.  No one makes the correct choices in every aspect of their lives.  Eating is just a small facet of daily life.  

I mean, really, if you want to eat some fries from McD's, go eat some fries.  The world isn't going to end.  If you don't ever want to eat at McD's, then don't. It's not any more complicated than that!

WOW I cant believe some of you people!!  Just because you consider yourselves "underweight" doesnt necessarily mean you dont have other health problems like high cholesteral or high blood pressure.  Being obese may cause more health problems but being underweight and eating fast food numerous times a day is nothing to brag about in my book.

I am so sick of people blaming all the problems of the world on McDonalds. McDonald's makes available for free a list of all of the calories, carbs, fat etc. It's everyone's job to watch what they eat, and  not blame  someone else. McDonalds and others have from time to time offered alternate items to please the critics and no one would buy them.

I once watched a woman with a young child in a McDonalds preparing for a meal. The (overweight) woman gave him a bottle full of coke(I watched her fill it up), french fries, and nuggets that she had to tear up to make them bite-sized. This kid couldn't have been a year old yet. I had to restrain myself from cursing her in the middle of the restaurant. It's one thing to eat this stuff, and it's another thing to feed it to a child that trusts you to provide him with decent nutrition.

And yes, I eat McDonalds. I eat there fairly often.

I love McD's. I also love how people blame everyone else for their problems. McD's for being fat, Cigarette companies for lung cancer and etc. No one forced you to eat there. Wendy's, Burger King, Hardee's, Jack in the box and more all need to share in the blame then. I don't blame the Little Debbie Company for me pushing the banana twins down my neck.
Get real people, take a little responsibility for your own actions. By the way, es I am a little over weight and it is my own fault.

What;s worse than the food at McDonald's? The people who don't eat there, telling everyone else how they should live their lives.

I would also like to know what watching too much TV, playing Xbox, or reading your Bible has to do with McDonald's. Oh yeah, it doesn't - it's just more people trying to sound superior to others.

I would rather be fat and riddled with diseases than be as arrogant and self-righteous as some of the people commenting here.

I'd like to know why the information provided on McDonald's Quality Food Website is supposed to make me feel better about the food McDonald's sells? Aside from the "value for the price", there is no good reason for me to actually want to eat at McDoald's. One would think that with all of the billions and billions of dollars McDonald's has gained throughout its history, McDonald's would have by now started using lean(er) beef as to actually help consumers lead healthier lifestyles in exchange for the decades and decades of financial support, at the very least a conscious, responsible incentive a aside from corporate profit and gain.  I can only imagine what the actual percentage of fat McDonald's' "100% pure beef" burgers may contain. I am curious as to why McDonald's seems to be withholding that: as I see it, the most important peice of information regarding the relevance to consumer comparison, just as I shop for beef at the grocery store.

WHAT A JOKE!!!!  This is the most ridiculous ad campaign I have ever seen.  I have now read two books about the fast food industry(which makes me an expert, I know), and I rarely eat fast food anymore if I don't have to.  It is scary how little actual food is used at some of these places, namely McDonald's!  Not only is it frankenfood, but I can make a healthy dinner for me and my husband for only a little bit more than it costs to eat at McDonald's.  Plus, eating at home saves me money on rolaids and pepto bismol, so it evens out.

I have to say, to Virgina, USA that there's a reason McDonald's is so cheap ...it's CHEAP FOOD!! If McDonald's would take a small fraction of the money it's putting towards their facade of healthiness and put it towards an operation that ensures the meat is really healthy and not contaminated with cow dung, well, there wouldn't be this entry on this blog, I guess.

The majority of you are bullocks. Life is how it is, you are the same people that complain about people smoking around you. If you don't like it, leave, or in this case don't eat it. I eat fast food 2-3 times a day on average, but I exercise and yes, I've been to the doctor, I'm perfectly healthy. If our bodies didn't like what we put into them, it would expel them quickly, learn to body. Seriously, it knows what is going into it, and what to do with things. You are in no way more intelligent than it is.

It strikes me as unfair that McD's gets all the heat while more serious offenders like KFC and BK get a free pass.

Why is that? Do we envy success, or think (with some justification) that the Krocs will be more likely to respond to our whining than Pepsi's companies?

Or is it a vast conspiracy, and evil partnering of consumer advocates, protesters, and the real offenders?

To those of you who say, "It's not McDonald's fault! Quit whining, and just don't eat it if you don't want to!"

Sure, no one is forced to eat McDonalds. But MANY PEOPLE HAVE NO IDEA IT'S BAD! This is why it's so important to get it out there, that it is bad.

If you eat McDonalds everyday, and think you're healthy..I'm sorry. I don't care what you weight..you're not healthy.

Lots of people smoked cigarettes for decades before they got cancer, you know. Heck some people never got cancer, it doesn't mean smoking cigs is healthy.

Same goes with food like McDonalds, and yes other fast food places as well.

Eat if it you wish, no one is forcing you to not eat it. But don't try and say it's healthy.

And people that fed that crap to their kids should be forced to take a nutrition class.

To the guy who said, "Why is it that most of the people who are complaining are from california... If you don't like it don't eat it!! It's that simple."~MM Greenevill Tn ...

Maybe we care more about what we put in our bodies?

How come every company that makes it big is always put down by the liberial left. If a company makes it big it must be doing things right. If you don't want there food just don't go there, but everyone else shouldn't have to listen to you belly aching about it.

THOSE OF US WHO ARE SOMETHING OTHER THAN COUCH POTATOES, NEED THE CALORIES TO SUPPORT OUR ACTIVE LIFE STYLE.
IF IT'S NOT FOR YOU, DON'T EAT IT

I absolutely agree with "Stephanie Lansdale Pennsylvania".  Both my parents worked six days a week and they still came home and cooked dinner every single day, even on weekends when most family order take out.  We're a family of 7, and my parents didn't raise their 5 kids with fast foold at all.  The few times I would eat fast food, it was only like 3-4 times a year if that!  Mind you, I would get the grilled chicken sandwich knowing that it wasn't that healthy or great to begin with.  I was raised in a house where if you wanted something to eat, you go into the fridge, take out what you needed and prepared it yourself instead of going to a fast food restaurant.  

My upbringing definitely helped shape my eating habits now.  My siblings and I rather buy food and prepare it than eat out at a fast food restaurant.  We always choose lean cuts of meat, vegetables, fruits with some whole grains, and this is because it's instilled in us, it wasn't force, we were just taught how to eat.  Parents need to raise their children with some food knowledge just how my parents did with their children.  My parent's weren't lazy, they did the food shopping every Saturday after they got out of work and cooked a meal from scratch daily.  They also took the time to show us how to prepare food at home so we avoid going out to get junk.  I'm 27 and still prepare my own lunch to work and dinner every night.  It's cheaper, healthier and not that hard.  Discipline, a little food knowledge and effort is what this generation needs, not only with food but with everything.  I blame the parents more than restaurants like McDonald's, they just want to make a buck but parents should be held responsible for what they eat.

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