The Omnivore's Dilemma

I've been eating far too much McDonald's recently.  I'm not proud of this fact.  McDonald's simply has the only open drive-thru whenever I get off a closing shift at Outback at eleven and haven't eaten since lunch at noon.  At this point in the night, practical considerations (I'm starving - it's open) outweigh my moral objections to the franchise.  It should be interesting to note whether or not this changes after reading the assigned selection of Michael Pollan's The Omnivore's Dilemma.

I'd venture to say that most people in my position would continue to eat at McDonald's.

For evidence, I simply consider a session of my African-American Literature II class a few days back.  During the class, we discussed the subject of chitlins - a dish with origins as intestines given to slaves because whites refused to eat them.  Dr. Dozier talked about how she loved chitlins, but hadn't eaten them in thirty years and was uncomfortable with the fact that she liked them.  Members of the class that had eaten or been around chitlins all expressed their disgust, speaking of how awful the very smell of the dish was.

Soon, the discussion regressed into a listing of all manner of foods that grossed people out.  White Castle was lambasted (though one member of class piped up "yeah, but it's great when you're smashed!), Fast Food Nation and Super Size Me were brought up, and Dr. Dozier called McDonald's "Yuckdonald's."  Still, by the end of class, despite how many gross facts were brought up about the food we eat, half of the class was talking about how badly they were jonesing for fast food, and Dr. Dozier was saying "I'll probably never eat chitlins again for the rest of my life, but if I smelled some, if you put a plate in front of me . . . I don't know.  I'd have to fight to resist."

I think there are a few reasons our cravings overrule our better judgment in cases like this.  

One of the most powerful has to do with nostalgia.  They say smell is the one sense tied most to memory, so when a Lake Forest College student eats McDonald's, they're brought back (consciously or subconsciously) to memories of being treated to a Happy Meal by their parents, and when Dr. Dozier eats chitlins, she is likely brought back to memories of a family member taking care preparing the dish for her as a child.  Furthermore, as Eric Schlosser pointed out in Fast Food Nation, McDonald's has made an especially concerted effort since its very inception to target children, one of the first restaurant chains to do so, and as a result the bonds of nostalgia one feels when eating a McDonald's burger are particularly strong.  So, if what Pollan says is true, and "taste is as much a matter of what's in the head as it is the molecules dancing on the tongue," then works like The Omnivore's Dilemma, Fast Food Nation, or Super Size Me have a lot of work to do in undoing years and years of positive association due to nostalgia and constant ad bombardment.

There are more reasons:

-As dangerous as it may be, the uniformity of a McDonald's burger from franchise to franchise means it tastes safe

-As Super Size Me illustrated, McDonald's food is positively filled with highly addictive ingredients

-As Fast Food Nation pointed out, the taste of most fast food concoctions is chemically constructed.  My burger may be filled with manure, but it will still taste delicious

-As The Omnivore's Dilemma said, our generation has been trained to like the higher marbling resulting from the corn-fed beef you can find at a fast food joint.

So, do I want to eat McDonald's? No.

Will I?  I'm not so sure.