Fast Food Culture Essay

Fast food culture: a life raft or a sinking boat

The Amalgamation of Richard, and Maurice McDonalds, and Ray Kroc in 1955, set in motion a great cultural phenomenon, that would lead to the transformation of American gastronomy, impact their health, and become a formidable global ambassador of Americanization--the Fast food culture (Wilson).

Nothing represents America better than the fast food restaurants. There is no American who Is not impacted by this phenomenal artifact.

In 1948 Richard and Maurice McDonald opened what became the world’s first self-serve- drive-in restaurant in San Bernardino, California, but it wasn’t until 1955, that the meeting that will change the way fast food business is conducted around the world, was held. When

Mr. Thompson, one of the franchisees who started his own McDonalds career in the 1990s speaking of the founder of McDonald 's corporation, Ray Kroc said: “He opened up the door for so many other people to be able to have entrepreneurial careers with McDonald 's” (Lynch). The fast-food culture was not just a square peg in the square hole of that time, but also a life raft to many. The chain was an avenue for so many people to make a living. One in every eight Americans has worked in a fast food restaurant, especially McDonalds. Franchising was an opportunity for others to succeed together with McDonalds and other fast food chains. McDonalds was not the first fast food chain, but it was the first to go ubiquitously nationwide, and globally American. This was not just because it exploited a new cultural reality, but because of its deep-seated value for humanity and diversity. It didn’t cash in but created the culture

Americans went from being attached to the fast food culture to depending on it. The result--obesity; a negative effect of the fast food culture. Morgan Spurlock experimented with eating McDonald 's food for breakfast, lunch and dinner; In just five days, he added ten pounds. He thus found out that fast food restaurants are the single greatest contributor to the obesity epidemic in America (Gilbert). “Functional neuroimaging studies further revealed that smell, taste, and appearance of food produce a similar effect as drugs of abuse. Many of the brain changes reported for hedonic eating and obesity are also seen in various forms of addictions” (Liu et al). Fast food restaurants selectively choose certain flavors and effects, to create craving and dependence on their food. “Animal studies have shown that the predisposition to food addiction in offspring, was caused by feeding rat mothers junk food, consisting of fatty, sugary, and salty snacks, during pregnancy and lactation” (Liu et al). Apart from chemical factors such as ingredients like sugar and salt, external cues also lead to craving for food despite satiation. Advertising on television further elicits food cues encouraging even normal weight children and adults to seek out food despite the lack of hunger signals (Liu et