The Big Mac, A Sandwich
McDonald’s is a fixture of American food culture. Since its founding in 1955 the golden arches have become a global symbol of western capitalism. Not one item on their menu is more iconic than the Big Mac; an estimated 550 million of the nearly half pound sandwiches are sold per day. With two beef patties, “special” sauce, iceberg lettuce, American cheese, pickles, and onions, all served on a sesame bun, the Big Mac continues to feed millions around the world each day. (McDonalds.com) The famous sandwich boasts 540 calories, meaning less than 4 Big Mac’s would account for the recommended daily value of 2000 calories per day. I would not consider the McDonald’s creation as healthy. From a nutritional standpoint, the
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In terms of Molly Watson’s chart outlining cultural and economic capital, I would place the sandwich in the lower right corner, as it lacks a high price point and cultural capital. However, in modern society I do not believe the Big Mac is a lower-class meal, and though it may not be extremely expensive, the fast food concept transcends class, and can be enjoyed by everyone. It was not always this way however. Brumberg writes “By the turn of the twentieth century elite society already preferred its women thin and frail as a symbol of their social distance from the working classes. Consequently, women with social aspirations adopted the rule of slenderness and its related dicta about parsimonious appetite and delicate food” (Brumberg 149) Victorian women looking to move up in class would have stayed away from the Big Mac, whose large calorie count and excessively high amount of carbs and sodium could be classified as anything but dainty. Yelp reviewers of Mexican restaurants write that to be authentic, food should be “dirty, strange, exotic, even a little scary” (Gottlieb 43). The Big Mac is none of these, at least in modern food culture. In America the sandwich is familiar, and recognized. For this reason, Yelp reviewers would likely place the Big Mac with low cultural