cause and effect essay on popularity of fast food

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The Rise of Fast Food: Causes and Effects

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Published: Feb 12, 2024

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Essay about fast food: introduction, causes of fast food: essay body paragraph, effects of fast food: essay body paragraph, fast food causes and effects: conclusion, reference list.

• Adams, C. (2007). Reframing the obesity debate: McDonald’s role may surprise you. Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics, 35, 154-157.

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Home Essay Samples Food Fast Food

Cause and Effect of Fast Food: the Impact on Health and Society

Table of contents, causes of fast food consumption, effects on physical well-being, cultural and societal impact, economic considerations, promoting healthier lifestyles, conclusion: balancing convenience and health.

• Ludwig, D. S., Peterson, K. E., & Gortmaker, S. L. (2001). Relation between consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks and childhood obesity: a prospective, observational analysis. The Lancet, 357(9255), 505-508.
• Malik, V. S., Pan, A., Willett, W. C., & Hu, F. B. (2013). Sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain in children and adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 98(4), 1084-1102.
• Story, M., Kaphingst, K. M., Robinson-O'Brien, R., & Glanz, K. (2008). Creating healthy food and eating environments: policy and environmental approaches. Annual Review of Public Health, 29, 253-272.
• Stuckler, D., McKee, M., Ebrahim, S., & Basu, S. (2012). Manufacturing epidemics: the role of global producers in increased consumption of unhealthy commodities including processed foods, alcohol, and tobacco. PLOS Medicine, 9(6), e1001235.
• World Health Organization. (2016). Report of the Commission on Ending Childhood Obesity. WHO Press.

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• Importance of Food
• High Fructose Corn Syrup
• Food Security

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Causes and Effects of the popularity of Fast-food restaurants

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Fast Foods Popularity: Causes and Effects Essay

According to Schlosser, the expansion of the fast-food industry is influenced by major adjustments in American culture. This resulted from the lowering of the hourly wage of most US workers from 1970. This made many mothers seek other jobs where most of them work outside their homes. This led to a trend where many of them rely on fast foods for their daily meal instead of preparing their own meals at home. In addition, most mothers tend to buy and stock these fast foods in their homes for their family’s daily consumption creating more demand for these foods at home.

The dependency of most mothers on fast foods rendered their families no other option other than following the same trend. In terms of businesses, the fast-food industries seem to replace small businesses as more American civilians tend to prefer these fast foods other than a home-prepared meal. According to Schlosser, companies like McDonald’s corporation seem to dominate the food industry as their target children and their parents. They deal with beef, pork, chicken, and potatoes that in most cases tend to add the amount of cholesterol to the body. Cholesterol is vital to patients suffering from diabetes or even obesity. However, many Americans do not seem to be alarmed rather they seem to opt and appreciate the fast-food culture.

In addition, he observed that technology changes have made many people be workaholics leaving little time for preparing meals at home as well as paying very little attention to the kind of food they eat i.e. whether it is balanced or not. Further, he argues that the growth of the fast-food industry over the years was triggered by their exclusive advertisements that seem to convince many Americans that fast foods are the best. They appeal to the civilians by convincing them that it is the American culture and it’s unique, hence many Americans have come to appreciate and respect it blindly.

More so, most of the fast foods target schools for their businesses by offering sponsorships that tend to be conditional i.e. if they donate books they tend to promote their products in these schools, contrary to adhering to these terms and conditions they stand to lose the sponsorship. Others have opted for the high schools to sell fast foods to students in their cafeterias; this contributed to the expansion of these corporations’ profits at the expense of young Americans. The extensive opening of kiosks in high schools that sell exclusively fast foods has led to the expansion of the fast-food industry as many students have been accustomed to the daily consumption of these foods.

