Collins

Kelly Collins
Professor Olliff
English 115
11/11/14
Fast Food America
Fast food has become increasingly infamous in America and has uniquely shaped
our culture. When thinking of our fast food culture in America, words like, junk food,
cheap, convenient, and fat often come to mind. In recent years, many fast food companies
have been trying to provide healthier options in their establishments in an attempt to
change their poor reputation for producing food with empty calories. Despite their efforts,
many consumers are beginning to avoid fast food in favor of healthier alternatives. Is fast
food really as bad for you as people say that it is? If not, why does the fast food industry get
the blame for American obesity? What other aspects of the American fast food culture
could be detrimental to society? Looking at the American fast food culture can be difficult
to understand and even at times mysterious. Overall the industrial fast food system is
problematic to extent that it encourages unhealthy eating and utilizes unhealthy food
processing for the sake of cheap food.
There are many articles and sources supporting the argument that fast food is an
unhealthy choice. A book written by author Michael Pollan titled The Omnivores Dilemma,
covers in detail, all of the possible ways that the fast food industry could be responsible for
an unhealthy population. Pollan also discusses social and economic effects of fast food such
as families eating on the run rather than sitting down together and poor financial choices of
individuals who rely on fast food regularly.

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When answering the question is fast food a generally unhealthy option, we should
first look at how it is prepared and with what ingredients. Fast food tends to be made from
cheap ingredients, such as corn, and is purchased from producers in large quantities. Then
after the food is purchased it is prepared with multiple preservatives or even pre-cooked
(later frozen regardless of if it needs to be) just to survive the journey to the specific outlet
that it was pre-destined to. From the beginning, with the choice of ingredients used,
quality is lost. During the adding of preservatives and freezing or re-freezing in some
cases, more quality is lost. So now, the food often tastes like a thin cheap slap of defrosted
beef, which is exactly what it is.
How then will the food be sold? It needs to have its flavor enhanced so fast food
companies will load their food with sugars and fats, which by nature are delicious
compliments to any food. All of these excess sugars and fats are the leading cause of health
problems from fast foods. An article titled Fast Food: Unhealthy and Unfriendly written
by authors Stender, Dyerberg and Astrup, supports the idea that fast food can lead to health
complications such as weight gain, abdominal obesity type 2 diabetes and coronary artery
disease. (1). The problems that can occur when food companies enhance their product
easily surpass the standard problem of gaining weight, but can cause more serious health
problems as stated in the article. So what else is in fast food? The act of adding sugars and
fats may not be natural to a meal but sugars and fats are themselves, natural. But according
to Pollan foods like McDonalds McNuggets also contain several completely synthetic
ingredients (113). These ingredients are added to the food for a number of reasons but
all of them to make the food more presentable. He states that one chemical
dimethylpolysiloxene, [is] added to the cooking oil to keep the starches from binding to air

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molecules (Pollan 113). With so many chemicals, it is easy to wonder about American
health epidemics, such as allergies or the even more serious current wide scale problem of
cancer.
It may seem that fast food is no longer food at all with the excess fat and
complicated preservatives. Some people believe that fast food has become a generated
substance comparable to dog food. So if fast food is so unhealthy, why is it sold nationwide
and so often? The answer, fast food is cheap. These food companies set out with a goal to
create cheap and easily accessible food in order mass produce at a profit. The easiest way
to make a profit in food industry is to buy the cheapest materials from the start. One of the
cheapest foods on the market happens to be corn, which is also one of the most useful.
According to the ingredients list in the flyer, corn is everywhere in [this] meal, but in
unspecified amounts (Pollan 115). Because corn is so versatile and with the creation of
high fructose corn syrup in 1980 (Pollan 103), fast food chains are able to produce full
meals that have a total cost to the company of around a dollar. This cheap meal is now sold
at double or even triple the amount it costs to produce. The average meal cost for the fast
food consumer is around four to six dollars. If a consumer has little money to spend on
food, fast food can seem like one of their best options, whereas, if another consumer has
extra money they might choose a healthier option. So the only way to get a potentially
dangerous meal sold to millions of people is to make the meal affordable, thanks to the
overproduction of corn in America this is possible.
Some people argue that it is not the fault of a fast food restaurant for the growing
health problems in the nation. The main argument made is that eating healthy is a choice
that can be made and has to be made everywhere that there is food. In the book, Fast Food

