Matt+Samuel

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**__ Individual Research Assignment 1 __** Name: Mathew Samuel Kaniyamparambil Student No: 995422966 Course Code: CCT205H5 Instructor: Professor Michael Jones and Gail Benick Date Submitted: 5/02/09

**__ The detrimental prevalence of fast food //culture// in North America  __** Fast food is everywhere; in fact, such is the prevalence of fast food nowadays that it is possible that one would find the famous Golden Arches eponymous to the McDonald’s Corporation in the most unlikely places. The appeal of fast food is obvious – it is easily accessible, tastes great and is relatively inexpensive. Conversely, over the last two decades, the health concerns related to fast food have also been brought to light, with rising obesity, diabetes and high cholesterol levels just some of the many problems associated with fast food diets [1]. All of these facts are public knowledge and many fast food franchises have taken tokenistic approaches to cleaning up their act; however, I believe that regardless of the measures taken by fast food companies, we would be unable to radically improve this situation unless the issue of fast food __culture__ is tackled. As such, the social issue that I am focusing on is the detrimental prevalence of fast food //culture// in North America. The fact that fast food is no longer an industry but a culture in itself is disturbing because a ‘culture’ implies a deep historic association. In fact, fast food per se, has only been around for almost a century or so; however, I believe that fast food has been allowed to become a ‘culture’ as a result of associated factors that have ingrained fast food into the social and popular consciousness. Hence, fast food culture has become an inseparable part of contemporary pop culture over the last 100 years, with typical North American fare of a hamburger and soda a contemporary of muscle cars and rock-and-roll, all associated with ‘Americana’ culture [2]. One of the main reasons why fast food culture gained ground so quickly in North America was because of important changes to the American economy, particularly the peaking of average hourly wages in 1973. To put this into perspective, since the 1960s, women entered the workforce in record numbers in order to help make ends meet. This put millions of young women in need of extra income at the disposal of burgeoning fast food franchises; this scenario, in tandem with the decline of average hourly wages since 1973, provided the labour to meet the growing needs of fast food franchises, all at lower hourly wages. As a result, it became more profitable to own franchises, and with clever marketing and brand popularization, helped to establish the groundwork of fast food culture [3]. Furthermore, because of the fast-paced nature of work and lifestyles today, fast food has become an economic and time-saving alternative to preparing food, which further endears it to the masses. All established cultures have certain easily identifiable symbols and popular individuals as well as a means of propagating the growth and development of that culture. It is no different with fast food culture; McDonald’s Golden Arches are now more widely recognized than the Christian cross and according to Eric Schlosser, author of ‘Fast Food Nation’, Ronald McDonald is now more recognizable than Jesus by children [4]. Other popular fast food franchise symbols include the ‘Taco Bell’ bell, KFC’s Colonel Sanders and the ‘Burger King’ king, which are advertised to the masses to have positive connotations with fast food franchises. To deeply ingrain these images into the general public’s mind, fast food corporations have spent billions of dollars on advertising and marketing, including lucrative tie-ins with hit movies. An excellent example is the great publicity that Burger King purchased in one of the top-grossing films of 2008, ‘Iron Man’, where the title character, Tony Stark (Iron Man), after a daring escape from his kidnappers, wants nothing more than a “good old American cheeseburger” – specifically a Burger King cheeseburger. However, marketing campaigns to spread the fast food gospel need not be so expensive, as McDonald’s proved by selling itself as a family-friendly franchise in its early years. In the 1970s, McDonald’s linked itself with various charities, especially those involving children in order to build brand trust between itself and potential customers [3]. This ploy has clearly worked and the ethic has persisted to the present day, where McDonald’s is thought of as a children-friendly place, having play pens, Happy Meals and supporting contributions to the Ronald McDonald House Charities. It really is no wonder then, that children know more about McDonald’s than they do about Jesus. The ones to gain the most from the prevalence of fast food culture are the fast food corporations themselves, which have made billions of dollars as a result of fast food becoming the food of choice for children, teens and young adults. Its quick availability also sells itself to older adults who do not have to go to the trouble of preparing meals for children when it is easier to go to a drive-through for a quick bite. Those who are advantageous by association to fast food companies are other food industry giants, such as the Coca Cola Corporation and Pepsico as well as various community-involvement causes that are sponsored by fast food franchises. While