A Rant: Why Charging for Happy Meal Toys is Not Going to Solve a Large Problem

I don’t usually get political with my blog because I generally like to not offend people or come across as left-leaning, right-leaning or any type of lean at all.

However, today I might make an exception. I know I’m a little behind on the times but I just read an article in which I learned that San Francisco passed legislation recently to ban giving away toys with high-fat, bad-for-you kids meal like Happy Meals in an effort to cut back on childhood obesity.

Now, while I’m not arguing that childhood obesity is a bad thing, I can’t help but think that the money and effort that’s gone into this legislation is a little…misdirected. Sure, I don’t argue that kids who eat McDonalds on a regular day are heavier than other kids. I’m also not arguing that McDonalds isn’t exactly the healthiest food on the planet.

However, the idea that simply giving away a toy with a meal is why kids eat McDonalds in the first place is just…a little silly. Yes, kids are susceptible to things they see on TV and they do like toys. Thus, to have a meal that comes with a free toy is a nice bonus.

Yet the key word is bonus. You can also use the word treat if you prefer. While I know that there are people and kids out there who love the McDonalds toys and go through the drive-thru just to get the one for the week, if you ever go to garage sales, you’ll see that for the most part, these toys basically end up in 10/$1 bins.

Which is ironic because San Francisco McDonald’s have found a way around the new legislation by, yes, charging 10 cents per toy in addition to the cost of the Happy Meal.

Now, my thoughts (and keep in mind these are just MY thoughts) is that perhaps the toy is not really the problem. Everyone knows that McDonalds is fried, fatty food that can taste really good when you’re really hungry. However, I don’t think I’m wrong to say that those of us who know that’s really bad for us regret eating it once we’ve stuffed our faces with those french fries and cheeseburgers and, if we were really hungry, a Big Mac. After all is said and done, it never tasted as good in hindsight to deserve those extra fat calories we consume.

Still, McDonalds serves a purpose to those of us who do have some sense of food-logic. Even though it’s bad for us, it fills a need. I love french fries. They’re one of my ‘cheat’ foods of choice. However, I don’t have them very often because I do try to be a somewhat healthier eater. Also, they taste way better if you haven’t had them for a while and they’re a rare treat. So, McDonalds can satisfy my french-fry craving. It serves that need for me. Also, if you’re in a hurry, are starving and need to eat before your next activity/engagement starts, the drive-thrus are conveniently placed in order to get a combo meal, pay and get out in a few minutes flat. That’s another purpose that McDonalds serves.

I’d like to think that most of us know McDonalds is bad. When we eat it anyway, it’s not necessarily with shame but maybe a wee bit of guilt that we’re consuming a cheesy mess of carbohydrate laden fatty goodness instead of, say, broccoli or a salad.
I don’t have kids but I have nephews and nieces who like Happy Meals. I know that the toys change once a week. If McDonalds has a series of toys that the kids like, they generally want to go back the next week for the next one. Even I’ve fallen for it before when they had the mini beanie babies a few years ago.

Yet, if you’re a parent/aunt with a sense of food-logic, even though you know you shouldn’t indulge the kid with a Happy Meal, if it’s only once a week, it’s not that terrible. Besides, nowadays, you can substitute fries for apple wedges, soda for milk so if you’re concerned about your kid getting, well, chubby then there are ways to treat them to McDonalds without completely compromising nutrition.

The problem is that there are an awful lot of non-logical food people out there. I’ve watched “Super Size Me”. I’ve watched documentaries on why lower-income families tend to have obese children: It’s far cheaper to stuff them full of cheap food that fills them up than go out and buy healthy food. It’s a sad fact of life. I’ve actually been quite poor in my life. When I lived in L.A., I was very, very hard up for money for the first couple of years. If I didn’t have a coupon, it wasn’t on special or couldn’t buy it in the 99 cent store, I didn’t buy it. I used to make sure I had money in my budget for vegetables and fresh produce because, well, I have that food-logic gene. However, I can also see why parents who have to stretch out very little money to feed their kids opt for the giant box of macaroni and cheese on sale for $1 than paying $1.29 a pound for broccoli which doesn’t provide a whole meal but just a side dish.

Also, the irony of it is that many lower-income families tend to have parents who work hours that aren’t conducive to having time to spend cooking low-calorie, nutritious meals out of their limited pantry. This is where McDonalds steps in. You can buy a Happy Meal for about $3. It fills a kid up. It takes five minutes at most to run through the drive through to get it. If you have to go to work but you also have to feed your kid, it’s a quick, easy solution.

It’s just not very healthy.

