No Drunken Midnight Dinky Town McDonald's Runs for Me!

So, as taboo as this is for many college students, I very, verrrry rarely will purchase, much less eat, anything from a fast food chain. I've kind of been anti-fast food for a while, because I always feel like a total piece of crap after eating anything from one of those places (seriously, it makes me just want to sit on a couch for about 3 hours straight) but more importantly, because the whole idea of the black box of the inter-workings of the fast food companies, whether it comes to food processing, or treatment of their animals, makes me super skeptical and uneasy of the thought of eating even touching one of their burgers.

I watched the documentary Super Size Me when it first came out, and re-watched it again over spring break to kind of reminisce about all of the same feelings I felt about the film the first time around. I know the documentary mainly focuses on McDonald's, but I don't think it would be too out of line for me to box most fast food chains all together regarding this post.

Super Size Me gives the general public the first real glance within the black box of the process of creating the Chicken McNuggets, and for me, that's all it took to swear off of them for the rest of my life. I choose not only to refrain from purchasing meals from fast food chains because of the horrible treatment many of the animals are subjected to, but also because I don't want to associate myself as one of the people who supports these companies in any way at all. Even though my lack of participation will not affect their revenue at all, for me it's not about the idea that I have to try to bankrupt these companies to make a difference, or prove myself to a bunch of people how hardcore anti-fast food I am. Instead, it's on a completely personal level for me; what helps me feel better about myself as an individual and as a member of our society. That, along with trying to eat as healthy, overall, as I can, is the basic foundation behind the food that I purchase.

What I buy, and where I buy it all comes down to where I feel most comfortable spending my money, and what makes me feel better as an individual with how I spend my money. I prefer to buy locally, and I do as often as I can. Even though fair trade coffee is more expensive than a tin of Folger's, knowing that more of my money is going towards the growers rather than a huge company is enough incentive for me. Granted, I'm not perfect, and there will be times that I will buy things that are cheap and on sale and definitely not healthy, but as a busy, sleep-deprived, borderline crazy college student, I feel I'm doing the best I can do.