Mickie D's vs. Zazie

Old McDonald had a farm, e-i! e-i! o! And on that farm he had a chicken! e-i! e-i! o! With a "cluck cluck" here and a "cluck cluck"-wait, are there actually chickens on the McDonald's farm? to answer the question, yes. but lets take a look at what those chickens actually look like, because something tells me they are not joyfully "clucking".


so, at this point, you may be asking yourself...why is ashton (and chris, yes it is my blog but this was a collaborative effort) showing a PETA video on her blog? and why is she bashing mcdonald's? well, even though i am showing a PETA video, i am not entirely bashing mcdonald's; i don't think. is it possible to enjoy and support mcdonald's, but at the same time agree with PETA and demand for change? i think so, or at least i hope so...

okay, maybe now is a good time to shift into...REVERSE REVERSE!

as part of the eating san francisco class at usf, our last journey included eating dinner at Zazie and having "dessert" at mcdonald's. oh, and not just any mcdonald's, haight street mcdonald's! notorious, for the large homeless population, high crime rate, and drug dealing depot.

just when my parents thought i would be having class in the new k-hall building at usf...don't worry, we had a very intimidating, newly tenured professor with us ;)

so, why would we eat dinner at a fabulous restaurant like Zazie-a restaurant that prides itself on using organic milk and free, range, antibiotic and hormone-free eggs from local farms-and then move on to mcdonald's-a restaurant that is increasingly becoming a target for negativity and unhealthy eating. **note: check out the documentary: super size me"** i don't know if there is a simple answer to that question, but i think our professor wanted the class to reflect on the current book we are reading/read: Michael Pollan's "The Omnivore's Dilemma".
while reading this book, i was instantly reminded of another: Skinny Bitch
(chris, unfortunately has not read this book yet but i think i may have him convinced into reading it while he relaxes on the beach this summer ;) ) the overall premise of both books causes the reader to think about where their food is coming from...think about that for a second. where does your food come from? i don't mean the grocery store or the cafeteria or your roommate's pantry, but where is it made? now, do i have you scratching your head? the simple (yet oh so very mind boggling) answer: corn. yup, it's that easy. actually, it's not easy at all. but for the technicalities i suggest you pick up a copy of the omnivore's dilemma and find out all the gory details for yourself. the idea that we don't know where our food comes from, how it is made, how it is distributed, and what nutrients we are actually receiving is very scary. food is essential for life. and i think people are really starting to take that fact for granted.

so, mickie d's vs. zazie (with no "s").
zazie: local restaurant, cage-free animals, hormone-free and local eggs, organic milk, expensive, single location, small seating area, approximately 25 employees-courtesy of Nick-friendly, impeccable service, an experience. below is a video of the chefs preparing our delicious dish. several employees watched as i filmed this (not to mention the great company i was sitting with jessie, ashley, michael, and marco), and no one asked me to stop.



mickie d's: 31,000 worldwide locations, 1.5 million employees, cheap, convenient, fast, questionable farming practices, unhealthy, feeds more than 47 million people per day, huge charity organization: RMHC
below are some pictures i collected while waiting for my oreo cookie mcflurry to be made; the manager, after an employee informed her of what i was doing, asked me to put my camera away and stop taking pictures while inside mcdonald's...witness=laura



it looks like they both have pros and cons. which one is sustainable? i think that could be argued either way. but right now, during the Go Green and Organic phenomenon, people may be leaning towards supporting restaurants like Zazie and continuing to dig deeper into big franchise chains like McDonald's. and i think there is nothing wrong with asking more questions.

overall, i would love to eat at Zazie everyday, but is that practical for my pocketbook and time? no. but if more restaurants and more people thought not just about the business but what the business stands for, more places like Zazie would become more convenient, cheaper, and healthier!

just think about it...where does your food come from?

**note: something to look into...Professor Melinda Stone, with help of other USF students, created a how-to-homestead blog to inform and encourage people to become more aware of what it means to homestead: (courtesy of dictionary.com) a house, especially a farmhouse, with adjoining buildings and land.**