I have what could almost be described as a Pavlovian response to fast food restaurant advertisements for “healthy” menu options. It’s usually a derisive snort or disdainful roll of the eyes in the face of chocolate milk for soda substitutes or apple slices coated in some mystery preservative that keeps them from going brown. Ever. I can’t claim that I never indulge in fast food, but I really resent it being presented as a sensible daily choice.
When Taco Bell introduced the Fresco menu I had to check it out. (I was trying to imagine what diet chilli cheese fries might look like and this may be the art school talking, but the word fresco doesn’t mean ninety nine cent burrito to me.) What I found easily was the promotional info:
Fresco Crunchy Taco:
7 grams of fat – 150 calories
What took significantly more digging was the rest of the story. Sadly anticlimactic, the breakdown of those fats plus more than a days’ dietary allowance of carbohydrates, and enough salt to thaw my driveway in January, did not add up to a “healthy choice”. At least not by my understanding of the word “healthy”.
Luckily, in my Googling I tripped over this Open Letter to Taco Bell at Mark’s Daily Apple. The super fun and informative site that brought us the Rejected Food Pyramids:
Submitted by: Chuck Norris
Whoop ass (4-6 cans/day)
You (for breakfast, 2-3 servings)
Nothing (Chuck Norris doesn’t need food)
and the Many Uses of Junk Food. It’s a very clever commentary and really funny. If the information doesn’t put you off fast food, the pictures certainly will.
