Let’s talk about food, a subject near and dear to our hearts, or more
approximately our bellies. Food is a universal experience, and an
easy way to lower your footprint on the earth. I’ll call this part 1
of a series that will deal with ways to ‘eat green.’
All of us have done it, we are in a hurry and need a quick meal. Ahh!!
Ahead are the familiar golden arches. Let’s order a cheeseburger and
see what we get. You get a burger, wrapped in a wax paper wrapper,
placed next to 4-5 disposable napkins, in a paper sack. Sure, it is
convenient but you are producing nearly as much waste as you are
consuming. Tell the clerk that they can keep the bag for the next
customer and they act as though you called their mother a bad name.
To add ecological insult to injury these chains use food that is
shipped to a central location and than distributed to their outlets.
Increasing the ‘mileage’ that your food has on it before it gets to
your plate. Even the mom and pops burger joint probably gets most of
their food the same way, trucked to a warehouse and trucked to their
kitchen. Let break apart this cheeseburger.
The bun: “Enriched bleached wheat flour (malted barley flour,
thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, iron, folic acid), water, high fructose
corn syrup, vegetable oil (partially hydrogenated soybean oil), yeast.
Contains less than 2 percent or less salt, wheat gluten, calcium
sulfate, ammonium chloride, ascorbic acid, azodicarbomide, diacetyl
tartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides, corn flour, soy flour,
calcium peroxide, mono- and diglycerides, propionic acid, phosphoric
acid, ethoxylated mono- and diglycerides, wheat flour, silicon
dioxide, sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate, fungal enzymes, calcium
propionate (as a preservative), sesame seeds on the Quarter Pounder
Bun. ”
The burger: “100% beef patty”
American Cheese: “Cultured milk, water, cream, sodium citrate, salt,
sodium aluminum phosphate, sorbic acid (preservative), sodium
phosphate, cheese culture, artificial color, acetic acid, enzymes,
lecithin.”
Condiments: Ketchup: “Tomato concentrate from red ripe tomatoes,
distilled vinegar, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, water, salt,
natural flavors (vegetable source). “
Mustard: “Vinegar, water, mustard seed, salt, turmeric, paprika, spice
extractives. “
Pickles: “Cucumbers, water, distilled vinegar, salt, calcium chloride,
sodium benzoate or potassium sorbate (preservative), natural flavor
(vegetable source), alum, polysorbate 80, turmeric.”
Other ingredients: Onions, salt and pepper.
Quoted information from: http://www.dietriot.com/fff/mcd/mcd.html
Lets look at the components one by one.
The Bun: I count 31 ingredients, maybe 1-2 more depending how you
count a couple of fats. Many of these I can not begin to pronounce,
let along imagine how they effect the finished food. How many
ingredients do you need to make bread? The simple answer is 5; flour,
water, yeast, salt, and sugar. Some recipes will call for milk, egg,
oil, honey, spices, or whole grains. I guess it is a good thing
economically that 31 production facilities have to be operated to
produce a burger bun, but it seems like overkill to me.
Beef Patty: A proportion of beef for this restaurant comes from New
Zeeland and Australia and is (bravo) grass fed/free range beef. The
exact composition, ie cow, steer, particular cut, ect, is a relative
secret of Lopez Foods, a primary beef patty provider. I feel confident
in saying that the 100% beef burger patty you get is NOT 100% ground
chuck (like many first line restaurants use for their burgers, or you
might buy from your butcher).
American Cheese: Cheese needs 3 ingredients: Milk, salt, enzymes,
when time and technique are added you can produce a huge range of
different cheese. A few more bodied cheeses need bacteria, but that’s
another article.
Condiments: The “vegetable source” ingredient has a be a bit
concerned, but by and all these are the most sane ingredients in this
dish.
Bear in mind that each ingredient is produced separately, granted some
may be made at the same location, but all are individually processed
mixed together and produce the generic fast food cheeseburger.
The green lesson in all of this?
Consider where your food comes from and how much work has to go into
it’s production. Chances are good that there are local (less
transport + less storage + less handling = lower environmental impact)
high quality alternatives to many of the convenience foods that you
purchase, making them better for the earth and many time better for
your health.
Seek out the local alternative and reduce transportation demands. As
a bonus you get food that tastes better, is better for you, and is
what nature, or God intended you to eat, not some Franken-food that
only exists because of a high tech laboratory somewhere.
Check back for part 2 of this series where we talk about EASY ways to eat greener (and save a little money)!