I’ve seen articles where the older latchkey kids are left money to go get dinner. If there’s a McDonalds in walking distance, guess where they mostly head? By this time, McDonalds has been introduced into their lives as an acceptable meal choice because it’s most likely what they’ve been eating since they were old enough to chew solid food. It’s a comfort food to them because it’s what they know.

And it’s not just McDonalds. I’m only picking on them because they were the subject of the article I read. Many of the other fast food chains offer similar Kid Friendly Meals: Burger King, Wendys, KFC…etc. Kids grow up with the concept of a kids meal that comes with a toy but it doesn’t mean they only want the meal with a toy. I mean, you don’t see kids refusing to eat their Tyson chicken nuggets and Oscar Meyer wieners at home because they don’t get a toy, do you?

Kids are kids. There are some great kids out there who like healthy food. There are also kids with strong, smart parents who feed their kids right and even get their kids to get healthy snacks as a treat and reward. There are kids that do like Brussels sprouts and broccoli with their hotdogs and pizza. Yet, some kids just don’t like that stuff. I don’t know if it’s genetic. I don’t know if it’s psychological. They just simply don’t like green stuff and only like familiar food. My nephew, for example, is a very fussy eater. He wouldn’t eat turkey at Thanksgiving so with a slight shudder, we served him hot dogs with his trimmings because, well, we wanted him to eat and even though my mum and I know hot dogs are terrible for you, I’d rather see him eat something than nothing. Some of these kids become adults who still haven’t changed tastes. My brother in law is in his thirties- he still only likes hot dogs, hamburgers, pizza and chicken nuggets. He doesn’t like salad. He doesn’t like anything green but peas. My old coworker was the same way- she was thirty-three and ate like a five year old boy.

With intervention, I think some of these kids can be helped and taught that not all healthy food tastes bad. Yet, it requires a heck of a lot more than charging 10 cents for a Happy Meal Toy. Perhaps the money and time that was spent passing the legislation to outlaw free toys with greasy kids meals should focus more on the root causes: How can we make kids want to eat healthy food? How can we get parents to see that cheap, quick solutions to feeding kids can be found in other places than fast-food drive thrus? Why does it cost more for a pound of apples than it does for a bag of frozen supermarket-brand french fries? Why are there rarely any coupons for fresh ingredients but tons for processed snacks, canned items and microwave meals?

My point with which I’m almost bludgeoning you is that you can’t try to stop a major problem like obesity by banning a toy with a meal. It’s like sticking your finger in the hole in a boat to stop it sinking or throwing a glass of water on your house when it’s on fire. Sure, it might have a quick effect but in the long term, what’s it really going to do? That house is going to burn and the boat will sink anyway unless someone comes along with a plan to fight the fire or, even better, make the boat harder to sink in the first place.

I’m not a politician and I would never want to be. It’s a hard job. You need to make an impact in a short time so that people feel that you’re worthwhile, that you’ve done something right. In my opinion, the best politicians are the ones that move slower, who dedicate themselves to a cause and fight for it from the ground up. They don’t just come in, slap a band aid on a problem and pat themselves on the back. The world doesn’t work like that- it never has and never will. It’s why I like lobbyists way more than politicians. My good friend Saz, for example, has been working hard on a bill to make button batteries safer due to their deadly nature if swallowed by a child. Now that is a worthy cause. She and her organization, The National Electrical Manufacturer’s Association are working to change something, to make it safer. I salute that. I’d salute San Francisco a lot more if they’d decided to work at helping make kids and parents understand what causes obesity and how to work against it rather than making them pay 10 cents for a toy they can get a few miles away outside city limits for free.

There is a lot more I could rant about or soapbox about but I think this is long enough for one day and I think I’ve made my point. Free toys are only a symbol of what’s causing childhood obesity. You can ban the symbol but the problem remains.

Ok. I’m stepping down off my soapbox now. Really. Besides, I’ve got a sudden craving for McDonalds fries. Ooh, Maybe I’ll see what the toy in the Happy Meal is this week…

Just kidding.

Thanks for reading.

Happy Friday!

Positive Affirmations

I like realizations in life because sometimes they’re affirmations.

Affirmations are good for us because they make us feel like whatever it is we’re doing, no matter how small, is the right thing. For me, I had one of those small ones today. It came when my coworker were running an errand for the office and we got stuck behind a giant truck. This was a McDonald’s truck. This would not be a bad thing except the enormous photograph of McDonalds French fries that dominated the entire rear of the truck.

Let me explain.

Since the new year, I made a vow to myself that I’d drop the extra 15 pounds that I’d allowed myself to gain during the past few months.

