I didn't read the article as you did. I think its actually good that he says it's not something we do. Whenever your addressing why something isn't or is approriate for your family, I think thats the perfect way to do it. You're not saying its right or wrong, you're simply saying its not for us.

There are sometimes foods, everytime foods and special treat foods. If you make McDonald's more than a special treat food and a daily or weekly occurance it's hard to imagine you wont be fighting an uphill battle against obesity, healthy eating choices and a kid who refuses to eat any kind of chicken unless its from the Golden Arches.

If you want to say my family is too good for McDonald's every day or once a week, I can live with that. I dont plan on introducing my child to soda anytime soon either. When we make the occassional trip to Friendly's.. she gets applesauce instead of fries... since she's going to enjoy her ice cream..

Michelle

I agree with Michelle - he did not in any way demean people who go to McD's, and commented about several times in his life where he was a regular McD's customer, and also that he enjoyed his burger.

I don't think my family is "too good" for McD's, but it's certainly not a place I seek out on anything resembling a regular basis. I take my kids there on occasion, because they consider it a treat. They know that it's not the most healthy food in the world, and that's why we don't eat it regularly. My reading of the article was that Pete Wells was making the same distinctiion.

I didnt read the article either, and maybe the author of the other one is arrogant and insensitive, I dont know, but the tone of this article is disturbing. We feed our children things that in a measurable sense are literally poison. A lot of people in our society have been brainwashed to think it's unamerican and some sort of yuppie or hippie snobbery to care about these issues. I remember when I first started realizing how screwed up food is and was talking to my mother about organic foods and she said with a huffy tone: "they put those chemicals in the food for a reason!" about the processed garbage that we grew up eating. Yeah... to make more money... she had been brainwashed. Maybe the original article has some sort of attitude that is wrong, but the underlying point of this article is garbage. McDonald's is poisoning the world and should be out of business. Many people will read this and similar statements and roll their eyes, thinking it's overly dramatic, but it's not. Why not give your kids cigarettes? Just a few... it wont kill them...

I totally agree with the comments above. Please read "Omnivore's Dilemma". It's scary what our industrial food system will have us believe about the food we eat. This father is teaching his child that there can be another way. Good for him.

Fast food is bad stuff, and it's probably slowly killing me and my family, but not because of evil trace ingredients. I first heard this in the anti-smoking ads -- if something can be used to make something nasty, it must be nasty. See what happens if you apply that reasoning to water -- it's used to cool nuclear reactors, and people drown in it.

I feel McD's is for others. Kids, elderly, poor, rich, anyone who feels they want to ingest unhealthy levels of fat, sodium, or poison. I have a kid, now an adult. I worked and went to school 4 nights/week for a Master's degree and I cooked, entire meals, from scratch each weekend (a whole weeks worth of food) so that my son and his father could eat healthy foods and not feel so starved they had to stop anywhere and get something. My son now proudly cooks for himself and is VERY good at it. His room and office mates are astounded at his skill and diversity of palates, Indian, Turkish, Greek, Southern greens, vegetarian, you get the idea. He also works full time and is completing his PhD. Fast food is convenient and that is all it is... Cooking healthy food is also easy and convenient, but you have to make it a priority.

I think Erica's heart is in the right place. Upon first reading, I too would have probably bristled at Pete Wells' article with a "you're so lucky to even have the choice of choosing McDonald's or not" gut reaction. But on second and third thoughts, it's probably good that he's out there calling attention to the fact that fast food is no good for you. Just as Eric Schlosser forever altered my view of McDonald's and Coke, and other authors before him and hopefully after, we need people to tell it like it is. So BIG BUSINESS can't just dictate what we eat and don't, what we like and don't, what we should like and shouldn't. McDonald's does after all now offer salads and some healthier options. That wouldn't have happened without the outspoken voices of journalists and critics.

Of course, as a mom, I feel guilty every time I succumb to the lure of fast food, as a quick remedy for a messy kitchen that's impossible to cook in, as a special treat when we're driving by and the kids beg, as a last resort when we're running late to the next extracurricular. But I think the guilt is good. It makes it harder for me to justify skipping preparation of the family dinner.

