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In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

theguardian.com

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Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#71

Post by bryanlarsen »

smokey_the_bear wrote: post #6

McDonalds is the only restaurant I enjoy eating at with my 2 and 3 year olds. Every other restaurant is a slog to get through the meal. Honestly I'd eat there more often if it weren't for the social stigma of it. (I live in Berkeley). I am pretty sure the cheeseburger, apple slices, and chocolate milk are not much worse, and probably better, than the typical fare on a slapped together kids meal. When I was a kid, my…

That'll stop when your kids taste the French fries. After that you'll have a battle to get them to accept the apple slices.

Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#73

Post by programLyrique »

grecy wrote: post #30

> I am pretty sure the cheeseburger, apple slices, and chocolate milk are not much worse, and probably better, than the typical fare on a slapped together kids meal. Wow. It saddens me to see that statement. I thought it was commonly knowledge that McDonalds isn't actually "food" in the nutrition and health sense of the word any more than cotton candy and pure salt are.

What is kid food? Kids can very early eat and enjoy the same food as adults; it's a question of food education (for instance, https://theconversation.com/pleasure-is-good-how-french-chil... in France and Italy)

Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#74

Post by ciaranm »

FunctionalMan wrote: post #32

People like to bash McDonalds, I love it. I'm a very health-conscious person. I'm 5'10", 155 pounds, 53 years old, and have a nicely defined body (you can see my abs!) It's easy to count calories in McDonald. An Egg McMuffin is 310 calories. A regular hamburger is 240, a Big Mac is 563. I can have an Egg McMuffin and black coffee for breakfast (310 calories), two regular hamburgers for lunch (480) calories, and a Big…

You're being downvoted because it's cool to hate on McDonald's, but I agree with you.

From my experience in the UK, their menu is increasingly easy to find nutritional information for (the print it in big font on -all- of their packaging), and they offer alternatives for fries/sodas if you like. Much of the McDonald's menu is far healthier than 'real' restaurant equivalents, which use much more oil/salt because the international community isn't scrutinising every menu item.

Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#75

Post by dang »

grecy wrote: post #30

> I am pretty sure the cheeseburger, apple slices, and chocolate milk are not much worse, and probably better, than the typical fare on a slapped together kids meal. Wow. It saddens me to see that statement. I thought it was commonly knowledge that McDonalds isn't actually "food" in the nutrition and health sense of the word any more than cotton candy and pure salt are.

We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=11903205 and marked it off-topic.

Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#76

Post by stcredzero »

smokey_the_bear wrote: post #6

McDonalds is the only restaurant I enjoy eating at with my 2 and 3 year olds. Every other restaurant is a slog to get through the meal. Honestly I'd eat there more often if it weren't for the social stigma of it. (I live in Berkeley). I am pretty sure the cheeseburger, apple slices, and chocolate milk are not much worse, and probably better, than the typical fare on a slapped together kids meal. When I was a kid, my…

People finding community of some form is not just a good thing, it's an essential thing to human life. It should always be lauded. However, there is a lot of socioeconomic and sub-cultural in-group/out-group judgement in US society, all of which feels absolutely justified by those doing the judging.

http://www.vox.com/2016/4/21/11451378/smug-american-liberali...

In reality, it's all exactly the same sort of crap that was portrayed on Mad Men. Such prejudice is the same, whether it is enacted by tweed jacket wearing Ivy Leaguers, rural low-brow native americans, "poor white trash," urban black people, affluent Koreans, undergraduate students, "Social Justice Warriors," or Bay Area programmers. I should know, because I've been on the receiving end of it from all of the above, while also being a member of about half those groups. (Often having diametrically opposed things projected onto me!)

When it comes down to it, people should be given a chance as individuals, not summarily judged as units of a group. (Martin Luther King Jr. put it best...)

I swear, when I hear some fellow "liberals" talking about their own rural underclass or Republicans or Christians, the kind of disdain that comes across seems like something that should no longer exist in the 21st century, outside of movies about the Jim Crow south.

Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#77

Post by distances »

niftich wrote: post #37
protomyth wrote: post #4

I would love to see someone do a purpose built place with a targeted menu to see how it would do as a modern version of a community center. 1) big glass windows with good interior lighting

In some parts of Europe, McDonald's is actually a somewhat upmarket option, and fulfills a purpose similar to Starbucks in the US. Some downtown ones are in historic buildings with elegant furniture. This is a bit atypical, but here's a nice one in Budapest: https://mic.com/articles/85625/this-is-the-world-s-fanciest-...

Which parts? Where I currently am I would not admit going to a McDonald's (or Burger King for that matter). There are lots of grubby independent places such as cheap, greasy kebab joints here, and even they seem to place above the chain fastfood restaurants in social acceptableness.

Not trying to be snobby, just curious what's below McDonald's if it can be considered "upmarket".

Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#78

Post by ablation »

ciaranm wrote: post #74
FunctionalMan wrote: post #32

People like to bash McDonalds, I love it. I'm a very health-conscious person. I'm 5'10", 155 pounds, 53 years old, and have a nicely defined body (you can see my abs!) It's easy to count calories in McDonald. An Egg McMuffin is 310 calories. A regular hamburger is 240, a Big Mac is 563. I can have an Egg McMuffin and black coffee for breakfast (310 calories), two regular hamburgers for lunch (480) calories, and a Big…

You're being downvoted because it's cool to hate on McDonald's, but I agree with you. From my experience in the UK, their menu is increasingly easy to find nutritional information for (the print it in big font on -all- of their packaging), and they offer alternatives for fries/sodas if you like. Much of the McDonald's menu is far healthier than 'real' restaurant equivalents, which use much more oil/salt because the i…

I think they're being downvoted because they're a new account with no submissions and no other comments bar this one, which looks a little... ah... suspicious?

Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#79

Post by xeromal »

stevecalifornia wrote: post #46

I recently went to a McDonald's in Austria. I was blown away by how they were going exactly for the community center vibe. There was a bar with four or five internet connected tablets a half-basketball court next to the jungle gym and patio seating like you'd find at an upscale resteraunt. It also had a dedicated coffee and desert bar. Also, the cash registers were gone and in their place were four huge touchscreens…

There are a few in the US. They are just in select locations. I wrote software for McDs a while back and they were always coming up with high-tech initiatives. Too bad the environment was cut throat or I would have enjoyed working there.

Re: In poor neighborhoods, McDonald’s have become de-facto community centers

#80

Post by bluedino »

tetromino_ wrote: post #49
smokey_the_bear wrote: post #6

McDonalds is the only restaurant I enjoy eating at with my 2 and 3 year olds. Every other restaurant is a slog to get through the meal. Honestly I'd eat there more often if it weren't for the social stigma of it. (I live in Berkeley). I am pretty sure the cheeseburger, apple slices, and chocolate milk are not much worse, and probably better, than the typical fare on a slapped together kids meal. When I was a kid, my…

Your kids are your kids and it's your choice how to raise them given your financial and time constraints, but teaching a 3-year-old to associate comfort and happiness with unhealthy food doesn't strike me as the wisest decision. When they are old enough and responsible enough for their bodies, they might decide on their own that they enjoy nicotine, corn syrup, salt, starch, and fry oil - but why bias them towards su…

My siblings and I all got the 'bad' happy meal as a reward. Hamburger/nuggets, fries, Coca-cola or Sprite. Oh, and it came with the happy meal box full of activities and an actual toy. None of us developed unhealthy relationships with food or even became overweight.
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