So far, I’m down by seven pounds and I really didn’t have to do much at all. As I’ve said before, I’ve been blessed to be a huge fan of vegetables. I’ve always centred the majority of my meals around vegetables when I cook. I find veggies to be a gift in life- there are so many types out there and so many things to do with each type that were it not for my fondness for meat, I could easily be a vegetarian. Unfortunately, while I do prefer veggies, I have a certain fondness for bacon, chicken and other carnivourous fodder. I also adore fish which I would still be able to eat if I were a vegetarian. Of course, I’ve never understood that because I’d think fish were as much a live creature as, say, a chicken but who am I to argue?

Anyway, the point is that it’s been easy for me to switch to a healthier eating plan. All I had to do is adjust how much I ate and when I ate it and I’ve been able to lose weight without much deprivation at all. I still get to eat things like cheese and bacon, I just do so in moderation. Instead of pouring cheese onto everything, I consider what else I’m eating with the cheese to decide if it’s worth the nutritional black marks or not for that day’s eating. I have a fabulous website that I use that lets me log what I’m eating and then it estimates the nutritional content of that food. It makes me responsible for what I eat and how much I eat. I love that. I know how many calories I’m supposed to have in a day and so I can see how I’m doing.

I like having that discipline. I find that it makes food rewards fun. If I’m doing well for the day and I’ve eaten primarily healthy, low fat stuff then I can have a glass of wine in the evening or a piece of chocolate or even some cheese with my dinner. It’s actually a much nicer way of eating than letting myself cram my face full of whatever I feel like eating at that moment.

There are times that it is hard. I find that if I have a day that doesn’t go well, I’m hungry. I want to fill that emotional hole in me with food even though I’m technically not hungry. I think half the battle is recognizing if I am actually hungry or if I’m just thinking about eating because I’m watching TV and it seems like the thing to do. Of course, there are days that I am really hungry. These are generally the days when I’ve been super healthy. Fortunately, if I’ve eaten a low amount of fat and calories for the day, it usually means I can have a healthy-ish snack and not suffer the consequences on my thighs or hips.
The only really hard time is when I’m subjected to temptation. At my job, we have a lot of business lunches with our consultants. This is our way of saying “Thank you for working for us” as well as to stay in touch with them. These lunches are nice but they’re always at a restaurant where healthy eating is not always easy. Compounded with this is the fact that I’m faced with a menu full of pictures of items that are not healthy but are, in fact, absolutely delicious. It’s so easy to listen to that voice in my head that says, “You’re craving bacon, cheese, hamburger goodness with a side of salty French-fries”.
The voice in my head is usually right. If I’m given a picture of a juicy hamburger when I haven’t had one in ages and I really, really want one, of course I’m going to crave the bloody thing. It’s a law of nature: we crave what we shouldn’t have.
Since I started my attempt to lose weight, it’s become very easy to talk myself out the hamburger. At first, it wasn’t. It’s much easier to cheat when you first start something- (“Oh, go on…order it! You can start over again tomorrow.” ). The longer you persevere, the easier it gets because you’ve come a certain distance and you don’t want to undo the good you’ve been doing.

There are times when I do go ahead and order the hamburger. It’s part of that reward system. If I let myself have it once in a while, I’m far less apt to say, “screw it! I want bad food now!”

There comes a place when you realize you’ve turned that corner and trying to eat well 95% of the time is as natural as eating itself.

Thus comes my affirmation.

McDonalds french fries have always been a weakness of mine. Generally when I crave something, it’s savoury, rather than sweet. I want something salty. McDonalds french fries? Perfect salty snack food. Two months ago, I would have seen that picture of the french fries on the back of the truck and instantly, my taste buds would have been kicking into sense-memory mode. I would have been able to taste them and smell them in my imagination. I would instantly have wanted those french fries and found a way to get them.

Two months later…not so much. I could still smell them and taste them in my imagination but internally, I simply shrugged and said, “eh, I’d rather have the brussel sprouts roasted with bacon that I’m planning for dinner tonight.”

I liked that feeling. Granted, there’s bacon involved in my dinner but it’s only three slices and combined with the Brussels and the fennel I plan on also roasting, I have a pretty darned tasty meal there with very little badness except for the bacon.

The more important thing is that I’d rather have that than Mcdonalds. That was my affirmation that all the work I’ve done in trying to lose some extra weight and improve my overall health is sticking. Also, I’m enjoying it. It involve creativity, planning and research but those are three things I enjoy very much anyway.

I have to say, I would never have thought a giant picture of french fries would seem like a life affirming thing but that’s probably why it was such a nice moment.

The unexpected things always are.

Thanks, as always for reading and have a Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

Alligator in the Sewage Ditch!

