How come the burger you see in the commercial looks so much better than the real thing?

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A Food Stylist Tells All. Why Fast Food Burgers Actually Look Tasty in Commercials

Every time you see a commercial with a big juicy burger from a fast food joint it looks amazing. Your mouth starts to water and then against your better judgment, you start dreaming about the burger. The same is true of the crispy French fries. But then once you get down to the burger joint and order the burger, it comes out looking like it's been sitting under the heat lamp all day. The burgers are a strange hue of gray with limp lettuce and a soggy bun. The fries are over cooked and over salted. But thanks to the folks over at Mother Nature Network, we now know why.

Keep reading to learn more Food Stylist Secrets.

Food Stylist Secrets

You Can't Win With Fast Food

And not only does your actual meal at most fast food restaurants leave little to be desired, the meal itself is a killer for the planet. Brian wrote that fast food restaurants contribute to reckless consumption and destruction of resources. And then there's the poor animal treatment, the immense shipping programs emitting harmful gases, the millions of tons of waste generated annually, and the total lack of nutritional value in fast food restaurant's most popular menu items.

But what if you pick vegetarian items? Choosing vegetarian is always better than eating grade D meat, especially when you consider that in 2002 alone 101 million pigs, 35 million cattle, and 8.6 billion chickens were slaughtered. That's just disgusting. But vegetarian meals aren't always what they're cracked up to be and what's worst, sometimes they're not available. Listen to McDonald's statement on the subject.

"McDonald's does not represent any of our foods as being vegetarian. However, we gladly accommodate customer requests to custom-order items without meat (i.e., without beef, pork, chicken or fish). Note that even though we provide the flexibility to order items without meat, we cannot guarantee that during preparation the item does not come into contact with meat or poultry."

Bottom line--if you're at home, skip the fast food. If you're on a road trip plan ahead. Bring granola, nuts, fruit, bread, and peanut butter and make your own or use Eat Well's Road Guide.

Via: Mother Nature Network