Fast Food Culture

America has been encountering many different types of cultures since it was first founded. These distinct types of cultures lead to the development of various types of food options. However, fast food productions stood out to be the top meal choice. The reason for this expansion of encounters with fast food has to deal with the American desire to gain more material wealth and become more prosperous. Americans expanded their encounters with fast foods by means of franchising, advertising, and processing of foods to help them acquire the wealth that they desire.
Franchising acquired its popularity by establishing a common method of service which gave customers the comfort that they look for when they look for a meal.When the customers go out
The mother company provides the necessary training needed at hamburger university (Franchising). They do this to ensure the reputation of the company which will bring in more customers. “ Restaurants featured spotless kitchens, an assembly-line process for making standardized food—hamburgers, french fries, and soft drinks—consistent quality, speedy service, and low prices”(Franchising). They know that consumers look for a reputable store to spend their money, so staying on the positive side became their goal. The worker's need for these jobs are also easier found because of the low entry requirements. “By hiring young, inexperienced workers, employers were giving the next generation valuable experience in building an industrious work ethic, earning their own pay, learning how to manage time and money, and preparing for lifetime employment”(Jim Montgomery). Although the job is paying at minimum wage, people still want to work at these places because they want to first hand experience. In addition to that, “Under the terms of an agreement the franchisee was a legally independent business”(Franchising). In this case the owners really get a sense of being an owner with low costs and big profits. These profits directly relates to the amount of advertisement that the mother company
They are now trying to receive profit from the production itself. They are seeking for for ways to increase the profit obtained during the processing of the food and they have found a way. They have decided to add harmful substances to the production of the food such as antibiotics, additives, and large amount of salt. Although antibiotics help get rid of the viruses at the moment to secure more quantities of healthy food, it creates resistant infections that could be deadly due to the large amount of immunities that they have developed throughout the years of treatment. “The more a particular germ is exposed to antibiotics, the more rapidly it can develop resistance”(Sarah Halzack). Salt and additives are used to enhance the flavor of the food, but at the same time it causes people to be more sustainable to acquiring high-blood pressure, obesity, and even cancer. “Researchers agree that hypertension (high blood pressure) is rare in societies that consume a low-salt diet and more common among people who eat a lot of salt”(Anita Elash). This just comes to show how far Americans have gone to be able to eat such unhealthy amount of salt. Other substances that are also found are. “BHA or BHT. Ingredients like these are added to prohibit foods with oils from going rancid, thereby increasing shelf life” (Cindy Jones Shoeman)