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The famed "Golden Arches" M of McDonalds is one of the most recognizable corporate icons on the planet. To me, it is the living emblem of everything that has gone wrong in our nation over the past several decades: Our environmentally destructive industrial scale agriculture; the replacement of charming locally owned eateries with cookie-cutter corporate franchises; our stunning obesity epidemic; our rushed, attention-overload society, in which drive-through pseudo foods have replaced nutritious, well-balanced meals prepared with real love and care. Of course, McDonalds cannot be entirely blamed for any of these developments. But it cannot be denied that they have been at the forefront driving all of them.

"But it tastes so good," the faithful will protest. Well, of course it tastes good: McDonalds hires some of the most talented chemists in the world to make sure it does. These are extremely intelligent people, able to manipulate microscopic molecules in a laboratory and arrange them in precisely the formula required to artificially produce both the aroma that sets your stomach growling and the flavor that makes your mouth water. The distribution model employed by McDonalds and other fast-food chains makes this sort of modern science hocus pocus essential, because the sad truth is, once beef patties are deep-froze and shipped all around the planet, they tend to lose their flavor. Now unless you have an allergy, you will not get sick from eating artificial flavors, at least not right away. But it is a fact that when you eat food that contains artificial ingredients, you are consuming substances that your body does not recognize as food. Most experts on human nutrition will tell you that this can have very troubling long-term implications for your health.

Frankly, I would challenge the idea that McDonalds and other fast food products even do really taste good, though I will not deny that people do feel genuine, overwhelming cravings for them. I've felt that craving many times myself. I had stopped eating fast food completely for a year or more before driving by a McDonalds at noon didn't set my stomach to growling-even now, after years of not eating fast food, I will still occasionally get the hankering for something from a drive-through. Actually, it feels a little bit like the way I still get the rare urge to put a pinch of Copenhagen snuff between my teeth and lips-a habit I was fully addicted to when I was a 20 year old infantry soldier. Indeed, there has been

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