I've just had a quick meal at McDonald's here in Cape Town. The most important difference is that a medium sized meal and two extra burgers costs less than a medium sized meal in Belgium (or for the most part of Western Europe).
More striking was how it tastes. If I remember correctly, McDonald's had to stop using hydrogenated vegetable fat in New York City after a law was passed in the State a few years back. This eventually led to a fast food revolution all over the US. Then the EU picked up the scent and decided to do the same. Now they all have to use some rather expensive and rather tasteless alternative.
So, now, the common comment I get from people that American fast food tastes "like cardboard" is actually becoming more valid than before. I will still defend it to the bone (after some layers of grease unavoidably).
It seems in South Africa they didn't jump on that particular bandwagon yet. The chicken nuggets tastes as they did back in the 80s, extremely good, and the crusty goodness is all there in its original form. The fries have that really McD taste and smell, quite addictive. I think that's how I got hooked. It's that smell you get when you happen across a McDonald's anywhere in the world.
If I have to be honest I'd say even KFC tastes better here than in Europe. And it's cheaper. And the chicken is larger in size.
One of the places where fast food tastes different to anywhere else in the world is in the Arab part of the world. When I last had Mickie D's in Dubai, it tasted fine but quite noticeably different. I think it was due to the fact that they did not allow certain spices and colourants to be used in foodstuffs by law. But it was fine nevertheless.
Eating fast food is a choice. If people cannot control themselves, then it's their fault. But this form of eating came out of a productive era when people were working hard and tending to their families. In order to maximise the already limited time people had every day, fast food came about. It was a cheap and efficient solution where the family can enjoy a meal together with virtually no preparation time.
More laws means more misery to mankind. More laws also mean more personal freedom is being inflicted upon. Think about it, democracy means freedom to all to do, to think, to say what they wish, on the condition it does not work its way into the freedoms of others. Are we still living in a democratic world...?
One final thought before signing off...
When the autobahn, the world's first automotive highway system first conceived in Germany in the early parts of the 20th Century, was designed, it was specifically drawn up not to have any speed limits. Why? The architect said that on a high speed motorway system, it would be safer for people to judge their own speeds and adapt themselves in a fluid operation than to impose a pre-set limit. We should trust people to know what they are doing in a way. Nothing major really happens in Germany even when some of their roads are still unlimited.
Stop erasing our freedom! We elect you lot to improve our lives not taking it away from us!
- Posted from my iPhone
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