Wendy's Baconator sandwich is a monster hit across North America.  The Baconator certainly lives up to the hype: Six strips of bacon, 2 slices of cheese and 1/2 pound of ground beef on a sesame seed bun dressed with ketchup and mayonnaise.  That's 830 calories with 460 of those from fat, 51 grams of fat, 57 grams of protein... and a bunch of other numbers that really irrelevant at this point.  I mean 51 grams of fat!  Like it matters how much sodium or fiber is in the thing!  (ahem)  Sorry about that...

In the 8 weeks since the release of the sandwich Wendy's has sold 25 million Baconators.  That's over 20 billion calories and over 2.8 millions pounds of fat!  It's also about 13 million pounds of beef, which is a lot of cattle.  The numbers are bad enough on their own because they're so big, but keep in mind this sandwich has only been around for 2 months and it's only one of hundreds of gigantic burgers available at any number of fast food chains.  It really gives you a little glimpse and the enormity of the scale of the resources required to pull-together a sandwich like the Baconator.  Thousands upon thousands of pigs and cattle which have to be raised, watered, fed, slaughtered, processed and shipped to the restaurant nearest you.  The resources required to do this are astounding.

It's not a matter of being vegetarian or choosing to eat healthy.  The Baconator is a perfect example of the scale that the fast food industry operates on: massive.  The Baconator is also a perfect example of what a big, greasy, cheesy American hamburger should taste like: it's darn good!

It's your choice, eat a tasty burger or save the planet?  It should be an easy decision but the only way you'll know for sure if it's worth it is to try the Baconator yourself.  After all, if you're going to save the planet you should know what you'll be missing out on, right?

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