Fast Food Industry Essay

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The fast food industry is something that is familiar to everyone. Living in the United States, you can usually only go a few miles without seeing a multitude of fast food restaurants popping up. The bright neon lights flashing and enticing all to come and have a quick, easy and cheap meal. Eric Schlosser, the author of Fast Food Nation, points out, “Americans now spend more money on fast food than on higher education, personal computers, or new cars. They spend more on fast food than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos, and recorded music - combined.” Without the fast food industry our country would be significantly different, it has changed the nation environmentally, economically, and culturally and has done many beneficial things …show more content…

In the era of the 1950’s, America was a top world power that was flourishing economically. There were new houses, industries, and cars. With the invention of the car, people started to want things faster and on the go. The car changed the pace of America, everything needed to be faster and that included food. It all began with drive-ins, specifically Carl’s Drive-In Barbeque in Anaheim, California. Customers were able to park their car and honk their horn while someone would come out to take their order and then deliver it. The point was that you were able to stay in your car, while someone else did all the work for you. Drive-ins were able to work with less employees, letting the price of the food lessen while profits rose greatly. The drive-in is the perfect expression of America 's passions: speed, efficiency, and sometimes, laziness. Carl’s Drive-In Barbeque was thriving and he thought business could only get better, until he heard of a restaurant in San Bernadino, California named the McDonald Brothers Burger Bar Drive-In. This new Drive-In was being raved about and was selling their hamburgers for only 15 cents -20 cents less than what Carl was charging. Carl drove to check out the competition and found dozens of people lining up to try “McDonald’s Famous Hamburgers.” The McDonald brothers had a completely new method to drive-ins that would increase the speed, lower prices, and raise volume of sales. They had a simple menu and eliminated all dishes and glassware, only using paper products. The kitchen ran more like a factory, with each worker having a certain station and task to be accomplished. The restaurant became known as a completely self-service system. Inspired by the the McDonald brothers Speedee Service System, Carl decided to turn his own drive-in into a self-service restaurant. Word of quality hamburgers, service and low prices attracted many, historian

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