Big Mac: ’symbol of globalization’
p2pnet news | Off Topic:- Thanks to Supersize Me, you already know what a McDonalds Big Mac can do for (to?) you.
For 30 days indie filmmaker Morgan Spurlock survived exclusively only on food from McDonald’s.
Supersize Me, "documents this lifestyle’s drastic effects on Spurlock’s physical and psychological well-being and explores the fast food industry’s corporate influence, including how it encourages poor nutrition for its own profit," says the Wikipedia.
To make his film, Spurlock at exclusively McDonald’s restaurants three times per day, sampling every item on the chain’s menu at least once.
And he was in a bad, bad way at the end of it all.
Now, Canadian scientists have concluded a Big Mac, "is an apt symbol of globalization".
So what, exactly, goes into a Big Mac these days?
Researchers at Canada’s University of Calgary delved, in a non-critical way, into the mystery as part of their study examining our increasingly varied diet.
A burger and fries may be the "quintessential North American meal," but it can also be viewed as the perfect example of the globalization and diversity of the human diet, says the report, which for the first time, examines plants used around the world for food.
Examining the ‘phylogenetic distribution’ of the human diet, U of C plant evolutionary ecologist Jana Vamosi, working with a team led by Serban Proches from Stellenbosch University in South Africa, found humans probably stand alone when it comes to the spectrum of species we consume.
"Our ability to process food combined with an insatiable hunger for new tastes and international trade systems has also led to food becoming the ultimate product of a globalized society," says the study.
In a paper published in the current issue of BioScience, the researchers examined more than 7,000 plant species we regularly eat and as a case study, analyzed the ingredients of a simple fast food meal – a McDonald’s Big Mac, French fries and a cup of coffee
And, "From potatoes that were first domesticated in South America to mustard that was developed in India, onions and wheat that originated in the Middle East and coffee from Ethiopia, they found the meal contained approximately 20 different species and ingredients that originated around the world," they reported, going on:
"That a single meal contains about 20 species is impressive, given that some human societies – those that are largely unaffected by current globalization trend – commonly include only 50 to 100 plant species in their entire diet," the paper states.
So what are the vegetable components of a Big Mac? Do you really, really want to know"?
OK >>>
Big Mac, fries and a coffee: Ingredients by plant species
Common name Species Family Origin Use
Barley Hordeum vulgare Poaceae Turkey/Iran – bun
Cotton (seed for oil) Gossypium hirsutum Malvaceae Multiple – seasoning oil
Cucumber Cucumis sativus Cucurbitaceae India Sauce, pickles
Garlic Allium sativum Alliaceae Mediterranean – sauce
Lettuce (fresh) Lactuca sativa Asteraceae Mediterranean
Maize Zea mays Poaceae Mexico/ Cen. America Bun, – sauce, oil
Mustard Brassica juncea Brassicaceae India – sauce
Onion Allium cepa Liliaceae Turkey/Iran Dehydrated – sauce
Chili pepper Capsicum annuum Solanaceae Mexico/Cen. America – sauce
Pepper (black) Piper nigrum Piperaceae India – seasoning
Potatoes Solanum tuberosum Solanaceae Andes – fries
Sesame Sesamum indicum Pedaliaceae Multiple – bun
Soybean Glycine max Fabaceae China Bun, – sauce,
seasoning, cheese, – fries
Sugar Saccharum officinarum Poaceae New Guinea – sauce
(cane or beet) Beta vulgaris Amaranthaceae Mediterranean
Tomatoes Lycopersicon Solanaceae Mexico/Cen. America – ketchup
esculentum
Turmeric Curcuma longa Zingiberaceae Southeast Asia Sauce, – pickles
Wheat Triticum aestivum Poaceae Turkey/Iran – bun, fries
Rape, sunflower Brassica rapa Brassicaceae Mediterranean – oil
cotton, or maize Helianthus annuus Asteraceae California
Coffee Coffea spp. Rubiaceae Ethiopia – coffee
Now you know 
Also See:
BioScience – Plant Diversity in the Human Diet: Weak Phylogenetic Signal Indicates Breadth” in BioScience, February, 2008.
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