Berlin District Opposes New McDonald’s
BERLIN (AP) - Berlin’s funky Kreuzberg neighborhood teems with diverse places to eat. It has Chinese and Thai, a laid-back cafe with old sofas and dark German beer, and an Italian coffee bar with artisan-roasted beans and organic provolone. Another flavor - McDonald’s - will soon join the mix and the arrival of the fast-food giant is causing consternation in Kreuzberg, for decades a stronghold of left-wing, anarchist and anti-globalist sentiment. Police on Saturday barred a small demonstration against the restaurant that they said had no permit, organized by a citizens’ initiative under the German name McWiderstand, or “McResistance.” Several demonstrators in Ronald McDonald wigs nonetheless managed to sneak through a construction barrier and put up a banner decrying the restaurant. The site’s fence already is smeared with obscene anti-McDonald’s graffiti, and the company has hired security guards to watch over it.
Before y’all get excercised over the conniptions of the culinary Luddites, I suppose we need to take a step back and see McDonald’s for what it is. Yes, it’s a phenomenally successful fast food franchise that’s an American and now and international institution. Hey, when I was in Belgrade in the midst of the UN embargo and heavy anti-American rhetoric, the McDonald’s in downtown Belgrade near Knez Mihailo was usually the busiest restaurant in town. For people who don’t know much about America, McDonald’s serves as a taste of America.
People who know anything at all about food recognize that McDonald’s is to food what Torquemada was to religious tolerance. If you’ve seen “Supersize Me”, and/or if you’ve read the book, you understand exactly what I’m talking about.
I suppose that, like anything else, McDonald’s food in moderation is not necessarily a bad thing. In a nation of ever-expanding waist lines, though, McDonald’s is the culinary version of crack. It’s addictive, it’s dangerous, and it leaves you wanting more. Can you blame some Berliners for want to spare themselves this gustatory atrocity looking for a place to happen? (Did you know that there are no strawberries of any form in a McDonald’s Strawberry Shake?)
The fact of the matter, though, is that, in the end, “progress” will carry the day and Berliners will soon have the right to expand their waistlines and harden their arteries American-style. Heart disease, hypertension, and obesity- the telltale signs of American culture- will soon be part of the scenery in Kreuzberg. Hey, come on now…man can’t live on doner kebab alone, don’tchaknow??
