We have all
heard of the game "telephone"?
Well, if you haven't, let me sum it up.
Typically, a group of persons participate by receiving a message and
"repeating" the message to another, until the original message and
end result are compared. The game is
used to demonstrate how the original message differs significantly from the
ending message. Some people just lack the ability to repeat a message
accurately, some people change the message to ensure a different end
result. As communications and
"knowledge" increase in this age, the game of telephone has taken on
different roles. Misinformation regarding
food seems to be like the sniffles at a preschool; uncontrollable.
I have been
hearing two food myths lately that I would like to specifically address. I do not seek to persuade you in any
direction, my intentions are simply to criticize the myths for their lack of
due diligence and encourage the reader to make their own, independent decision.
As I have
stated in my last article, I prefer homemade food over any other kind. I also prefer "good stuff", by now
you probably know what I'm talking about here.
If not, go back and read. As previously
stated, I also have a few exceptions to this rule and I'm not inviting you to
judge me. I make no apologies for this
position.
There are
some comments floating around about hot dogs not being biodegradable, thus,
they are not suitable for consumption. I
found this quite intriguing so I searched some keywords and found dozens of
articles containing the words "biodegradable" and "hot
dogs". I also found several
articles speaking of 25 year old hot dogs in landfills. On its surface, this could be called
true. That is, if all you did was read
the two sentences in the search results and did not seek the truth any further
than just at a glance. I did, and found
dozens of articles criticizing the modern landfill for not allowing natural
decomposition to occur. The articles
went on to state how 25 year old hot dogs, corn cobs and lettuce leaves were
unearthed. The authors blamed the
suspended state of these items on the landfill design, not the ingredients of
hot dogs.
The second
myth that has me scratching my head involves the 6,12,15 month old McDonald's
cheeseburgers, left out on the counter, which did not decompose, rot or undergo
any noticeable changes since it's purchase and abandonment. In all of these experiments, it is seemingly
impossible, that a cheeseburger could just dry out or dehydrate when left exposed. Our ancestors dehydrated meat to preserve it,
some of us, myself included, still do this now.
Why has nobody even mentioned this?
Has a similar test been performed and reported using organic ground
beef, bread and cheese? Well, actually,
according to seriouseats.com, that very test was conducted (http://aht.seriouseats.com/archives/2010/11/the-burger-lab-revisiting-the-myth-of-the-12-year-old-burger-testing-results.html, 2010) .
They prepared 9 samples, some homemade
and some from McDonalds, and found no significant difference in any of the
samples. No mold, no rot, actually,
besides slight weight loss in all samples, there was really no changes. This experiment has concluded that the small
size and relatively large surface area of all the samples aided to naturally dehydrate
and preserve.
This is a great
way to discourage our kids from eating at McDonalds. It's a great anti-McDonalds "experiment",
but the truth is, McDonalds doesn't need this food spin to mobilize people in
economic protest. They can manage
without these lies. Beyond this organization demonstrating its value of the
dollar over food quality, health, sustainability, fair trade and environmental
protections there is little left for any further argument. They can manage simply
on the merits of their own racist agendas, for what they support and who they
offer their business opportunities and partnerships to. This is why, among many other reasons, I do not economically support McDonalds.
I am not a
person that shies away from a debate. I
say things because I believe in it, and I welcome a debate. I am not afraid of an opposing point of
view. I can respect that. What I don't respect is believing hype and
internet non-sense and then repeating that non-sense as if it was based on
truth.
I was away
this weekend, on a golf trip. I had the
pleasure of spending time with a bunch of guys I know well, and one that I didn't. I spent both 4 hour car rides with him, ate
many of our meals next to each other and we played a round of golf
together. I found how similar an outlook
we share on food, I respect his knowledge and commitment to a sometimes
difficult belief. We spoke of this
McDonald's burger myth. I wondered what
his opinion on the whole debate is. The
response, "the burgers may be a myth, but look at the fries". After Adam's well-delivered explanation and a
day or so of pondering this statement, I have resolved to simply do the experiment
myself, fries included. I will let you
know the results, although I still maintain that it really doesn't matter much
with talking about McDonald's, there are so many reasons to shun them aside
from what we already know; food quality isn't a hallmark of this organization
and responsibility is shadowed by profits.
Just in case
you were wondering, I thought I was holding my own on the golf course, until
Adam joined my group. As he watched me for
18 holes, I can only imagine what was going through his mind. He must have seen me as a gorilla swinging
some expensive clubs. We were very different
golfers!
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