nobody may complain about fast food corporations supporting events (such as the Olympics) and teams (such as Timbits hockey leagues), one would have to question the motives of corporations on this matter, for which there is no easy answer. Fast food corporations state that they are giving back to the community; detractors say that corporations have vested interests and use sponsorships as a way to gloss over unpleasant details of their operations and garner cheap publicity. Whatever the truth is, the one sure thing is that by associations and partnerships with other food industry giants and community-involvement causes, fast food culture becomes less about associations and partnerships and more about the pervasiveness of a brand image in daily life, which marks it as a culture. The difficult question is asking whether we want something corporate, driven by profit, becoming a part of //human// culture. Fast food culture may be profitable for the fast food giants and those partnered with their business, but it has come at many costs, particularly to independent business owners. Independent fast food proprietors have all but been wiped out by the encompassing, homogenizing influence of fast food giants, which leads to a market monopoly. No single business should have such unprecedented power over a market or over food supply, and the incidence of the same is generally viewed as a poor reflection on the economy, because according to simple economics, the greater competition there is in a market, the healthier the market as products get better and approaches get more innovative. Another way in which fast food culture may be detrimental is the targeting of child consumers by fast food companies, so as to get child consumers familiar to the product at a young age so that it evokes pleasant memories of the brand, which makes for more willing consumers [4]. This is viewed by some as a deliberate attempt to brainwash children into viewing merchandise less as a product and more as a way of life. This was humorously touched upon in the 2008 animated film, “Wall-E”, where a futuristic human race is dominated by a single brand that has surpassed ‘culture’ and has indelibly become part of society. Detractors of fast food culture fear that this is where the human race seems to be heading if it goes unchecked. The most obvious case against fast food culture are the health concerns that fast food are linked to. In ‘Fast Food Nation’ and the documentary, ‘Supersize Me’, we get an idea of the extremely harmful physical and psychological effects related to the innutritious content and increased serving sizes of fast food. Fast food companies usually make their products rich in saturated fats, sugars and high in calories, since high-fat and high-sugar foods are widely and cheaply available[1, 5, 6]. Additionally, in order to make fast food taste as good and addictive as it is, companies use flavourings, artificial ingredients and provide animals with ‘supplements’, which are essentially chemicals and steroids that require breakdown and removal from our body [7, 8]. This, in tandem with the decline in physical activity has led to an unprecedented rise in obesity, particularly childhood obesity. Hence, while there is no definitive link established between fast food products and poor health, obesity is regarded as a ‘condition of affluence’, and thereby increases the risk of heart disease, cancer and diabetes, which are the principal diseases of affluence [5]. Hence, fast food poses significant health concerns. However, since fast food companies claim to include ‘healthy’ options on their menu, these are seen to be, for the most part, formal measures taken by the companies in order to acquiesce with public sentiment regarding health concerns. I believe that what really needs to change is the mindset of consumers who are being anaesthetized from childhood against the social, economic and physiological dangers of fast food culture. The sway that fast food companies holds over our lives, as a result of their influence, profits and relentless advertising campaigns should be broken, because no company should have such a hold over the minds and wellbeing of the general public. Now that the issue has been identified, implementing the change necessary to overturn this is both a tricky and challenging matter, and is easier said than done. ** Works Cited: ** [1] "Fast-food culture serves up super-size Americans." __American Psychological Association__. 05 Feb. 2009 . [2] "Fast Food History." __ Engelska - Moderna Språk - Umeå Universitet __. 05 Feb. 2009 . [3] "Press Articles - Rolling Stone 1." __McSPOTLIGHT__. 05 Feb. 2009 . [4] Schlosser, Eric. __Fast Food Nation : The Dark Side of the All-American Meal__. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company Trade & Reference Division, 2001. [5] "Is Fast Food Junk Food or Vice Versa? - Article by Jack CD Downey AKA The Gallopping Geezer." __CanadianCulture.com - Canada's Supportive Network and Resource Directory - Canadian People working together!__ 05 Feb. 2009 . [6] "Super Size Me -." __Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia__. 05 Feb. 2009 . [7] "McSpotlight: press cutting." __McSPOTLIGHT__. 05 Feb. 2009 . [8] "Fast food is addictive in same way as drugs, say scientists | Independent, The (London) | Find Articles at BNET." __Find Articles at BNET | News Articles, Magazine Back Issues & Reference Articles on All Topics__. 05 Feb. 2009 .