America's Addiction: Examining the Consequences of Fast Food's Popularity in America

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EXAMINING THE CONSEQUENCES OF FAST FOOD’S POPULARITY IN AMERICA

The process of fast food The first step in researching fast food popularity should be understanding fast food in general, and how it makes it’s way to your plate, this process will follow the typical McDonald’s hamburger. Your burger begins where you might expect, with a cow, only this cow isn’t on a “farm” in the traditional sense of the word, it comes from an industrial feed lot where it is fed a diet of grains as well as antibiotics and hormones to stop the spread of infections and promote rapid weight gain, respectively. After the cow has reached a specific weight it’s sent off to a processing plant, McDonald’s has 6 in total-the largest being in Tulsa, OK, where it is turned into a meat patty. From there it travels to a distribution center where all the supplies for any number of McDonald’s in an area are kept before it finally reaches your neighborhood location and ultimately your stomach, the entire process usually takes around 3 weeks. And if we look back to the origin of the bun that your burger sits between, a large majority of the ingredients in the bun (and many of McDonald’s other products) are rendered from corn. This corn is grown on massive plots of land in Iowa from genetically modified seeds which ensure the highest yield from each crop but leave us with literally tons of genetically identical corn and nutrient-depleted soil.

Which means by the time this burger

gets to you

in Knoxville, it has travelled nearly 800 miles after the initial trip from either the feed lot or corn field.

792.4 miles It is, on average, made up of about 12 different cows (or as many as 100).

And it’s at least 21 days old,

And it’s so full of preservatives that people have reported buying McDonald’s hamburgers that show little sign of decay after months of sitting out at room temperature. The Happy Meal pictured to the right was 137 days old when the picture was taken.

http://www.geekosystem.com/mcdonalds-happy-meal-preservatives-before-after/

Why do you think you eat fast food?

To understand why fast food is so popular in America we must first understand what it is that makes America different. We’ll begin by understanding why American’s say they eat fast food.

The graph to the right shows the results of a 2006 study by the American Dietetic Association where fast food patrons were asked to indicate how much they agreed with each statement about why they ate fast food. A few of the top answers are shown. http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2011/sep/28/rebuilt-mcdonalds-on-strip-ushers-in-corridor/

Quick

92.3%

Easy to get

80.1%

Tastey

69.2%

Inexpensive

63.6%

Too busy

53.2%

Nutritious

20.6% -American Dietetic Association

What makes you eat fast food

Fast food companies purposely place their restaurants at busy intersections and directly off highway exits to target time-crunched customers and, more importantly, the typical middle class American.

http://www.masterfile.com

By targeting children with mascots and toys, fast food companies are able to establish a stronger customer base that will last a lifetime. “Low prices, convenience and free toys target the middle class-especially budget-conscious, hurried parentsvery well.�

-J. Paul Leigh, professor of public health sciences at UC Davis

http://www.dumbblondediaries.com/2012/08/my-happy-meal.html

25% of Americans admit to eating fast food daily, with McDonald’s feeding 46 million people daily worldwide.

That’s more than the population of Texas and New York combined.

It is also the same number as the current, record-high, of people in the U.S. currently on food stamps.

http://www.nydailynews.com

Fun Facts: America Edition

Today’s Americans are working more today than they have in previous decades, additionally, the proportion of Americans in the workforce is higher now than ever before. Recalling the earlier study where over half of fast food patrons said one of the reasons they eat fast food is because they feel they are too busy to cook, it’s not hard to imagine how fast food has become a staple of many Americans’ diets.

10

20

30

40

50

South Korea Greece Poland Israel Turkey United States Mexico Hungary Spain Japan Itay Canada Britain Germany France Sweden Norway Netherlands Statistically, the U.S. is in the top 25% in number of hours worked per week among the hardest working nations

Add to that, 3 out 4 men and 2 out of 3 women work in the U.S., on par with the highest rates worldwide.

3600 kcal 3400 kcal

2650 kcal 2800 kcal

American’s also have the highest caloric consumption of any other nation on Earth, with the average American taking in nearly twice the recommended amount of daily calories.

This graph represents the average daily consumption versus the recommended 2000 kcal.

