Imagine a traditional old school family. The family would sit down at the dinner table and share a meal together along with quality conversation over their day(s). The meal was prepared for a great sum of time and was well balanced comprised of portions every main food group followed by dessert all resulting in happy tummies and replenished bodies. Now think of meal time today. Today 's mealtime is centered around convenience and instant delivery, often fast food that is calorie packed and nutrient deficient thus leading to fullness only for a short period of time. Over the years in America obesity has been on the rise due to more busy lifestyles and less time available to prepare a well balanced meal. How times have changed! Unfortunately,the fast food industry has greatly contributed to a drastic rise in obesity …show more content…
At a fast food place,very little money goes a long way for the consumer. Fast food is a lot cheaper than healthy food and there is no need to put a dent in your wallet for a fair amount of food. I personally know this to be true due to that fact that in High school I had a great appreciation for food places that sold food for a dollar. I had a weekend job, and very little money to spend. While ordering my meal I had stars in my eyes due to the fact that I could get a main food, a side order,a drink AND dessert for less than five dollars! As a highschooler with very little money to spend and just didn 't have money to spend on good quality food.That being said, cheap fast food is more appealing than healthy food that generally takes a greater amount of time to prepare. Who wants to wait now a days for food? We all have work to get back to, kids to take to practice, and errands to run. Similarly,fast food restaurants sell food at cheaper prices to draw in more business, and it works! Most of us think of dollar amounts rather than calorie amounts so if something 's
The American diet has changed dramatically in the past couple centuries and so has the restaurant industry. The result of this change in Americans actions and diets is a rising obesity rate among children. In the 1970s, the childhood obesity rate was five percent of children (2-19 years old). The obesity rates doubled in the 1980s and by 2008 16.9% of children were obese (Grossklavs and Marvlesin). The percentage of obese children has more than tripled in the last 40 years. The growing epidemic is dangerous and alarming. There are many factors that contribute to the dramatic rise of obesity children. As obesity has grown, so has the fast food industry. “Between 1977 and 1995, the percentage of meals and snacks eaten at fast food restaurants doubled,” (...
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 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, greatly impacting youth, the health care system, and economically vulnerable populations. Among all of the high-income countries in the world, obesity rates remain the highest in the US. According to Harvard, US obesity rates have more than doubled since 1980, although they have remained the same since 2003. (Harvard School of Public Health) Approximately 31.9% of children and adolescents from the ages of 2 to 19 are obese or overweight (NPLAN), while roughly 69% of adults fall into the category of overweight or obese. (Harvard School of Public Health) With obesity rates this high, America is facing a huge crisis that could become greater in the future. In order to understand the issue of Obesity in America it is important to evaluate the extent to which the problem effects large populations of children and adults and how the fast food industry has served as one of the major causes of this epidemic.
In the book Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser talks about the working conditions of fast food meat slaughterhouses. In the chapter “The Most Dangerous Job,” one of the workers, who despised his job, gave Schlosser an opportunity to walk through a slaughterhouse. As the author was progressed backwards through the slaughterhouse, he noticed how all the workers were sitting very close to each other with steel protective vests and knives. The workers were mainly young Latina women, who worked swiftly, accurately, while trying not to fall behind. Eric Schlosser explains how working in the slaughterhouses is the most dangerous profession – these poor working conditions and horrible treatment of employees in the plants are beyond comprehension to what we see in modern everyday jobs, a lifestyle most of us take for granted.
Hamburgers are a reasonably recent creation, they were only became mainstream in the early twentieth century. In 1916 the first hamburger chain was created by J. Walter Anderson. At his Witchita, Kansas store he sold hamburgers for five cents wich also came with freis and colas. White castle was a thriving business, but it and other fast food chains did not become really popular until after World War II.
David Zinczenko makes a compelling argument regarding the issues of the fast food industry causing the life sentence of obesity for children. Perhaps, the arguments provided in his essay could have been well founded in 2003, however over a decade has passed, the industry has changed, and such arguments no longer hold ground. I will argue that in 2015, the responsibility of monitoring the problems which arise from fast food consumption now lies in the hand of the "Eater," not those who dish it out.
