We are all aware of what fast food is, we see it every day either passing restaurants on our way home, watching our friends consume it at a record pace or when we are bombarded by commercials about the golden arches or freaky fast delivery. Fast food businesses have successfully made fattening food readily available at all hours of the day, which has made consumers lazy and taking the path of least resistance - the drive-thru! The stresses of life with children and 40 hour work weeks have parents swarming to indulge in the quick fix. In fact, consumers have become addicted to the super-sized meals, and the perceived healthy options like chicken or salad that can be inhaled in the car on the way home with no dishes to worry about. For some unknown …show more content…
People are attracted to the low cost and easy access to chains because in America “today, more than 160,000 fast-food restaurants feed more than 50 million Americans each and every day” (Pirello 1). To put things into perspective on what a true epidemic this is, Mcdonald's are in every community and are responsible for selling 75 hamburgers every second and that is only one item off the menu. The invention of the drive-thru on route 66 changed how fast food would be purchased forever. It would be challenging today to find a single American that has not sat in line at a drive-thru waiting for fast food, everyone has done it. Drive-thrus are a popular option because “The car driver doesn't fully shed their sense of vehicular privacy and has a seemingly easy means of egress” (Vanderbilt 1). But there is the positive side to drive-thrus also, ”It's especially appealing to disabled people who'd prefer not to get out of their cars, parents who have to manage sizable broods while shopping, and criminals who don't like to dilly-dally.” (Beato 1). Consumers don’t even have to open their car door to pay or collect their order any more. All of this lends itself to the consumer becoming overly lazy and more and more dependent on fast food options because it's less time-consuming and reasonably priced. And time is crucial in today’s …show more content…
In psychological studies, “Researchers believe that the same brain mechanisms that cause people to become addicted… are responsible for the compulsion many people feel to binge on high-calorie, high-fat foods” (Scripps 1). Binge eating comfort food has been the go-to source for some people wanting to relive stress or cope after an emotional event or a social fight. Doing this for a long period of time can lead to addiction to high-calorie intake episodes. Consumers can eat fast food without being unhealthy, the main key is self-control. Consumers who have thrown control out the window or simply don't care are under threat, “Because of its heavy reliance on products that are high in sugar, fat, and calories, the fast food industry is a major force behind skyrocketing health problems and obesity in humans”(Tyre 1). Companies have denied that they are the underlying cause of obesity, as said before, they blame consumers inability to control themselves, “Fast-food makers call the obesity lawsuits "absurd," and the junk-food industry is battling any efforts to curb its sales”(Thompson 1). Fast food chains will do anything to keep the profit rolling in. Blaming consumers self-control isn't an answer since high-calorie foods are becoming the newest addiction in America. Fast food chains are responsible for the calories that are in their meals and every
Fast food has infiltrated every nook and cranny of American society. Everywhere you turn you can see a fast food restaurant. An industry that modestly began with very few hot dog and hamburger vendors now has become a multi-international industry selling its products to paying customers. Fast food can be found anywhere imaginable. Fast food is now served at restaurants and drive-through, at stadiums, airports, schools all over the nation. Surprisingly fast food can even be found at hospital cafeterias. In the past, people in the United States used to eat healthier and prepared food with their families. Today, many young people prefer to eat fast food such as high fat hamburgers, French-fries, fried chicken, or pizza in fast
Over the last 50 years, the fast food industry did not only sold hamburgers and french fries. It has been a key factor for vast social changes throughout America. It has been responsible for breaking traditional American values and reinstating new social standards that specifically aims to benefit the industry’s growth. These social standards have inevitably changed the way the American youth respond to education and self-responsibility. Eric Schlosser, an author of Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, excellently uses logic to present the tactics used by the fast food industry to cheapen and promote labor along with the social changes that occurred in the American youth as a result. Schlosser aims to dismantle and dissect
Fast food restaurants in America can be located on almost every street corner in almost every city. The enticing aroma of a burger and fries can be found at several locations in nearly every city, town, or suburb. According to Alaina Mcconnel, the 5 most popular fast food restaurants of 2011 are McDonalds, Subway, Starbucks, Wendy’s and Burger King (Mcconnell, A., & Bhasin, K., 2012). Fast food joints have a ruthless history of being fattening, greasy, and unhealthy with films like Super-Size me and Food Inc. giving the...
‘Fast Food Nation’ by Eric Schlosser traces the history of fast food industry from old hot dog stands to the billion dollar franchise companies established as America spread its influence of quick, easy and greasy cuisine around the globe. It is a brilliant piece of investigative journalism that looks deep into the industries that have profited from the American agriculture business, while engaging in labor practices that are often shameful.
Obesity is an epidemic in America. Fast food can be compared to the same type of mindless addiction as cigarettes, and can be equally as dangerous. Not only is there a problem with fast food restaurants, but the food industry as a whole. Slaughterhouses that control 80% of the market produce meat in such a way that is not healthy for consumption, in turn the products are doused in harmful chemicals and still served to the public. No wonder the obesity rate in America is 69% and rising. Obesity is a true problem in our country- people are neglecting their health and quite literally eating themselves to death.