Sub

DAILY CALORIC INTAKE

2200 kcal

h -Sa aran ca Afri

Asia

th A

Sou ica

mer

Euro pe

USA

Fun Facts: America Edition Worth noting, the worldwide average for McDonald’s is 5 restaurants per one million people.

This number varies by country: UK: 21/mp France: 18/mp Germany: 15/mp Poland: 5/mp Mexico: 3/mp China: .5/mp Africa: 150 total

=1 million people

In the U.S., there are 47 McDonald’s per one million people.

Food Culture: The Missing Link

While many countries pride themselves on their food culture and the unique regionality of it, American food culture is marked more by regional fast food chains or things like Southern comfort food such as fried chicken. The lack of a food culture is a cornerstone in fast food’s popularity. It feeds from this gap in our culture and fills the void with fast, relatively cheap, food by-products and finishes it off with a small toy in a box.

The typical image of the family dinner where everyone eats the same, nutritious dish prepared by your mother has been replaced by frozen dinners eaten in silence on the couch, or each member of the family shuffling in and out of the kitchen at different times preparing different meals, or running out to the nearest fast food chain and picking up a family meal deal. The loss of the family meal can be connected to the markedly high popularity of fast food in America, and it all stems from a lack luster food culture.

Freedom From Want credit: Norman Rockwell

Education and access: A tale of two failures

Another potential contributing factor to fast food’s popularity is the fact that many people do not fully understand how unhealthy fast food is, how addicting it can be, how expensive it is (both to the customer and society), or they simply do not have access to more nutritious options, living in what is often referred to as a “food desert.”

http://gawker.com/happy-meals/

Keeping in mind that the average American consumes 3600 calories daily (almost twice the recommended amount) pictured to the right is a typical combo from McDonald’s with it’s nutritional information. http://www.ranker.com/list/mcdonald_s-secret-menu-items/secret-menu-items

Double Cheeseburger Combo Price: $3.15 (before tax) 1 double cheeseburger 1 order of medium french fries 1 medium Coke Calories Fat Sodium

1030 kcal (52%) 42g (65%) 1335mg (56%)

Sugar

65g (201%)

Cholesterol

80mg (27%)

After only one typical meal at McDonald’s you have already consumed half your daily calories, 2/3 of your daily fat intake, and twice the amount of recommended sugar. All of this depending upon you not getting a larger size, refilling your drink, or adding any other toppings or side items.

Education and access: A tale of two failures While looking through a short term lens, eating fast food is relatively cheap. The combo meal mentioned earlier only cost $3.15 before tax. Not bad for a full meal that packs more than its fair share of calories, fat, and sugar. But how does it compare to traditional grocery shopping?

According to the USDA, even on a “Liberal plan,” the average family of 4 can sustain a nutritious diet from a traditional grocery store for less than what the average family of 4 would spend eating at McDonald’s 3 times a day, 7 days a week.

With this information we now know that a dollar spent at a traditional grocery store can be worth literally 250% more than a dollar spent at McDonald’s.

Value of $1 USD at traditional grocery store

Value of $1 USD at McDonald’s

Total full-time workers in the U.S. : 109,459,000

$153,000,000,000 loss annually

Total who are obese/overweight/chronic condition : 93,040,150 (85%)

42% higher health care costs

SOCIETAL COST OF OBESITY

Although fast food isn’t a sole cause of obesity in America it is a contributing factor that is undeniably tied to the current obesity epidemic. Of the 109,459,000 Americans classified as “full-time” workers, 93,040,150 of them are considered overweight/obese, or suffer from a chronic condition related to the two (high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke), which equates to roughly 85%. Researchers have also found that companies spend 42% more on these workers in health costs, and that collectively these workers miss 450 million more days of work a year than their healthy coworkers. This equates out to a $153 billion loss for companies annually. (Huffington Post, Gallup Poll)

Education and access: A tale of two failures

The USDA defines a “food desert” as a low-income census tract where a substantial number or share of residents has low access to a supermarket or large grocery store: -To qualify as a “low-income community,” a census tract must have either: 1) a poverty rate of 20 percent or higher, OR 2) a median family income at or below 80 percent of the area’s median family income; -To qualify as a “low-access community,” at least 500 people and/or at least 33 percent of the census tract’s population must reside more than one mile from a supermarket or large grocery store (for rural census tracts, the distance is more than 10 miles).`

USDA map depicting areas classified as “food deserts� around Knoxville. Statistically, 1 out of 3 people in Knoxville live in a food desert. The dark area on the map is the UT campus.

www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-desert-locator.aspx

Education and access: A tale of two failures The map to the right shows the options a typical UT student has for where to eat on any given day around campus. Red dots represent fast food chains or convenience stores where food items can be purchased, and blue dots show full size super markets.