I'm trying to wake up this morning; I went to bed far too late last night and woke up this morning feeling less rested than normal. As usual, I got ready while listening to the news and, as usual, the weather report did not help me much. I did learn that in Iceland, they're closing all three McDonald's restaurants that exist in the country. Apparently, the price of a Big Mac has gone up to over $6 and due to a financial crash in the country, the restaurant chain is unable to stay open.

I find that startling. I mean...it's McDONALD'S! It's one of the most ubiquitous companies in the world. Those poor Icelanders; now they're going to have to wait until they leave their country to have their Big Mac's. Of course, I must admit, in my imagination, when I think of Iceland, I think of an entire country covered with a thick coating of ice. The residents always wear eskimo type coats and they ski from place to place. It's hard to picture McDonald's in the middle of all that. Of course, I do know that it's actually a lovely place when it's not covered with ice- that it's green and beautiful but I can't help it- you call a place "Iceland," it does evoke a certain frozen image in people's minds.

I also learned that a man in Falls River, Massachusetts managed to capture a five-foot alligator. Apparently, it was spotted in a dirty drainage ditch by several people and the man who eventually captured it received a text from his brother telling him about the alligator sighting. Rather than, you know, doing what most of us would do which is to say check the newspapers to see if it a.) ate someone or b.)was captured, he decided to take matters into his own hands. He went looking for the alligator and captured it by clamping its jaws together with electrical tape.

I have a couple of questions. First of all, electrical tape????? Any good taper knows it's duct tape that you need! Electrical tape is not necessarily flimsy but the minute that stuff gets wet, there's no stick left. Given that the alligator was living in a drainage ditch, I'm not envisioning it being terribly dry. Also, it's a ALLIGATOR! Who goes after an alligator with a roll of electrical tape?

Secondly, uh, why? Well, actually there is an answer to that particular question. It turns out that our brave alligator capturer is a compassionate soul who felt that if the police managed to capture the 'gator, they'd kill it because they'd be afraid. What a silly notion he had! I mean, why on earth would the police shoot a five-foot alligator, I'm sure they come across those every day!

Unfortunately, despite his hopes and efforts with his handy roll of electrical tape, he had to surrender his rescued alligator because he didn't have a permit. Did I mention that he's a pet store owner? In addition to the alligator, it seems that our brave hero also rescued a five foot boa constrictor from the same area just two weeks before. I think we may have found a successor to the Crocodile Hunter. Of course, being that he's from Massachusets, I don't think he'd say, "Crikey!" Wouldn't it be more like, "Wicked good!"?

I guess this leads me to yet another question. What kind of place is Falls River, Massachusetts that it seems to have some rather large reptiles just sort of hanging out until our Alligator Hunter comes along to rescue them? According to the news report, the pet store owner has a traveling educational exhibit that features a 90 lb tortoise and a six foot iguana. I can only hope he didn't rescue those from Falls River, Massachusetts too.

Aside from the Alligator Hunter and the sad demise of McDonalds in Iceland, I also heard about a proposition on the ballot next week that would keep our libraries open in Cincinnati. I already knew about the proposition but I heard the first commercial today in support of the proposition. I'm happy that there are people lobbying to make sure people can continue to read for low or no cost but the commercial stated that the libraries are for the children, the elderly and families to go and read.

I know, it's a bit nitpicky but to quote Ben Linus from Lost, "what about me?!"

Once again, the plight of the singleton is brought to the surface! We are invisible! I'm not a child, I have no family, I'm not elderly. Can't I appreciate the library too? Why do they have to be so specific? Lots of people like to read! I'm one of them.

I realize that, at this point, I was probably splitting hairs. Fortunately, the Substitute Weatherman distracted me. Our usual 'poetic' weatherman had the day off so we had a sub. He was actually rather bland compared to our usual Mr. Wrong. Of course, the weather report was typically vague. It might rain! It might not! If we see rain on our windshield, we'll know its raining. He actually said that. What's next? If we stick our head out and get struck by lightening, we're having a thunderstorm? Or if we look out and see white flakes, it's snowing?

Still, for a morning's entertainment, you can't beat the local news. Obviously there were less trivial, more serious stories on the news but I choose not to blog about those merely because sometimes it's more fun to concentrate the lighter things in life rather than focus on the doom and gloom that surrounds us. Though, I'm sure if I were a random pedestrian in Falls River, Massachusetts and I came across a five feet alligator that was staring me down, I might feel a little doom and gloom. Of course, now I know to keep a roll of electrical tape in my pocket for just such an occasion.

Happy Tuesday.

