Fast Food Industry

[Shu]

Afternoon!

So I wanted to bring an interesting topic to the table, and present it to you folks. I have seen a lot of news and read/watched a few documentaries in regards to the fast food industry. Do we need to do away with the major Fast Food Companies while maintaining a few?

Why you ask... well partly due to the overwhelming amount of factual information against them.

Pros:

Ronald McDonald Foundation - Helps out less fortunate kids.
Jared - Apparently he lost a bunch of weight and tries to Indoctrinate that Sub Way did it.

Cons:

Diabetes
Poor Service
Food is considered processed and re-processed over and over.
Putting farming industries up against a fence and making farmers inject their animals with steroids.
Food has been studied and has addictive substances.
1) People are hired out to a capped wage. When they have assumed enough years they can be let go, due to being paid to much.
2) They want to hire out new workers regularly so they can pay for cheap labor.

..... keep rowing.


Anyways, what are your thoughts. Do you think removing these folks would be a great benefit to humanity? Or do you think we should just boycott them and not eat there. Or do you think it's up to the person, if they want to eat it then so be it.

 

[Six]

Having worked in the fast food industry myself for 4,5 years, I wouldn't say they had to go, or get cut down on.

Diabetes
Poor Service
Food is considered processed and re-processed over and over.
Putting farming industries up against a fence and making farmers inject their animals with steroids.
Food has been studied and has addictive substances.
1) People are hired out to a capped wage. When they have assumed enough years they can be let go, due to being paid to much.
2) They want to hire out new workers regularly so they can pay for cheap labor.

Now, Diabetes is one of those things that takes self-discipline. I don't think companies like McDonalds can be held responsible, the name says it, 'fast food' it's not good for you, but what is? Everything can be bad if you eat it all day, every day.

Poor service really depends on what company, what location and what people. I know a lot of places have people standing with a grump face all day, because they hate what they're doing most likely, but I think that the capped wage thing helps some people have at LEAST some income, while they don't have a high education level, or just because they might simple enjoy their small fast food job.

However, I do agree on that fast food companies are very shit to their eomployees. I earned more than average "jobs" (no I'm not talking office jobs) at McDonalds, than most other people I knew that worked at other places, I was a crewtrainer so that also made a raise in my pay, and because of that, I was also fired. For being 'too expensive'.

Fast food companies do usually take in younger people, and while I kinda hold a grudge for my old work place, it's understandable they do.

I don't think the companies have to go, I just think they have to invest a little more in to their employees in order to improve everything about it in general.


I've never heard that about farmers and steroids... =/ I'm a big animal lover, so... Maybe they just don't do that here, yet...


In my opinion, it'd definitely up to the people who want to eat there themselves. Take responsibility, you know what it can do. It's the same as a pack of cigarettes or alcohol, or soda. It's all bad, but as long as you know where to draw a line, you can live a happy life, I imagine.

 

[Rydia]

I'm not completely decided on this issue so this post will probably just be a bunch of rambling. Maybe I'll come back later with a better answer.

I go with the second and third option. If someone wants to eat there, then they should have the option. I don't think it's right to police people. I think it's a little gross when people eat there every night and I get annoyed when people want to sue McDonalds for making them fat. However, if these lifestyle behaviors start to cost us a ton of money, then there will be a problem.

Some of them aren't too bad. Subway is nice if you forget lunch at work and need a place to eat. Panera bread isn't too bad either. And do we count Chipotle as food? That's my guilty pleasure resturaunt.

If enough people boycott maybe the places will up their standards (Though that would have to be a lot of people). I think I heard that some places stopped using ammonia to clean out the meat. I can't imagine that those standards will ever be acceptable considering that many of these places have millions of stores world wide. If McDonalds ever had grass fed burgers it would become very expensive.

Maybe some government regulation would help. (Not allowing so much salt in the food, have it on the side and people can add as much as they want, better health standards, force those places to list what is included in their meats.) But then again I don't know if I would like the government to have that much control. And if people do not like that the food is fattening, high in sodium, unhealthy, then maybe eat somewhere else? It's not the fast food industry's responsibility to make sure that everyone eats a well balanced diet. I don't see anything wrong with the food as long as it's a once an while treat.

But then you tell people horror stories about fast food and they still don't care because the food tastes good. There are people that just do not care about their health. I have worked with people with diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure and among other life style diseases and we recommend diet, exercise, ceasing smoking, drinking less alchol to control those conditions but many complain that they do not want to make any changes and just want to take pills. (Usually the arguement is "I'm 60, 70, years old! I'm not making any big changes in my life!")

I honestly don't know the answer. Educating people on what is in the food may help so that they can make a more informed decision. But some still will not give a damn.

 

[CPancer]

It's not fast food that makes people fat, it's the people themselves who eat it and...well depending on what they get will determine if they get fat or not. The secret behind it is sodium people, let's not forget that.

I don't think it's fair to go overboard to say negative things about their employment. The beauty of it is, is that they'll take anyone. For someone still in high school it's the perfect opportunity to gain experience to further develope their resume, if you're going to be too picky about job placements when you have zero experience won't put you into your goal career anytime soon unless your networking is good. If anyone is looking for desperate money then work at a fast food resturant, if you feel a job like that is too degrading for your social status...well good luck to whom that may be then.

This whole farmers & steroids is crap...the industry isn't suffering because a lot of fast food chains use farmers supply to get the produce & meat they need for their business....at least in Canada that's how the business is operated. So both business in the end gain profit, if McDonalds started making their own electronics...then that would be different (and weird).

