Fast Food

Divided Opinions

For some, the global spread of fast food corporations, the supporting model of agribusiness, and their homogenizing influence on landscapes and behavior threaten cultural and ecological diversity. For others, eating corporate fast food is a social and fashion statement. Others shun corporate hamburgers but favor small, domestic, and independent fast-food businesses, such as kebab stands. Within countries, class, lifestyle, and attitudes play a role in relationships with fast food. Whereas one family considers a visit to a pizza parlor an affordable, fun evening out, another sees it as a tacky health hazard.

The more industrialized and complex the food processing chain, the more difficult it is to know what the food contains. Publicity has increased awareness of food-related health risks and fueled suspicion toward intensely processed fast foods.

Among the contested ethnical issues regarding corporate fast food are labor issues, franchiser rights, and marketing for children. Also controversial are the use of chemicals, hormones, antibiotics, fungicides, and pesticides in the mass-production of beef, poultry, and vegetables, and the treatment of production animals, ranchers, and land. Plenty of energy is required in packaging production and disposal, as well as mass production, transportation, and preparation practices. The resulting heaps of waste is usually not recycled or sorted according to biodegradability.

Disagreements between interest groups have led to lawsuits, consumer boycotts, acts of violence, and symbolic resistance in the form of a “slow food movement.” One counter-trend to the homogenizing impact of corporate fast food is the growing popularity of local, regional, and ethno-culturally diverse foods that are quick to prepare and can be consumed on the move. In some countries, concerns regarding the change of cultural traditions have created market niches for local entrepreneurs, who offer traditional food items in a fast-food format. Examples include a chain of pelmeni restaurants in Riga, Latvia, and shops serving elaborate stuffed baquettes in Paris, France.

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