This week's temptation brings us to an update on a recent story on McDonald's changes to its signature Happy Meal, reducing the amount of fries, increasing apples, and giving parents the option to forego fries for apples sans caramel sauce.
I joked in the earlier column that McDonald's will never replace the Happy Meal with a portabello burger with organic condiments, baked sweet potato fries, a broccoli stem, and an Al Gore climate change action figure. While that was my best joke in some time, the more poignant result was wondering what a healthy "happy meal" could look like.
Should we start with the premise of a sandwich, carbohydrate side, vegetable or fruit, and a toy? Or mix up the allotment of items?
If we stuck with the sandwich theme, a portabello mushroom with spinach and roasted red peppers in a wrap would be nice, but really messy. And sprouts would get all over the place. Maybe a fake meat burger would be more appealing.
Having a salad of some kind would involve more extensive packaging, and our "happy meal" might not be so happy.
With a wrap, we have carbohydrates to spend here. Maybe in keeping the "fries" theme, we could bring back something like the long-ago sourdough sticks from Boudin with the parmesan peppercorn dressing. Mmmmmm.
The fruit/vegetable would have to be something that kept well. Broccoli might work, and carrots/celery would be better suited here. Plus, you could have peanut butter (natural, of course) dipping bowls for the vegetables.
As for the toy, Al Gore figures would fly off the shelves. But you could also do stickers with a cool saying or important fact about the food supply.
What would make you happy in a "happy meal"? Submit your suggestions below in the comments section.
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