Fast Food and Its Impact to the Society - Research Paper Example

Research on Fast Food, Its History and Its Impact to the Society Today, fast food is very popular and is found everywhere. People are now replacing cooking and serving homemade meals that are served fresh from the home’s kitchen more and more with an instantly served, no effort required, yet very delicious and irresistible fast food. Also referred to as quick service restaurant or QSR, fast foods are what everyone is searching and looking for in malls and in the streets. The name of it says it all. Its goal and purpose is to serve food that is quickly served and are ready to go. Usually, the food is prepared with precooked or preheated ingredients. They are usually served in package form that is ready to be taken and brought out of the store, which is also known as takeout or takeaway. Fast food have gone a long way, since their start and rise to popularity in the early 1900s. According to the article entitled the History of Fast Food written by Tracy Wilson in TLC Cooking, their beginning goes a long way back since the time of the ancient Greek and Romans, as well as the people from the Middle East, India and in East Asia, which was usually served and provided to travelers and traders as well as the local people in the towns and villages. All over the ancient world, the fast food industry was just beginning. In Wikipedia, it can be observed that in the pre-modern city of Rome, there were several stands that sold various types of bread and wine to the local people. At the same time, in the East Asian parts of the world such as in China, Japan and Korea, there were shops and small stores that sold noodles. India also had fast food like restaurants and shops, which sold a lot of the Indian favorites such as Vada pav, a popular vegetarian dish that is still eaten widely, panipuri, a bite size crisp dipped in sauce and dahi vada, a yogurt like dish. Other parts of Europe also started serving these types of food that were served quickly such as in France and London. As the popularity of fast food started to rise in the eighteenth century, the drives in restaurants were introduced after the First World War. Based on the article from TLC Cooking, the first hamburger chain was not created until the early 90s when the very first meat grinder was invented to make burgers. White Castle, which is considered to be the second fast food restaurant and the very first hamburger chain, was first created in 1921 in the United States of America. However, at that time, people thought of fast food as street dishes that were dirty and of low quality so the creators and the founders of White Castle came up with different ways in order to change the mindset and the thinking of the people at that time. They changed the way the restaurant prepared and served their food, by making the preparation process of the different fast food dishes such as burgers seen by the customers themselves. This was to show how the food was being prepared and cooked for the different people who bought from their place. In addition to that, they painted the whole building white and even chose a name that would suggest cleanliness. Since the hamburger was White Castle’s main dish to serve, it became more and more popular in some parts of America, particularly in the Midwest and the East. After this breakthrough of the fast food industry, McDonalds, a very popular and famous fast food restaurant today, was created two decades later, in 1948. After this, more fast food chains that are widely known and loved today, also made their first opening. Some of these fast food restaurants that began their business in serving fast food dishes were Taco Bell, Wendy’s and Burger King. From then on, fast food became increasingly popular throughout the country and then, after making several branches worldwide including Europe, Asia and the rest of the world, the popularity skyrocketed and the industry made hundreds of billions, attracting teenagers and adults, but most especially to kids and little children. These fast food chains such as McDonalds, Taco Bell and KFC started to become a part of everybody’s daily life and have taken everyone from all ages and all walks of life by storm. From the information taken in the timeline which was provided by medicalinsurance.org, more and more chains were opened such as Subway and Carl’s Jr. People started adjusting to fit the life of regularly buying and eating fast food; car manufacturers started making can holes to put in soft drinks and fast food beverages. People lined up and spent billions of money just for fast food every year As it captured children, teenagers, adults and even grandparents, it has also greatly affected the world’s health. As it is widely known for its delicious and quickly served meals such as burgers, hotdogs, spaghetti and others plus the very affordable prices that everyone loves, it is also recognized and branded as unhealthy to the body, and yes, without doubt, it is. In the book, “The Dark Side of the All American Meal,” written by Eric Schlosser in 2005, he explains and describes the many dangers that are in fast food dishes. He tells us that these kinds of food are filled with a lot of calories and fat (most particularly the kinds which clogs the arteries such as saturated fat and hydrogenated fat) which can later on cause diseases and illness if eaten regularly and frequently. These kinds of servings are also high in sodium from the preservatives and the salt. On top of all these unhealthy and illness causing ingredients that are packed in fast food, not only is it filled with unhealthy things, it also lacks a lot of ingredients that are beneficial to the health and the wellbeing of the people such as dietary fiber and other kinds of minerals and vitamins that are needed for a person’s body. Our bodies function by getting nutrients from the food being eaten. In other words, the food that is put inside the body is the source of the information and instructions for our bodily processes. Since people need the different kinds of nutrients and vitamins that are found in healthy food in order for the bodies to function well, eating fast food that lack all these minerals is definitely a problem for many. One of the many effects from eating fast food too much or too often is obesity. A lot of people think that obesity is a simple and light problem that is not to be taken seriously, but on the contrary, it can be quite serious once things get out of hand and when the increase in pounds and kilos cannot be controlled anymore. It can cause various illnesses which can be grave and can eventually even lead to the death of the person. Therefore, there