Pardon me while I grind this axe about fast food. If you wish to take what I say with a grain of salt, I understand. But for those who come here knowing that you really truly are what you eat, these five reasons to just quit eating fast food garbage altogether, may be helpful. If you know anyone who is struggling with kicking the junk food habit, feel free to send this page to them. The link is in the address bar, at the top of your browser, or you can share it on Facebook.
1. The mark-up is incredible.
Every business has a right, and a responsibility, to make a profit. In fact, a profit is the reason the business exists in the first place. But if money's tight it might be most cost-effective to eat food from your own kitchen. About the only time when the mark-up is justified is when it's a matter of time savings, because while money can be replaced, time can not. Even in such a case, might I recommend the salad?
2. It's not the best choice, nutritionally.
In spite of what you're told in the various advertising campaigns, fast-food companies use a lot of fat, sugar, salt, and monosodium glutamate to keep your taste-buds happy. Ever notice how a fast-food restaurant seems to hide their nutrition information? Ask a manager if they use msg in their food, and see for yourself what sort of response you get. Go ahead. Try it.
If you don't believe me, then the next time you visit a fast-food restaurant, go in. Don't use the drive-through. While you're inside, look at the regulars. How many of them are overweight? Look at management. Most of them eat there daily. You're not there to judge them as people, but to ascertain the quality of your own food supply.
3. There's a good chance you'll get a food-borne illness.
Ever go into a fast-food restaurant's restroom? Many of them might try to keep them clean, but most don't. Now, just think for a second. If their publicly-available restrooms are that filthy, what's the non-public kitchen like? One particular well-known fast-food chain actually has to make their employees use a timer when they wash their hands, since the crew often doesn't understand the whys and hows of hand-washing.
Besides, how many times have you been in a restaurant where you hear a toilet flush in the restroom, and a second later out comes an employee? Anyone can tell they didn't take the few seconds needed to wash their hands. Maybe they wash them in the kitchen, and maybe they don't. Will you trust your health, and that of your family, to a possible dummy?
As one final illustration to this point: The last time I tried working in a fast-food restaurant, one of our kitchen supervisors handled raw meat, and then made a sandwich for a customer, without washing her hands in between. I mentioned her actions "might be a food safety concern." (Sarcasm, mine) Her response? She laughed. When I asked other managers about the importance of not finding an e.coli 0157-h7 infection funny, I was ignored. Think about this the next time you're dealing with "stomach flu."
4. The employees and management resent you.
It's hot, difficult, underpaid work, with customers often as verbally abusive as the worst of managers. While many employees do give their best to the general public, oftentimes, the folks you're buying that meal from resent you. It's one of the primary cowboy rules: Never stay where you're not welcome.
5. Lay off the fast food, just because you can
Ultimately, what you put into your mouth, is your responsibility. If high carbohydrate, sugar-laden, possibly contaminated food, served by people who probably resent you, is what you really want to eat, then by all means go right ahead.
But, on the off-chance you're one of those readers who choose to handle your money wisely, and take care of your body, you've no need to listen to any marketing message or illusory "craving." The human brain only works on the pain/pleasure principle and you can choose to convince yourself you "need (insert company name here)," or you can be honest with yourself, and eat better food.
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