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You've been on the road for hours (whether heading to Grandma's for Thanksgiving or Florida for Spring Break), you're tired, hungry, uncomfortable, and certainly in no mood to go seeking out green food options. You decide it's about time to grab a bite. On you drive. Unpromising exits go by, along with the occasional billboard and overpass. There's nothing good on the radio. Ten more minutes go by. Then, emerging on the horizon, you see it—that blessed sign reading 'fork and knife' next exit. The icons emblazoned on the sign become clear, much to your dismay.
Wendy's.
Burger King.
McDonald's.
If you're like me, most often you hang your head some, perhaps utter a forced sigh, and then feel a bit defeated when you pull into whichever fast food option you pick. Well, I'm writing today to extol the virtues of passing on by, even if you're hungry enough to cram your mouth full of chicken-paste filled McNuggets.
For starters, fast food cooking alone is worse for the air than all the trucks on the road. How's that for an apropos statistic?
So passing that greasy burger joint by means sparing the air.
Fast food restaurants also contribute to reckless consumption and destruction of resources—check out this article that follows the chain from rainforest destruction to chicken nuggets ending up in the UK. And then there's the poor animal treatment, the immense shipping programs emitting harmful gases, the millions of tons of waste generated annually, and the total lack of nutritional value in fast food restaurant's most popular menu items.
Of course some of this is null and void if you happen to pass by an organic fast food joint. In which case, eat organically away, I say. But until the day when we see these organic outposts right off the highway regularly—drive on by, friend. Just drive on by, even if you're hungry.
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