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Effects of fast food on health
The effects of fast food on modern society
The effects of fast food on modern society
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Fast food is widely considered a hallmark of American culture, but has spread worldwide. In a society where everyone is always on the go, the fast food industry has persuaded people to give up quality in favor of artificially-enhanced taste and drive thru convenience. Experts often blame fast food for obesity and related health problems. By using advancing kitchen technology to move towards efficient large-scale production rather than increased quality, the fast food industry has created lower quality food, forced lower standards of taste, and has caused adverse health effects in it’s consumers. Events of the early 20th century enabled the creation of the fast food industry. While the first fast food restaurant is often considered White Castle, …show more content…
The price needs not only to be affordable, but to be worth the time and effort that goes into preparing a meal. This is why fast food prices remain so low, and accessible to all social classes. Different groups have been impacted by the formation and rapid growth of the fast food industry- altering our ever-changing relationship to the things we eat. The industry places a disproportionate burden on poor and immigrant families, who are more likely to be working for minimum wage at fast food restaurants and cannot afford healthier prepared meals. This results is a disproportionate effect on the health of low-income people. Specific social groups that are affected include immigrants, women, and low-skilled workers (Talwar, 2002, 88). Poor families are also less likely to have the time to cook meals, as they will need to work longer hours, or even multiple jobs. For these reasons, fast food becomes a main dietary component rather than a treat or supplement when in a hurry. The convenience and low cost may appear to benefit the working class, but the health effects make it clear this isn’t so. “Becoming modern, it turns out, is not simply adding on new items of behavior, and when societies change, they rarely instruct those that are changing about the things they may be losing” (Wilk, 2006,
In Fast Food Nation, Schlosser goes beyond the facts that left many people’s eye wide opened. Throughout the book, Schlosser discusses several different topics including food-borne disease, near global obesity, animal abuse, political corruption, worksite danger. The book explains the origin of the all issues and how they have affected the American society in a certain way. This book started out by introducing the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station beside the Colorado Springs, one of the fastest growing metropolitan economies in America. This part presents the whole book of facts on fast food industry. It talks about how Americans spend more money on fast food than any other personal consumption. To promote mass production and profits, industries like MacDonald, keep their labor and materials costs low. Average US worker get the lowest income paid by fast food restaurants, and these franchise chains produces about 90% of the nation’s new jobs. In the first chapter, he interviewed Carl N. Karcher, one of the fast food industry’s leade...
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.
Zinczenko also states that, if you were to drive down any thoroughfare in America you are guaranteed to see a Mcdonald’s, but you are unlikely to find a place that sells any fresh fruits (Zinczenko 392). Zinczenko’s point is that the food industry’s unwillingness to promote more healthier foods is most likely the cause of the unhealthy diets of western societies. Another part of the problem is the pricing of healthier options, such as whole foods, fresh fruits, and low calorie snacks; all these foods are ridiculously overpriced compared to their unhealthy counterparts. One would think the food that is made to help prolong your life would be more accessible, instead it is the foods that are high on calories, fats and sugars that are cheap and available. Fast food companies go by the motto that cheaper is better, and it is how they compete with each other. Almost all fast food companies followed in McDonald 's footstep by creating a dollar menu, because they saw the drastic increase of McDonald 's revenue. When consumers see all these cheap meals for a dollar they readily buy their food from the dollar menus, rather than buying a single granola bar for the same price. In a society where most of the population is the working class, these dollar
One thing almost any American can relate to is fast food. Statistics show that every day, 1 in 4 people eat fast food. Also, over the past thirty years, the prevalence of obesity and obesity-related diseases in the U.S. has risen sharply. Some consider that doing taxes is easier than eating healthy. Why is that? Has fast food taken over the health of America? Is the convenience of a McDonald’s restaurant on practically every street to blame? U.S. citizens should recognize what they are feeding themselves is hardly nutritious.
Typically, countries such as America are trying to become a healthier nation despite of what they are accustomed to. America has been conditioned to the lifestyle of eating fast foods and ultimately has became an important part of their culture. Fast food restaurants such as Mcdonalds, Burger King, and KFC represent the image of America from the views of foreign countries. Since fast food is becoming abundant in America, they have picked up the trend of eating not only three meals a day but now four. This is problem because of how unhealthy fast food is: “Fast food is an affordable and convenient way to fill yourself up when on the run. Although you shouldn't feel guilty for an occasional indulgence, regularly eating fast food can seriously damage your health.” (Lee, par. 1). Many of these fast food restaurants are open 24 hours a day to encourage people to eat their fourth meal. Similarly, restaurants have made all you can eat options, including unlimited ice cream, pizza, fried chicken, and more. This specific type of food is readily available and extremely cheap in America, therefore Americans take advantage of this by consuming food without culture or tradition. In other countries, food has a greater importance and is more valued. Moreover, they look down on A...
