Have you ever wondered how long your favorite fast food items would last until it begins to rot and grow mold? Well, according to Karen Hanrahan so far her plain McDonald’s hamburger from 1996 (pictured below) has yet to produce any mold.

Hanrahan is a wellness and nutritional consultant from Illinois who advocates being healthy naturally. Apart from consulting, she hosts several health-oriented workshops from which she uses the supposedly 12 year-old burger to illustrate how much of today’s food (quick service or not) is a type of “chemical food” and has little or no nutritional value.

As it turns out, the validity of this burger is debatable. According to Too Shy to Shop, since the burger did not have any fresh ingredients, there was never any potential for mold to grow in the first place.

For SuperSize Me fans, this experiment may seem familiar. Morgan Spurlock did a somewhat similar  experiment and videotaped it. Click here to watch but just as a warning, the decaying food may be graphic for some people’s taste.

Amanda’s strives to use only the freshest and most natural of ingredients for its burgers- something anyone can appreciate especially after seeing the picture and watching the video!

The rising cost of food is not only an economic problem but also a health problem. For many people, healthier foods like whole-wheat bread and fresh fruits are already more expensive. The increases in food costs are being seriously felt by those with medical illnesses who need to eat healthier. “Fruits and vegetables are by definition becoming luxury goods,” says Adam Drewnowski, director of the University of Washington Center for Obesity Research.

There are many nutritional-support organizations such as Vital Bridges who are trying to confront the problems facing the HIV-positive population by delivering specially designed diets to help them fight off other medical illnesses. With the price jump in food these organizations are being forced to scale back their efforts. Also, with the economy slowing down donors aren’t giving as much and there are more and more people seeking out support. Ms. Hinde, the Vital Bridges CEO worries that her clients will not be able to receive the healthy food they need meaning they will get sick.

It is important to eat as healthy as you can and also donate to nutritional-support organizations like Vital Bridges.

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For many people August and September marks the end of summer and the beginning of a new school year. While lists for school supplies are being made and books are being bought, the one thing Catherine Kraus, a University of Michigan Health System expert wants people to buy in particular for the upcoming school year is healthy foods.

Kraus finds it especially important that parents make sure their children are following a healthy, balanced diet. Eating the right amount of protein, grains and fresh fruit can keep any busy student energized all day and has been linked to better results in school.

Start your day eating healthy with a breakfast that includes one serving of whole grain, protein and fresh fruit. Try avoiding too much sugar at lunch by drinking either skim to low-fat milk, 100% fruit juice, or simply water. As for dinner, making half the plate full of vegetables will not only help a child’s brain, but according to Kraus, it will help them sleep through the night.

These are all great tips to keep in mind when following a healthy diet. Amanda’s is also committed to balanced meals and great nutrition. Check out our health page and share with us the ways you eat healthy whether you are in school or not!

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With gas price hitting $4, more and more people are aware of the global energy crisis. Apart from saving gas through carpool and taking public transportations, there are actually many small steps that we can do to save more energy.

In 5 Easy Ways to Save Energy, Misty McNally has suggested some good ways to save energy. For example, purchase Energy Star computers, appliances and power adaptors, which consume half the electricity that standard models consume; Shut down computers and printers instead of leaving them in “Sleep” mode; Unplug electrical devices that we are not using, and remove battery-powered rechargeable devices from their docks after charging.

Apart from saving energy, there are also small steps that we can follow to live a greener life. Eco-designer Danny Seo has shared some simple ways to live more earth-friendly. For example, we can use micro-fiber cloth towels instead of paper towels, because micro-fiber cloth towels are machine-washable and we can use them over and over again. We can bring our old cell phones to a Call2Recycle box— a non-profit program from the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation which recycles our phone for free into new metal products. We can try bandanas instead of paper napkins when entertaining. Finally, we can make a donation to FreeCycle, a website that connects people with things to give away with people who need those things.

It is easy to ignore one’s own power. Like myself, when I hear words like “save the world” and “environmental-friendly”, I always think these are big things I cannot help. How can a tiny little person like me save the world? But I am wrong. The above ways remind me that even though I am a tiny person, I still have power to contribute and bring a change. Its time! Let’s us bring a change to our daily habits and save the world together. Remember, small steps, big changes!

Are fast food chains really serving healthy fast-food meals for children? According to a new study America’s top chains are failing to provide such nutritional choices for children. The Center for Science and Public Interest, a national watchdog group said that the children’s meals at McDonald’s, KFC, Irvine-based Taco Bell, Jack in the Box and Chick-fil-A are loaded with calories. The watchdog group looked at the many meal choices for children at 13 chains and found that 93% exceeded 430 calories, which is one-third of the daily intake that is recommended for children ages 4 to 8. From the study it was found that Subway offered the best children’s options. The main issue is that most chain restaurants limit meals to artery-clogging foods. Some chains do offer healthier substitutes but these options are hidden between the many other artery-clogging foods.

