Consumption is an essential part of human life. People consume different sorts of objects in order to support their physiological and psychological needs. Among these objects is what we consider our “primary mechanism for acquiring nutrients” that enables our bodies to function effectively. This object is none other than food (Juele, “The Culture” 1). Through time, food has remained to be among the most important aspects of human life. That is why the food industry, even with modern society’s more rapid way of life, has continuously adapted to changes in order to cater to the needs of human living. With people’s lives becoming more fast-paced, there has been a growing concern in food and that is convenience. According to Drummond and Brefere, …show more content…
As introduced earlier, one of the benefits that fast food offers among its consumers is convenience. With people’s lives becoming more fast-paced and with more and more people being occupied by their responsibilities, the act of cooking, at certain times, becomes too much of a hassle – even considered as additional work by some. As stated by Julie Guthman, “People really are stressed out with all that they have to do, and they don’t want to cook” (qtd. in Bittman). With the presence of fast food establishments, the expenditure of time, energy, and even money is lessened as people can simply opt to eat out or call for a delivery service. The service is also fast which gives people an opportunity of quickly grabbing food at times of hurry. The capability of fast food restaurants offering such speedy service is highly influenced by the content of their menu. In comparison to full service restaurants taking pride of their elaborate menus and recipes, fast food restaurants often have simple and limited menus. Although a variety of choices exist, the menu is still limited by its usually cheap and easy to prepare items. In addition, most of them are ready-to-cook allowing preparation time to span for only a few minutes. (Juele, “How Fast” 2). Chicken and hamburgers are good examples of this as they need “little space for preparation and specialization [with it] kept [the need] for equipment to a minimum” (Smith xliii). With this, fast food restaurants are able to serve their food quickly and cater to more customers as well within short time periods. Quick service aside, fast food is also deemed convenient due to its accessibility. Going back to America during the early 1900s, fast food restaurants becoming situated at highly visible and accessible areas is actually related with the mass production of automobiles.
The food industry has become a large part of the American lives by providing cheap, affordable, and fulfilling food. Now, fast food has expanded globally, creating a global phenomenon. In Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Scholosser, the book looks at the history of fast food and how it became a multi-billion dollar industry. Scholosser is an investigative journalist that seeks to uncover the truth about the fast food industry by researching its roots and exploring every aspect of the industry. Scholosser divided the book into two sections called “The American Way” and “Meat and Potatoes.”
Section 1: Typically, we need a well-balanced meal to give us the energy to do day-to-day tasks and sometimes we aren’t able to get home cooked meals that are healthy and nutritious on a daily basis, due to the reasons of perhaps low income or your mom not being able to have the time to cook. People rely on fast food, because it’s quicker and always very convenient for full-time workers or anyone in general who just want a quick meal. Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation argues that Americans should change their nutritional behaviors. In his book, Schlosser inspects the social and economic penalties of the processes of one specific section of the American food system: the fast food industry. Schlosser details the stages of the fast food production process, like the farms, the slaughterhouse and processing plant, and the fast food franchise itself. Schlosser uses his skill as a journalist to bring together appropriate historical developments and trends, illustrative statistics, and telling stories about the lives of industry participants. Schlosser is troubled by our nation’s fast-food habit and the reasons Schlosser sees fast food as a national plague have more to do with the pure presence of the stuff — the way it has penetrated almost every feature of our culture, altering “not only the American food, but also our landscape, economy, staff, and popular culture. This book is about fast food, the values it represents, and the world it has made," writes Eric Schlosser in the introduction of his book. His argument against fast food is based on the evidence that "the real price never appears on the menu." The "real price," according to Schlosser, varieties from destroying small business, scattering pathogenic germs, abusing wor...
In the article “The End of Food,” Lizzie Widdicombe describes an advancement in our food culture through a new product developed by three young men living in San Francisco’s Tenderloin district. After failing to produce new inexpensive cellphone towers on a hundred seventy thousand dollar investment, the three men went on to try and develop software with their remaining funding. While trying to maximize their funding’s longevity, they realized that their biggest budget impediment was food. In fact, it reached the point where their diet comprised mostly fast food, and eventually they despised the fact that they had to spend so much time and money on eating. Due to this hardship, Rob Rhinehart, one of the entrepreneurs, came up with the idea that he could eat in a healthier, more cost effective manner by simply buying the necessary nutrients for survival rather than buying the food.
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...
