"mcdonalds happy meal" news and stories

Our food system may not be perfect, but we have to admit we've come a long way since last December, with a new eye for public health and environmental responsibility. Here's a 2010 recap of the top stories worth a revisit before we move forward into the new year.

Redefining Organic
Until February 2010, the term "organic" was taken pretty loosely. Consumers weren't too sure what the organic stamp actually guaranteed. So the USDA released new rules, including the minimum time animals should have access to pasture: 4 months each year, with 30 percent of their diet sourced from said pasture.

Sustainable Seafood
In 2010, people weren't just concerned for their own health; they started really thinking about the health of what they ate as they reached for more locally grown, sustainably raised foods, and nothing became more political than seafood. We become more aware of the Seafood Watch Guide, which tells us which fish are sustainable to consume and where we can find it. We learned that bluefin tuna, a popular fish used in sushi, was going extinct and there was no move by the U.S. to protect it. And we saw the beginning of the battle over the first genetically engineered animal: salmon, which is yet to be approved but may face required labeling.

New York Cracks Down For Health
Mayor Bloomberg started this year off with a war against health-plaguing substances in New York City restaurants, which are historically models for restaurants across the country. We said good-bye to trans fats and almost lost salt and bake sales, too. In came proposed taxes to high-sugar items, as well as menu labeling and letter grades.

It's that time of the year again, when that jolly old fat guy sweeps down chimneys around the world, bearing gifts to those who are not naughty but nice. And for some, it's a Christmas tradition to leave an offering for Santa Claus -- typically a sweet treat of cookies and milk -- in an attempt to bribe him for the really good toys, like Mattel's Sing-A-Ma-Jigs and XBox Kinects, which elves apparently know how to make. This season, unless you're in an area were the local government has banned Happy Meals, like stuffy grinches stealing Christmas, you can follow this Fancy Fast Food mock recipe derived from McDonald's popular kids' meal, for a Christmas treat for Saint Nick made entirely out of fast food items. (Why not? He's obese anyway.)

Although the name Santa Claus comes from the Dutch "Sinter Klass" (an abbreviation of Sint Nikolaas, or Saint Nicholas), it's the German Kris Kringle who's inspired this regional treat: apple strudel. Sure we could just easily buy him McDonald's strudel-like apple pie (or their baked cookies for that matter), but where's the artistic integrity or fun in that?

Get the recipe and the how-to after the jump.

Another kind of toy story is being told in San Francisco, and, depending which side of the issue you're on, it now has a happy ending. Or at least a happy most-recent chapter. Mayor Gavin Newsom has vetoed the city Board of Supervisors' ban on fast-food restaurants selling kids' meals that include toys unless, reported the San Francisco Chronicle, the meals "meet a strict set of nutritional standards of reduced calories, salt, fat, and sugar, and also contain fruits and vegetables."

Yes, Mickey D's, the city by the bay was talkin' to you. Most Happy Meals, reports the Chronicle, pack more than the policy's cap of 639 milligrams of sodium, and more than 599 calories per meal. And with San Francisco's initiatives to combat childhood obesity, such as its Shape Up San Francisco program of healthier eating and more exercise opportunities for kids, the ban seemed to be just another step in the right direction.

But, said Mayor Newsom, the city was acquiring the reputation of playing parent to its citizens, banning the use of plastic bags and instituting mandatory recycling. Now it was going to tell actual parents what to feed their kids? Veto that!

Bay Area children can't bank on their Happy Meals, though. The Board of Supervisors can still override Newsom's veto. And then,say good-bye to the "Megamind" toy with your burger and fries.

What do you get when you fill a 6-by-10-foot Plexiglas enclosure with ants and then feed them a steady diet of McDonald's Happy Meals?

Why art, of course.

Brooklyn-based artist Elizabeth Demaray's exhibit -- "Corpor Esurit, or we all deserve a break today" -- at Exit Art in Manhattan takes a look at what happens when ants are given burgers, shakes and Chicken McNuggets in place of their regular diet (mostly seeds in the case of the ants used in the artwork) for one month, The New York Times reported.

The artist's goal is to "stage a commentary on the effects of the American diet on the creatures that depend on us for food," the paper reported. She worked with Dr. Christine Johnson, a scientific assistant and ant researcher at the American Museum of Natural History.

McDonald's officials in Shanghai attempted to reassure customers that their food is fine to eat after a Denver nutritionist published claims that it is packed with preservatives.

Joann Bruso, whose website is called BabyBites.com, left a Happy Meal (a product primarily eaten by children) out for one year...that's right a whole year. The horrifying results? She alleges that the food did not change at all.

"It sat on my shelf for a year as a silent witness to our fast-food industry. It never smelled bad. The food did not decompose," she wrote.