At Amanda’s we are committed to offering the community healthier foods at their convenience and at an affordable cost. Everyone can get Feel Good Fresh Food at Amanda’s. Stop by and try our freshly made salads, naturally-raised burgers, freshly stirred sodas and milks, and healthy snacks. The apple fries with a honey yogurt dipping sauce are a must try!

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Hello Feel Good Fast Food readers, we’ve been focused on our restaurant opening, so haven’t gotten a post up with restaurant & food news, other than Amanda’s opening. We’ll get back to that soon.

In the meantime, thought you’d like to see some great pics and a nice review of Amanda’s on the “Garden of Eating” blog.

Amanda’s Restaurant is now open in Downtown Berkeley from 11am-9pm daily.

We serve picnic-fresh and naturally delicious food that is easy on your schedule, wallet, and conscious. Please stop by to try our freshly made salads, naturally-raised burgers, freshly stirred sodas and milks, and healthy snacks.

After working on this blog and planning our restaurant for several years, I am so pleased to be able to welcome you in for a feel good meal or a snack.

Another ally in raising awareness about global warming is the website founded by Stonyfield Farms, climatecounts.org. The site teaches consumers how to increase the eco-efficiency of their day to day lives, as well as rating large companies of all realms and documenting their attempts (or lack thereof) to increase their efficiency. Their conclusions are based upon whether or not the companies have, “Measured their climate ‘footprint’… Reduced their impact on global warming…Supported (or suggest intent to block) progressive climate legislation…Publicly disclosed their climate actions clearly and comprehensively.”

One of their recent articles addressed directly the waste outputs of large-scale fast food restaurants. While everyone knows that fast food companies have come under fire for much of their less-than-healthy food, the fact that most of them are extremely wasteful has often gone unnoticed. Climatecounts.org has taken it upon themselves to rank many well-known companies annually, with some falling under the category of fast food. In the past year, four out of the six companies inspected failed entirely to improve their score (they remained at zero, all four). These companies were Wendy’s, Burger King, Yum!Brands (restaurants such as Taco Bell and KFC), and Darden Restaurants (Olive Garden and Red Lobster). The fact that such large companies are producing so much waste and doing nothing about it is of great concern.

At Amanda’s, we plan to be the exact opposite of this. On our brand-new website (yay!) amandas.com, all of our attempts to be as economically friendly are clearly documented, along with aspects that we will work to improve on in the future!

In this day and age, we at Amanda’s believe that it is of the utmost importance to not only do our best to reduce our contributions to global warming, but to be honest about our attempts to do so.

Child Obesity has become a global health problem, but there are some solutions.

First of all, let’s look at our nation, America. According to article “Time looks at issue of childhood obesity“ in CalorieLab, 4 percent of kids age six to eleven were obese in 1971; by 2004, almost 19 percent were obese.   According to Dr. Joyce Lee, a pediatric endocrinologist at the university’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, studies have shown that children who are obese today are more likely to develop type 2 diabetes as young adults. In addition, people who were obese as kids may have a 35 percent higher likelihood of developing cancer later.

The main reasons behind the increasing number of child obesity are the increasing intake of high-calorie foods and the lack of physical exercises.  Family’s low income levels have been correlated with childhood obesity.  Our blog has discussed the relation between low income and obesity in “Fast Food and Obesity in Low Income Areas”. Fresh and healthy food are relatively more expensive than junk food. Therefore, people who have a tight budget for food tend to buy fast food or unhealthy food. However, we can always find some good place to hunt for inexpensive healthy food, like Trader Joe’s and local farmers’ market. Amanda’s is also a good choice for you— healthy, fresh, fast food at very affordable prices.

After all, if we look at obesity in a broader view, obesity is a global problem that the whole world has to fight together. According to the research done by the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, almost 58 percent of the world’s population will be overweight or obese by 2030—more specifically, 2.16 billion people will be overweight, and 1.12 billion will be obese. If we don’t want the problem to further worsen, the key is to eat healthy and exercise more.

Great news everybody! Chipotle is going to start sourcing locally grown produce on a significant scale. The Denver-based Chipotle will be buying 25 percent of at least one of its produce products for each of its 730-plus restaurants from small and mid-sized local farms. The move is part of Chipotle’s Food With Integrity approach. This method of doing business will help the chain improve food quality, reduce fuel consumption and benefit rural economies.

Personally, I love eating Chipotle. It is great to hear that the chain is putting a significant effort towards eating fresh food. Hopefully, Chipotle will be buying more local produce for other Chipotle chains too.

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