And take it from me, growing up in a lower socioeconomic class and minority household, the people who would really be offended by Mr. Wells' article don't have the time to read it. Or if they did, wouldn't care.

Sorry, in my last paragraph I meant "should be offended" not "would".

Like the few previous posters, I didn't not read the actual article, but I don't think he said anything that isn't true! When my kids were babies, I swore they would never eat McDonald's, or have soda. Unfortunately, at ages 7 and 9, they have had McDonald's waaaay more times than I had ever imagined, but I often wish I had never even let them try it. I think it should be for "other" people - the people who choose to make poor eating decisions. My kids ask for it frequently, and are always surprised on the infrequent occasion when I let them get it. They know it's unhealthy, and understand why they can't have it all the time. I even like it once in a while myself, but really, people would be much better off if it didn't exist. There is also NO reason for anyone to drink soda, and I am sticking with that one. It's not deprivation, it's teaching kids to make smart choices, rather than follow along with what ignorant people choose to eat and then having diabetes and heart disease later in life - or now - as I keep hearing about children on the news these days.

sticking with that one.

We've never eaten at any fast food place when the kids were little or even older. My now 15yo, went to McD's with friends and tried the food. She couldn't stand it! Yes, she did drink the soda, but that's it.

We have fries at home, I make them and we do go out to eat. If I have to spend money eating out, I'd rather it would be somewhere decent.

I second savvas Spyrodopoulos' post. I worked at a McDonald's as a teenager, and now I cannot eat there because of the unique aroma and taste, due to the "natural flavors" (aka chemical additives) that they put into their food, makes me nauseous just thinking about it. In a pinch, with no other option, I'll eat and take my kids to McDonald's. It has happened once. Don't get me wrong, I like burgers and fries just fine and so do my kids. I just don't like the side of chemical additives McDonald's (and other fast food restaurants) put in their food.

Everyone's family should be considered too good for McDonald's. The sad fact is that not all families see it as Pete does. This is not an issue of class warfare - let's not fool ourselves. You can make a healthy meal at home that costs less than a meal out at McDonald's. You don't need organic chicken and heirloom tomatoes to make a healthy meal.

The only thing I think Pete did wrong was to let his child have ONE happy meal. People shouldn't allow their children to eat that stuff, ever. It's addicting. Would you let your child smoke just one cigarette? An addiction to fast food is just as hazardous to one's health as a smoking habit.

As for the reference to "other" kids who eat there, well, that's just stating a simple fact. Families dine at McDonalds regularly. There are parents out there who do not see the hazards in feeding their children these meals, despite the facts out there. And then there are those who know it is unhealthy, but are lured to its convenience, relative low costs, and cheap entertainment factor. And McDonald's certainly knows how to exploit these "other" people.

And to the author of this article - you claim you are not happy about your children being well acquainted with McDonald's. What are you going to do about it? Do you take some responsibility for this?

I believe that Dimetheylpolysiloxane that is added to cooking oils is a chemical that should be avoided...but how do you know what oils are used in restaurants.
By the way, Rice Bran Oil does not have it, nor does it have the dreaded BHT or TBHQ. I prefer homemade fries because I know what I am using and they also taste better with rice bran oil!!!

Just to interject before we go down a nutrional rabbit hole here, clearly this food contains bad stuff. The real question is how do we handle the fact that millions and millions of people --and their kids -- consume it because they don't have the resources or knowledge not to? Is simply protecting your own kids from junk food enough, or do we all owe society more than that? -EN

Erica,
Thanks for calling out Pete Wells for for his classist remarks. Don't remember that ever happening in the Boston Globe before. But I do keep my kids away from the McDonald's vortex and those of all of the other fast food chains. My kids still manage to eat too much candy and other junk without them.. And I don't have to listen to them ask if we can go to McDonald's everytime we pass one.

Sorry, EN, we're all a bit confused. That wasn't the issue that you raised in the first place--how can we make the world a better place for those less fortunate. All you did was criticize Mr. Wells for being out of touch. Which is one viewpoint. Obviously, your readers have lots of different ones.

