Fast Food - Tasty Treat or Dinner of the Devil? - Howard Clemmow

I'm not a huge fan of social media; in fact, despite having a facebook account for more than a decade, I have never posted on it, although I do occasionally comment on other people's conversations. Some people might find this strange; after all, social media has played its part in giving us so many wonderful things; Donald Trump as president, Brexit, riots from Cardiff to Southport to Tamworth, a huge rise in teenage mental health problems, Andrew Tate... and so much more besides. In addition to all this,  and the billions of hours constructively spent scrolling through other people's  inanities, it provides an endless source of gossip - some of it is even true! It's not just celebrities and influencers either, you can find out what's going on in your local community right now, always handy for people like me who have to churn out hundreds of words of vaguely entertaining nonsense every month.

Top of the pecking order right now are rumours of plans to convert a local Chinese restaurant that has been there since the ark into a McDonalds and Starbucks. The proposed site is actually at the side of a major trunk road seven miles away, but in a small town like mine, you have to take your sources of outrage where you can find them.

Overall, I'd have to say that the view of the Facebook folk tend towards the negative. People are concerned about excessive traffic, though I though that was the purpose of a trunk road, to carry traffic away from towns and villages. Others are worried about parking problems, though the existing restaurant has a carpark big enough to serve a decent size shopping mall. But for some, the most damning indictment of this unholy pairing is that they are purveyors of JUNK FOOD. Within days of McDonalds opening, an epidemic of obesity will sweep the town, or so the thinking goes.

I think that now is the time to express my own opinion on the matter - this is absolute nonsense. There is nothing inherently  about McDonalds. Take that iconic culinary legend, the Big Mac; nutritionally it constitutes healthy eating, containing a suitable balance of protein, fat and carbohydrates, an acceptable amount of salt, little sugar and just 500 calories. Admittedly, it's light on the green stuff - a few scraps of lettuce and a couple of slices of gherkin hardly amounts to your 5 a day - but add a side salad, also available from your friendly neighbourhood MaccyDs, and you could practically live on it.  In addition, they offer plenty of vegetarian options and meals with less than 600 calories - there's even a vegan burger. You can't say they aren't trying.

As for Starbucks, they basically sell coffee and cakes, though I'll admit that the White Chocolate Mocha Frappuccino is a tad on the calorific side. But seriously, if you denied planning permission to local eateries on that basis, half the business premises in the town would be boarded up. Maybe there's an element of snobbism to all of this, I don't know.

Personally, I hope there's some truth in the rumour and the McBucks campus gets the go-ahead. if I travel north, which I do with some regularity at the moment, the proposed site is on my way home, and the idea of popping in for a crafty Big mac is highly appealing. It could also solve the conundrum of what to have for a family dinner, not to mention giving our bored teenagers somewhere to hand out of an evening.

That's the thing with fast food, it is perfect as the occasional treat but total unsuitable as a long term diet. There are far too many calories on offer, a woeful lack of fruit and vegetable and, in many cases, way too much salt, sugar and fat - the unholy trinity of processed food. But you can't blame fast food for that' blame the people who live on it.  Howard Clemmow