So just a scattered, medium-winded post, some food for thought that starts with canned meat and ends with caloric burritos.

Apparently SPAM (Spiced Ham or Shoulder of Pork and Ham - the namesake is a big debate) is an economic indicator. Sales of the whateveritis meat product go up during hard economic times, bouts like these, according to the New York Times.

So The Biscuit bought a can (embarrassingly we’ve never had it before) and fried it up. The stuff was delicious, definitely worth it even when we’re not in a recession. Make sure you make the thing as brown and crispy as can be on the outside.

Financial woes aside, the problem becomes that many opponents of the mystery meat say it’s completely unhealthful. Looks like they’re right, but a small slice of 15 grams of fat is not scaring us away.

This made The Biscuit think: What is the worst food for your body out there? The answer will require a lot more research to find the real one, but check out this random link for a list of 100 gut-growing eats. Scroll down to look at Outback Steak House where it looks like they have no rules regarding nutrition.

The real surprise is Chipotle, the burrito behemoth that prides itself in fresh, high-quality ingredients and “only real food” (Is food ever fake?). The place is just terrible when it comes to healthful meals. And they’re devious when it comes to revealing the nutritional values of their menu-items.

Unlike McDonald’s, which lists the calories in a Big Mac, the Mexican (not really) eatery breaks its menu down into the smallest divisions possible. If you want to know what you’re eating, you have to add up the calories in their “naturally raised meats” and “hand mashed guacamole,” and beware that “numbers only tell part of the story.” Sure people can craft their own burritos, but franchises could at least offer an idea of the standard order and its contents.

The Biscuit doesn’t care that much about calories, but something about the corporate word choice is really irritating. Should eating be “an occasion, a celebration of real high-quality whole ingredients simply prepared to create extraordinary tastes - not a science experiment?” Hope the ingredients are real.

Let’s end on this, what you get when you finish a chicken burrito with cheese and corn salsa (no math necessary):

910 calories (1180 with sour cream and guacamole), 29.5 grams of fat (52.5 with the extras) and 2170 mg sodium (2390 if it’s loaded)

The tortilla is hands down the worst ingredient in all categories.

Fiesta!