Micro-Economics paper
The fast food industry has proven to be a revolutionary force in American life. fast food is so common that it is available at every street corner and it is an integral part of life to some. Many people buy fast food daily without giving it any thought. Fast food chains are negligent in selling food high in fat, salt, sugar and cholesterol. The fast food industry spends billions of dollars each year on advertising for junk foods and sugary drinks. There is one phase that many American should believe in and that is “you are what you eat”, but do we really know what we are eating at restaurants? The answer to that is no, nowadays it is not safe to eat at restaurants or carry outs. Fast food that Americans can eat on the go, without getting dressed up and without taxing one’s brain with complicated menu choices, traces its roots to the early 19th century when the railroads were first offering average citizens the chance to travel across the country. There were quick lunches served at railroad stops to hungry passengers who had only minutes to gobble down a meal before they had to return to the train. Fast food has infiltrated every nook and cranny of American society. The industry began with a handful of modest hot dogs and hamburgers stands in southern California by a man known as Carl Karcher and it has spread to every corner of the nation (schlosser Pg. 13). Eric Schlosser, the author of Fast Food Nation ,says “Although fast food and junk food tastes good and is quite affordable, it will cost you far more in the long run”. If America would study were the meat comes from and wonder why the fries or potatoes tastes so good at a restaurant; they would think twice before eating their next meal out. One could also see how the fast food industry is transforming not only our diet but our landscape, economy, workforce and culture. It will also make you think about the fall out that the fast food industry has had on the social and cultural landscape (schlosser pg. 25). Fast food is now served at restaurants, drive-thrus, stadiums, airports, zoos, high schools, elementary schools and universities. Many fast foods have proven to be a revolutionary force in American life today. By the early 1970’s, all the major United State food companies had invested in the fast food business, and many were expanding overseas. As competition grew, new names for fast food business appeared all over the country and beganflooding many newspapers and magazines (c:/winn/cgresrre 1991408.htm). The fast food industry has become a 74 billion dollar industry. Americans eating outside the home consume 46 percent more pizza, 52 percent more Mexican food and 13 percent more chicken than they did in 1984, but 6 percent less beef, according to a Chicago consulting firm. Not only are fast food companies in a cook off against one another, together they are competing for what they call “share of stomach,” against the rival formats that also offer convenience, quick service, all-you-can-eat buffets, and supermarket salad bars (http://abcnews.go.com). An estimated 46 million Americans patronize this nation’s 160,000 fast food restaurants everyday, each spending an average of $250 dollars a year in fast foods. One thing for certain, with so many business, consumer and lifestyles issues piled on the table, the fast food industry will be cooking up new surprises in the years ahead as it fights to preserve its place on the American scene (schlosser pg. 20). The United States has nearly 200,000 fast food restaurants and over 3 million soft drink vending machines. The United States also has an extremely wide variety of processed foods available in our grocery and convenient stores. About 90 percent of the money Americans spend on food goes toward processed foods (http:/www.mcspotlight. schlosser.html). Many Americans can only fool their bodies for so long. It is a virtual certainty that if people subsist fast foods they are accelerating the aging process and compromising their health. There is just no way around it and if people want to reap a healthy life, they need to spend some serious time in their kitchen preparing their own food, watch what they eat, how much they eat, and institute some sort of exercise program. The share of the family food budget spent on eating out has shot up from 25 percent in the late 1960’s to 40 percent or more now days, egged on by the two-income families grabbing meals on the go.