Further, Schlosser observed that the meat industry has been exploiting workers who happen to be immigrants in their efforts to make big profits. They normally do not mind the health of these workers yet they understand the dangers prone to these workers. The appraisal of fast foods has made the health of many Americans deteriorate from good to worse, just in the name of making money. The extensive use of very sharp equipment to slaughter makes the workers prone to cumulative trauma disorders (CTO).

These chronic injuries such as tendonitis and tenosynovitis destroy the soft cells, nervous system, and tissues that may cause crippling and organ mutilation or dysfunction. Most of the researches carried out reveals that many of these factory workers suffer from musculoskeletal disorders. These are mainly caused by the vibrating knives and other equipment applied for meat extraction and processing.

According to pollan, the farm bill has been in the forefront to promote the consumption of fast foods with most of them being processed hence not appropriate for consumption in large amounts in a society where diabetes and obesity seem to be prevalent. The bill tends to promote the usage of hydrogenated oils and corn syrup that contain a large amount of fructose by subsidizing the farmers of the corns yet the government understands the hazards associated with these foods. In addition, the bill endorses factory farming by grants and subsidies despite these companies polluting the environment with their wastes. Further, the bill seems to favor the consumption of soft drinks like coca-cola instead of water where these soft drinks enjoy the tax cut by the government compared to water industries.

On the international front, the effects of the bill have prevalent in other countries that produce these crops that include cotton, corn, wheat, and Soya beans, which tend to be favored by the bill where many of these countries tend to be encouraged by being offered grants and subsidies to produce more of this products. The production of more wheat tends to make fast foods easier to produce compared to other more nutritious and healthier foods that are never favored by the bill in terms of their production costs, distribution, and marketing.

However, the reformation would greatly change the fast-food culture adopted as the bill exclusively seems to promote the consumption of processed foods and soft drinks, rather than naturally produced foods without chemicals. The subsidies offered tend to lower the prices of these foods in the market making them affordable by many Americans at the expense of their health. On the other hand, the prices of agricultural foods tend to soar high rendering them unaffordable. Therefore, reforming the farm bill would greatly influence the preference of fast foods, as it would make naturally produced foods affordable.

The excessive consumption of fast foods is injuries and hazardous to human health due to the fact that many of these foods contain high levels of cholesterol and fats that tend to various kinds of diseases such as heart diseases and dysfunctional of other body organs as they t5end to block the veins and arteries. The major causes of these food’s consumption are their easy accessibility, change in culture, and the policy changes that tend to favor the production and consumption of fast foods at the expense of other agriculturally produced foods. These agricultural foods tend to be nutritious, less hazardous but they have been rendered expensive as the farm bill does not support their production at all rather promotes the production and consumption of fast foods. In addition, they have been attributed to the increase in diabetes and obesity cases in America and other developed countries due to their high levels of fats and cholesterol.

References:

Schlosser, E. Fast food nation, Houghton Mifflin publishers, New York 2001.

Bonnie RJ, Fulco CE& Liver man CT (1999) Reducing the burden of injury: advancing prevention and treatment. National Academy Press, Washington, DC: Institute of Medicine.

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Food Cause: Causes And Effects Of Fast Food

CAUSE – EFFECT ESSAY OUTLINE Fast food popularity I. Introduction A. The introduction of fast food during World War II had altered the eating habit and lifestyle of global society and it is a continuous growing trend similar to that of modern electrical appliances such as smartphones and laptops (Belasco & Scranton, 2002). B. Modern society includes college students and white – collars prefer fast food than home – cooking simply because they are quickly served, easy to get and like taste of fast food which is salty, sweet and fatty (Hitti, 2008). C. Fast food, as its name suggests, the meal is served quickly and immediately after your order is placed. Not much time is wasted while having your fast food meal, extremely crucial for college …show more content…

