Fast Food Nation
“Fast Food Nation” We all see the advertising and marketing for the big fast food chains such as, McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s everywhere we go, it is hard to miss. A hefty majority of Americans continue to eat there a few times a week even though it is well-known this poor excuse for food is extremely unhealthy. It is just so convenient, they can be found everywhere, they have cheap prices, and the food tastes so good. It is a common misconception that these places are still acceptable to go to. Fast food has emerged into the most prominent symbol of American society, and that does not appear to be changing anytime soon.
The McDonalds Corporation has become a powerful symbol of America’s service economy, which is now responsible for 90 percent of the country’s new jobs. In 1968, McDonalds operated about one thousand restaurants. Today it has about thirty thousand restaurants worldwide and opens almost two thousand each year. An estimated one out of every eight workers in the United States has at some point been employed by McDonalds. The company annually hires about one million people, more than any other American Organization, public or private. (Schlosser 5).
As a nutritionist, this information absolutely baffles me. Something must be done to stop this vicious cycle. Fast food is remarkably unhealthy yet these chains just continue to expand and become more popular. McDonalds fries distinctive taste “does not stem from the type of potatoes that they buy, the technology that processes them, or the restaurant equipment that fries them… for decades McDonalds cooked its French fries in a mixture of about 7 percent cottonseed oil and 93 percent beef tallow.” (Schlosser 119). That explains the great taste. However, in 1990, McDonalds switched to cooking the fries with pure vegetable oil due to criticism over the amount of cholesterol with the beef tallow. McDonalds needed a new way to get the same great taste so they added what they call on the ingredient
The McDonalds Corporation has become a powerful symbol of America’s service economy, which is now responsible for 90 percent of the country’s new jobs. In 1968, McDonalds operated about one thousand restaurants. Today it has about thirty thousand restaurants worldwide and opens almost two thousand each year. An estimated one out of every eight workers in the United States has at some point been employed by McDonalds. The company annually hires about one million people, more than any other American Organization, public or private. (Schlosser 5).
As a nutritionist, this information absolutely baffles me. Something must be done to stop this vicious cycle. Fast food is remarkably unhealthy yet these chains just continue to expand and become more popular. McDonalds fries distinctive taste “does not stem from the type of potatoes that they buy, the technology that processes them, or the restaurant equipment that fries them… for decades McDonalds cooked its French fries in a mixture of about 7 percent cottonseed oil and 93 percent beef tallow.” (Schlosser 119). That explains the great taste. However, in 1990, McDonalds switched to cooking the fries with pure vegetable oil due to criticism over the amount of cholesterol with the beef tallow. McDonalds needed a new way to get the same great taste so they added what they call on the ingredient
Cited: Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation. Boston, Ma: HarperCollins Publishers, July, 2005.