Fast Food

Fast food is a meal that is prepared and served quickly. Fast food restaurants typically have a limited menu, items prepared in advance or heated rapidly, no table orders, and food served in disposable wrapping or containers. Although many cultures in highly populated areas have developed some form of fast food, the U.S. model has had the most influence worldwide. The rapid growth of the fast food industry since the 1960s has contributed to important changes in food production and consumption, such as more intensive animal agriculture and diets that are high in fat and sugar. Criticism of these trends has increased in recent years, as movements have coalesced to challenge fast food corporations politically or challenge the cultural values they promote.

The history of fast food restaurants in the United States in the first half of the 20th century included New York automats, which served take-out food in vending machines, and the hamburger restaurant chain White Castle, established in Wichita, Kansas. Hamburger chains that were founded later in Southern California, however, such as McDonald's, Jack in the Box, and Carl's Jr., have had a much greater influence. These evolved from drive-in restaurants that were popular in the early 1940s. In 1948, Richard and Maurice McDonald applied the principles of a factory assembly line to their restaurant and eliminated drive-in service to dramatically reduce labor costs. Their techniques spawned numerous imitators extending far beyond California, including the Burger King chain in Florida. In 1961, the McDonald brothers sold their business and name to Ray Kroc, who refined their methods of breaking down every task to make them more efficient and achieve consistent quality. Kroc successfully expanded the business to more than 7,500 restaurants worldwide by the time he died in 1984.

Although the top three U.S. fast food or “quick service” restaurants by sales are hamburger chains, other popular formats include fried chicken, pizza, sandwiches, and Mexican food. The majority are operated as franchises. Under this arrangement, a businessperson is primarily responsible for financing and operating a restaurant, but an initial fee and a continuing percentage of the sales must be paid to the parent company. McDonald's Corporation, the largest franchise in the world, makes most of its money not through these fees but through leasing land that it owns to its franchisees. Other fast food chains, such as Subway, rely on requiring the payment of a much higher percentage of sales.

[Page 170]The fast food industry in the United States has benefited from the development of an interstate highway system and the rise of automobile culture. Many outlets are located near freeway off-ramps, and the introduction of the drive-up window by Wendy's in 1972 made access even more convenient for drivers. In 1970, spending on fast food in the United States was $6 billion, but by 2000 that amount rose to $110 billion. On a given day, one in four Americans will consume fast food.

Fast food can be viewed as a symbol of globalization, as U.S.-based chains and their imitators are rapidly expanding in other parts of the world. There are currently more than 30,000 McDonald's outlets in over 100 countries, making it the largest global food retailer. Menus may be customized for different cultures, such as McDonald's Teriyaki Macs in Japan and Pizza Hut's Masala Pizzas in India.

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