Sacre Bleu! France willingly eats McD's..

[woodsmoke]

Apparently,

a) The French eat more McD's per capita than any other country.
b) After U.S. McD's makes second most amount of money in France
c) McD's has a stated policy of "buying local" and since it is a U.S. corporation, that is lost in the impugning of McD's. But, apparently, McD's buys 70 percent of it's "food" for the French stores ... in France.
d) the following articles are for perusal:

France has lost it's culture war with the U.S.

How McDonald's conquered France...with a French CEO

The Louvre Director could have stopped McD's but chose not to....and also Starbuck's

The French operation of McDonald’s is the second most profitable after the one in the United States. ..... However.... ambon beurre, a sandwich of butter and slices of ham on a crusty baguette, “still outsells burgers 10 to 1.”


From observations at McDonald's the French and American researchers found that the average American customer spent 35% less time at the table. The French spent an average of 22.2 minutes eating and sitting at McDonald's, while Americans stayed only 14.4 minutes. Also smaller portions. Also French "don't snack".

And, curiously, I have switched my eating habits completely away from "fast food" and "mostly American food or Mexican food or Chineese food" to ....very, very, high end Italian, about 80 percent with the rest a mix of "light Chineese" a smaller amount of "light " Mexican and "home cookin' "American".

And why is that? My lifestyle has changed BACK to what it was fourty years ago.... I now do more "dining/visiting" as opposed to "eating".

So maybe......the U.S. will become more "Frenchiefied/Italianfied" in it's food habits as the population moves further into the post-reproductive profile.

What a possible turn of events!!

woodsmoke

[DoYouKubuntu]

Re: Sacre Bleu! France willingly eats McD's..

I've neither been to, nor have I missed, McDonald's for the past 23+ years. After becoming vegetarian [for ethical reasons] and finding out that even their fries weren't vegetarian [they were seasoned with animal fat], I said screw them and never looked back!

[SteveRiley]

Re: Sacre Bleu! France willingly eats McD's..

the post-reproductive profile

This made me laugh out loud!

[woodsmoke]

Re: Sacre Bleu! France willingly eats McD's..

Hi DYK, I've never really be a "fan" of McD's myself, but some of the items on the breakfast menu such as the "english muffin" sandwiches are ok, in that i like english muffins.

SR., I figured that the comment would elicit such a response, but eccctually I really was referring to a real situation, it is an "animated tornado" chart of the age structure of the U.S.

One will notice that the population is moving into the age group that is "post reproductive".

But actually, this is a canard. The massive influx of Hispanics are in the "pre" to "reproductive" stage.

So, here is one place where the science fiction and population doom and gloom people were totally and completely and utterly wrong. They all said that the "white" population of the U.S. would be replaced by Asians.. (ex: blade runner).

[img width=400 height=278]http://pics.blameitonthevoices.com/012011/growth_of_us_population_by_age.gif[/img]

http://www.blameitonthevoices.com/20...wth-of-us.html

woodsmoke

[DoYouKubuntu]

Re: Sacre Bleu! France willingly eats McD's..

Hi DYK, I've never really be a "fan" of McD's myself, but some of the items on the breakfast menu such as the "english muffin" sandwiches are ok, in that i like english muffins.

I'll admit that back in the day--before I knew about McDonalds' destruction of rain forests and things like that, and before going veg--I actually enjoyed some of their food. An occasional Big Mac really hit the spot, and I loved their fries. But like I said, I've neither visited nor missed them for over 23 years now.

[bsniadajewski]

Re: Sacre Bleu! France willingly eats McD's..

I go to McDonald's once in a great while for a meal (their premium chicken sandwich, grilled, in pretty good IMO), but like woodsmoke and DYK, i'm not a big fan of Mickey D's. There are no ethical reasons for it (I'm not a veg(etari)an, I do like both meat and veggies/fruit.), just that I have no need to.

[DoYouKubuntu]

Re: Sacre Bleu! France willingly eats McD's..

I do like both meat and veggies/fruit.)

So did I, until I learned about the heinous abuse of sentient beings in the meat industry. That pretty much made me lose my lunch...and I never looked back.

[oshunluvr]

Re: Sacre Bleu! France willingly eats McD's..

Ever notice no one worries about the veggies? Ripped from the ground when they're still young. Torn stalk-from-stalk. Often eaten while still alive...

...Sad, isn't it

[SteveRiley]

Re: Sacre Bleu! France willingly eats McD's..

Indeed. Every time I boil some rhubarb, I shed a tear.

[dibl]

Re: Sacre Bleu! France willingly eats McD's..

until I learned about the heinous abuse of sentient beings in the meat industry.

