I want my... I want my... I want my CherryBerry! (yea you know you want to read this title to that tune)

Week two is complete, and again so far so good. I guess this week I was a bit more aware of what options I had when I got hungry and I wasn’t so quick to think about fast food. But, as this is an ever-evolving project, I did realize that there are still questions about what exactly will qualify as fast food.

As I continue to consider this question, I’ve realized that there is another trait of fast food places that I failed to include in my initial definition. It’s something that ties all of them together, and for a good reason. Fast food places are set up and intended to be “complete meal” establishments.

When you think about it, the goal of a fast food restaurant is to provide the total package, from the beginning of the meal to the desserts, to the drinks that come with it. You see it in their commercials: entire families (skinny ones, surprisingly) all happily sitting around the table at McDonalds, enjoying their family meal together. Ah, what a glorious thought… the fast food industry bringing families back together into the tradition of eating as a cohesive group; children sharing their school stories with their parents as they gobble down charming chicken nuggets, dad instilling wisdom into his younglings as he eats the fatherly item, the Big-Mac. Mom, of course, is so happy to be free of the horrific burden (because of course it would naturally be her job, wink wink) of cooking for the entire family. The entire family meal experience gladly provided to you by a clown standing under a giant yellow M!

It’s a nice thought, but what usually happens is the lone person is sitting in the drive thru, shoveling hot fries into their mouth before they pull back into traffic. The hamburger may or may not make it a few blocks before disappearing and the massive coke will quickly be on its way to becoming a stop at QT later on down the road.

Fast food places are set up to provide whole meals. So what about other types of convenience or quick food? Let me get to the point: what about my CherryBerry?

Ok, so for those of you who know me, you know that CherryBerry and me have a thing. And, I mean, it’s not just a summer fling. It’s a long-term relationship. I absolutely love the stuff. For those who don’t know or haven’t had the opportunity to have your community blessed with one of these houses of frozen worship, CherryBerry is a self-serve frozen yogurt (the best one ever) shop. But, as heart-wrenching as it may be to “go there” for me, I do have to be fair and ask the question whether CherryBerry should be considered fast food.

I am going to say no. Here’s why: this new thought I’ve had about what the packaging goals of the fast food industry are have made me realize that while food may be good and convenient, it shouldn’t necessarily be considered fast food. Yes, while I can easily make an entire meal… aw hell…. every meal out of CherryBerry, it really is a treat and is not meant to replace total nourishment that a meal is supposed to provide. You don’t see CherryBerry being advertised as a “meal” type restaurant, and it seems that they are marketing to a different purpose.

Part of the push in fast food is to make it appear that their product can be a complete diet for you and provide everything your body needs. They may say, in tiny lightly-colored fine print on the back of some obscure sign in their lobby, that their fast food is only meant to be “a part” of a healthy diet, but let’s face it, they’d be happy to feed you three times a day, every day, for the rest of your life. And if they could do this realistically, they would advertise to make it happen.

Just because a food is from a restaurant and is quick, or even self-serve, doesn’t make it fast food. Something like CherryBerry is not meant to be a complete meal for you or replace a normal, healthy diet. This is a central goal of the fast food industry and part of why it is causing so many problems for us. CherryBerry just doesn’t fit this definition. And, the fact that (yea this is a bit of a plug) it is much healthier than regular ice cream and is a very good choice if you are wanting something sweet, makes it an even better option than a molten-lava processed pie from McD’s.