Like the vast majority of Americans, I’ve eaten at a fast food restaurant before. Maybe the tables were sticky, or chicken was suspiciously white, but the fries tasted great, so I’d overlook the less enjoyable aspects of my experience. After reading Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, I understand that isn’t an option anymore. In ways both big and small, the fast food industry exerts a ridiculous amount of power over the American consumer, and it’s imperative that this be understood, should any impactful changes be made. As it stands now, the fast food industry is in dire need of reform, as it poses innumerable health and societal risks to the country and the world.
The first drive-in restaurant was created in Dallas, Texas (Alchin 3). Because of the creation of the drive-in restaurant, places such as McDonalds and Sonic now exist. These types of restaurants have made busy and stressful days easier. Drive-in restaurants are very convenient for the working class and provide fast service for people who have limited time. Even though drive-in restaurants have made feeding busy families easier, they do also have a negative side. Fast food has led to an increase in obesity all across the world. These chain restaurants have also led to a decrease in family interaction. More families eat on the go and are not spending quality time with one another. Even though drive-in restaurants were created over ninety-five years ago, they still have a huge effect on society
Fast food restaurants such as Burger King and McDonald’s, create advertisements where it urges people to consume their product. For example Mcdonald’s created a product where you can get two items such as a mcdouble and a medium fries for three dollars. According to “The battle against fast food begins at home”, by Daniel Weintraub, it shows how companies are intriguing their customers. “ The center blames the problem on the increasing consumption of fast food and soft drinks, larger portion sizes in restaurants and the amount of available on school campuses”(1).For the most part, the Center for Public Health believes that fast food companies are the problem for health
Millions of American people buy fast food every day without thinking about where, how and why. The ramifications of fast food is impacting the American people both around the waist line and the community where they live at. “As the old saying goes: you are what you eat.” (Schlosser) The customer have made the choices to eat fast food or not. The industry doesn’t care about the customers; studies have shown that the fast food industry is the reason for the rise of American obesity. “Live fast and die young” (Moore); this could not be more true when looking at the impact of the fast food industry.
Fast food has been around for ages and for good reason too. It’s a cheap, easy, and convenient way of satisfying one’s appetite. Fast food restaurants give us the opportunity to buy food for as low as one dollar. As one could expect, fast food generates significant revenue each year and the number continues to rise. McDonald’s is currently the largest fast food chain in the world with a net worth of 36.4 billion dollars as of 2017. With such a significant amount of revenue being made by the fast food industry every year you would think that they were producing top quality food that everyone can benefit from. However, this is far from the case. In fact, fast food has negative short term and long-term effects on the body that could lead to obesity,
We hear it all the time, regarding how fast food is bad for our health, and yet we continue eating it. Life doesn’t slow down and sometimes it is just much easier and better for you timewise to just go through the drive through. In the article “Fighting the Fast Food Habit: Can America Downsize?” it basically says that even though most of the fast food chains and food suppliers are trying to decrease the unhealthy options on their menus, it is too late for it because of our eating habits. We want the unhealthy food. Companies are going to market to what the consumer wants. That’s how they make their profits. To sum it all up, companies are food options it a little healthier, but not for us, they only do as much that is needed for people to keep buying it and still feel like they are eating a little healthier. (Garcia 94) Just because a company says they are making changes doesn’t mean you’re eating healthy. It simply means they are making the food and drinks people are consuming a little healthier, however, it still shouldn’t be considered healthy. They do what they have to do to make money. All in all, you should consider eating less fast food and work toward adopting some good eating
Fast food has changed the face of the world. Major chains like McDonalds span all over the world. Fast food chains are continuing to grow despite numerous facts of their unhealthiness. Fast food has been proven to be a dangerous food source, yet people continue to purchase it. The more people buy fast food the more it allows the big corporations to grow. People continue to eat fast food because there are no other convenient options.
Take a second to understand why fast food firms choose to sell products that are unhealthy. Their unhealthy products are in a high demand in the food market; in fact, they are simply giving us what we demand for. Most firms have started putting food labels on their menus so there is no room for excuse when making the right food choices. Nobody is forcing us to eat a whole box of Krispy crème donuts or a super-size meal at McDonalds. I believe that we are always looking for shortcuts in life and now we can anticipate there is a shortcut in what we put into our bodies. So we are consistently after things that are cheap, fast and affordable. Who better to attend to our needs than the fast food industry?
Over the last three decades, fast food has infiltrated every nook and cranny of American society and has become nothing less than a revolutionary force in American life. Fast food has gained a great popularity among different age groups in different parts of the globe, becoming a favorite delicacy of both adults and children.
If humanity gets rid of fast food, we would be healthier. First of all drive thru’s aren’t as instantaneous and accurate as they use to be. Plus the order accuracy, on average, has dropped drastically. In 2013, the drive thru industry was at 88.8%, but this year our percentage decreased to 87.2%. Sure that is only 1.6%, but they are also nine seconds slower. This was the first decrease in 15 years! Their reason for being slower is that now they make 12 ingredient sandwiches, which is a more complex sandwich, that takes more time to make than a normal 5 ingredient burger, says USA Today. A new fact about our drive thrus presently is that 60-70% of their business is done at the drive thru. Most people will say that they can wait that extra nine seconds to get their complex sandwich, but that complex sandwich doubles in fat grams, sodium, and carbs. Other people say that the 1% drop in accuracy is not a big deal, until their sandwich/hamburger gets messed up. (www.usatoday.com)