“DIET” IS A RELATIVE TERM

Say goodbye to those supersize fries; McDonalds, in a move sure to be copied throughout the fast-food industry, is revamping its menu and dumping megaportions.

“Supersizing,” to my recollection, began somewhere in the late 80s or early 90s, and was met with trepidation at first. Even back in those unenlightened days, we all knew fast food was bad for you and fries would make you fat. But that didn’t stop us from trying out the new megameals, and finding them to our liking.

The next step on the primrose path was the “2 for $2″ promotions that flourished everywhere in the early 90s–2 Quarter Pounders, Whoppers, whatevers, for $2. Could’ve been a good opportunity for us all to save money, right?

Well, let’s be honest, folks, how many of us just took this as an excuse to eat two sandwiches when one would’ve been enough?

(The blogger raises his hand.)

And now we are where we are, a nation of people reeling from the health consequences of a horrible diet, but too busy and unimaginative to stop eating it. It’s fair to say that McDonald’s isn’t making this move out of genuine, altruistic concern for its customers. Rather, it’s largely a response to the actions of pressure groups. But there’s an irony in all of this. You see, fast-food places have kept pushing the envelope over the past decade, but consumers have never felt that they’d pushed too far. Name a fast-food excess of the past few years–the Monster Burger at Hardee’s, one-pound burritos, pizzas with three layers of cheese–and the odds are good that it was a marketplace success. You can’t fault a business–any business–for giving its customers more of what they wanted. But now, McDonald’s is deciding not to sell you bucket-sized portions of fries and soda anymore. Whatever the motivation, one thing remains true:

McDonald’s is now more nutritionally responsible than its customers.