If you were totally honest about it, DYK, is it really about "heinous abuse"? Riddle me this -- if it were proved beyond all doubt, to your complete satisfaction, that the hogs lived their (short) lives in luxury, and ended them under general anesthesia, would you be back to ham and eggs for breakfast?

[DoYouKubuntu]

Re: Sacre Bleu! France willingly eats McD's..

Ever notice no one worries about the veggies? Ripped from the ground when they're still young. Torn stalk-from-stalk. Often eaten while still alive...

...Sad, isn't it

Do you have ANY idea how many times I've heard this? The difference, my friend, is that plants are not sentient beings. They have no central nervous system or brain. They have no capacity to feel fear, pain, separation anxiety, grief or anything else that animals--including the human variety--can. Do some research on factory farming and then tell me if you'd want your pets treated that way. I know *I* wouldn't--and there's ABSOLUTELY no difference between a dog and a cow in terms of their status as sentient beings. It's just that we, as a society, have declared that SOME animals can be tortured and killed while others cannot. Makes no sense whatsoever...

[DoYouKubuntu]

Re: Sacre Bleu! France willingly eats McD's..

until I learned about the heinous abuse of sentient beings in the meat industry.

If you were totally honest about it, DYK, is it really about "heinous abuse"? Riddle me this -- if it were proved beyond all doubt, to your complete satisfaction, that the hogs lived their (short) lives in luxury, and ended them under general anesthesia, would you be back to ham and eggs for breakfast?

I've been asked this many times, and I've also been asked the very hypothetical question "if meat could be produced in a lab, without the use of live animals at all" would I resume eating it. The answers: Absolutely not [to the former] and MAYBE [to the latter].

Even though it was the abuse of animals in the meat industry that first turned me veg, I now cannot fathom eating the flesh of a once living sentient being. Period. I would gag if I tried to. Knowing that the animal--such as a pig, which is smarter than a dog--was killed so I could eat its flesh repulses me, and it wouldn't matter HOW humanely the pig lived and died. I just couldn't do it.

In the hypothetical case...I don't know. I'm so repulsed at the thought of eating another living being's flesh at this point that even if a steak could be produced in a lab, I just don't think I'd want to partake. Right, even KNOWING it didn't come from an actual animal, I just think it would disgust me.

[dibl]

Re: Sacre Bleu! France willingly eats McD's..

I now cannot fathom eating the flesh of a once living sentient being. Period. I would gag if I tried to.

That answers my question.

Of course, I disagree with and oppose abuse* of animals. I grew up farming, and raised and slaughtered hogs and cattle (which were treated well while living, and were killed instantly with a properly-placed shot to the head).

* I think "abuse", like beauty, lies a lot in the eye of the beholder. I'm OK with testing medicine of unproven efficacy on rats and monkeys, as long as it is scientifically supportive of development for human use. I rate human needs higher than animal comforts.

[oshunluvr]

Re: Sacre Bleu! France willingly eats McD's..

Ever notice no one worries about the veggies? Ripped from the ground when they're still young. Torn stalk-from-stalk. Often eaten while still alive...

...Sad, isn't it

Do you have ANY idea how many times I've heard this? The difference, my friend, is that plants are not sentient beings. They have no central nervous system or brain. They have no capacity to feel fear, pain, separation anxiety, grief or anything else that animals--including the human variety--can. Do some research on factory farming and then tell me if you'd want your pets treated that way. I know *I* wouldn't--and there's ABSOLUTELY no difference between a dog and a cow in terms of their status as sentient beings. It's just that we, as a society, have declared that SOME animals can be tortured and killed while others cannot. Makes no sense whatsoever...

Uh wow - it was a joke. You really need to take a pill or whatever.

[bsniadajewski]

Re: Sacre Bleu! France willingly eats McD's..

I now cannot fathom eating the flesh of a once living sentient being. Period. I would gag if I tried to.

That answers my question.

Of course, I disagree with and oppose abuse* of animals. I grew up farming, and raised and slaughtered hogs and cattle (which were treated well while living, and were killed instantly with a properly-placed shot to the head).

* I think "abuse", like beauty, lies a lot in the eye of the beholder. I'm OK with testing medicine of unproven efficacy on rats and monkeys, as long as it is scientifically supportive of development for human use. I rate human needs higher than animal comforts.

+1

One could say also that, e.g., an African lion wouldn't care if that gazelle he just killed was sentient or not. To him, it's lunch. (Predatory) animals have been doing this for millions of years without any worries. I don't think we should worry too much about sentience in the foods that we eat (or choose not to).