McDonald's Sportin' the White Hat?

Since Blockbuster has been calling me for a few days wanting their movies back, I decided to watch one yesterday. If you haven't seen "Fast Food Nation" yet, you probably think that since it was shown at reputable independent theaters and shares it's name and theme with a popular book that indicted America's fast food industry and culture, it is likely a good movie.

(Spoiler alert......)


Well, it really wasn't. Considering the cast (Wilmer Valderama, Greg Kinnear, Patricia Arquette, Bruce Willis, Kris Kristofferson, Ethan Hawke, Avril Lavigne....) one would expect a much better product. Rather than providing a ballsy fact-based narrative indicting all of the shady and unethical things that fast food chains most likely do, they gave us a hodge-podge of unrelated characters whose stories all involve this fictional meat plant in Colorado. As a solution to the wrongs that were portrayed in the movie, traditional letter writing campains and boycotts were mocked. Eco-vandalism was the preferred method of action (though it didn't work either) because one character "[couldn't] think of anything...more patriotic than violating the Patriot Act! "

Though a tedious drag of a movie, it did rekindle some of my thoughts on mass-produced meat, among other things.

As many of you know, among my various principles is a refusal to eat at McDonald's or shop at Wal-Mart. It's been fairly easy to abide by those simple rules since I have (quite possibly just as bad) Whataburger and Target (no news is good news, right?) to provide relatively guilt-free burgers and domestic goods. One thing this movie did make me think about, even if accidentally, is the real effects of my everyday actions. The meat I eat and the clothes I wear have to be made by someone somewhere. I frequently buy things that I know I shouldn't. It's like my age-old gripe that the same people who refuse to let their teenagers work on Sundays, are more than happy to go out to eat with them after church. My kids are going to church, yours get to fry my chicken and go to hell. (hyperbole, I know.)

My point is that even though I have this knowledge and the guilt that goes with it, I'm not quite sure where to go from here. Should I never wear leather or eat meat? What about supporting corrupt regimes (at home and abroad) through purchasing gas and other petroleum products like plastic? Most people, myself included, just get overwhelmed with all of the guilt and decide to just do what we can.

And then the good news...

In the story linked above, Robert F. Kennedy's daughter tells us of a victory for Native American farm workers in Florida. It sounds like, perhaps as a result of all of the negative media attention and various boycotts, McDonald's is ready to make some real changes. We've all seen their menu get progressively greener. I think that you can now get milk or bottled water in your value meal. Perhaps this is the example of how consumer-led activism can bring about real change. McDonald's could be our generation's "dolphin-safe tuna."

Though it certainly took a lot more than passive consumer action to bring about this change, this can certainly be partially attributed to the reaction of consumers to the negative press. So, I will continue to "just do what I can" and support those that keep stirring up that bad press. Heck, now that McDonald's is inching its way off of my shit list, I just might try their McWater or McSalad or whatever else seems relatively safe. A little positive reinforcement never hurt a soul.