McDonald's Needs You!
Creating Healthy Menu Options






Introduction
 		Task
 		Process
 		Resources
 		Evaluation
 		Conclusion


   

appleIntroduction:

McDonalds newest restaurant, McCafe, hopes to open additional locations all over the country.  The first McCafe in the United States recently opened in Chicago to mixed reviews.  McCafes feature coffee, cappuccino, and desserts. Its biggest competitor, Starbucks, seems to offer a better cup of coffee although it is more expensive by almost $0.30.  Currently, McCafes only offer desserts and coffee drinks.  However, McDonald's executives are considering offering healthy lunch and dinner options and have posted an ad in The Washington Post and New York Times Food section requesting your ideas.  Is there a healthy option to the french fry?  What would you suggest?



Task:

In Health class you have recently learned about the food groups, nutritional information, calorie intact, and fat content.  It is now your turn to design some menus.  Conduct research on healthy food choices that you can suggest to McDonald's.  In this activity you will present your findings to McDonald’s executives suggesting at least four healthy lunch and dinner single menu items that they can add to their McCafe menu.  In considering your suggestions, think about the following:

  • Healthy choices - calories and fat content
  • Ease of preparation and packaging (what McDonald's is known for)
  • Style of a cafe
  • Names provided to the menu items

Process: 

In searching for the best menu options, you will first conduct research on nutritional information of healthy choices as well as McDonalds current menu options.

              
Step one:  Learning about McCafe


Step two:  Finding healthy food options
  • As you research and visit various websites, take notes on a separate sheet of paper and begin to brainstorm ideas for healthy meal options.
  • For review of the food groups and basic nutrition start at this site:  http://www.nal.usda.gov:8001/py/pmap.htm.
  • Determine the nutritional recommendations for teens and adults, including number of food items from each food group, the average recommended caloric intact, and the recommended fat and carbohydrate intake.  Record your research.


Step three:  Checking out McDonalds current menu and nutrition information

 



Step four:  Researching more about nutrition

        http://www.nutritionexplorations.org/kids/nutrition-main.asp

        http://www.healthyfridge.org/choose.html

        http://www.cspinet.org/smartmouth/index1.html


Step five:  Brainstorming menu ideas
  • Begin to brainstorm at least four menu items for the new McCafe.
  • Be sure to find the nutritional information (do your best approximating the serving sizes).


Step six:  Prewriting
  • Use Inspiration or a separate piece of paper to outline the content of your letter to the McDonald's executives.


Step seven:  Writing your letter
  • Review the rubric that will be used to evaluate your letter.
  • Now, write your business letter to the McDonald's executives describing your menu items and why you chose them.

McDonald's Corporation
McDonald's Plaza
Oak Brook, IL 60523



Resources


Evaluation
Rubric for Business Letter

Criteria
 4
 3
 2
 1
Ideas
 Ideas were expressed in a clear and organized fashion. It was easy to figure out what the letter was about. Ideas were expressed in a pretty clear manner, but the organziation could have been better.
Ideas were somewhat organized, but were not very clear. It took more than one reading to figure out what the letter was about.
The letter seemed to be a collection of unrelated sentences. It was very difficult to figure out what the letter was about.
Content and Accuracy
 The letter contains accurate facts on all four suggested food items.
The letter contains accurate facts on three suggested food items.
The letter contains accurate facts on 1-2 suggested food items.
The letter contains no accurate facts.
Sentences and Paragraphs
Sentences and paragraphs are complete, well-constructed and of varied structure.
All sentences are complete and well-constructed (no fragments, no run-ons). Paragraphing is generally done well.
Most sentences are complete and well-constructed. Paragraphing needs some work. Many sentence fragments or run-on sentences OR paragraphing needs lots of work.
Grammar and Spelling
Writer makes no errors in grammar or spelling.
Writer makes 1-2 errors in grammar and/or spelling.
Writer makes 3-4 errors in grammar and/or spelling
Writer makes more than 4 errors in grammar and/or spelling.



Conclusion

Well done!  You are now ready to send your letter off to McDonald's to see what they think of your menu suggestions.  In this activity, you have learned to evaluate nutritional information and make wise food choices.

Look for a new McCafe coming to our area soon!
 

 

Created by Jenni Hartsig
November 2003