McDonald's tastes good. But it isn't good for you. I didn't go to a McDonald's until I was 11 years old. And I lived to tell about it. I ate plenty of it in my teens and early twenties. Now it's a once every couple of years thing. And frankly, it tastes good going down, and feels like lead when it's in the stomach. My own children have been to McDonald's less than 10 times. And yes, I'm proud of it. Not as class warfare but rather as I'm setting them up for healthy eating habits that will carry them a long way in life. What could be more important than eating well? Most people don't think about what they eat, and that's a shame.

Funny. My son had his share of McNuggets in his very early years, because we had a very long commute twice a week at dinner time, and it was the only available option. By the time he was three, he loudly refused to eat anything from McDonald's because he thought it tasted terrible. Still does. He's 10, and would refuse to eat at McDonald's if I ever asked him to. Because he's been exposed to a lot of fresh, homemade food, he knows the difference between what tastes good and fresh and what tastes processed, greasy and generic. And, as for people being unable to eat healthy foods because of financial issues, I believe that this is a red herring. There are plenty of healthy foods available if people take the time to prepare them at home (instead of buy expensive, pre-processed foods). It might be about education, it might be about laziness. I don't know. But we shouldn't act as if it's somehow 'classist' to say that a steady diet of fast food is unhealthy.

One thing that kind of disturbs me is less the article itself and more the commenters here, ideas about those "other" people who "choose" to let their children eat McDonalds. In the words of one poster these are people who "want to ingest unhealthy levels of fat, sodium, or poison". The elitism in some of these comments are a little staggering. There are a large number of people out there who have never had the luxury of learning what food choices are good ones, or who simply cannot afford it. Despite what others have said about the cost of "real" food compared to McDonalds, for someone with just a couple of bucks in their pocket, the unfortunate truth is the dollar menu is likely going to prevail. The other people are not necessarily making a willful choice to feed themselves and their children McDonalds. It's easy to say that no one in their right mind could ever think McDonalds is good for you, but I think a lot of us simply by virtue of the fact that we are online here reading Boston.com, may be in a position of privilege that it's important to be mindful of when we make certain comments about the mindset of the "others".

EVERYONE'S family is too good for McDonalds. I think I was about 15 or 16 before I even went to a McDonald's. As children my siblings and I were not allowed to eat that junk. As a result we never developed a real taste for it and ate it only on extremely rare occasions (always suffering from McBelly afterwards!). Parents need to prepare homemade meals for their families. Convenience and low cost are not valid excuses fill your kids full of garbage .

"Just to interject before we go down a nutrional rabbit hole here, clearly this food contains bad stuff. The real question is how do we handle the fact that millions and millions of people --and their kids -- consume it because they don't have the resources or knowledge not to? Is simply protecting your own kids from junk food enough, or do we all owe society more than that?" -EN

Most - or at least millions - of the people that eat at McDonald's can afford to eat something else. It's not about being poor. The guy was just blogging about a situation with his son, where he taught him that other people he knows may eat there, but they don't. It's not his job to educate the world about it. I know people with plenty of money who get McDonalds all the time. THEY do, WE don't. Pretty simple.

My kids go to a school where everyone has cell phones and ipods and sleeps over others' houses. I don't think it's my job to educate those parents on why their children are too young for those things, I just tell my kids every family has different rules.

it's not that my family is too good for mcdonalds. it's that mcdonalds is not good for anyone's family.

I guess I don't get where you are going here...you think the author is justified in saying that McDonald's in bad for us all nutritionally but that he's acting like an elitist by saying it's for other people (which I translated to simply mean "other people besides my kid")? Putting more meaning to his words might not have been a good idea here because I don't think he was trying to be a snob.

And to answer your question, if this fellow and his son Dexter make it a point to make healthy food and write about it in his blog, he's doing more than the average person to promote healthy eating for "society."

It's not that McDonald's is for "them." It's that McDonald's isn't for ANYBODY, except, perhaps, McDonald's.

