All-American Meal

Even if Americans don’t want to admit it, fast food makes up a large part of what is considered American culture. So I believe the existence of fast food is important even if just as an identifier of American culture. Fast food restaurants signify the quick paced American lifestyle and our love for technology and drive for advancing. Since the first fast food restaurant opened, a White Castle in 1921, the fast food industry has grown nonstop and become one of the biggest industries in America. However the fast food industry did not get popular until McDonalds introduced the Henry Ford, assembly line method that made it faster and more efficient, and therefore cheaper, to make food. This fast cheap alternative allowed Americans to eat on the go and adapt to the new mobile society that was induced by the creation of cars. Over the last few decades, fast food has infiltrated every nook and cranny of American society. What began as a few vendors trying to make a living by selling hamburgers and hotdogs has evolved into a huge, global industry that sells practically all types of food to anyone willing to pay. In the United States fast food is now sold everywhere. It can be found in stadiums, airport, zoos, schools, trains, Wal-Mart’s, gas stations, and even hospitals. Nowadays Americans spend more money on fast food than on cars, computers, movies, recorded music, and shockingly we even spend more on fast food than on higher education. In the year 2000 Americans spent more than $110 billion on fast food, compared to the $6 billion spent on it in 1970. This clearly illustrates how important the fast food industry is in the American society, and how it is essential to maintain American culture. 

Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation : The Dark Side Of The All-American Meal. n.p.: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.