Wholesome fast food?

I heard something on the radio yesterday that caught me by suprise- a local fast food chain was airing a new ad that described its menu as "quality, wholesome fast food" made with "fresh ingredients". Can fast food really call itself "wholesome?" What is the definition of "fresh"? Who are they trying to kid? Or are we fooling ourselves? When it comes down to it, fast food joints are making money hand over fist and the current trend of "greening" up the menu with a few token vegetables trucked in from hundreds of miles away is enough to land a few more converts who otherwise would avoid the gut burgers and fries.
I don't hate fast food- but call it what it is.

Another story aired on the radio news about the recent cyclospora parasite illness spread through pre-packaged salad mix. It understandably took days to determine the source of the food, who had distributed it and where it had been served. From CNN August 2nd, the process was described thus:

"This is labor intensive and painstaking work, requiring the collection, review and analysis of hundreds and at times thousands of invoices and shipping documents," the FDA said. © 2013 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Finally they tracked to source to a farming operation in Mexico, with a direct link to restaurants in Nebraska and Iowa. Which made me wonder- why is lettuce being trucked from Mexico into the heartland anyway? They don't grow lettuce in Iowa? I wonder what Olive Garden or Red Lobster have to say to their customers? More importantly, I wonder what the customers have to say to these chains?

Please check out this wonderful documentary Ingredients: Who's Your Farmer about local food and its place in restaurants. The full documentary is available on Netflix.

Yesterdays Menu:

Breakfast and Lunch- eggs to rescue again. Used up the last of the Wilson Creek pepper jelly. Salad is remarkably crisp for being a week old- I will get a link to that farm today. More bear treats (Millan's doesn't offer wild game in their retail meat case but can process your game for individual consumption), berries and jam and fresh green beans from a co worker's garden. The Hubby grilled up beef patties from Wilson Creek served with Mean Jean's Orange Poppyseed mustard. The sad remains of a potato pancake recipe I attempted last night and Debacker's chocolate ice cream for dessert. 

Now off to the market!