McDonald's Chicken Problem

McDonalds recently announced it would stop purchasing chicken raised with antibiotics. This is major because they dictate the market. What this means is while the chicken industry has been spending decades moving slowly to remove "human-important" antibiotics from their chicken, McDonalds has come in and basically said, "Bullsh@t. Our chicken needs to be anti-biotic free in 2 years and I ain't payin' for it either." While Chipotle's customer base doesn't blink when their prices go up in reaction to the commodities market (hello, guac-fee!) or miss an ingredient because the supplier isn't organic enough (goodbye, pork!), McDonald's customers are on the losing end of the increasing inequality in the US. So in a weird way, McDonalds is not only fighting for health of it's customers, it's also a defender of 99%...

McDonalds will save us all.

These little changes make a huge difference because of scale. It can't be understated that these are relatively fast tectonic moves in the food industry that touch almost everyone in this vast country. While McDonalds doesn't touch everyone, when you add Costco,  Homophobia Chicken (aka Chikfila) and other players jumping on the bandwagon they created, yeah, it kinda is touching the majority of us.

On the other hand, before you accuse me of being a weird shill or apologist for McD's...: the whole system is f*cked, just like the propaganda video above points out. I comment on this system because me and my children live in it, and noting a rare and positive move is not an endorsement. A few years ago I wrote about the relatively secretive push by McDonalds to reformulate their McMuffin to add more whole grains. McDonalds did not really advertise this because changing the recipe of a core product for reasons of health instead of taste was considered bad for business. The fact that they are making moves as big and loud as anti-biotic free chicken speaks much more to board-room panic than a newly found love of man. It's more like a newly found approach to propaganda to weaken their enemies arguments.

Removing anti-biotics from chicken increases their grow-time by 20%, increases their mortality, and requires much bigger (and humane) spaces to stay healthy, among other additional costs. Will chicken still be profitable? Yes. Will shareholder value take a hit? Yes. Should we value human health over profit? McDonalds (or any corporation) will never say "human health" -- they will ask how can we market to people's desire for health to increase profit? The depth of the evil and arrogance of someone saying "corporations are people" is just sad.

This WWII propaganda poster needs to be recontextualized  for the relationship of Big Gubbermint and Corporate Personhood.

I'm a little surprised I'm still talking about McDonalds here, but they keep literally making the news, because they are the most desperate and dangerous of things: a multi-national corporation that is losing market share hand over fist. They must seek to control the storyline in the media to create a environment in which to claw back what they once had. The intersection of food, money, health and my childhood is just too tempting to obsess over for a few entries!

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WEEKLY AVERAGE: 2679
Calorie count too high, but I'm not eating garbage. I think I'm going to not stress about it right now but if my weight goes up in a few weeks, I'll have to seriously reconsider the issue.

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MONDAY COUNT: 2485

SLEPT: 12pm - 7am, 7hrs

AM SNACK: 7:15 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 9am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: noon, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 3pm, vegetarian meatballs, health salad, pickle, soup, 480 cal

PM SNACK: 4:30pm, momma salad, and cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, flounder, asparagus,  poppa salad with dressing, 685 cal

EVENING SNACK: 7:30pm, popcorn, +/-400 cal

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TUESDAY COUNT: 3180

SLEPT: 9pm - 6am, 9 hrs

AM SNACK: 6:15 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 8am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, Cabot with honey, almonds, vanilla, 500 cal

LUNCH: 2:30pm, chicken meat balls, lentil curry, steamed stringbeans, pickle, 560

PM SNACK: 4pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER: 6:45pm, frozen pizza, poppa salad with dressing+/- 1020 cal

EVENING SNACKS: 7:30-10:30pm, 2 kind bars, kid granola bar, veggie straws, 630 cal
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WEDNESDAY COUNT: 2250

SLEPT: 11:30pm - 5:30am,  6 hrs

AM SNACK: 5:45 am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST 1: 7:30am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, steel cut oatmeal, 450 cal

LUNCH: 2:30pm, poppa salad with dressing, sautéed chicken, pickles, 450 cal

PM SNACK: 4pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

PM SNACK: 6pm, cashews, 

DINNER: 8:30pm, Chipotle Burrito, 880 cal
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BIKE CREDIT: 690 cal
THURSDAY COUNT: 2540

SLEPT: 9:45pm - 3:45am,  6 hrs

AM SNACK: 4am, iced green tea, homemade granola bar, 150mg caffeine, 220 cal

BIKE SNACK: 5:30am, homemade granola bar, 220 cal

BREAKFAST: 6:45am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice, 160 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11am,Cabot with honey, vanilla and almonds, 500 cal

LUNCH: 2:30pm, poppa salad and dressing, sauteed shrimp & shitakes, pickles, 520 cal

PM SNACK: 5pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, vegetarian dim sum, small cup of ice cream, +/- 1100 cal

EVENING SNACK: 8:30pm, kind bar, 200 cal

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FRIDAY COUNT: 2940

SLEPT: 9pm -2am,  5 hrs

AM SNACK: 2:45am, iced green tea

BREAKFAST: 6am, apple/beet/celery/carrot/cayenne/cucumber/ginger juice,  80 cal

BREAKFAST 2: 11am, fruit smoothie, 450 cal

LUNCH: 2:30pm, almond butter & grape jelly on whole wheat, poppa salad with dressing, pickles, 700 cal

PM SNACK: 4pm, momma salad, cheezits, 310 cal

DINNER: 6:30pm, rabbit, polenta, root veg & cream, broth, 1 glass cider, chocolate, apple crisp & ice cream, +/- 600 cal

DINNER 2: 9pm, vegetarian sticky rice, cookies, +/- 800 cal