Written by: Julia Dahl
Bacon is one of America’s love affairs, but it may be a love/hate relationship. Many love the greasy taste of bacon and the aroma that fills a room as it’s cooked, but you may not love it so much when you are aware of what World Health Organization released about the food. Even more news, McDonald’s has made announcements about steps they are making in their company.
The question is, do the announcements go hand in hand? In October, the World Health Organization released that “a 50-gram portion of bacon a day increases the risk of bowel cancer by 18 percent.” Not only does it cause cancer, but they also placed sausage and ham in group one of carcinogens. To put things into perspective, group one consists of formaldehyde, gamma radiation and cigarettes.
In the same month, McDonald’s released that they plan to close more restaurants than they will open within the next year for the first time ever. They made the decision after figuring that there was an 11 percent decrease in revenue and a 30 percent drop in profit.
“I would be concerned of the economic impact in the community because it employs a lot of students,” science teacher Brian Weidman said.
It may just be coincidence as McDonald’s has been losing customers for a significant amount of time now. Students did not seem to want to change their bacon eating habits after the cancer release.
“I feel like as long as they inform us of what is bad, it is your choice to eat it,” sophomore Dakota Stoughton said.
So what impact will this have on CG? After taking a quick sampling (seven students and two teachers), they revealed that they would not decrease their bacon intake after hearing the information WHO released. However, five out of the nine said they would be devastated if the local McDonald’s closed.The few who were bothered by McDonald’s closing stores were worried not because they would miss the food, but because of the economic impact.
While McDonald’s may be going through a rough time, bacon is still one of America’s favorite foods.
