Economic Impact of the U.S. Fast Food Industry on the Global Economy - Research Paper Example

? Economic Impact of the U.S. Fast Food Industry on the Global Economy Introduction The fast food industry ranks as one of the positively progressing industries in the U. S following the change in the global economy. It deals with fast foods, which are foods that are cheap and quick at preparation, they can be taken from anywhere because of the ample parking (Schlosser, 2001), and industries have grown at a high rate due to the harsh economic changes which people try to beat. Though the many firms have been venturing in the industry, the present economic condition proof to support their endtry. The present technology evolution has also been documented as a factor behind the industry’s growth. The increase in development of these industries has different effects on the economy of U.S, an effect that affects the other countries. The following research will cover the impact of the U.S fast food industry on the global economy. The effects of the economy of one country affect the others due to economic programs, which link countries around the globe. The rising rates of harsh economy welcomed the introduction of the fast food industries in the U. S which led to its fast growth in the last three decades, leading to the establishment of many fast food restaurants. The rising inflation in the American society led to adjustments of wages for workers which led to employment of more workers, but the salaries gradually declined leading to high budget restrictions (Schlosser, 2001). Schlosser points out that the money used in buying food by the gone generation bought meals for use at home, but nowadays half of that money used to buy food goes to restaurants that offer fast foods (Schlosser, 2001). The McDonald’s Corporation is the leading company in the provision of fast food in America. It has contributed to the growth of the American economy in many ways. Its establishment of fast food restaurants has increased fast foods consumption (Schlosser, 2001). These foods have diverse effects on the country’s economy ranging from health, labor, and environment. Effects of fast food on the economy in regard to Health Health problems are some of the issues that affect a county’s economy. The foods that people eat contribute much to their health conditions. Fast foods contain a lot of fats and oils, which when accumulated in the body lead to related diseases like Obesity and diabetes. A research conducted by Currie Janet et al. of the National Bureau of Economic Research (Currie, 2009), on the effects of fast food restaurants on obesity and weight gain show that, the establishment of fast food restaurants has a diverse effect on the rise in obesity cases in the U.S. The research focused on 3 million children to compare school children who are 0.1 mile away from a location of a fast food restaurant, and others who are at 0.25 miles. The researchers put the children under observation for a period to compare on the rate of obesity cases. The researchers also conducted research on 3 million pregnant mothers observed to gauge their weight gain over a period (Currie, 2009). It showed that the growth in weight gain among pregnant mothers increased according to the distance form the fast food restaurant that is the weight gain was more to mothers who were near the restaurants as compared to those a bit far (Currie, 2009). The obesity rates observed were almost the same to the school children. The research shows that the availability of fast food restaurants affects the rate of obesity because of the low price on the foods which leads to high consumption. The varying distance between the school children bring almost the same effect on obesity because, the children who are a bit far from the restaurants are constraint to budget hence consume less compared to those near (Currie, 2009). The availability of the fast food restaurants has adverse effects on the health sector in U. S. as the state has to intervene on prevention. This affects the economy of the country as the government increases taxes to cater for health expenses. Although it is not the only cause of health problems; it contributes much to increase of obesity and weight gain. This problem has affected the economy of the country as it is taking measures to prevent future cases of obesity, and it needs finances to administer the problems that already have affected the country. The effect on the U.S economy affects the other countries as they are partners in business and The McDonald’s have also opened the companies in those countries (Schlosser, 2001). Effects of fast food industries’ provision of labor on economy The establishment of fast food companies in the United States has an impact on development and industrialization and has led to the creation of job opportunities to the citizens. The McDonald’s, for example, had one thousand restaurants in 1968 and today it has over twenty eight thousand restaurants worldwide, with the ability to open two thousand others each year (Schlosser, 2001). All these restaurants have workers who earn a living for the services they provide. The provision of employment opportunities to the workers has a great impact on the economy of the country, and others globally because the workers pay tax, used in the development of the country in other sectors. A part form its involvement in fast food business the corporation operates other businesses like property ownership as Schlosser points out that it is the world’s largest owner of retail property (Schlosser, 2001), earning most of its profits from rent. McDonald’s spends most on advertising its products than any other corporation, it operates play grounds in the state, and it is one of the largest toys’ distributors. All these businesses arose from its establishment as a fast food restaurant and due to its progress in business ventured in all those other businesses. All these are income generating activities which are important to the growth of the economy in the U.S. The creation of employment opportunities, for example, Schlosser says the corporation hires about a million people per year (Schlosser, 2001), and the businesses conducted by the corporation are an increase in tax in the country. Increase in taxes improves the economy of a country because all sectors work together to improve each other. Although the establishment of fast food industries brought employment to American citizens, it affected other sectors in the state like the agricultural sector. This corporation hires farmers and cattle ranchers as Schlosser points out, or forces out of their lands leaving their agricultural activities (Schlosser, 2001). The companies take the family farms leaving the residents without farms to conduct their agricultural businesses. The demand for uniformity in the productivity of their products has affected the farmers’ practices starting from raising cattle, slaughtering and processing of beef (Schlosser, 2001). The introduction of poorly skilled workers has affected the process of meat packing which was the work of the highly skilled farmers. This is because the companies pay less to the less skilled and this has created a loss of jobs to the skilled parkers. All these activities affected the lives of