Fast food companies have demolished competition throughout the last 30 years in the restaurant industry. The practices used to eliminate competition such as using unhealthy food to make a profit have been reported unethical by Americans, but it tends to be desired by the American society. According to the American Franchise Corporation, certified by TrustArc, fast food companies generate $570 billion annually in the United States ("Fast Food Industry Analysis"). These statistics continue to rise as more and more fast food companies become ubiquitous. As a result, fast food companies get richer, while people contract life-altering health effects. Throughout the last few decades, fast food companies have started popping out everywhere. With the …show more content…
However, fast food restaurants changed this paradigm by being able to order and receive an entire meal in under 60 seconds from a vehicle. This new paradigm brought jobs to millions of people, however, it came with side effects such as increasing health hazards for the American public. Fast food companies offer jobs to millions of citizens and with fast food restaurants becoming ubiquitous, these numbers will increase rapidly. According to Statista, the World 's leading statistic source, "In 2013, there were 3.65 million fast-food restaurant employees in the U.S. This figure was forecasted to reach almost 3.8 million by 2018" ("Employees in the U.S."). In fact, the number of employees will continue to increase as more and more companies are being introduced around the world. Fast food companies give unemployed people hope that one day they will become employed. Fast food companies get people off the streets and provide worker 's security in home life. However, according to UC Berkeley, a prestigious college in California, "many of them work in jobs that pay wages so low that their paychecks do not generate enough income to …show more content…
Fast food is considered popular because it 's convenient, it 's cheap, and it tastes good. But the real cost of eating fast food never appears on the menu. Fast food marketers marketing to children and adolescents has skyrocketed throughout the last century. According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, funded by the government, "In the United States, the percentage of children and adolescents affected by obesity has more than tripled since the 1970 's" ("Healthy Schools"). In fact, this statistic is predicted to increase significantly as fast food restaurants are continuously being built everywhere in the U.S. Fast food restaurants are everywhere. Anyone can walk down the street and see a fast food place almost anywhere they go. Humans have a tendency to be lazy. It 's much easier to go down the street and pick up a hamburger than to make a low-calorie meal at home. It 's less complex to the consumer. According to a Heidi Godman, executive editor of Harvard 's Health Letter "teenagers and kids consumed far more calories in fast-food and other restaurants than they did at home. The numbers were alarming: eating out was associated with taking in as many as 160 extra calories daily for younger kids and as many as 310 calories daily for teens" (Godman). In addition to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention findings, Heidi Godman shows how obesity rates have rapidly increased by eating out at fast food resturants instead of eating a low calorie home cooked
It has become common today to dismiss how fast food affects health worldwide. In David Zinczenko’s article, “Don’t Blame the Eater,” he emphasizes that fast food chains are contributing to the ongoing concern of obesity in America. In discussion of obesity, one controversial issue in “Don’t Blame the Eater” has been that fast food chains do not combine calorie information with their advertising meals. On the one hand, he asserts his unfortunate encounter with fast food throughout his childhood to further highlight his standing against fast food chain commerce. On the other hand, Zinczenko argues that diabetes in children have had a significant increase in a decade due to fast food.
According to recent polls, approximately 3% of Americans admit to consuming fast-food at least once per day. This number, although it may appear small, it accounts for 9.5 million citizens across the United States who are unashamed of chowing down on a quick meal. Unfortunately, due to this consumerization, obesity and other like-minded illnesses have risen in recent years. The effects are costly and capable of making people pay the ultimate price: their life.
In the article, “Don’t Blame the Eater,” David Zinczenko argues it is the fast food industry’s fault for the nation 's growing obesity epidemic. Furthermore, he believes people should not be blamed for their own obesity. Zinczenko argues fast-food is much more available to the fast paced lifestyle people live in rather than consuming healthy alternatives. He also discusses the fact so many people are on a low budget, it is then best and more inexpensive for them to consume fast-food. Zinczenko states a claim that the fast-food industry “would do well to protect themselves, and their customers, by providing the nutrition information people need” (Zinczenko 464).
McDonald’s and Wendy’s are two companies that have many similar attributes, but at the same time, many differences within them. Quick Service Restaurants or the Fast Food industry as we are more familiar, contains over hundreds of restaurants, and over 200,000 fast food restaurant locations. This is a powerful, growing industry and is one that means big business. In the 1970’s the fast food industries revenue was only at 6 billion dollars, but in 2015, the fast food industry’s revenue is now over 160 billion dollars. Over the past years, the industry has grown at an 8.6% yearly rate.