In the book Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser writes about the fast food industry. Schlosser tells the story of J.R. Simplot, the man behind McDonald’s source for potatoes. He started his own business right out of the eighth grade, after dropping out. He started out small but eventually became one of the riches men in America. He owned then 160 acres of land to start off this business. He sold his potatoes to companies at first all natural. But he soon discovered that if you dry out the food it will keep for longer, more companies then bought from him. Then in the 1950's he found out about freezing them, and the method of frozen food. McDonald’s started buying and selling Simplot fries. The customers seemed to like it, they didn't mind the change or even realize it. As a result though from freezing the potatoes, they lost a lot of the natural flavors. Companies began cooking their food in a high percentage of animal fat to capture that flavor, but soon they switched. They traded beef fat for more chemicals. The fries flavor all depends on the chemicals, it is all fake, and there is even more saturated fat from their fries than in their burgers.
American pay more in fast food than one does on entrainment like movies, books, and music combined. In 1970, The United States spend around $6 billion on fast food and by the end of 2011 the amount was nearly doubled to $110 billion. Fast food is now found all over the places like hospitals, airports, and zoos. “What We Eat”, wrote by Eric Schlosser reflects on his research on the far-reaching effects of the American life. “What We Eat,” is a look into the rapid increase and popularity in fast food for the American people along with the physical and social consequence of the rapidly growth of the service economy.
Introduction The phrase, “We are what we eat” holds some essential validity and truth to it. Food is a constituent feature of our environmental ties to where we subside. It is a part of our daily lives. It can act as a form of communication with other individuals. Food can be an indicator of the nutrition idiosyncratic cultural groups are practicing.
There is no surprise that food is important in all aspects of our lives—it is shared amongst families, celebrated as a major part of our culture, and crucial to our daily routine that keeps us fit, healthy, and active. Today’s western culture glorifies a skewed perspective on how food is supposed to fit into our lives. Somehow this perception has led us to believe we no longer have the time or money it takes to prepare a wholesome, healthy meal that is shared at the dinner table with family. Instead, we are trained to want a meal that is fast, cheap, and easy. This meal is usually highly processed and filled with sugars and fats. This has led us to a problem of epidemic proportions characterized by the rapid increase in obesity and diabetes.
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.
Many people in America, from toddlers to the elderly, have shown numerous signs of bad health. People have the desire to keep on eating due to more, new things being merchandised as “new and improved items” from the producers. For example, nowadays, people are eating pure junk that they find satisfying on the grocery food shelf. As, stated by Michael Pollan, in his article, “Eat Food: Food Defined” he affirmed that “real food is the type of things that our
Fast food is popular in America. In fact, one of America’s nicknames is “fast food nation,” (“Healthy” par. 1). It is quick and only takes a short amount of time to get the food. There are so many fast food restaurants in the world. Every corner people turn, there is another McDonald’s or a popular fast food restaurant. What people do not know about this easy way of eating is how unhealthy fast food really is. Quick food does not mean nutritious food. However, many Americans debate whether fast food restaurants should be required to show the nutrition in their food.
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. N. pag. Print.
Throughout the years, fast food is becoming more and more of an outlet for many people that are short on change, in a rush but still need to grab a bite to eat, or even who are just too lazy to cook a meal. Fast food is very cheap, yet when we eat it we don’t necessarily realize the price we pay when we are starting to gain weight. Who is to blame? The person that is addicted to fast food, or the fast food restaurants? I agree fast food is cheap, yet delicious. I understand that it may get addicting, I do not believe that it is the restaurants fault for your lack of self-control. Eating fast food all the time can put you up against some major health risks. As claimed by, “Fast Food and Obesity,” Every 4 out of 10 adults in the USA will become obese in the next 5 years if they keep eating this food the way they are.
As Americans, we’re always on the go. When hungry and have no time there are many fast and healthy items available. Many people who say that fast food chains is the main cause of obesity in America because there are plenty of fast food restaurants on every block with very few healthy options ("Do Fast Food Restaurants Contribute to Obesity?"). Fast food business are very easy to find and offer quick service, but there are other options that are healthy, especially in urban areas. Restaurants such as Panera offer a range of items that are healthy and offer a quick service for those on a schedule. In addition to these healthier options, it is also possible to pack their own snack or meal. People often become lazy when it comes to just cooking their meals at home. This choice allows the customer, to control what they eat.
First, fast food and home-cooked meals differ in the time. The people choose fast food because they do not have time to prepare a proper meal and it can be prepared very quickly. Jekanowski, Binkley, and Eales (2001) claimed that fast food outlets’ main sales point is convenience. The fast food companies open a lot of branches in the different area so that the customers just need a few minutes to buy a set of fast food even it is complete with a drink.