many farmers who lost farms and jobs. The decline in agricultural activities due to loss of farms and loss of employment of these farmers affected the country’s economy. Fast food industries’ establishment calls for the establishment of other related practices like agriculture. These agricultural practices include rearing of cattle used for beef, cultivation of potatoes and rearing of other animals like chicken. These practices are all associated with the environment. Because of the increase of fast food industries in the world and the demand for their products, many companies have taken to rearing their animals to cater for the high purchase costs of animals like beef cattle and chicken (Weber, 2009). The large growth of the industries calls for the rearing of many beef cattle and chicken. The companies use the waste products from the animals as manure on the land, and because they can not be disposed safely due to lack of enough space (Weber, 2009). Their disposal as manure is risky to human health because, runoff from rain water carries the manure to the nearby rivers and streams and this causes water-borne diseases to the people. Following the increased demand of fast foods, companies use fewer amounts of antibiotics used to fight bacteria in animal so as to fasten the growth of animals. The low level of antibiotics if used for a longer period will not counter the bacteria that affect the animals, and this affects public issues as Weber points ‘you are what you eat….and what they ate’ (Weber, 2009). The factories use these antibiotics to fasten growth in beef cattle and increase milk production, in dairy cattle. The injection done on the animals have residues in the meat people eat, and this causes cancer (Weber, 2009). These practices relate to health problems to the public, which demand most of the government’s intervention, and given the high rise in economic strains, become a burden to the government. Impacts on China’s development Chidren are the most affected by this industry from statistical analysis. For instance, China is facing high obesity rates that are seriously affecting the economy of the country. Chelala finds out the between 2005 and 2009 the number of obesity cases rose from 18 million to 100 million (Chelala, 2013). This is due to the problem of undernutrition, which is facing other countries like India and Vietnam. The report according to Chelala argues that there is a high rise in overweight, obesity and other diseases related to nutrition like, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and hypertension and stroke. The high cases of obesity and the related diseases is associated with the positive global economic development which has led to manufacture of fast foods as they are cheap and quick to prepare (Chelala, 2013). The people in the country did not know what proper nutrition is, and they did not know the effects of consumption of fatty and sugary foods. Fast food companies like the McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and Starbucks are some of the renowned brands in china that sell these foods, and the report shows that McDonald’s will open 250 new restaurants in China this year (Chelala, 2013). The continued consumption of these foods has caused an increase in the diseases relate to excessive consumption of energy rich foods. The loss of the labor force due to citizens falling sick is a major drawback in the economy of the country, and the treatment cost of these diseases is extremely high and too becomes a burden to the economy of the country (Chelala, 2013). The establishment of fast foods industries has brought negative effects on nutrition. The high need of beef meat for the industries has called for urgent rearing of beef cattle, where they use different methods to increase the number of the cattle in the shortest time. The industries have turned to feeding cattle with corn so as to fasten their growth as a report on the impact of industrialized animal agriculture on world hunger says (FAO, 2008). The report finds out that feeding grain to animals is a waste of food which could be fed to people who are malnourished because of lack of food. It says that not all of the protein content in the grains get utilized by the animals most of it becomes a waste. The reason why these companies use grain to feed animals is that, they want to beat the high demand of fast foods production following the harsh economy in the world. The use of grains by companies rearing animals to use in fast food industries has led many people to hunger, which is an issue affecting the global economy because, were it, not for the fast food industries, there would not be a need for urgent rearing animal rearing. Conclusion The high growth in economic standards over the world calls for any possible means of easing life. The fast food industry has developed due to the ease of production of its products and its cheap price. The commitments that people have do not allow them to spend much of their time because they want to beat some deadlines. They do not have time to examine how healthy the food they eat is, and its consequences (Schlosser, 2001). The fast food industries started in the U. S according to Schlosser, but after the gradual growth, spread to other countries where they have too established a number of branches, for example, the McDonald’s. The effects these companies have on the economy of U. S occur in the other countries which have started these industries. Most contents of these foods are unhealthy, and have highly contributed to the rise in obesity and overweight problems which relate other diseases like diabetes which are expensive to treat (Currie, 2009). Treatment of these diseases becomes a burden to the economy of the world. Diseases like these affect the labor input of a country and this acts as a drawback to the economy (Chelala, 2013). Although the establishment of fast food industries affected the economy of the world through the health sector, it has also positively affected the global economy through the provision of labor to employees, which is a boost to the tax department. The participation of The McDonald’s in other businesses apart from fast food (which was their first business) is a boost to the global economy, given its establishment of branches in many countries. The fast food industries have impacted the global economy both positively and negatively as potrayed in the research. Bibliography Currie, Janet, et.al (2009). The effect of fast food restaurants on Obesity and Weight gain. Retrieved on April 5, 2013, from http://www.nber.org/papers/w14721 Schlosser, E. (2001). Fast food nation: The dark side of the all-American meal. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Weber, K. (2009). Food, Inc: How industrial food is making us sicker, fatter and poorer-- and what you can do about it. New York: Public Affairs. Chelala, Cesar. (2013). How obesity can derail China’s growth. Retrieved on April 5, 2013 from http://www.theglobalist.com/storyid.aspx?StoryId=9942 FAO, (2008). Humane Society of the United States report. Impact of Industrialized Animal Agriculture on World Hunger. Retrieved on April 5, 2013 from http://www.humanesociety.org/assets/pdfs/farm/hsus-the-impact-of-industrialized-animal-agriculture-on-world-hunger. Read More