McDonald’s 2.0

Do you remember eating happy meals as a child?

There was nothing greater in the world than being handed that little red box and peeking inside to see what toy you had received. Maybe you snuck a few fries on the way home. Or maybe you had cool parents who let you eat the whole thing in the car.

The happy meal has changed. The toys have nothing on our miniature Furby figurines. And instead of fries, kids sneak apple slices.

The McDonald’s menu is planning another makeover, according to an article in the New York Times.  

More fruits and veggies are expected to join the salads and wraps McDonald’s already offers in its attempt to offer healthier options.

It’s an all-in effort to help end childhood obesity.

Childhood obesity is getting bad, like wet midnight-snacking Gremlins bad. As of 2010, almost 18 percent of children ages 6 to 11 were obese.

Organizations like the Alliance for a Healthier Generation are making it their goal to find an end to the problem, and they think it begins with businesses like McDonald’s.

I disagree. Ending childhood obesity is not McDonald’s’ responsibility.

McDonald’s isn’t being forced into this change. And I don’t think it’s a bad thing they’re willing to change.

I think it’s brilliant they see the difference they could make in children’s health and want to play their part.

And the cold truth is McDonald’s has to change.

Society is being overrun by health nuts. Suddenly everyone wants to know everything about the food they eat — from the germs on the packaging when they buy it at the store, to the meaning behind its final appearance when they flush it down the toilet.

McDonald’s business is threatened. The millennial generation is attracted to restaurants like Chipotle and Panera Bread, where the menu contains more fresh foods and is deemed healthier.

In order to keep up, McDonald’s needs to incorporate not only more healthy options, but less of their bad ones.

Former President Bill Clinton has advocated this campaign, saying, “If we want to curb the catastrophic economic and health implications of obesity across the world, we need more companies to follow McDonald’s lead and step up to the plate and make meaningful changes.”

Sorry, Mr. Clinton. But I think you’re wrong.

What we need are parents who give time to cook instead of ordering a pizza when they’re feeling lazy. We need parents who don’t teach their kids to rely on fast food by stopping in for a bag of McDoubles on the way home three times a week.

We need parents who teach their kids the green thing outside their window — the backyard — isn’t just for aesthetic pleasure. You can play in it.

Stop letting the Xbox babysit your kids and take them on a bike ride.

It’s not wrong of McDonald’s to change. It’s wrong for the blame of this epidemic to be put on businesses like McDonald’s.

They are here to make food, not teach us about it. They don’t make us fat. Our lack of knowledge or blatant lack of caring does.

We aren’t what we eat, we are what we know.

— lnbanks@indiana.edu
Follow columnist Lexia Banks on Twitter @LexiaBanks.