This is gross.

A New York City photographer and artist has kept (and photographed) a McDonald’s Happy Meal since April 2010. It has remained relatively unchanged over the past six months, and she has the pics to prove it. Little did I know someone has also done a longer project, keeping a McDonald’s hamburger since 1996.

It’s a Happy Meal! A Happy Meal! We feed millions of these things to our children throughout the year. Well, I don’t…anymore. I admit I used to love McDonald’s. On occasion I find myself craving their Cinnamon-Melts and a large caramel iced coffee. Aaaaand then I remind myself that’s roughly 660 calories (of high energy-dense calories), which takes about a 6-mile run to burn. Uhm. No, thank you.

Back to the point, though. We are consumed with…er…we consume processed food like it’s gold. It’s cheap, fast, easy, and oh, yeah – it’s also killing us. Next time you think about scarfing a Happy Meal-esque food, just remember food that doesn’t decompose isn’t really food. Still need cheap, fast, and easy? Pick up a banana.