Friday Rants

It's pouring with rain outside. It's lovely. It's good rain, not the scary freezing stuff that makes it hard to drive. It's also Friday which means I'm done at work for a whole week after this. Finally, it's less than a week until Christmas. All these things should mean Captain Monkeypants is ready to wax poetically about the beauty of the holidays, the soothiness of the rain, the twinkly lights of the beautifully decorated houses she's seen.

However, I'm actually in a mood to rant. Maybe it's because I'm tired. I went to bed too late and I woke up too early. That's my excuse anyway. It also may have something to do with the fact that while fudge may seem like a nice easy way out of a cookie exchange, preparing ten bags with a dozen pieces in it is a sticky and time consuming way to spend the evening.

I was already in a bad mood when I sat down to put the fudge in the pretty cellophane bags I had ready for it. Mostly, it was because of online retailers. Correct me if I'm wrong but we are in a bad way with our economy, right? Which means businesses are failing left, right and center? So, hypothetically speaking, as a business, wouldn't NOW be the time that you would be paying a little more attention to your business practices and customers so that you don't go under with the rest of the victims of this horrible economic environment?

It would seem not. I started Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving. I did a lot of it online this year, thinking it would save time and money. Well, it hasn't done either. I ordered two items within two days each other in the first week of December. Neither has arrived. You're probably thinking, that's ok, there's a week until Christmas.

Except there's not. One of the items needs to be rerouted to California. I'm still waiting for that. I paid for regular shipping, they decided to send it media mail. I am not happy about this. The other company did the same but they didn't even ship it until ten days AFTER I had ordered it. Seriously, online stores, do you really want to screw your customers now? I know how to leave feedback and, trust me, I will.

So, last night, I packed my boxes full of gifts for my Los Angeles friends but there's a big gift missing. This does not make me happy.

This morning, I'm already crabby. I shouldn't listen to the radio in the mornings. Have you heard the new McDonalds ad campaign? I think they're trying to be clever and start a trend. They're trying to get people to say they're "Nug Nuts", meaning they're nuts for chicken nuggets. "Nug Nuts" sounds stupid. It sounds like some overpriced advertising company sat in a roomful of desperate marketing people and said "Hey, let's come up with a catchphrase."

You can't manufacture a catchphrase. They're organic things that grow out of a natural ease of saying them. They're clever or funny. "Nug Nuts" is not funny. It's desperate.

The thing that is amusing about that is I'm a HUGE fan of calling people "NumbNuts" which sounds a lot like "Nug Nuts." To me, "Numb nuts" is just hilarious. It sounds funny and it makes me giggle to say it. "Sugar Tits" also makes me giggle. I thank Danny DeVito and Mel Gibson respectively for those insults. They're fun to say.

"Nug Nuts," however, is not fun.

Speaking, of commercials, there's another one that irritates me. It's for the X-box 360. Have you seen them? Basically, the commercial starts with a family sitting on the couch in a living room watching Netflix. Then the camera pans and moves out and the scenery rotates and you're looking in the back of someone's skull. I don't get it. Also, it's vile. Why do you have a family watching Netflix in the back of your head? I get the whole 360 degree rotation thing and the tie in to the X-Box 360 because I'm not THAT bad at maths but why are we looking at the back of someone's head. STOP IT. I don't want to see that.

In other advertising rants, I'm still irritated by the jewelry commercial in which the guy gets up in the night, gets the pretty necklace for his wife, lays it over her throat while she's sleeping and the first thing she does in the morning is reach for her throat and find it. I get that it's supposed to be romantic and sweet but let's be realistic for a moment. First of all, ladies, is the first thing YOU do is reach for your throat in the morning? Not me- I look at the bloody clock to see what time it is. Secondly, he didn't do up the clasp so even on the stillest of sleepers, the necklace wouldn't stay in position. And I AM the stillest of sleepers, seriously. I've had friends check to see if I still have a pulse in the morning because I don't move while I'm sleeping.

That necklace would be lost somewhere in that bed. Couldn't he do something more romantic like give it to her with her coffee and toast? For me, toast=love. A man that makes me toast AND gives me a necklace at the same time? That's true love. I'm still waiting for that.

Ok, I know, I know, I'm getting wordy. And I'm ranting. I haven't had a rant in a while. Now that I have a nice working iPod, I can't complain about that anymore. So I have to find other things. Bear with me; ranting is the same as venting, it's therapeutic.

Yet it is Friday which means things can't be that bad. I'm heading home for the holidays on Saturday evening which means I can relax, eat too much and not worry about work for a while. There's a lot of good to be found in that. I'll be blogging at least some of next week and I promise to be in a better mood. Hey, at least I'm not ranting about Stephanie Meyer again.

Have a great weekend.