are always consequences and effects to whatever a person does, including what someone puts in his or her body such as unhealthy and oily burgers and deep fried chicken with its crispy skin. Obesity is a serious problem. Once a person becomes too overweight, there will certainly be many troubles and problems that will come along the way. Not only will the person feel uncomfortable and will also be discriminated and bigoted at times, there are also numerous health problems that will definitely affect and change the person’s life forever, making it hard for them to do the normal things that everyone else can do easily such as exercising, running and even breathing Not only can obesity cause poor body image and low self esteem and confidence, it can also cause health problems such as diabetes which is very serious and at its worse condition, can cause amputation, blindness, paralysis, high blood pressure that can weaken the heart and can cause strokes in the future, gallstones in the gall bladder, excessive sweating and all kinds of pain in the body such as in the back and in the knees due to the extra weight carried by your bodies. It can also cause other skin diseases such as acne. Other medical conditions caused by obesity, which can result from eating too much fast food are high cholesterol, hardening and the clogging of the arteries and other kinds of diseases also that can eventually cause cancer. Aside, from obesity, there are also other illnesses that are caused by the constant consumption of fast food dishes. Based on the list in “Fast Food Danger Facts: 10 Dangerous Diseases” posted by Richard, a nutrionist and guest writer for fatburn-secrets.com, some of the diseases which results from the frequent eating of fast foods are arthritis, Blount disease, sleep apnea, liver damage and dyslipidemia. All these health conditions can be hazardous and can greatly destroy a person’s life. It poses a lot of risks and dangers especially due to the fact that fast food are highly addictive and even irresistible to some. One of the many targets of the fast food chain business is children and little kids. In Wikipedia’s “Fast food advertising,” appealing and attracting small kids and children are becoming more and more common and it has been very effective as well. Millions of children are hooked to eating all kinds of fast food stores and restaurants such as eating burgers, ice cream sundaes and others. Most of the fast food restaurants are filled with little children who dragged their parents to come to the store and eat their favorite dishes. Fast food advertising and marketing is now focusing on the younger people in order to gain sales and profit. As what everyone sees and observes, most fast food chains have different promos that attract kids, children and students alike. In stores like McDonalds, there are happy meals which include different toys. The mascot of McDonalds which is a clown was designed and created in order to catch the attention and to attract children of all ages. All the characters in McDonalds such as Ronald McDonald, Grimace, Hamburglar, Grimace and a couple of new characters, one of them being the pessimistic dog of Ronald, Sundae are all a marketing approach and strategy which was built and created in order to catch the interest of small kids. Other kinds of marketing methods are playgrounds and play areas that are located in the corner of restaurants in which children can go and play while they are dining in the restaurant with their parents, commercials on TV, clothing and even video series. Other fast food chains such as Burger King also invented and created their own approach to advertising their food such as catchy slogans, fictional characters as well for example the King, the Burger Thing, the Wizard of Fries, Sir Shake-A-Lot and others. Aside from advertising to small children and little kids, teenagers and college men are also one of the targets of fast food advertising campaigns. These advertisement and promotional techniques suggest and promote trendy and sexual images and messages. An example would be the contentious advertisement by Carl’s Jr, which showed Paris Hilton in a bikini, writhing, twisting and moving her body as she washes a Bentley car sensually while eating a large burger. Although this caused a lot of debate and was later banned from airing on TV, while it lasted, the fast food chain certainly increased impressively in the number of customers that came to buy and eat that burger. All of these kind of advertisements that appeal to the crowds of children and teenagers, it also causes a lot of debates and arguments. It promotes the younger generation to eat more frequently in these fast food chains which also encourage constant consumption. Because of this, the younger generations are now more susceptible to the dangers of fast food eating problems and will become more and more prone to sicknesses such as diabetes, clogging of arteries, heart problems and high blood pressure. The target of these fast food restaurants will be younger and younger and this can cause a great problem that can affect the society greatly and dramatically. Yes, indeed, fast food are incredibly delicious and can sometimes be very addictive and irresistible, but at the same time, the frequent eating from these restaurants will cause great damage and can destroy a person’s life. It can cause a lot of sicknesses and can make life harder for these people. This is the reason why people need to be careful in what they put into their bodies and what they consume because too much of the unhealthy will undoubtedly lead to problems and can make it hard for people to do the normal things they usually found easy to do such as running, walking and even breathing. Sometimes, it can even lead to death. Therefore, fast food should not be part of the daily life of people. It should be taken in occasionally to avoid and prevent all the troubles and the problems that it can cause. Works Cited Schlosser, Eric. "The Dark Side of the American Meal." HarperPerenniel. 2005. Print. "Fast food." Wikipedia. Wikimedia, Inc., n.d. Web. 1 May 2011. Wilson, Tracy V.. "The History of Fast Food." TLC Cooking. Discovery Communications, LLC, n.d. Web. 1 May 2011. "A Brief History of Fast Food." Medical Insurance. Discovery Communications, LLC, 8 Sept. 2010. Web. 1 May 2011. "Fast food advertising." Wikipedia. Wikimedia, Inc., n.d. Web. 1 May 2011. Richard. "Fast Food Danger Facts: 10 Dangerous Diseases." Fatburn Secrets. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 May 2011. "Effects Of Fast Food Advertising On Children." Business, Marketing and Advertising. N.p., 17 Feb. 2011. Web. 1 May 2011. Read More