I've seen several articles trumpeting the resurgence of the McRib sandwich on major news websites this week. These are websites that typically report on political happenings and environmental crises - so kudos to the McDonald's marketing team for a job well done. The sandwich gets "released" every so often which generates interest and excitement among many consumers.
At this point, I must confess that I intended to search for #McRib chatter and post snippets of people's excitement over the sandwich. I did do the search, and I found a lot of happy remarks, but I was incredibly surprised at how much of what I read was anti-McRib. I've chosen to post those remarks instead:
Either Twitter is a haven for opinionated, yuppie foodies or it's a truly representative sample of Americans who have some sense. I hope the latter!
One must assume that McRib pork comes from factory farmed pigs based on the sheer quantity required to meet the demands of millions of customers . Everything I've read about the factory farming of animals makes me sad. Sad for the animals who cannot speak up for themselves and angry at huge companies for taking advantage. I'm not a vegetarian, and I understand that the eventual fate of any for-food animal is the same, but I believe also that the type of life they get to live matters. Every living thing will die one day, however, a life spent meandering outside, rooting around in the earth should be unanimously accepted as better than a life spent confined in a pen, sickly, and presumably unhappy.
At this point, I must confess that I intended to search for #McRib chatter and post snippets of people's excitement over the sandwich. I did do the search, and I found a lot of happy remarks, but I was incredibly surprised at how much of what I read was anti-McRib. I've chosen to post those remarks instead:
One must assume that McRib pork comes from factory farmed pigs based on the sheer quantity required to meet the demands of millions of customers . Everything I've read about the factory farming of animals makes me sad. Sad for the animals who cannot speak up for themselves and angry at huge companies for taking advantage. I'm not a vegetarian, and I understand that the eventual fate of any for-food animal is the same, but I believe also that the type of life they get to live matters. Every living thing will die one day, however, a life spent meandering outside, rooting around in the earth should be unanimously accepted as better than a life spent confined in a pen, sickly, and presumably unhappy.
Ode To The Pig
A factory pig's days
are no roll in the mud.
Dirty and crowded and stale.
So much potential for them,
with a toddler's intelligence
and social as a wagging dog.
But owners Smithfield and Tyson
need to keep expenses low.
Living among filth and disease,
the hogs grow too large for their bones
because of antibiotics.
Now Americans can devour
pork sandwiches
pork sandwiches
for a few bucks.
A friend admitted he and a coworker had two each for lunch. He didn't feel too good later!
ReplyDeleteFactory meat is scary stuff!
Ugh!! Thanks for sharing! It is definitely scary, and there is such a disconnect between the animals and what is sitting on the shelves of a grocery store.
ReplyDeleteI was just reading an article about the Humane Society suing Smithfield Farms over the poor treatment of animals on it's farms. This is the company McDonalds uses for the McRib sandwich ingredients. Here is a quote from The Huffpost article.
ReplyDelete"The pork bits that make up the meat include "tripe, heart and scalded stomach," which is bad enough. But the chemical additives that go into the sandwich are even worse. Allegedly, when the additives aren't binding lung and liver bits together, they're used for keeping yoga mats springy and shoe soles white."
Now that sounds yummy and oh so healthy!
Mmmmmm yoga mats.
ReplyDeleteThat is just crazy!!!!!