Vatican McDonalds to Feed Homeless

[jerrygab2]

I grew up with McD. I like Del Taco, but my most favorite fast food place is Baker's which is a Ca restaurant.

 

[Open Heart]

Contrary to popular myth, McDonald's serves 100% beef with no additives and no preservatives. Many products have high sugar and high fat content, and a steady diet of fast food is a bad idea. But the idea that McDonald's serves fake food or food that's full of filler, is just a plain lie.

It's not the beef that's bad for you, it's the bun--one of the worst thing on the menu. The bun is white flour and high fructose corn syrup and all sorts of additives--the typical processed poison. It's the sort of thing that causes metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and heart disease.

 

[Open Heart]

c

Anything you fix at home is junk, it all has the same stuff in it unless you were to grow your own completely. I mean your own food including cow, pig, chickens, vegetables, etc

Seriously? Do your shopping around the edge of the store, ignoring the aisles. Lots of veggies, like salads sprinkled with seeds and nuts. Carbs from beans, lentils, peas, corn, and potatoes, and rice. Protein from unprocessed meats and dairy products. Basically, half your plate is fruits and vegetables, a quarter it is protein, and a quarter of it is carbs. Try adding a glass of milk or the equivalent in cheese. Cook with olive oil. Use salt in moderation. Never use sugar or processed flour. If you are going to splurge, splurge with fats, such as fatty meats, butter, cream cheese, etc.

One of my favorite recipes uses an entire head of cauliflower, a little cheddar cheese, a little cream cheese, a little rice, and a little turkey bacon.

Another of my favorite recipes is a stir fry made with chicken, mushrooms, zucchini, rose potatoes, and onions in butter.

 

[jerrygab2]

Seriously live life, enjoy life.

 

[Michie]

Seriously live life, enjoy life.

Totally possible without junk food. *Sorry, couldn't resist*

 

[Open Heart]

Seriously live life, enjoy life.

What about my savory recipes made it seem like I wasn't enjoying life?

I admit I eat junk food on special occasions, like if I'm too sick to cook, or if it's a holiday. The point is, it's not a regular part of my diet.

 

[Fantine]

McDonald's, to their credit, is feeding the homeless. We haven't heard of any "Farm to Table" $50 an entree restaurants in the Vatican doing that, have we?

Really hungry people won't be looking at the nutritional labels and saying, "Oh, this food is too highly processed." We are talking about people whose only other alternative is begging or dumpster diving. Yes, the food is processed, but it contains protein, carbohydrates, fats, and other nutrients the homeless need.

God bless McDonald's.

Let's also give credit to Panera, which is making its menu completely organic, and which donates its leftover baked goods each day to food pantries.

 

[Open Heart]

Really hungry people won't be looking at the nutritional labels and saying, "Oh, this food is too highly processed.

This is true.

But one of the reason why you have so many obese poor people with diabetes and heart disease is because the only foods they can afford is junk (processed high carb diets) and the foods at food banks is junk.

 

[Michie]

This is true.

But one of the reason why you have so many obese poor people with diabetes and heart disease is because the only foods they can afford is junk (processed high carb diets) and the foods at food banks is junk.

Exactly. Nobody seems particularly concerned with donating healthy food to those that can't afford it. I can tell you this from just the mission I'm involved in. It's frustrating.

 

[bill5]

one of the reason why you have so many obese poor people with diabetes and heart disease is because the only foods they can afford is junk

A myth and utterly incorrect. The reason why you have so many obese poor people with diabetes and heart disease is because they are lazy and/or (willfully) ignorant of nutrition. You can make meals which are healthier AND cheaper than fast food. Not that that's saying much. But it takes some effort, and a clue.

Sadly, it is these people who are in large part contributing to our skyrocketing health care costs, because they do such a poor job taking care of themselves but hospitals can't refuse them when they come knocking with heart disease, etc etc.

 

[Michie]

Crappy clothes, crappy food. That's what is donated for the most part. This is where loving your neighbor as yourself is a good thing to think about. People do not think about dumpster and missions but I can tell you the missions use them the most. Again, frustrating.

 

[jerrygab2]

 

[bill5]

 

[Fantine]

McDonald's isn't going to give the homeless different food than it sells to tourists. That's the food they have, the food that's delivered to them in McDonald's trucks that they serve to everyone.

But that's no reason to criticize them. They are doing good. They are giving people who would otherwise go hungry food.

Things like fresh fruits and vegetables are expensive, and certainly meat and fish are. And most people I know who earn the minimum wage or a little bit more are a lot less sedentary on the job than I am. True, I'm in my sixties, but I bet the average 40+ office worker would be exhausted if they exerted themselves as much as the average minimum wage worker does in a typical day.

Not to mention that many of them walk or take buses to work while we drive into our garages and walk right into our homes.

