This post was compensated for. Regardless, thoughts are my own.

Yes! Tomorrow I’ll be going to Salinas, CA, which is about a 90-minute drive from home, so that I can get a behind-the-scenes look into the process McDonald’s food goes through before it actually arrives in local restaurants!

I’m excited because I usually like McDonald’s more than other fast food restaurants. I like their chicken sandwich, quarter pounder, and sweet tea. I also got to try GoGurt at the #BlogHer14 Closing Party in July and it tasted really good!

Now I know that McDonald’s doesn’t have the best reputation among moms but I do appreciate the fact that they’re trying to offer better options to its customers.

Here are some nutrition news and fun facts about McDonald’s:

• McDonald’s is one of the largest purchasers of apples in the U.S. restaurant industry. In 2012, our U.S. system purchased approximately 90 million pounds of raw apples. In fact, McDonald’s has sold 1.1 billion packages of apple slices since March 2012.
• There have been 530 million individual packages of apple slices served with a children’s meal between August 1, 2012 and July 31, 2013.
• McDonald’s customers in the U.S. have also enjoyed around 200 million cups of fruit between August 1, 2012 and July 31, 2013 from menu options like Fruit n’ Maple Oatmeal, Fruit ‘n Yogurt Parfait and apple slices.
• In 2013, McDonald’s partnered with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, founded by the Clinton Foundation and the American Heart Association to increase customer’s access to fruits or vegetables and to help families and children to make informed choices in keeping with a balanced lifestyle.
• So in 20 major markets, including the US, McDonald’s committed by 2020 to:
  • Offer customers a choice of a side salad, fruit or vegetable as a substitute for French fries in value meals
  • Feature only water, milk and juice as the beverage in Happy Meals on menu boards and in-store and external advertising directed to children
  • Utilize Happy Meals and other packaging and designs to generate excitement of fruit, vegetable, low/reduced far dairy or water options for kids or offer these options in the Happy Meal
  • Include a fun nutrition or children’s well-being message in 100% of advertising directed at children

Between August 1, 2012 and July 31, 2013, McDonald’s USA served over 410 million cups of vegetables to customers through menu options likes Premium McWrap, Premium Salads and side salads. In fact, there’s about 3 cups of vegetables in each Premium Salad.

Given these changes that McDonald’s is making in their menu, I’m excited to be able to go on this tour. I know I’m going to learn a lot!

So I invite you to join us on social media tomorrow! Check out #McDTour on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to see our updates as we discover what happens from field to restaurant!

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UPDATE: I posted about my experience at the tour here. 

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This post was compensated for. Regardless, thoughts are my own.