With American consumer confidence levels soaring virtually as high as
ever despite the unwelcome visit from a BSE-infected Canadian cow (that’s
not COOL,) beef is still gracing pallets from sea to shining sea. Rather
remarkable, in light of the valiant efforts by USDA to drag us to the
gutter with the rest of "North America."
And now another delightful trend is emerging in retail food
establishments. Fast-food is jumping on the Atkins bandwagon. Suffering
from a growing unhealth-food reputation, burger joints are shooting for
a new image by going bun-less. Burgers can be ordered ground round steak
style with a salad in lieu of fries and a bottled water in place of pop.
(This is where Ken saves $0.75 by standing in line at the water
fountain.)
Subway, long hailed as a healthier source of fast-food, is now
featuring their original sandwich contents in an Atkins approved wrap.
Trendy TGI Friday’s has a variety of menu selections carrying the
Atkins stamp of approval. In fact, nation-wide, bread sales are down.
This can only be good for protein-rich delicious beef.
In addition, more small-scale restaurants are turning to local and
"natural" beef sources for safe grass-fed beef fresh off the
range. These folks intend to know where their beef is coming from one
way or the other.
As for me, I’ll take the super monster burger; hold the bun.
S