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Vindication by Lisa Johansen, an educated dietician, she argues this same point. One thing
she said about the unhealthy options at Taco Bell was just because they [Taco Bell] offered
it didnt mean that I should, or would eat it. (18). The main argument is based on the fact
that healthy choices keep you health and unhealthy choices wont. She claims that it is
ridiculous to put the blame on fast food or even to sue companies like McDonalds for the
consumers lack of well being. This argument also says that if there is anything to blame it
is the nations, [decreasing] or non-existent physical activity; increased caloric intake from
snacks, sodas and energy drinks; and the content and size of the meals prepared at home.
(Johansen 18). The blame for diseases like Type II Diabetes should be on the lifestyle. The
lack of regular exercise can also be sited as a main contributor to overall poor health. Poor
food choices being consumed daily is a powerful compliment to the lack of exercise. Follow
it up with two plates of pasta for dinner and you have an unhealthy lifestyle, which is easy
to get accustomed to. This argument may be upsetting, but it is partly true, it is common
knowledge that physical activity is necessary to stay healthy regardless of ones diet. Lastly,
fast food is not the only type of junk food available to Americans today. Candy bars,
sweets, chips and other processed food is readily available in just about every grocery
store. There is a reason for the name junk food, it is highly unhealthy and frankly, junkie.
Despite Johansens argument that we are responsible to make good food choices
regardless of where we choose to eat, she doesnt address the fact that these foods are
often of poor quality and cheap. The unaddressed issue is that the fast food industry
encourages unhealthy eating. How would a large cooperation encourage unhealthy eating
without making it obvious? They make their food really inexpensive; they sell some of
their most unhealthy foods on their dollar menus and sell their healthier options for more.

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Pollan said in his book that his wife had ordered the Cobb Salad with Caesar dressing. At
$3.99 it was the most expensive item on the menu. (110). These businesses often times
dont even have anything that is actually healthy, but if they have them, the healthier
options tend to be the most expensive items due to the companys costs to produce.
Another factor that encourages unhealthy eating is the constant request to upsell. These
companies make the most margin of profit from their Large Size items. They train
employees to ask the consumer if they would like fries with that. The company will try to
upsell each customer to the largest size or multiple items on the menu to gain more income
per customer. While it is ultimately the consumers choice to decide what size and how
many items to buy, the upsell is tempting. For only a few cents more, you can get a
significantly larger amount of french fries for example. The problem with this upsell is that
the largest size has much more food and drink than needed for the average person in one
sitting. This causes the caloric intake for one meal to frequently add up to more than half of
the recommended daily caloric amount. Pollan said he and his family consumed a total of
4150 calories at [their] lunch more than half [of what they should have eaten] in a day
(117).
Ultimately, food choice is up to the consumer, but that doesnt negate the fact that
the industry promotes unhealthy eating and lifestyle. After all, you can order and consume
a high calorie meal without ever leaving your car. Not to mention that the food itself does
not encourage an active lifestyle, because after eating fast food it can be difficult to exercise
without vomiting. Most of the fast food sold doesnt even settle properly in the stomach and
people often feel sick or lethargic after consuming a high fat, high calorie meal. The

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evidence is clear that industry has no interest is the consumer with the exception of their
money and they will sacrifice public health for the sake of a profit.
Overall, the industry can be seen as a reflection of a common American mindset of
comfort and quick gratification at little expense. Fast food is cheap and involves little effort
to put a meal on the table. As America has advanced, it has become easier for Americans to
make a lot more food and a lot faster. The call for change seems to be a logical approach,
but what change is needed and which change will work. If fast food companies improved
the quality of their food, would they have to raise their prices? Most likely and food would
also take longer to make. Would these companies be able to stay in business? One possible
answer is continued education of the consumer and requiring companies to make
ingredients pass more strict standards. We as consumers can demand change in the
quality food and less dangerous preservatives by supporting companies with healthier
options. But even then, our American fast food culture is probably here to stay.

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Works cited

Johansen, Lisa Tillinger MS RD. Fast Food Vindication: The Story You Haven't Been Told.
Los Angeles, CA: J. Murray, n.d. IBooks.

Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. New York:
Penguin, 2006. Print.

Rice, S., McAllister, and Dhurandhar. "Fast Food: Friendly?" Sdls. International Journal of
Obesity, Volume 31 Issue 6 (31 May 2007), Pages 884-886, n.d. Web. 23 Nov. 2014.
<http://library.calstate.edu/northridge/articles/record?id=FETCH-LOGICALc166240ce771aed6b8f6b7eb475e2e434c0d7caec74d34f2ee8e9810cb2bdbe68236a3>.