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OrganicBunny.com Travel Lost In Fast Food Land You and your family are in an unfamiliar town. It's getting towards lunchtime, and you're thinking about finding someplace to eat. But all you can find for miles and miles are chains of fast food restaurants. Do you keep searching for something healthier as everyone gets more cranky; resign yourself to the "oh well, it’s vacation" mentality and give up; or what? Thankfully, a lot of fast food chains have begun cleaning up their act, so the options may not be as bleak as they seem. If you're unfamiliar with the new options, or wonder which chain is healthiest, read on. This article is the first in a series on fast food restaurants. We'll start with the 800-pound gorilla in the fast food industry: McDonald's It's no wonder that McDonald's decided to healthy-up its act after all the bad press the company received surrounding the issue of obesity. Today, their website strives to promote all things healthy. Not only can you read up on the nutrition info of their menu items; you can customize a meal and get suggestions. Not only can you get nutrition advice from McDonald's Nutrition Expert; you can sign a commitment to "go active" with Oprah Winfrey's personal trainer. Clearly, the company has gotten savvy to the fact that its customers want more than a juicy burger and fries. They want healthy choices. We think that the fact that the company has responded with apple dippers and fruit parfaits is a great indicator of the power of consumer feedback. So, back to our lunch scenario: you probably won't have access to the company's website when you're at the counter, so you need some healthy things in mind to order. Here are just a few ideas. For more, check out McDonald’s own recommendations at: www.mcdonalds.com.
This 500-calorie meal has a total of only 7g of fat, 5 mg cholesterol, and 390mg sodium
This is McDonald's healthiest salad, with far less sodium than their other choices. In fact, this 410-calorie meal has only 16g of fat, 10mg cholesterol, and 210g sodium.
Would you believe that the Chicken McNuggets contain only 170 calories? That brings this meal to a total of 310 calories, with 19g of fat, 35mg cholesterol, and 910g sodium. Organic Bonus! On the organic front, as you've probably heard, McDonald's now serves organic coffee. It's not offered in ALL McDonald's locations yet, but we still consider it a huge step for the organic industry. If it does well, and McDonald's decides to expand into other organic food items, just imagine the effect that that could have! Furthermore, we were happy to learn that McDonald's earth-friendly initiatives are not limited to providing more healthy menu choices. They also have sponsored environmental efforts from supporting anti-litter campaigns that helped to reduce waste in the UK, to switching to more environmentally-friendly packaging in the US, to telling chicken farmers that the company will not buy their eggs if they are cruel to their hens! In fact, last year, McDonald’s was accepted into the Ceres network of companies. According to Greenbiz.com, Ceres is a "coalition of investors, environmental organizations, and other public interest groups working with companies to tackle sustainability challenges." Its president, Mindy S. Lubber, says, "From energy efficiency, to food resource sustainability, to greening its supply chain, McDonald"s has made great strides improving its social and environmental performance." So you can eat that McMuffin AND still feel like a socially & environmentally responsible citizen. Who knew?! Read more about McDonald's Ceres designation at: www.greenbiz.com/news Coming Next Month: Wendy's 
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