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Opinion

Confessions of a fast-food snob

Just as McDonald's announces healthier Happy Meals, Kristy is realizing she has to stop teaching her kid her snobby ways.

By Kristy Woudstra
Confessions of a fast-food snob

Photo by pomarinus/iStock

I'm a food snob. I've recently come to this realization and I can't say I'm proud of it.

I'm not even sure when it happened. I grew up in a blue-collar family, in a blue-collar town. The only spices in our house were salt and pepper. My mom boiled vegetables into mush. Most of her special recipes involved a can of cream of mushroom soup.

So when did I start turning my nose at edible oil products, mass-produced bread and canned soup?

I've even passed this snobbery onto my six-year-old daughter (more shame). The above food items have yet to touch her lips. I've never even taken her to a fast-food restaurant. When we eat out, we go to local, privately owned restaurants. I've completely swung the pendulum from one side to the other and I've become a fanatic.

Since I started dating my fiancé, I realize I need to lighten up and find a middle ground. While he has great taste in food, he also likes a good combo meal at times. And, seriously, what's wrong with that?

I definitely understand the benefits as a parent. It's easier to take kids to a fast food restaurant. No long waits. No one glaring at you because your child is getting out of her seat. Meals are dependable and the right size for little hands. And they offer healthier choices these days. Just today, for example, McDonald's announced better options for their kids' meals.

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A year and a half ago, I would be scoffing at this blog, thinking the writer was caving and muttering about the benefits of local and organic. How the heck did I become an elitist? Even worse, why am I turning my daughter into one?

Sure, I'll always hold onto my preference for homemade food. But it's time to wrench the silver spoon out of my mouth and get off the Le Creuset pot. Instead of teaching my daughter to look down on certain types of food, I think it's more important that I teach her how to make healthy choices in any situation she finds herself in.

What do you think? Is it time for me to take my daughter to a fast food restaurant?

This article was originally published on May 16, 2012

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