So here's a message to you Shu, stop coming up with false statements regarding the fast food industry. I've worked fast food before too and I learned a lot coming out of it, I guess you have not.

 

[Shinra Executive]

I'm just taking off with my thoughts on the thread topic..

Not everybody is made out of money. There are plenty of people who choose to eat cheap fast food to fit their budgets. In fact, that is a cardinal reason why people eat fast food. If it was as expensive as high quality food, not so many people would eat McDonalds and such.

The fact of the matter is that the price fits the quality. If one wants to eat healthy, they have to pump out more dough. That's just the way the economy is rigged, so in a way, society attacks the wrong object. It's not fast food, but the food industry in general.

 

[Vulhala]

Nobody forces anybody to eat at places like McDonalds, Subway etc. If you don't want the health problems associated with eating it every day, then don't do it. I can't understand the logic of these people who try and sue the chains because they got fat, diabetes etc. No one held a gun to their head.

As for working there, over here in the UK, we've got laws and such preventing people being fired for no reason. No idea what it's like in the States, but they couldn't pull that kind of thing here. They'd be shut down.

 

[Valkyrur]

Completely off-topic. I feel this topic here could also apply to cigarettes. A lot of the first post there could also be applied to cigarette companies, except I can't seem to fill up anything for the pros side of it. Wouldn't closing those companies be a benefit to society, or should it be up to the people?

Well, back on topic... I second the second opinion. (lol)

To be clear, I see fast food as a 'product'. These fast food companies provide these 'products' that people buy. Now, as far as I can tell, I don't think these companies falsify or hide any information about their products. And as already mentioned in the first post, there are quite a lot of content on the media relating to these - most of them negative. Of course, one could point out that these content may not be placed on channels that are more frequently accessed by the general public. Even so, I am almost certain that the general consensus, regardless of whether these content have been accessed and as a result of a majority opinion, is simply: fast food is bad.

This leads me to assume that the customers who purchase that 'product' is making a somewhat informed choice. They may not know the full details about the negative effects, but they generally know the overall view that it is negative. I suppose it follows that they roughly know what they're buying and they know it will do them harm one way or another. The main pint is that no one forced them; the outcome is their responsibility. All the companies did was to produce that product and to market it to their potential customers.

With regards to the pricing, however, that's a little different. I'm not sure for other countries, but here in my country, while fast food can be considered among some of the value for money meals (with a drink tied into the meal itself), there are a whole lot of cheaper and healthier alternatives that are readily available. In fact, they're cheap enough that a poor bloke would settle for those alternatives instead of fast food. So, at least here in my country, its definitely not the 'cardinal reason' why people eat fast food.

And while on that note, I actually think convenience should be that 'cardinal reason'.

But back on the question. No, I don't think doing away with fast food companies and maintaining a few is an appropriate measure. These appear to have much more serious economical ramifications. Furthermore, it isn't a certainty that this would solve the problem, which I suppose is people buying a product that has a multitude of negative factual information to its name. The remaining companies that has been maintained will simply profit from the lack of competition and continue their production either way. People continue buying, or those loyal to the rival companies switch over to other fast food alternatives.

 

[Catnip]

There's really no point to junk food at all other than it tastes good.

But if people can't control themselves, then that's really their own fault. Will power and self-control is what it takes. It's only difficult if you're in the wrong state of mind.

 

[Unknownfigure]

It looks like there's somewhat of a consensus building already.

Really, it is one's personal choice. Even if that choice has been somehow influenced by society, economy, or convenience. Like with everything in life, every choice has a consequence, some more obvious than others. Of course, there should be some ground rules, many of which are already established; Sanitation, fairness, consistency, etc. Then there's thing that involve the source of the food itself, like hormones being injected/fed to the animal, or bug repellents sprayed over vegetables, even genetically modified food which isn't so scary these days. Nonetheless, these things could potentially reveal problems fifty years from now in which we have no idea that would happen. Maybe a specific cancer will begin to become rampant among certain food chain lovers that consume their repellent-sprayed vegetables over generations. Or perhaps, those awesome hormones used to make super-KFC chickens eventually cause thyroid abnormalities in newborns of those who regularly ate KFC. Who knows, shit like that, only time could ever tell, and our species tends to be reactive rather than proactive about that field.

Ramble switch Off, it wouldn't make any difference doing away with one company or another. It'd probably do damage, actually. The only solution is to create as much public awareness as possible, which sounds redundant because everyone already knows fast food isn't good for anyone. Maybe if the first world culture shifted in a way that made fast food unfashionable, that might promote health on a larger scale. Right now though, it's considered a bit snobbish to be condescending to fast food consumers, at least in my parts.

Corporations are ultimately in control of everything, in the end. For the time being...

 

[Ilyena]

I think it's up to the person. If they want to fill their bodies with junk every day, that's there own problem. I think it's ridiculous that people can even sue places like McDonalds with claims that they made them fat. You made yourself fat by eating there all the time. Fast food restaurants don't make claims that their food is healthy (except maybe Subway). People really just don't want to take responsibility for their own actions these days. It's always someone else's fault.

And I don't understand why people are saying that it's more expensive to eat healthier. It really isn't. Buying from the grocery store and fixing your own meals at home is way less expensive. A box of spaghetti costs a dollar and a jar of sauce is about three dollars. That's a meal right there that will easily feed a family of six for four dollars. Produce isn't that expensive either. People are just lazy and looking for convenience, imo.