Fast Food Nightmares

Scary headlines in the world of fast food lately. We all know the budget has been more than a bit tight lately with the economy making us search for inexpensive lunch options. I admit that I have included myself in the lines at Subway to order my six inch veggie for the wallet pleasing price of $3.71. Alas, that option will be scratched from my list after reading a story about how my seemingly "healthy" wheat bread contains a compound called "ammonium sulfate". This not only contributes to the nice brown color, but is also a commonly used plant fertilizer. Ewwww, I am sure that there are no authorities who know what that compound does in the human body, but I don't want to ingest anymore of the stuff trying to help them find out. So,...if Subway is out...what about McDonalds as another cheap option? Turns out that our delicious McNuggets contain some lovely chemical ingrediants along with nameless chicken byproducts (from one of my favorite episodes of Food Revolution- thanks Jaime!). I am convinced that nobody can even pronounce them.They are called: Tertiary butylhydroquinone (tBHQ) a petroleum-based preservative and Dimethylpolysiloxane which is an "anti-foaming agent". If this last one sounds familiar to anyone it is because it's what is used to make silly putty! But hey, what did silly putty ever do to you? Uhm... I am almost positive that doesn't digest well in my stomach. My last final rant on this subject is KFC and the Yum! companies that are using virgin trees from The Green Swamp in southeastern North Carolina. Why is this important? Besides the fact that any companies who are still using virgin trees to create packaging for their products should be slapped on the wrist for not having at least a portion of the paper / plastic derived from post consumer materials. This is one of the last places where you can see a venus flytrap in it's natural habitat! Just so happens to be my favorite. I'd like it to still have a home to grow in, along with the 400 other plant species, some that I have never heard of. And KFC is not alone in this practice, there are at least 11 companies identified by the Dogwood Alliance that make it regular practice to abuse the forests. If you are interested in stopping the "Dirty Dozen" take a minute to sign the petition at: http://dia.dogwoodalliance.org/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=12157. Then maybe we can get back to eating our cheap lunch options without feeling so bad about it.