A number of Congressmen, priests, and even ordinary people tried the SNAP (food stamp) diet for a week or a month. Here's what the CEO of Panera Bread said about it:

Panera CEO learns about hunger on his food stamp diet - CNN.com

My approach to grocery shopping was to try to stay full. That meant carbohydrates. In retrospect, it was a poor choice. I ended up with a diet largely based around pasta, lentils, chickpeas and cereal. While it wasn't a ton of food, I could mix and match for various meals and find myself not quite full -- but enough to get by. Breakfast and snacks were Toasted Oats. Lunch and dinner varied between chickpea, jalapeno and tomato soup, lentil casserole and pasta with tomato sauce and garlic. Fresh fruit, vegetables and yogurt were too expensive.
I also gave up coffee because it didn't fit within the budget. I only drank water. My drastic change in diet made me listless and grumpy.

Maybe that's why his restaurants give all their unsold bread, rolls, and bagels at the end of the day to food pantries.

Maybe the unfair and inaccurate preconceptions people have about food stamp families makes them as callous as the Congressmen they vote for.

 

[Michie]

My motto? And many missions will agree with me, do not give food and clothing you will not eat or wear yourself. Yes, something is better than nothing. But many do not know the mental and health issue that come with the poor. Yes, God bless MacDonalds for giving what they usually throw in the dumpster everywhere else in the world. And.. decide to give in the Vatican state. And I do not disregard the good they do for families with sick kids. But the fact is, they sell subpar food at overpriced costs to the rest of us that can afford to choose our own poison. This is not an altrusic thing that they are doing. But if you are just trying to fill a belly while trying to up the 'brand' sure'! Why not?!

Eat the rich.

 

[Open Heart]

A myth and utterly incorrect. The reason why you have so many obese poor people with diabetes and heart disease is because they are lazy and/or (willfully) ignorant of nutrition. You can make meals which are healthier AND cheaper than fast food. Not that that's saying much. But it takes some effort, and a clue.

I didn't say fast food. I said junk food. Instead of eating fresh fruits and vegetables, lean unprocessed meats, and getting their carbs from rice, potatoes, corn, etc, Their diet is almost all processed foods, high in carbs from processed flours and sugars, especially the high fructose corn syrup that is hidden in virtually all processed foods. And yes, that IS the diet that will make you obese, with diabetes, heart disease, and metabolic syndrome. It is awful to admit, but this toxic diet is less expensive that a healthy one. And it is also the staple diet given out at food banks.

Most poor people are not lazy. The poor people I know work 2-3 jobs. The chronic homeless I know CAN'T work because they have mental problems or drug/alcohol addictions. How ignorant you seem to be on this topic. It's the incredibly rich who don't work that are lazy.

 

[Fantine]

If fast food restaurants donate food to pantries, and poor people use it to supplement their food stamp budgets, maybe they can use those food stamp budgets to buy fresh vegetables and fruit--because they are getting some bread and rolls from Panera's donations to the food pantries.

Another problem inner city and rural families have is that low cost retailers aren't located in their areas. When I lived in St. Louis, we used to make baskets for people in the inner cities, but we would have to give them gift certificates to the most expensive grocer out there for the perishables--because that was the only supermarket they had. When I visit my niece in NYC, I shudder at the prices at her local grocery (luckily, she has a car and can drive to a more reasonable grocer once a week). If every poor person had access to Aldi's (which has lots of organic foods) they would be much better able to afford healthy food--but there aren't Aldi's in small towns--or inner cities.

 

[Open Heart]

maybe they can use those food stamp budgets to buy fresh vegetables and fruit

They can. The problem is they have to STRETCH the food stamps because they really get less than really supports the family. The cheapest foods are things like pasta and bread. The cheapest meats are processed like balogne and ham, or fatty meats like hamburger and pork. The cheapest drinks are sodas, filled with high fructose corn syrup. Canned fruits and veggies are less expensive than fresh, but have added sugars and chemicals. Honestly, there's only so much lentils you can stand, and watery soups don't keep you from getting hungry soon after. Yes, part of it is nutrition. But even if they had nutritional knowledge, they would still have to stretch that budget. I know I did.

 

[Open Heart]

Another problem inner city and rural families have is that low cost retailers aren't located in their areas.

Yes that's a really big problem.

 

[Fantine]

They can. The problem is they have to STRETCH the food stamps because they really get less than really supports the family. The cheapest foods are things like pasta and bread. The cheapest meats are processed like balogne and ham, or fatty meats like hamburger and pork. The cheapest drinks are sodas, filled with high fructose corn syrup. Canned fruits and veggies are less expensive than fresh, but have added sugars and chemicals. Honestly, there's only so much lentils you can stand, and watery soups don't keep you from getting hungry soon after. Yes, part of it is nutrition. But even if they had nutritional knowledge, they would still have to stretch that budget. I know I did.

I realize that the average food stamp budget won't cover fresh fruit, vegetables, and quality meat and fish, but perhaps if people on food stamps receive some free food--even if it is from McDonald's or, better yet, Panera--their food stamps will stretch far enough to allow them to make healthier choices.