The Economics and Science of Fast Food in the U.S.
How does fast food economically, and scientifically affect the average U.S. citizen?
Word Count: 877
Food is a part of everybody’s life, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. In 2014, 14% of households did not have consistent access to food (“Hunger and Poverty”, 2015) . Eating is an expense that everyone has to deal with, and eating healthy can be costly. Fast food is changing the way people budget their food expenses and how their lives revolve around food. Fast food value menus enable consumers to get the maximum quantity of food for their money. Low cost and large servings lead to high exposure to fatty and carbohydrate dense food. Easy access and mass advertisement of unhealthy food has led to a large population of unhealthy and overweight people. Not only do these people make a habit of eating badly, fast food can even considered addictive.
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In 2015, there were over two hundred thousand fast food restaurants in the U.S., this is about one fast food restaurant for every fifteen hundred people (“Number of Establishments”, 2016). This proves that unhealthy food is easily accessible to the average person. In a study in 1997, about 45% of money spent on food was spent at restaurants out of the house. This was a big jump from 1960, when food out of the house only accounted for 26% of food expenses (Jekanowski, Mark D, 2001). This jump is a result of the convenience of eating out, and the appeal of not having to make meals. This has affected the family mindset to have dinner together. If the kids have soccer practice, it is easier to go through a drive through and eat out, than eat a home cooked meal. This is being ingrained into the next generation’s culture, because they will be accustomed to eating