Fast food has become part and parcel of the American lifestyle. Approximately 85 million Americans consume fast food daily, according to a research study from 2018. Fast food creates Health problems, leads to worker mistreatment, and harms the environment.
Regular consumption of fast-food leads to a variety of health problems. First, eating fast food can lead to terrible physical health. In the 21st century Child and Adults, obesity has risen to a staggering height. According to Anderson, Butcher, and Schanzenbach (2019), Childhood obesity levels increased from 5% in 1978 to 18.5 percent in 2016. Adult obesity prevalence grew from 30.5% in the years 1999-2000 to 42.4% in the years 2017-2018. Moreover, Americans are already struggling with other health issues like diabetes. According to the National Diabetes Statistics report (2020), 34.2 million Americans suffer from diabetes and 88 million adults have prediabetes. These statistics reflect the health issues of the average American and call for urgent measures to end this crisis. In addition, consuming fast food is also linked to mental health problems. Fisher(2020) explained that over half of people who eat fast food are more likely to be depressed. David Katz, director of Yale University’s Prevention Research Center found that consumption of fast food is strongly associated with higher risks of depression. Not only does unrestricted consumption of fast food lead to depression, but It also causes anxiety (Fisher, 2020).
Additionally, worker mistreatment is common in the fast-food industry. Many workers don’t make enough to support their families. Allegretto and colleagues (2013) found that the likelihood of fast-food workers living in poverty is higher. More than half of families of fast-food employees are enrolled in government help programs. This clearly shows that fast food workers are extremely underpaid compared to workers in other professions. Fast food workers are also heavily understaffed, Gregg and Shabon from the Washington Post explained that due to the pandemic and the spread of the Delta Variant, fast food worker staff has been dropping. In an article published by TODAY, Breen and Abdelkader described how the workers of a Burger King location in Lincoln, Nebraska quit due to short staffing, managerial turnover, and “hectic” work conditions. Fast food workers have to deal with difficult work environments while being paid meagerly for the services they offer society.
Last but not least, the fast food industry has negative effects on the environment. According to Cruelty Capital, which is an organization that protests animal cruelty caused by Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), chickens used in the making of their fried chicken are being fed and bred in a way that makes them top-heavy, and as they are being kept in small spaces, their legs and wings cannot support their heavy weight. As a result, they break. As explained by Lovell, J. a writer for Berkeley Political Review (BPR) a study taken by the U.S Department of Agriculture in October of 2019, three million cattle, 55 thousand calves, 12 million hogs, and 250 thousand sheep were slaughtered commercially. This would mean that we are slaughtering over 500,000 different animals daily. Female cows are forcefully impregnated, and then when they are born their children are stripped from them to be used in the creation of more cows and for their meat. Fast food industries also give off terrible environmental effects such as pollution. An article written by Wecht, A. explained how the fast-food industry leaves a heavy carbon footprint, Food waste, plastic waste, and dangerous emissions that come from the animals that are being used in slaughterhouses. Fast food industries often create situations in which animal abuse and pollution are common.
-Written by Nathan Kyaw Aung
-Photo from iStockphoto.com