1. The most important factor encouraging the greatly elevated popularity of fast food is because the high visibility, exposure and global recognition theme as a marketing strategy. a. For example, there are plenty of fast food chains and braches around you, it is to brand the name of famous fast food chains in your mind. Therefore, able to influence you to visit the fast food restaurant more frequent. 2. Fast food recognizes the difference which make the crispy fatty fries and patty more preferable than regular salads, it is the tastes that will influence eating choices (Glanz et. al., 1998). a. Therefore, stronger tastes are required to make the food tastier usually associated with high saltiness, sweetness and fat contents. 3. Qsrmagazine.com, a restaurant industry related magazine, in 2008 has proposed that convenience is always the primary criteria attracting the society to spend on fast food which is always available around you and is served real quick, thus able to save a lot of time compared to preparing food at …show more content…

Transition paragraph 1. The presence of fast food greatly influenced especially the modern society regarding their lifestyles, food – to – value and convenience to get. Despite fast food gained huge fame since its introduction, but the society are more concerned towards the effect it caused in the past years alongside with the discouragement by health related parties. Body B: Topic Sentence 2 Fast food causes not only health problems to the population but it posts harms to the food source as well such as chicks and cattle. 1. The food source comes from the animal raised in large number in factory farms, experiencing torturous lives every day and might transmit contagious illnesses by eating the diseased meat. a. Fast food companies purchase inexpensive patty meats from these farms as they focus on minimizing production costs and modal. 2. Fast food elevates the chances of several health problems including obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart attack, and hormonal disruptions as well, especially in children. a. 40% of children obtain high calories and sugar content which will contribute to obesity, high content of fats in the body, and will lead to diabetes as well (MNT,

Mcjobs By Eric Schlosser

Did you know that more than 160,000 fast food restaurants feed more than 50 million americans every day! In the non fiction text, Mcjobs, by Eric Schlosser, it talks about the “dangers of fast food.” Eric Schlosser states that back in the 1900s there was not a single fast food restaurant in Martinsburg, but still, people somehow managed to eat and survive. Fast food restaurants serve very cheap food along with it being made very fast, but the food is processed and frozen, which can lead to a lot of diseases and disorders. Fast food restaurants might be very cheap and fast, but it is not healthy at all and it can be replaced with a lot of smaller healthier snacks.

David Zinczenko's Don T Blame The Barrier

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.

Review Of Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation

The book, Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser, is about “The Dark Side of the All-American Meal”. Fast food in America is not as good as it seems. Most customers don’t know that by eating this food, they are putting their health at a serious risk. You only see the good side of things, but never the bad. Fast food chains are now in control.

Schlosser's The Commonality Of Fast Food

Schlosser argues America’s lives are solely based off of fast food. Throughout his writing he describes how common it is in our society in which fast food is ordered, sold, and consumed. Everywhere you go, every glimpse you take, every corner you pass, fast food is being sold everywhere. Schlosser describes throughout his text the commonality of fast food in restaurants, airports, schools, and large chained stores available nationwide, in which each compress the similarity of fast food. Not only does he include how common fast food is in an American’s life, but he describes how Americans will spend more of their money in their wallet on fast food than they would on other livelihood essentials.

The American Nation Has Been Shaped And Changed By Fast Food Nation

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser discusses how the American nation has been shaped and changed by fast food. The author takes something that is so American, fast food, and portrays to the reader the impact it has really had on American life and its culture. The author talks to multiple people who feel the negative impacts of the fast food industry and then goes more in depth about it. He relates life today to different time periods, such as the 1920s, great depression, and the industrial revolution. This book shows the read that in fact, history does repeat itself.

Fast Food Nation Rhetorical Analysis

So what is causing so many Americans, of all social classes, to consume fast food regularly? And how did the steady monopolization of chain-restaurants over local diners come to be? This is the focus of a book entitled Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal in which the author hones in on foul untold secrets of corporate restaurant chains.

