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Anthony Moore
Research paper thesis
11-2-13
Fast Food Popularity

Fast Food is a constantly growing industry and its only going to get bigger over time.
The opinions of many say that fast food is very unhealthy and sometimes not even real food. The
fast food companies defense to this seems to be that nobody is making anybody eat the food and
that if people think its unhealthy, they should just not eat it. Although some fast food restaurants
are trying to contribute healthier food options, there is still much controversy about whether or
not the healthier alternatives are actually healthy or not.
There are many different reasons and opinions on fast food and it is a growing topic in
todays economy. There are many different excuses from people for eating it, along with many
excuses from the fast food companies for producing it. One thing that cant be avoided is that
fast food in general is a very strong and clever business. One of the main business "tactics" used
by fast food companies is to gear all of their advertising towards children. One reason is that
people develop all of their eating habits as children so companies can nurture the little ones as
they grow. Another reason is for marketing to children is to make the children nag and beg their
parents to go eat at whatever the fast food restaurant they see with the best and brightest colored
toys. Parents think that children's meals are healthier than the standard sized meal, but they are

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not because they are fried, even though there is less food in children's meals than in adult
meals. Recently it has been a higher priority for fast food chains to make children's meals
healthier, whether or not this is happening is currently unknown (Schlosser).
Over time fast food giants are developing ways to make larger portions without much
extra cost to the company. They are also developing many different ways to become more
efficient. Today burgers are made from meat the come from different parts of the cow blended
together which is a very scientific process. French fries used to be made with potatoes cut from
fresh potatoes in a back rooms of most restaurants but now they are made in large factories the
froze and proceed in order to be shipped to various stores. Just about all fast food is processed
which depletes a lot of the flavor, which then means that just about all fast food has additional
flavoring. For example French fries contain animal products but none of the fast food companies
will say from which animal French fry additional flavor comes form. Most fast food is fried,
people generally love fried food. People either dont know or dont care how bad or fattening
fried food can be. 300,000 people die each year due to obesity which is the second largest cause
of deaths only behind smoking. Subway is the only fast food restaurant currently working to
promote a more healthy way of eating (Schlosser).
Some believe that fast food is evolving. The burger itself has come a long way since the
first McDonalds franchise opened in 1953. Also new items are being added to fast food menus
across the board such as salads and wraps. Some believe the reason for this is to put food chains
such as Wendy's and McDonalds in the same league as Subway when it comes to healthy food
for the carb-conscious people. Another fast food item that people seem to take for granted is the
chicken nugget. Although it is a popular food item on many restaurants menus', the chicken

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nugget was not always offered at fast food restaurants. Chicken is also another fast food item that
is relatively new to the industry, the industry that changed the way Americans eat chicken
(Schlosser).
There are many reasons why people, especially Americans, make fast food so popular.
The obvious being that its filling and inexpensive, but at what cost does this come? Fast food
does also usually proved fast and sometimes even instant service which is very attractive for the
working male or female who is in a hurry, which means good news for fast food giants. The
number of people who eat out for the meals as well as the number of many times people eat out
is rapidly decreasing as people all around the world seem to be running out of time to prepare
their meals at home (Schlosser).
Believe it or not, the American popularity growth of fast food has begun to spread to the
west. However many fast food luxuries Americans are used to be still unknown to the Western
world. Vietnam, the biggest producer in coffee second only to Brazil, is still no tasted the likes of
Starbucks Coffee. On the other hand China is trying to gain its upper hand in the economy still
loves anything western. American still manages to sell its superior lifestyles to the rest of the
world in ingenious ways, not only with food, including the pros and cons that come with it, but
also even in the fashion department (Lam).
As far as the obesity aspect of fast food, Vietnam is now catching up to China with 28%
of rural children suffering from malnutrition and its 20% from urban areas suffering from
obesity. Some irony comes along with previous generations known as boat people fled to escape
starvation under communism during the cold war; new generations need to go to a "fat farm" or

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gym to drop excess weight. The overall obesity rate in China is 5% in rural areas and 20% in big
cities which a relatively small ration of obese people when compared to the United States given
the sizes of China's population. China's 5% comes out to about 70 million overweight people.
China is catching up to the American economy, but thats not the only thing of America that its
catching up to. Chineses city boys at age six are two and a half inches taller and about six and a
half pounds heavier in average than their ancestors three decades ago. Currently almost 100
million Chinese now suffer from diabetes (Lam).
Ha Jin showed the economic status about eating American fast food in his short story
"After Cowboy Chicken Came to Town." This story is about books their wedding at a brand new
fast food chain called Cowboy Chicken to celebrate their new wealth in Capitalistic China. The
story is said to be hilarious but it also shows a sad and true statement. A cousin of the Ha Jin says
that he barely had food during the Cold War so he lets his son eat whatever he wants. He says
that his son, who is partially obese, has a favorite meal consisting of pizza and coke (Lam).
One reason why American fast food is so populate in Asia at least is because American
fast food places are the first choice for those with dispensable income. Consuming American fast
food is proof of economic status in the world. It proves to show off social status if somebody can
spare the money to afford the "all American meal (Lam).
The accessibility of fast food is growing as the variety of the food itself increases. What
was once just a hamburger and fries has now grown into pizza, chicken to even taco and burritos.
The three largest fast food groups are hamburger, pizza, and chicken. The 18-21 age group is