In the book Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser writes about the fast food industry. However, his book is not merely an expose of the fast food industry but is even more a consideration of how the fast food industry has shaped and defined American society in America and for other nations as America exports its fast food culture to others. Schlosser describes a great deal of American culture to the fast food mentality, and he finds that globalization is taking the fast food culture around the world at a rapid rate. Schlosser addresses a number of specific issues related to food production and distribution. He connects the social order of a society to the kind of food it eats and the way it eats that food, with American society very much defined by the fast food culture that has developed. Schlosser tends to represent the theory stressing the importance of interdependence among all behavior patterns and institutions within a social system, as can be seen from how he connects fast food to other social processes and institutions.
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.
Food is a major part of everyone’s everyday life. It’s hard to imagine life without the chocolate cake on your fingers or a carne asada taco in your mouth. Enjoying delicious desserts and fast food seem extremely magnificent to eat and spend money buying them. Although, there have been many controversies in the United States on how it’s the largest country with the most obesity regarding children, which affects their health, many people are still going throughout their day snacking. Many people in America are having full course meals with thousands of calories in one sitting not knowing the short term or long term side effects that are going to take a huge toll on their lives. Food is delicious, but it comes with a secret behind the savoriness/sweetness.
Obesity is a big social issue in America. Due to the popularity of fast food and other unhealthy foods, more and more Americans are developing health diseases and disorders. We should be getting the correct daily nutrition amount, but because of our fast paced lifestyles we sometimes do not have enough time. Fast food restaurants make it possible to grab a meal and go. We often do not pay attention to the nutrition amount, but are simply looking for a quick bite to eat that will fulfill our hunger. Fast food is assisting in the increase of obesity in America (“Phrase” par.2).
Back in time, when food factories and fast food chains did not exist, food was produced for individuals and families not for populations. In today’s society the food industry relies heavily on mass production, but is this necessary, or is America just so hard wired to this system that we are unable to change? If societies before us were able to survive on food straight from farms why can’t our society today do the same? The answer is money. The American food system revolves around money. This is causing food companies to feel the need to mass produce food at the cheapest cost in order to sell it in large quantities, thus skewing the American food system towards large food brands making the victim in the system...local farms and small food producers.
In recent discussions of the current public health crisis in America, one issue that is often brought up is the impact of fast food on the health of Americans. The health crisis has ramifications ranging from the rising cost of healthcare to the drastic increase in childhood obesity. As a result, there is a major dispute as to what role the government should have in regulating the fast food industry. Some people claim that the government should have nothing to do with regulating restaurants. These people believe that the government has no authority to involve itself in every aspect of American life, and what we eat should be nobody’s responsibility but our own. Others claim that due to the widespread impact on public health, the government has a responsibility to set some rules. They feel that the government needs to take an active regulatory role, since the fast food companies make poor decisions about what they put on their menus and how, if at all, they publish nutritional information about their products. Such regulations, they claim, could include mandating menu variety and forcing restaurants to publish additional nutritional information and warnings about eating their food.
A typical fast food meal is very high in calories and fat , and it doesn 't offer that much of the nutritional value. In addition, fast food contains a lot of artificial colors , preservatives and chemicals . In most cases, fast food can lead to many diseases such as obesity, which is a major risk factor for so many health problems. For example, heart disease, diabetes and high cholesterol. So, Fast food does really have a direct impact on the overall health. In the same way, many people think it is cheaper to buy a fast ready meal which it is not true. There are so many additional cost of fast food related to health such as obesity and heart disease. So,basically, you pay more for fast foods. In addition, you can go to any fast food restaurant and get a meal for five to ten dollars a person. However, you can feed multiple people for the same price by cooking at home. Also, there would be some leftover ingredients for future usage. It is good to know that fast food is addictive, which means you spend more money buying fast food. That being said, fast food is not really cheaper as people assume. It is actually more expensive as it leads to many additional cost