Analysis Of Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation

More and more Americans are going to fast food and spending money so they don’t have to make dinner or other reasons of laziness. This says that Americans are accepting fast food as a main dish in the culture and eating it in place of regular meals in some cases. Eric Schlosser also states that America has become a “Fast Food Nation” (7), implying that society as a culture is dependent on the food that is provided to us through drive-through

Summary Of Fast Food Nation

Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser, discusses the changes that the United States has gone through in recent years due to the development of fast food restaurants. Fast food places have led to Americans desiring more efficiency in their lives as well as changed many of the traditional values that Americans used to have, such as family and the role that youth play in the workplace. This book also agrees with what we have been learning in class about the fact that our industrialized food production has aided in our moving from dependency on others and family to being a highly individualized society. The efficient mechanisms by which fast food places run have drastically changed American values, economy, and health.

The Ritual Of Fast Food Analysis

In Margaret Visser’s essay, “The Rituals of Fast Food”, she explains the reason why customers enjoy going to fast food restaurants and how it adapt to customer’s needs. Some examples of the most loyal fast-food customers are people seeking convenience, travelers, and people who are drug addicts. First, most loyal customers are people seeking convenience. The reason why fast food restaurants are convenient because longer hours of being open, the prices are good , etc. As Visser said in her essay, “Convenient, innocent simplicity is what the technology, the ruthless politics, and the elaborate organization serve to the customer” (131).

Childhood Obesity Annotated Bibliography Essay

The author gives several “short-term and long-term consequences” that can happen from eating a lot of fast food which are gaining more weight than those who don’t eat out as often, not meeting nutrient needs, and consuming more calories than

Persuasive Speech: An Attention Getter For Fast Food

a.Sub-supporting point 1: People nowadays often bring their works home, or work overtime and because of that people are often too busy to prepare their meals and cooking a meal takes a lot of times, it would be the last thing one could think of after a busy day. i.Sub-sub-supporting point: Fast food plays an important role, as you could just order it and choose what time for your meals to be delivered, you can have it anytime you want without wasting time to queue up or energy to prepare. B.Transition paragraph 1.Summary / conclusion: Popularity of fast food are increasing because it is convenient to get and affordable by most of the people. 2.Transitional sentence: Although fast food bring a lot of convenience to our daily life, but in the long run it may bring negative effect on our health. C. Topic sentence 2: Consuming fast food on a daily basis may cause obesity.

Informative Speech: An Attention Getter For Fast Food

I. Introduction A. Hook/Attention getter: “Fast food” is named as fast food because of the whole process from ordering, preparing and serving the food just take several minutes. B. General statement: Fast food is becoming more and more popular among people around the world because of the changing of lifestyle from the past times to the present times. C. Thesis statement: Due to the convenient, affordable price and good taste of fast food, consumption of fast food is rising according to studies but it also brings negative effects on our health in the long run. II. Body A. Topic sentence: Fast food restaurant such as McDonalds (McD) or Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) are available almost anywhere in the world, and you can even get it with a simple phone call and get it delivered right in front of your door step or by ordering through their websites without leaving your work desk.

Ethical Issues In Fast Food

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.

Thesis Statement On Fast Food

Title: FAST FOOD POPULARITY A. Introduction: Nowadays, most people -especially kids and youngsters- prefer to eat fast food, such as McDonald, pizza, fried food, and etc. Why it has become so popular? It is tastes better than homemade food? B. General Statement: Fast food industry has grown dramatically and become so popular. According to the research, people spend more money on fast food than the education.

Essay On Fast Food And Obesity

You can find a fast food restaurant in almost every corner. Wikipedia defines fast food as a food prepared and served quickly. Fast food first popularized in the 1950s in the United States it mostly specializes in products like hamburgers, sandwiches, salads and etc. FAST FOOD RESTAURANT AND OBESITY In general, fast food has more effect on children and youth than on adults.

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Nutrition: Causes and Effects of Fast Food

The modern world is a rapidly developing place in all spheres of humanity, and productions of fast food and access to take-out combined with little exercise have raised very many health concerns. It causes a change in human behavior, perception of self-image, and health risks that pose a serious threat.