That's right, we're too good for McDonald's. And, how would my kid know it if I didn't tell him. Learning about what you're eating is an important lesson. If you're going to eat a burger and fries, they better be of better quality than Mc D's. And, if you teach your child to take responsibility for what they eat, they will eat right. My son was in kindergarten when Lunchables were the rage. We went to the store, he made a beeline for the product. He picked up the package, and turned it over to see the ingredients. He exclaimed, "I'm not going to eat this, look how much sodium is in it!" Other people looked up in surprise. But they commented how he had learned about eating healthy, and was applying it himself.

Call me an elitist or snob, I don't care. I will not eat in Mc Donald's, unless I'm on the brink of starvation and its the one and only option. So, its likely my child will rarely eat Mc Donald's food. As a parent, I don't prohibit foods, we just have things, and don't have things. Mc Donald's is something we don't have. Its disgusting. While I understand a range of social and economic reasons why people eat there, its doesn't mean I need to feel guilty about being too good for Mc Donald's, because we are.

Thanks to all of you for such excellent comments -- For those of you who are anti-Mc D's: How do you teach your kids to be tolerant of other people?

Kids tend to see things as all good or all bad. I already run into this when Dennis sees someone smoking. I get, "Mama, he shouldn't smoke! We should tell him he shouldn't smoke! Is he going to get sick and die?"

I don't want him to say rude things to other people about their personal choices. So, readers, tell me -- If you teach your kids that junk food is evil, how do stop them from saying insulting things to other kids or adults they see consuming it? -EN

As the breadwinner in a single income family who lives paycheck to paycheck, I will tell you now that our child has yet to have a chicken mcnugget. The first french fry she had (which she didn't like) was at a regular restaraunt (our twice yearly family treat), not McDonalds.

Why are we "too good" for McD's? Because every time I eat at one (maybe once a year, on the road), I get sick to my stomach. Even my husband, a fast food fanatic in his formative years, can't stomach McD's anymore.

It's just bad for you and frankly, no matter how low income or harried and hurried you may be, if you DON'T know that, you've been living in a box on a cliff at the end of the world.

There is plenty of inexpensive, better than McD's food that even us lowly folks living on a moderate, fixed and/or low income can purchase and prepare at home - that tastes better and IS better, for us and for our kids.

That being said, it doesn't mean we'll teach our daughter that junk food is "evil". Growing up, I got the stuff once a year as a treat - and maybe we'll go that route. Or maybe I'll just tell her it's not healthy and I'm not buying it, a la my own mother when I clamored for Frosted Flakes.

If she is taken to McD's with friends families, whatever. It's not the end of the world. But I won't be the one doing it. Just because we make the choice not to introduce her to soda and fast food doesn't mean we're automatically teaching her to be vocal, rude and insulting to those who do. I fail to see how not introducing a certain type of food to our offspring automatically equates to teaching incivility.

And just because we're not a family of "means" doesn't mean we're too ignorant or uninformed to spend our food budget wisely and healthfully.

In fact, I think the most insulting thing in this whole discussion is the notion put forth here that poor = dumb/ignorant and that somehow, those of us who fall into that category must be defended by the better class of people who have the education to speak on our/my behalf. Thanks, but I can exercise my voice effectively and to the betterment of myself and my own family without someone with a few more dollars to tell me I'm being somehow insulted, degraded or wronged when, in fact, the author of the original blog cited was pretty much spot on in his assessment of McD's.

To answer your new question: you don't teach your kids that junk food is 'evil'. You teach them that there are some foods that are healthier for your body than others. Cupcakes aren't evil. Candy isn't evil. It's just not appropriate as a steady diet. And neither is fast food. Eating the occasional McNugget isn't going to hurt anyone - it's a 'treat' (well, not for my son, but for those who like them), and should be eaten very occasionally. Also, you teach your children that everyone makes their own choices, and that it's rude to publicly question the choices of others - especially strangers. In the case of smoking, the same applies. You teach your children that choosing to smoke is not a healthful choice, and you also teach them why someone might make a choice. My son knows that some people may think smoking makes them appear cool, or that some people choose to smoke because their friends do and they want to fit in. He also knows that once they start, many people have a really hard time stopping. The same is true of eating junk food - it can easily become a very bad habit. Teaching a child how and why people make different choices gives him/her much better insight into peer pressure, etc., and gives him/her a much better chance of feeling comfortable making good choices, even if it means going against the crowd.