The main contributor, widely reported by top experts, is the consumption of cheap, and convenient foods such as fast food and the myriad of boxed foods available in the supermarket. Diane Brady asserts in her essay, “The Employer-Friendly Case for Pricer Big Macs” that “Of all the reasons why a third of U.S. adults are obese, the lure of cheap, unhealthy food ranks near the top” (519). With continual attention being given to the effects of unhealthy foods on adults and especially young people, one would think that America would wise up and stop consuming it at such an alarming rate. Again, Brady points out that, “Fast food chains have raised their game with healthier menu offerings and support for programs that encourage physical activity, but they continue to thrive by selling high-calorie food. McDonald’s salads, introduced in 1987, make up just 2 percent to 3 percent of U.S. sales” (520).
An individual is at fault, choosing to eat unhealthy or not, yet fast food restaurants can make a change when advertising fast food, providing the
Fast food industries are filled with high cholesterol and fattening treats. When in a hurry, drive thru windows are easy stops that harm people’s body types more than they may realize. The average fast food meal averages over 1,000 calories. Along with unhealthiness, portion sizes are increasing in meals.
The fast food industry started out very small, but once the industrialized way of producing food at a quick pace was innovated by the McDonald brothers, it exploded. Fast food has transformed the nation, and much of the world. Although they may appear nonthreatening, fast food chains are obliterating independent restaurants and smaller chains, “He [Jim Hightower] viewed the emerging fast food industry as a threat to independent business, as a step toward a food economy dominated by giant corporations, and as a homogenizing influence on American life” (Schlosser 5). The sprawl of fast food chains has made the restaurants inescapable, and that is the goal of the franchisors. Coinciding with fast food chains, corporate factories have overtaken family owned farms and meatpackers.
The thing is, when asked if the food that is being served was healthy, 76% said “no” it is not healthy, while only 2% said, the food is healthy. Fifty seven percent of young adults from the ages between 18 to 29 say they eat fast-food on a weekly basis. As a person gets older the percentage at eating at fast-food places drops. The surprising fact about the survey was not that it was the lower income who ate more at these places, but that it was the Hispanic and Blacks that made up the biggest percentage of people who ate at fast-food restaurants, with Hispanics slightly higher than the Blacks. Less than 46% non-Hispanics (whites) dined at fast foods weekly.
In the article “The Battle Against Fast Food Begins In The Home”, Daniel Weintraub argues that parents, not fast food companies, are at fault for kids who are overweight/have unhealthy eating habits. Weintraub supports his argument by using and explaining research focused on “... the increasing consumption of fast food and soft drinks, larger portion sizes in restaurants, the availability of junk food on campus, advertising of junk food to children and their families, and the lack of consistent physical education programs in the schools.” The author’s purpose is to raise awareness that parents/guardians need to take responsibility so their children stop blaming others for the issues that are going on in their homes. Weintraub’s articles is
Web. 15 Nov. 2015. Davis and Carpenter show that the students who attended schools with fast food restaurants within a half of a mile are more overweight than children that didn’t have fast food near their schools. The students with fast food restaurants near their school drank more soft drinks and ate less fruits and vegetables. This entry also mentions that multiple studies have shown fast food establishments are constantly clustered within walking distances of schools.
Obesity is a horrifying wide-ranging sickness that needs to be overcome, but if the fast food industry isn’t demonized like cigarettes are the rates will only keep increasing. The fast food industry can be directly linked to obesity and a variety of diseases. A variety of diseases includes arthritis, cancer, and diabetes just to list a few. High blood pressure is the most abundant disease that can be linked to the consumption of pure sugar and cholesterol that people have come to call fast food.
Fast food is quickly becoming America 's cigarette, causing more death related diseases than a packet of smokes. Take a look at the food you’re eating and what does it do to your body. ' “Parents are working more than ever before, and unable to monitor what kids are eating at home, schools are selling astronomical amounts of junk food in order to supplement shrinking budgets. It 's a ticking time bomb, and America 's children are exploding”. Food business has been one of the successful economic fields in United States.
According to Ann Wigmore, “The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison” (Scott, 2014). Today in America, this has become a reality, where people with busy lives have become accustomed to picking up something quick at a fast food restaurant. Usually, these foods are high in calories and not nutritious. Sitting for two hours at the local Burger King during their rush hour (which is between 12pm to around 1pm), reveals that Americans make poor choices on what they eat. Fast food restaurants and poor exercise have become catalysts in the United States for obesity, hypertension, and Type 2 diabetes.
The research carried out by health food guide,discovered about the percent of the number of obese children in America increase base on the result of the fast food outcome. Not including the children at risk for obesity,the statistics show that between 10% and 15% of children are already obese nowadays.(Fast Food Effects On Childhood Obesity) b) According to Elisa