Would You Like Fries With That?

McDonald’s might make some of the most incredible tasting food on the planet.  There is nothing that beats a double cheeseburger or a crispy chicken sandwich after a long day in the office or a night out at the bars.  Just picture the process of taking two all beef patties, a toasty bun, some fresh cut onions and pickles, a couple of pieces of all American cheese, and some fresh squeezed ketchup and mustard.  You would venture to think that something like this might cost five or six dollars but you can get as many of these delicious sandwiches for a dollar.  Yep, I said it; you can get a double cheese at McDonald’s for a dollar seven days a week!

While the sandwich that brought me to you today is not on the dollar menu, I still wanted to spend some time talking about the filet of fish.  It is not as appetizing as the double cheese as it is only a breaded and deep fried fish filet with a piece of cheese and some tarter sauce, but it is equally tasty.  Just for the record McDonald’s calls this the Filet-O-Fish rather than a filet of fish, but it’s the same thing.  The Big Mac is just a double cheese burger with 1000 island dressing.  (Yes, 1000 island is the “special sauce.”)

McDonald’s said today that the fish that makes up their tasty treat is running out.  I do not mean it is running out and they can order more, I mean that the fish that lies under that deep fry is slowly becoming extinct.  The fish comes from the nearly the bottom of the ocean and what once was thought limitless is slowly making it’s way to a list of long lost animals.  This is not the only fish in danger, however, as the red snapper, monk fish, and even the daily talked about and given nickname to yours truly tuna is at risk.  Tuna is actually produced in mass quantities and can be genetically engineered in case we start running too low on that source, but not the others.

The fish that you get at McDonald’s is known as the hoki fish and can be found in the depths of the ocean around New Zealand.  It has been said McDonald’s orders roughly 15 million pounds of this fish every year.  Do I see a this is why you are fat dot com coming?  That is a lot of fish.  It is enough fish going to the Ronald that it has caused government agencies in New Zealand to raise an eyebrow with the amount of fish that is being taken from the depths each year.  New Zealand states that the hoki fishery is supposed to keep rations on their fish and only release so much but do to an overwhelming need for the fish are forced to catch and sell more than they should.  But who is right in this situation?  I am hungry and want a fish sandwich.  Is one of the most widely recognized restaurants in the world going to stop selling one of their best selling items and force me to go to, dare I say, Long John Silver’s?

There is a lot of money at stake here as well.  You have to think about dollar bills in how it relates to the fish that McDonald’s is purchasing.  Just because you only pay a few bucks for the sandwich at the random location you visit, that does not mean that McDonald’s is not dishing out millions for their fish.  Sure, they get a discount for their insane orders but they are still spending dollars bills to get that yummy fish to your belly.  Regardless of the money that it takes to get the fish from ocean to stomach these things are delicious.  But they might only be here for a limited time.