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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

#221

Post by [deleted] »

j2kun wrote: post #187
jernfrost wrote: post #157

Bizarre how the article seems to present this as a hopeful and positive thing about McDonalds. To me it is just another indicator of how broken American society is. A fast food place serving terrible and unhealthy food is becoming a gathering place for poor people who are probably the ones most in need of a healthier and better lifestyle. It is also a sad reminder of how society has gone so utterly wrong when the che…

In the article it seems like most people go for the coffee. Is their coffee as bad as their food, healthwise?

[deleted]

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

#222

Post by fluxquanta »

codemonkeymike wrote: post #203

It seem to me that the newly renovated McDonalds are more like Panera's so I can see the appeal to go there to hang and converse. My friends and I used to always hang out at McDonalds when we were kids because they don't care if you loiter for hours.

>It seem to me that the newly renovated McDonalds are more like Panera's

The McDonalds in my hometown used to be decorated completely in 1950's memorabilia. Lots of mint green and pink colors, old photographs of McDonalds of the time on the walls, big laminate figures of Elvis and Marilyn Monroe, models of cars of the time in a big display case, and even a working 45 record jukebox. It was a really cool place that a unique vibe to it.

A few years back they "renovated" it to look, as you say, like a generic Panera Bread and it lost all its charm and appeal, not to mention the memories I associated with the place as a kid. Until I was like 13 or 14 years old I thought ALL McDonalds looked like that.

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

#223

Post by Shivetya »

jernfrost wrote: post #157

Bizarre how the article seems to present this as a hopeful and positive thing about McDonalds. To me it is just another indicator of how broken American society is. A fast food place serving terrible and unhealthy food is becoming a gathering place for poor people who are probably the ones most in need of a healthier and better lifestyle. It is also a sad reminder of how society has gone so utterly wrong when the che…

There are healthy choices at McD, but why do so many give sit down restaurants a pass? Some of the big name ones will load you down in calories, fat, and salt, and just hide it behind foodie names and portions.

Yeah McD ain't the bastion of good health but not many places are except maybe a boutique spot

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

#224

Post by aluhut »

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…

Why do you go to McDonalds at all? Are there no healthier alternatives? Is it a price issue?

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

#225

Post by brianwawok »

cm2012 wrote: post #183
brianwawok wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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. Sounds like a false dichotomy. Why not prepare actual healthy food, and not 'slapped together kids meal' ?

McDonald's has some healthy options, wraps, salads, etc. They are a lot less popular though.

Have you looked at the ingredient labels? They are still crap. Salad is Iceberg lettuce, may as well eat cardboard. Salad dressings are high sugar highly processed fat free crap. Wraps are made with HFCS and a bunch of preservatives.

(Not saying most fast food is better, but McDonalds is about a 10/10 on the crap-o-meter).

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

#226

Post by drzaiusapelord »

jernfrost wrote: post #157

Bizarre how the article seems to present this as a hopeful and positive thing about McDonalds. To me it is just another indicator of how broken American society is. A fast food place serving terrible and unhealthy food is becoming a gathering place for poor people who are probably the ones most in need of a healthier and better lifestyle. It is also a sad reminder of how society has gone so utterly wrong when the che…

>unhealthy food

and food at other restaurants are magically healthy? Come on.

I lived in a poor neighborhood, heck I grew up in one. Our McDonalds was mostly a place to get breakfast and coffee and such and a lot of seniors spent all day or at least the morning in there reading, socializing, etc.

Meanwhile across the street you can get all a 3,000 calorie fettucine alfredo at the italian place. Or go to starbucks and get a 550 calorie frappucciono. The idea that only fast food is unhealthy is a bit much.

>but society has allowed huge chains pushing cheap unhealthy food to the masses flourish.

People will go where they want. Choice matters, you don't have to go to the mcdonalds, but it has cheap coffee and cheap breakfast. 300 calories for a McMuffin isn't the society destroying thing you seem to think. In fact, these people hang out at McDonalds because its usually the only place that won't chase them out after x amount of time after buying something. In poor neighborhoods there aren't a lot of boutique coffee shops with wifi or Paneras where hanging out is the norm. McDonalds as a hangout predates those by decades. If anything McDonalds is unusually progressive in this way. I know its un-cool to praise McDonalds, but I think Ray Kroc had his heart in the right place and sincerely cared about customer service and the experience of his customers.

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

#227

Post by _Codemonkeyism »

niftich wrote: post #145
_Codemonkeyism wrote: post #119

What astonishes me, is how often poor people go eating in a restaurant (e.g. breakfast in the first paragraph) when making breakfast at home (or lunch) is so much cheaper (as a fun exercise we often calculate the prices of our home lunch). Although I have a nice income, 80% of the time I bring my own food to work because restaurants are too expensive in my opinion to regularly use them. As a side note: I have the sus…

To make food at home, you either need fresh, perishable ingredients and/or time to prep and cook. Even accessing fresh ingredients may be a hassle (see: food deserts), so eating off the dollar menu often feels like a better use of your money than making the trek to the grocery store to buy some perishables that you then have to cook before they go bad. It's similar to why poor people buy poor-quality shoes more often…

I agree if people have no time. I don't watch any TV, but many people do watch a lot of TV so the "no time" is more a prioritization issue for many, watch TV or prepare food.

"It's similar to why poor people buy poor-quality shoes more often, as opposed to one high-quality pair once a year."

On the contrary, poor people buy poor shoes because they are cheaper and they don't have enough disposable income to afford good quality shoes.

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

#228

Post by codemonkeymike »

fluxquanta wrote: post #222
codemonkeymike wrote: post #203

It seem to me that the newly renovated McDonalds are more like Panera's so I can see the appeal to go there to hang and converse. My friends and I used to always hang out at McDonalds when we were kids because they don't care if you loiter for hours.

>It seem to me that the newly renovated McDonalds are more like Panera's The McDonalds in my hometown used to be decorated completely in 1950's memorabilia. Lots of mint green and pink colors, old photographs of McDonalds of the time on the walls, big laminate figures of Elvis and Marilyn Monroe, models of cars of the time in a big display case, and even a working 45 record jukebox. It was a really cool place that a…

I can understand, the McDonalds in my hometown had the ball pit and all the 1950's fixings until about 5 years ago when they ripped it all out and did the same but the real killer was that the ball pit was replaced with a bunch of gamecube stations.

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

#229

Post by drzaiusapelord »

stcredzero wrote: post #76
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…

>I swear, when I hear some fellow "liberals" talking about their own rural underclass or Republicans or Christians

It seems like intolerance follows pendulum shift every 30 years or so. Liberals have the new intolerance, its just incredible how much disdain there is for everyone who isn't to the left of Elizabeth Warren and my god, the SJW stuff is out of control.

I have no idea if we've hit a peak with this stuff yet, but its hard to imagine how much worse in can get.

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

#230

Post by norea-armozel »

greenspot wrote: post #102

McDonalds is the master in orchestrating food. I love McDonalds and I think their hamburger is the best hamburger, their french fries are the best and all the other menu options have this typical McDonalds design--everything, every single piece and ingredient is meticulously thought through and the final dish has a perfect taste. The taste you get for the carb in-take is unmatched. It's cool to hate McDonalds, I know…

I just don't like McDs because honestly the quality has gone down since I was a kid. Part of that is the whole fear of saturated fats found in beef tallow which made the fries great. But honestly, the burgers are just okay today compared to Five Guys (I'm not kidding I think they do burgers better but their fries are junk). And I tell you some folks I know make more flavorful burgers than even Five Guys, but good luck getting the recipe out of them.
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