Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Is fast food healthier than the farmers market?

I contend that it's harder to find a healthy lunch at the Farmers Market than it is to find one at a fast food joint. We think of all the amazing produce, pastured milk, raw nuts, and grass fed beef that we can find when we go there to shop, but it's a challenge to find anything remotely healthy on the "lunch" side of the place.



There are no salads. There are no vegetables that weren't fried directly or stirred into fried rice or pan fried noodles. The signs proudly proclaim the use of soybean oil or just "no lard."


I ended up buying two Thai chicken sticks, plus some tomatoes and cucumbers (which I had to wash in the park's water fountain).


These were delicious -- a little sweet, but in the grand scheme of things...  I'll have to get some fat elsewhere. I should have thought to pick up an avocado!



I don't believe that the quality of foods at traditional fast food places is tip top, but I must admit that I can find a salad at McDonald's. At Carl's Jr, you can find a grilled chicken breast sandwich if that's your thing. You can get bunless burgers anywhere.

The options at the Farmers Market are not only misleading people (by their mere presence at the Farmers Market) into thinking that they are healthy, but there are fewer healthy choices at the Farmers Market. Period.

Unless you make and pack your own lunch, you're probably not eating optimally, but please don't think it's better because you bought it next to someone who's selling organic produce.

2 comments:

  1. You know what? You make perfect sense with this - and I guess I never thought about it that way - with the lack of healthy options at an actual farmers market. I'm in Chicago and we have them during the summer...I'll be on the look out when the summer rolls around.

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  2. it depends on the farmers market ... maybe try another one?

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