In total there are over 45 locations2 within walking distance that serve either fast food or prepackaged/processed foods. Other contributingg factors to fast food’s popularity on UT’s campus: • many students don’t own cars • students feel they don’t have time to go gro-cery shopping • a majority of student’s living on campus doo not have the storage space to hold the neces-sary amount of food for one person.

15 minutes 40 minutes via Rt. 11 1 hour 2 hours 45 minutes

← 10 minutes 22 minutes via Rt. 11 25 minutes 1 hour 15 minutes NOTES: 1. UT dining halls are not shown because not all students can access dining halls unless a meal plan has been purchased.

2. Some locations, like the University Center and Presidential Court, are marked by a single dot although they offer anywhere from 3-10 different fast food options. 3. The blue arrow represents a drive to Walmart, approximately a 15 minute drive on I-40 from campus. 4. Times shown are referenced from Morrill Hall on campus.

5 minutes 20 minutes via Rt. 11 to Rt. 13 15 minutes 30 minutes

Pilot Sunspot Cookout Tiger Mart Jason’s Deli Penn Station Wing Zone Oscar’s Tacos Domino’s

Zaxby’s Mellow Mushroom Starbucks Rocky Top Market Panera Whiskey Dix Roaming Gnome Nori Sushi Taco Bell

Tin Roof House of Dragon Jimmy John’s Oscar’s Papa John’s Cool Beans Goal Post Tavern Half Barrel Hibachi Factory

Wendy’s Moe’s Copper Cellar Walgreen’s Ooga Mooga’s McDonald’s Firehouse Noodles & Company Chipotle

Gus’s Good Times Deli Quizno’s Presidential Court Smoothie King Einstein’s (A+A) Hess Grocery Hodges Library Einstein’s (Haslam) University Center

Food City Kroger Walmart3

References:

Berman, Jillian. “Obesity Costs U.S. Companies Billions In Lost Productivity: Gallup.” The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 17 Oct. 2011. Web. 05 Feb. 2013.

De Vogli, Roberto, Anne Kouvonen, and David Gimeno. “‘Globesization’: Ecological Evidence on the Relationship between Fast Food Outlets and Obesity among 26 Advanced Economies.” Critical Public Health 21.4 (2011): 395-402. Print.

Dray, Sarah. “What Is Average Caloric Intake of People?” LIVESTRONG.COM. Livestrong, 24 July 2011. Web. 18 Jan. 2013.

Hitti, Miranda. “Top 11 Reasons For Fast Food’s Popularity.” CBSNews. CBS Interactive, 3 Dec. 2008. Web. 28 Jan. 2013.

“Home :: McDonalds.com.” Home :: McDonalds.com. McDonald’s Inc, n.d. Web. 20 Jan. 2013.

Marlar, Jenny. “U.S. Payroll to Population Rate at 45.7% in October.” Gallup.com. Gallup, 2 Nov. 2012. Web. 05 Feb. 2013.

“Meat Your Protein Partner! OSI Group Execs Talk R&D, Culinary TrendsFind out in Food for Thought. A Product Developer’s Perspective on Trends, Technologies, and More. .” Fast Food’s Popularity Among Lower- and Middle-income Families. Prepared Foods Network, 2 Nov. 2011. Web. 18 Jan. 2013.

“Putting in the Hours.” The Economist. The Economist Newspaper, 16 Apr. 2008. Web. 25 Jan. 2013.

USDA. “Official USDA Food Plans: Cost of Food at Home at Four Levels.” Http://www.cnpp.usda.gov. USDA, 1 Feb. 2012. Web. 23 Jan. 2013.

USDA. “USDA Food Desert Locator.” USDA Economic Research Service. v, 23 Aug. 2012. Web. 15 Jan. 2013.