Poster #28, Cathy, said what I would say far more eloquently than I could have. I concur.

about your post #26--choose your words carefully. You don't have to call junk food evil--you can emphasize what is good food, what is the best choice. Children copy negatives, but they also copy positives !
Also, out of sight, out of mind. Learn more about the "slow food movement", read Fast Food Nation, Omnivore's Dilemma, and see the movie "Food, Inc.". You might not like the tone of the Pete Wells article, but he is certainly correct about the chemicals at McDonald's.

My kids (now early teens) have never eaten at McD or BK or KFC.... If we need fast food on the road we go to Subway or get pizza slices at a local non-chain restaurant. It's not free range or organic but I think its a good compromise. I do feel that we are too good for McDs and after reading the kids version of Fast Food Nation (called Chew This), my kids have a much better understanding of why not to eat there. But I do worry about them coming across as snobs and making judgment calls about people who choose to eat there. Just as I do regarding other questionable life choices such as smoking, I tell my kids that we do what we think is right for ourselves but it is not our place to judge others and as Cathy said, especially to publicly question them.

We're vegetarians. There is almost nothing at McDonalds that we want to eat. Why eat greasy french fries when you can get bean burritos at Taco Bell or even better, Qdoba? Why not have a really good pizza or an Indian buffet if you are looking for lunch? My kids have never eaten at McDonalds, not because I think we're better than everyone else, but because the food is nasty, and not what we like to eat. Life is to short to eat lousy food. I have limited dollars to spend on eating out. I am not going to waste them on stuff that tastes foul.

I like the 'living lightly on the earth' aspects of vegetarianism. But really, we just don't like the way meat tastes. I stopped eating it when I was 6. #1 son has tried a few meat items and doesn't like it either. #2 son will occasionally eat a hot dog or fish sticks, but maybe 6 times a year tops. But they will eat Guatemalan food, Indian, Chinese, Ethiopian, Mexican, Vietnamese - you name it. They don't understand why anyone would want to go to McDonalds - because all the good tasting food is elsewhere!

I would appreciate it if someone who is actually trained in food science or nutrition can explain what chemical additives in McDonalds that are so bad. I occasionally let my kids eat at McDonalds as long as they get the apple dippers, not fries. Frankly, is eating McDonalds worse than eating Progresso Soup? Chef Boyardee ? Its very very hard to eat a completely additive free diet, I'm not sure any of us realize what we are eating and its long-term effects.

Having taken the time to read Wells' column, I have to agree with Michelle in comment 1, "You're not saying its right or wrong, you're simply saying its not for us."
That's an important notion anyway, because it immediately cuts off appeals to whether it IS right or wrong, and appeals that other families are doing, while establishing the parent's authority as the decider.

Poster #33, Laura - I'm not trained in food science or nutrition, but I think that you are correct that most processed food is just as unhealthy as fast food.

My family doesn't eat a completely additive-free diet, but we come pretty close. The only thing I buy in cans are tomatoes, beans, and broth, and I seek out low-sodium varieties (which are still awfully high in sodium). I don't buy ANYTHING with high-fructose corn syrup. Mostly, I avoid the center of the store, buying fresh (or frozen in the winter) produce, meats, dairy products, and staples like flour, sugar, oils, and spices. Oh, and breads - I just don't have time to bake as much as I would like. Most of my meats actually come from a CSA, and so does most of my produce from June-November.

It's not hard - I just have to cook every day. I've got a number of go-to meals which are quick and easy that we all enjoy, and when I have time, I make more elaborate stuff or cook ahead. I use my slow cooker quite frequently.

Its interesting to me , two weeks later, that everyone has an opinion about McDonalds, but no one has come forward who can actually express what is so bad about McDonald's. For example, I get the grilled chicken sandwiches there, is that so bad?