Well this is old news, but in my opinion definately a step in the right direction: San Francisco has banned Happy Meals with toys.
Well let me ask this question: Was there a kid at your Thanksgiving dinner yesterday, that really complained about the food, and wanted to go to MacDonalds instead?
I know too many families that are treating their kids with Happy Meals as a kind of reward for something -sometimes even as a bribe. In one case I knew a single mom, who caved everytime her kid screamed for a HappyMeal, and sometimes that could happen up to three times a week (!!!?!). That lady actually cancelled her participation in dinner invitations at the very last minute with the "excuse": "Oh, I can't come afterall, I promised little Buddy that he could have his dinner at MacDonalds instead. Needless to say, but people simply stopped inviting her.
Are parents really too busy when it comes to setting limitations for their kids' demands? Are they too busy to make a homemade meal, that in most cases would even be a cheaper option? Do they really believe that Happy Meals is a proper/healthy choise? The trend is a slippery slope: an adult can make his/her own choise to live healthy or not - kids can not make that decision themselves and therefore depend on responsible parents.
There are a lot of cookbooks out there with inspiring recipes on how to make healthy, nutritiounus food in a hurry without costing a fortune. If MacDonalds turned the tables and started making healthier food, they could actually even accumulate more business - I think the kid opt for the logo and the toy and not necessarily the food itself.
Well today, I will prepare my own version of fastfood: Burgerbread (homemade a while ago and put into the freezer to come in handy like today), slice of leftover turkey from yesterday, slices of fresh cucumber and a salsa made of fresh avocado, tomatoes and just a teaspoon of leftover cranberry sauce (to give it a sweet-sour touch).... Cooking time: about 5 minutes - Taste: Yummy :o)
The picture is not captured in San Francisco, but in Guangzhou, China (2009)
1 comment:
It's really a shame so many parent's depend on this crappy food to feed their youngsters. I was a single mom and worked full time, I always made time to cook and serve real food. The only fast food that was consumed was take out pizza once in a blue moon.
Now, I have a five year old granddaughter, she likes the toys at MacDonalds. You can go in and just buy the toy, no food purchase necessary, and that's exactly what we do.
Cheers,
Karen
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