THE SEVEN YEAR OLD BURGERS

This story is absolutely true.
In 2007 we purchased 5 burgers as part of Troy's 8th grade national health day project, and we still have them.
Seven years later, February 2014, we still have those same burgers and there has been no bugs, no mold and no bad smells. It's frightening to think we call this food. I wouldn't expect you to believe it if we didn't have pictures to prove it.
    On May 16, 2007 we purchased:
  • Wendy Cheeseburger
  • BurgerKing Cheeseburger
  • MacDonald's Cheeseburger
  • Checkers Cheeseburger
For National Health Day, Troy decided to research Ray Kroc, founder of MacDonalds. He was investigating if the inexpensive foods sold by MacDonalds was a triumph or a tragedy. His research turned up lots of data to support both sides of the argument. For our family, it was a real eye-opener on the details about fast food. This was about the time Fast Food Nation was coming out so we were surrounded by sources of data. Troy's project didn't take first prize, but it was selected from his class to be put on display at the Henry Flagler Museum on National Heath Day. For his visual he made a 24inch hamburger and his display board contained data and statements from the fast food industry.
After the project was turned in and graded. he received an A, we didn't toss the hamburgers. They sat on our kitchen counter in their original bags on a tray. After 6 months we were amazed, no mold had grown and we saw no evidence of any bugs being interested in the "food". Think about that - bread, vegetables, meat and cheese sitting on our counter for 6 months. Or was it? We did more searching and we found the internet legend of the man who stopped by MacDonlads on a rainy day and bought 2 hamburgers. He ate one and put the other in his coat pocket. When he arrived home, he hung up his cost in the hall closet and didn't wear it again for a year. When he put on the coat and felt inside the pockets, he discovered a hamburger from 12 months ago and was amazed to see it had not spoiled. Actually, for 5 years our hamburgers still had a smell close to when we bought them. Have you ever really smelt a fast food hamburger up close?
So, now seven years later we still have those hamburgers. It's time to put them in the garbage or is it? From time-to-time our family and friends ask us how those hamburgers are doing? We often get suggestions that we should take the burgers on a classroom tour around town. In fact, we have taken them out a few times to give a presentation on nutrition. We have a motto in our house - "If bugs don't eat it, we shouldn't eat it". I've read that medical examiners have found that bodies don't decompose at the same rate they used to if the person was a heavy eater of fast food. Exhumed bodies have revealed un-decomposed fast food in autopsies years after the person was buried.
So what do you think? Is it food? Ray Kroc addressed peoples need for calories. The USA has the least expensive and most abundant food supply on the planet. A family can go out for a meal and not break the bank. This is a benefit. Ray Kroc conquered malnutrition but his solution also lead to wide-spread obesity. This can be partially blamed on the people who consume too much fast food, but it wasn't until recently that we started to require labels disclosing the facts about what we were eating. People truly did not have access to all the facts about the food they were eating allowing them to make a concious decision. Imagine if a grocer decided to inject chemicals and enhancements to celery to increase sales. It may make the celery taste better and it would undoubtedly sell more but if it also increased the calories from 0 to 1,000 shouldn't people be informed. I won't even say WARNED, but informed seems reasonable. Today we are informed by the menu at MacDonalds due to health legislation. Some may say this is imposed by our "nanny state". Counterfeit food should be disclosed to the would-be buyer just as I would need to disclose if I were going to pay for my meal with a well intentioned, artistically created, counterfeit 20 dollar bill.
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