The Greatest Food In Human History

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nypost.com
By KYLE SMITH
July 28, 2013

The greatest food in human history

In terms of cost-per-calorie, no locavore, organic veggie can compete with the McDouble

What is “the cheapest, most nutritious and bountiful food that has ever existed in human history”
Hint: It has 390 calories. It contains 23g, or half a daily serving, of protein, plus 7% of daily fiber,
20% of daily calcium and so on.

Also, you can get it in 14,000 locations in the US and it usually costs $1. Presenting one of the
unsung wonders of modern life, the McDonald’s McDouble cheeseburger.

The argument above was made by a commenter on the Freakonomics blog run by economics
writer Stephen Dubner and professor Steven Leavitt, who co-wrote the million-selling books on
the hidden side of everything.

Dubner mischievously built an episode of his highly amusing weekly podcast around the debate.
Many huffy back-to-the-earth types wrote in to suggest the alternative meal of boiled lentils.
Great idea. Now go open a restaurant called McBoiled Lentils and see how many customers
line up.

But we all know fast food makes us fat, right? Not necessarily. People who eat out tend to eat
less at home that day in partial compensation; the net gain, according to a 2008 study out of
Berkeley and Northwestern, is only about 24 calories a day.