There are several issues and causes of obesity in the US. The primary one is the culture and the changes regarding what is acceptable. Diabetes and heart disease are becoming predominant, as extra weight puts a strain on the heart, as well as the rest of the body. The whole nation is affected, as increased health risks put pressure on the healthcare system and affect the economical wellbeing of the country.

The individuals are suffering just as much the limited lifestyle causes people to eat faster and more in a single time. Thus people face the danger of significant life-shortening because of detrimental health effects. The long working hours, the availability of junk food, and the relaxation time that is characterized by being at home and little activity, all factors that contribute to people becoming overweight (Fedorak 51).

The fact that the United States is experiencing an increase in its influence over the world and pop culture adds to the negative effects on the domestic, as well as international populations. The economic development and its high level is another reason why people are forced to lead unhealthy lifestyles. The increase in pollution and industrialization, as well as the rise in technology and a lesser need to contribute physically, heighten the body’s inability to fight excess weight.

This sort of issue can be seen all over the world, as people are becoming more dependent on technology and the ease of avoiding activities (Wilk 7). Previously, people had to walk longer distances, contribute to farming and other active work, whereas today, office employment, internet and ability to get easy access to food or even order it without leaving the house, made society very inactive.

Some medical procedures, such as operations and minor adjustments to the physical appearance, have given people an easy way out, depleting will power and care for future health. The modern society has changed so much that even human genes have adjusted to the changes and make people predisposed to obesity-related diseases. Industrialization and changes in the pace of life have caused fast food to become a factor that affects people’s life as a result of social shifts.

The nutrition and the type of food that is consumed play a great role. Someone might be busy with work and eat only once a day. This becomes detrimental to health, as the body is “hit” with an extreme amount of food at one time. This makes the organism store a portion of proteins as fat so that they can be processed at a later time. Technology has modified foods making cooking times shorter and nutrition almost absent (Schlosser 6).

The picture would be very different if people exercised more and rationed their food, to be separated into three to five meals daily. The cultural view that being overweight is acceptable, and people are not openly degraded according to the way they look has also been a contributing factor. Baggy clothes, a mixing of cultures and styles have distanced people from previously valued norms. The most alarming part of the problem is that there is a significant increase in child obesity.

As parents become busier with their careers and developing businesses, children often resort to eating foods that are high in cholesterol, greater amounts of sugar, and refined carbohydrates. Fast food has had an enormous effect on the social life of children, and the cycle keeps being perpetuated. Children are at a much higher risk of obesity and heart strain, as their bodies are not as strong, and their metabolism is much weaker, compared to adults. Also, modern media and entertainment lead to the reinforcement of fast food culture.

Children are provided with vast entertainment means, from personal computers to laptops, play stations, portable devices, and even interactive consoles. Instead of playing soccer outside and going fishing, people can sit on a couch or stand in front of a TV and perform 2 to 3 moves in one spot.

The availability of fried foods in schools and the proximity of fast food restaurants allows for easy access. Even the prices are relatively low, as compared to restaurants and the service provided (Olfman 110). The easiness with which fast food and its consumption spreads, have led to a causal relationship between the food people consume and their daily lives.

The fact that there are several causes—social, cultural, and personal, leads to many negative effects in several aspects of life. People’s confidence and self-respect can exist independent of body image and future health risks. Even though obesity has become a concern, and people are becoming more aware of the problems and unnecessary risks, the culture leaves little choice.

The government and people of the United States must take steps and implement vital changes immediately, as it is better to prevent problems than to solve them. All the effects can be reversed if people make health their primary goal.

Works Cited

Fedorak, Shirley. Pop Culture: The Culture of Everyday Life , Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press, 2009. Print.

Olfman, Sharna. Childhood Lost: How American Culture is Failing Our Kids , Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2005. Print.

Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal , New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2012. Print.

Wilk, Richard. Fast Food/slow Food: The Cultural Economy of the Global Food System , Lanham, MD: Rowman Altamira, 2006. Print.

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