Fast food outlets actually have been existed from millennia in China, India and ancient Europe. In the past, many people cannot afford to have a kitchen and this becomes the main reason they buy their food in fast food outlets (Reverse Your Age, 2013). The perception of fast food started to change in twentieth century. The first company that change the culture and perception of fast food was McDonald’s, followed by their future competitors such as KFC, Burger King, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and Subway. As they get a good appreciation from the customers followed by the impact of the globalisation, almost all of the fast food companies have been expanded their restaurant chain in many nations (Wojtek, 2013). Nowadays, with our busy life schedule and the increasing trend where women entering workforce promote an opportunity for the fast food industry to grow bigger. We can see the significant growth from the fast food industry as the industry itself has been generated over $160 billion in 2012 compared to their revenue in 1970 which only around $6 billion (Franchise Help, n.d.). With this significant growth, it does not mean that every company in this industry are successful. Some company has to closed some of their stores due to the lack of environmental research and preparation in entering a new country which commonly lead to the poor selling rate. The deeper explanation and points that is mention below will be also represent as the industry current state.
In Eric Schlosser book ‘Fast Food Nation’ he discusses his findings of the fast food industry and exposes it for what it is. Fast food has been an American tradition for over half a century and it’s not a mystery why. Fast food is the most convenient, quick, and cheapest way to get a meal. Not only is fast food cheap and convenient, it’s also loaded with grease and fat to make sure it keeps you coming back. Fast food has become almost more common than eating at home with “about half of the money used to buy food spent is at restaurants, mainly fast food restaurants.”(Schlosser) Fast food is causing problems because of the unsafe slaughterhouse conditions, questionable quality of food, and its advertising towards children.
Consumer spending, healthy eating index, and agricultural price index are three of the key drivers that IBISWorld identifies. Consumer spending is obvious due to the fact that the industry is sensitive. Healthy eating index, which IBISWorld identifies as, “…the percentage of a recommended diet that an average American consumes. The percentage represents the degree that the average American adheres to the consumption guidelines set out by the US Department of Agriculture.” Consumers are now more aware of issues with health but the industry has responded to the change in consumer preferences very well. Most restaurants have the calories of the item on their menus’ and offer healthier options such as grilled chicken and salads. Lastly, the agricultural price index, “represents nominal prices received by farmers for all United States agricultural products and is a strong indicator of prices of fast food restaurants can expect to pay for ingredients that go into prepping meals.” (IBISWorld). With these key drivers acknowledged, the industry has responded quickly to any change with consumer demand and we have seen slow, steady growth after the recession. It may not be a lot of growth, but we have seen and will continue to see the industry to respond very well to any changes.
Due to the current livelihood of modern day person, commitment to duties have led to people living busy lives. Hence, it has emerged that people lack even few minutes to have meals or share quality with loved ones. This trend is what has led to the growth and blossom of the fast food business in most areas in the world. Fast food businesses has eliminated the hassles of one having to balance between duties and preparing meals. People have embraced the culture of grabbing ready-made food in this joints and taking it to their place of work (Healey, 2012). Fast food joints have therefore bridged the gap between work and waste of time during meal breaks.
People relate the history of fast food with the invention of automobiles. Most people think McDonald’s was the first fast food restaurant in America, it was not. The first fast food restaurant was White Castle, which opened in Wichita Kansas, in 1916. White Castle was a popular hamburger joint. Soon after the opening of White Castle, many other
“One small bite for man, one giant problem for mankind.” Numerous Americans today are affected by the vastly growing number of fast food chains. These chains serve unhealthy items at a costly price. Many health issues concern more than 35.7 Americans and cause them to become unhealthy or obese due to fast food. This causes many problems such as obesity rates proliferating, the damage it has on your health, and the high price of cheap food.
I Wonder… Term Project Introduction I wonder what negative impact the fast foods industry had on the environment. Nowadays, fast foods industry has become one of the biggest industries in around the world. More and more fast foods restaurants are opened as the number of people who consume fast foods increase.
Over 25% of Americans consume fast foods every day and over $100 billion is spent on fast food every year. All you think of is the convenience of it and how tasty it is but have you ever wondered how it is made and what effects it has on you? Fast foods are prepared with high levels of sodium and fat, bringing people back for more and more. Fast food is a bigger part of the American diet than you may think. These frequently consumed meals bring many negative effects upon us, including health issues, a poor environment and social problems. People all over the world are suffering from obesity and heart diseases, two of the main causes of deaths today. Every breath you take may contain polluted air coming from chemicals used to make packaging for fast foods. Yet even with all this negativity towards fast foods, it does have a good side by bringing in money for the economy of the United States. Hence, with fast food consumption come not only the bad but also the good.
This topic was an interest to me because I am going into the medical field in my near future. Fast food can be defined as food that can be prepared very quickly and easily. Fast food can be very tasty due to all of the additional sugars, salts and preservatives. Fast food chains have to compete with other to keep customers coming back to their restaurants. Fast food restaurants have been around since the 1900s, but the food they served back then was much healthier
Obesity can be contributed with the rising number of unhealthy fast food chains. These restaurants serve immense proportions full of processed food that is full of calories. A meal, consisting of a hamburger, french fries, and a small drink, contains over one thousand calories. A test was run to exhibit these harmful effects. “According to a 15-year study of 3,000 adults, people who visited fast food restaurants more than twice per week gained roughly 9 to 11 pounds more than people who visited them less than once per week” (“Does). The low quality of food matches the cleanliness of the restaurant