A story has been making its way around the Web the past couple of weeks regarding a nondecomposing McDonald’s Happy Meal.
Sally Davies, a New York-based photographer, and artist, bought a Happy Meal back in April 2010 and left it out on a plate in her kitchen ever since to see what would happen.
The upshot of this homegrown experiment?  Other than an acrylic sheen, plastic-like texture and becoming hard as a rock, no other discernible changes have occurred!
Davies’ science project has been photographed weekly and the results posted on Flickr for all to see and wonder about.   Should children really be given food that doesn’t decompose?
If bugs, mold, and bacteria don’t want this stuff, how could this be counted as any sort of nourishment for children other than just empty calories and toxic chemicals?
What may be even more surprising, however, is that the lack of decomposition of McDonald’s fast food is not unique in the processed foods industry.
Oh no, not by a long shot. Hold onto your hats, everyone!
How about adding supermarket cupcakes (and other baked goods) to the list of foods that neither bugs nor bacteria want anything to do with!
You know what I’m talking about – the supermarket birthday cake that is served at just about every kids’ birthday party you’ve ever attended.   How about that cake you ate at your cousin’s wedding last summer?   Yes, even those delightfully decorated Halloween cupcakes you saw the other day in the supermarket bakery that seemed just perfect for the Trick or Treat get together this coming weekend!
Yes, all of it.
This stuff doesn’t decompose either!  It doesn’t even get moldy!
Best of all, I’ve got pictures!!
You see, many years back when I first began eating real food, I met Dennis Stoltzfoos, a local grass-based farmer who had a curious box of cupcakes sitting in his kitchen.
He explained that these cupcakes were from a party back in December 1995.
The box with the 3 remaining cupcakes never got thrown out, so it just kind of stayed in his kitchen for weeks, then months, now over TWENTY YEARS later.
After seeing this story about the nondecomposing Happy Meal, I emailed Dennis and his wife Alicia to see if they still had this box of supermarket cupcakes. Â Â They did, and Alicia snapped these photos taken only last week of the now 20+ YEAR OLD cupcakes that now practically have artifact status!
Check it out!Â
In this photo, you can still just make out the “1996” on the cupcake box label which indicated the expiration date for the cupcakes (it originally said “January 1996”). The cupcakes were purchased in December 1995.
Kash n’ Karry, the supermarket where these cupcakes were purchased, no longer exists. Kash n’ Karry supermarkets are now called Sweetbay Supermarkets. Update: Sweetbay is now gone too! They were bought by Winn Dixie.
Alicia Stoltzfoos told me that the sticky, sweet, artificial smell of the cupcakes was still very much evident when she opened the box to take this picture!
My hope is that parents who see this blog are motivated to never again buy supermarket bakery goods and to take the time to make a wholesome, homemade birthday cake/cupcakes with REAL ingredients for their children.
If it’s not good enough for bugs, mold, and bacteria, it’s most certainly not good enough for your children!
Source
Many thanks to Dennis and Alicia Stoltzfoos of Full Circle Farm for the pictures and story behind this blog.  Dennis, Alicia, and their four healthy, beautiful children own a leading-edge, grass-based dairy farm in Live Oak, FL.  To contact them to find out more about nutrient-dense, healing foods, email them at [email protected].
Trix, your sourdough bread would definitely decompose after 15 years, I assure you.
I usually leave my homemade sourdough bread unwrapped on the cutting board…cut side down, it slowly just gets hard and dries out after about 4 days and doesn't mold. If I put the same bread in a plastic bag it probably will start to mold after a few days…at least here in FL. (I usually freeze what ever loaves we can't use within 3 or 4 days…sliced to take out by the slice)
Anonymous, as of 2008, the US is now ranked 42nd in the world in life expectancy. In the 1950's, we were at the top.
During the Vietnam war, close to 90% of men age 19-24 were considered fit for military service. A study done a few years ago found that only 25% of men age 19-24 were fit for military service.
Sarah is absolutely right, the people who live the longest are the ones who were born before World War 2 and grew up on unprocessed food. They are the only reason the life span seems higher.
I knew a number of people in their 50's and even their 40's who have died in the last few years, died from cancer, heart attacks, lung problems, drug reactions, you name it.
The United States has the deadest, most chemical heavy food in the world. Truth is,it is destroying our health and killing us.
I respectfully suggest that you go to the website of the Weston A Price Foundation and do some reading about real food and how nutrition really works.
Here's an article on how life expectancy is now falling in the USA:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2008/05/15/why-is-life-expectancy-falling-in-the-united-states.aspx
and another:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/06/01/childhood-obesity-is-everyones-problem.aspx
Sarah, truly am sorry about your friend. All I can do is relate the facts and the facts are that we live longer now than ever before. I am waking up to the reality that I may outlive my retirement if I don't plan for it. And lastly, thanks for the information as it may make for a great science project for my kids….next year since I need to go buy some of those cupcakes now and let them sit for a year. Interested in the results?
Posted for Amy P.
My husband's work buys holiday cupcakes every year. One year, one of his
fellow employees left a cupcake on his shelf. Months llater the cupcake still looked the same, so, out of curiousity, he just left it there. He added a new cupcake every year for at least 10 years. Without touching the
cupcakes, you couldn't tell the difference between the first and the last.
Hey Anonymous, you are kidding yourself with the life expectancy mumbo jumbo. The folks under 55 are dropping like flies in case you haven't noticed. I just had a 40 year old friend have a STROKE the other day and she is not overweight and in fantastic shape. The folks that are living a long time are the folks that were born BEFORE WWII and grew up without processed foods. WAKE UP!!!!!
I have occasionally found various pieces of healthy, homemade food forgotten by a child in my house (crust of bread under the edge of the couch, carrot stick behind the table leg, etc.) that has dried out before any mold has grown. I do live in the desert southwest, so our relative humidity is quite low, but I just wanted to say that although not common, it is certainly possible for good, completely natural food to age without decomposing. The fact that this can happen should in no way be construed to mean that preservative-filled food has any nutritional merit, only that in certain circumstances, you can get unexpected results, like food remaining "pristine" well beyond it's due date, regardless of it's nutritional value.
Life expectancy in the US has increased by over 10 year in the US since 1970. Of course, I could say that this is because of "Big Food" or maybe in spite of big food and better medicine. Or maybe it is just as obvious as the sun coming up tomorrow. Sarah, why don't you look in that crystal ball of yours and tell us which it is. Nice science!
I can't say I'm very surprised. Eating those cupcakes and cakes, especially the ones from the "cheap supermarkets" like Walmart, always grosses me out. It's like you can taste the plastic! That's why I'm a big fan of making my own. Grew up with it that way, and continue to live the tradition.