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widely regarded as the heavy users of fast food and the sixty five and older age group represents
the least amount of fast food users (Jekanowski).
Fast food suppliers emphasize the minimization of time costs that is, the maximized
convince. An important component of time cost is time spent commuting to the retail outlet,
which is a direct function of distance. Putting up new outlets can decrease the distance a
consumer must travel. In turn lowering price of a product and increasing frequency of purchase.
"The current industry emphasizes on 'satellite' restaurants reflects this strategy. These smaller
limited menus, lower volume units have considerably lower construction and operating costs and
tend to be placed on leased property, further reducing the cost of expansion. They are often
joined with convince stores and gasoline stations and in some cases are placed inside large retail
stores (Jekanowski).
Fast food is not only handy because its fast, but also because of there are many locations
and they are easy to get to. Another key aspect of fast food is that it takes away preparation time
and clean up time for meals that usually come with in home meals. Indeed fast food is and
somewhat immediate, providing a consistent and popular product (Jekanowski).
United States food consumption has changed a lot within the past several decades. In fact
we have seen the greatest change in money being spent on meals made outside. The term for
food away from home is FAFH, standing for food away from home. the FAFH in 1960 was at
26% within increase to 45% in 1997. In 1967 fast food accounted for 14.3% of the total FAFH
and by 1999 it reached 35.5% (Jekanowski).

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Despite all best efforts, health choices at fast food chains still are not perfect, due to the
fact that it is fast food nonetheless. Most people still seem to think that its good to know that
there is a desire to provide healthy options at fast food chains. Some tips for achieving healthy
food at fast food restaurants are to ask for smaller portion sizes, or ask swap out a salad with
fries. People who are fifty one years or older, or people with specific health problems such as
diabetes or have high blood pressure should limit sodium intake to 1500 milligrams per day.
Some seemingly healthy choices can still be loaded with fat, calories, carbohydrates, or sodium
(Knott).
Seventeen of our twenty one restaurant chains did studies and the results showed that the
lower calorie food and beverages out preformed the higher calorie options in sales. The low
calorie qualification is under 500 calories for and entree or sandwich and fifty or less calories for
a drink. Whenever possible people should try to make time and prepare as many meals as
possible at home. McDonalds has recently started a chicken and veggie wrap, dubbed the
premium McWrap. It is healthier to the burger for nutritious conscious consumers. Some say that
the new addition to the menu is intended to help fast food companies like McDonalds compete
with subway. Fast food companies are not only doing this to attempt to shred America's waste
line, but the new healthier options are also helping restaurants bottom lines (Knott).
Economic research service says that thirty two percent of most American total calories
prepared away from home. Almost one third of American diets are eaten in a restaurant or other
eating establishments.

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Gunderson, Beth: Fast Food Sales Growing in Popularity. 8/2/2013.Web.9/17/13 <

http://theeastcarolinian.com/?p-132097

Jekanowski, Mark D. Binkley, James K. Eales, James: Convenience, Accessibility, and

the Demand for Fast Food. Web. 9/15/13
<http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/31162/1/26010058.pdf

Knott, Alison. Turkey Burgers at Fast Food Restaurant; Is Healthy Fast Food Really
Better? 4/2/2013.Web.9/15/13 <
http://www.bostonmagazine.com/health/blog/2013/04/02/healthy-fast-food/

Lam, Andrew.ed. Popularity of American Fast Food Leads to Rise of Obesity in Asia.
6/8/2010.Web.9/15/2013 <http://highbrowmagazine.com/1274-popularity-american-fast-foodleads-rise-obesity-asia?

McConnell, Alaina. Ranked, Kim. The Most Popular Fast Good Restaurants in
America. 7/2012.Web. 9/14/13 http://www.buisnessinsider.com/the-most-popular-fast-foodrestaurants-in-america-2012-7?op=1

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Schlosser, Eric.ed. Americans are Obsessed with Fast Food: The Dark Side of the All
American Meal. 2/11/2009.Web.9/17/13 <http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-204_162326858.html7.