The Positive Aspects Of Fast Food English Language Essay

The Positive Aspects Of Fast Food English Language Essay 1. The  job  opportunities offered by  fast food  companies Fast food  is consumed  so much by people on  daily basis. There are many fast food outlets in both developed and developing countries. People can easily  see  fast food  restaurants, such as McDonalds, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chickens (KFC) and Pizza Huts in the street.  Fast food  industry offers more jobs opportunities to the people in  local  areas.  According to McDonalds Australia (2005), McDonalds Australia had 715 restaurants in 2002.  The demand for McDonalds product increases and many people, especially young people can  work  in McDonalds franchisees.  This shows that  fast food  companies successfully make a  contribution  in  solving social unemployment issues. Other studies also show that  university  students work temporally in  fast food  outlets so that their  salary  may  cover  their expenses during their study. This suggests that, to  certain extent,  fast food  industry has some positive effects on peoples life. 2. The convenience of fast food Many people in the  world  like  fast food because of its convenience. In the UK, many women do not have time to do shopping and cook for the family. Many working mothers easily  take  their children to go to the local fast food restaurants such as McDonalds or Burger King to eat. Schlossers (2002)  study  shows that the number of working women has increased significantly and more and more women spend less time cooking at home, therefore, their families spent more on  fast food  meals. McDonalds and KFC have launched many chains in some developing countries, such as China, India, Thailand,  etc. According to Rault-Wack and Bricas (2002),  fast food  industry offers people  convenience  and reduce the burden of cooking at home because  people  may  order  fast food by  telephone  or online so the food can be delivered  shortly. It is  very  easy and convenient to  have  fast food for a meal after  school/work. 3. The low price of fast food The price for fast food in  fast food  outlet is  very  low  thus  most families in the UK can afford to eat there.  Fast food  companies  make  their products as  cheap  as possible. According to Schlosser (2002),  fast food  companies try  very  hard to  buy  the ingredients as  cheap  as possible because even a few pennies difference in price is  important  for the success of their business. Based on  cheap  ingredients, fast food outlets can afford to  give  customers a  supersized  portion  for low price. Since most customers cannot resist a bargain, this strategy is  very  effective. It is  very  clear that the low  price  and  big  portion  make fast food more attractive to customers. People pay for fast food whenever they want to  have  it. The negative effects of fast food Fast food has many negative effects on peoples health. 1. Fast food with high salt and saturated fat Fast food  companies encourage people to eat a lot without realising the health issues that can lead to  disease.  Experts from the Medical Research Council (2009) have reported that fast food contains lots of salt and saturated fat.  Fast food is full of calorie, it is easy to be addicted to it and  take  in more calories than people need.  Most of these calories do come from fat and sugar. Eating too much fat and sugar can cause  negative  effects on human health. It is clear that  home  cooked fresh food is healthier than fast food cooked with cheap ingredients. 2. Diabetes caused by fast food The way that fast food  is cooked  and sold have  bad  effects on peoples health. In some developing countries, many children do not have enough food every day. According to Schlosser (2002), the author of Fast Food Nation, the disease caused by eating too much fast food has become the second biggest killer after smoking in USA. American people have suffered from diabetes, especially those who are over 50 years old, because they have eaten too much fast food in their life. Schlosser also states that Americans spend more money on fast food than they spend on higher education tuition fees every year. Meanwhile, British people suffer from eating too much fast food and some people have to  get  medical treatment. As mentioned above, fast food is high in fat, high in refined carbohydrates and high in sugar, but it is  low  in anything of nutritional element. Consequently, many people have got diabetes by eating fast food. In the United States, the case of middle-aged Caesa r Barber shows what happened to his health after eating fast food  frequently. He suffered from diabetes and heart attack. He sues McDonalds, Burger King and other fast food  compaies, claiming that his illnesses were partially those companies fault (Martindale, 2003). Oppositely, these  fast food  companies claimed that it was Caesar Barbers responsibility to choose if he should eat fast food or not. Caesar Barbers failed in this case, but the most  important  is that this case shows that fast food has  bad  effects on peoples health. Therefore, people should not eat fast food.  The  connection  between fast food and childrens obesity Many children go to  fast food  outlets immediately after school. They  like  fast food because they  think  that fast food is  tasty. They spend a lot of time eating fast food and chatting with their friends before they go home. Most fast food outlets offer  big  portions, such as Big Mac, double cheese burger, etc. Children do not want to eat anything for dinner. They do not  do  any  physical  exercises after eating a  big  portion  of fast food. It is  very  bad  that some children just  immediately  go to bed after eating fast food.  The parents from those  disadvantaged  families  do not look after their children properly and  they  allow  their children to sleep  immediately  after eating fast food.  The extra  fat  and salt  store  in childrens body that may  make  children overweight.  In the UK, the government introduced  healthy food  scheme  in schools for some years but still many children, especially those from single-parent families, eat  fast  food as their  dinner  after school. Studies have shown that the UK is the country that has more  fat  children than other European nations.  It is a  big  issue that some doctors  are concerned  about.  Hickmans (2005)  study  shows that obesity has tripled in the UK (p.8). He states that the  increase  of childrens obesity  has been accompanied  by the high sales of fast food.  More fast food  is sold  in  fast food  outlets, more children become  obese  as they are the customers that fast food companies target.  From the above  evidence  it can be seen that fast food is a one of the major causes of childrens obesity.  Conclusion Currently fast food  is consumed  by many young people, especially children in the UK.  On the one hand, fast food has some positive effects.  Fast food  companies open many outlets in the world so that they offer more employments to local people.  Fast food is  convenient  as it saving a lot of cooking time so working mothers do not have to  cook  meals for their children after work.  The  price  of fast food is  very  low  so most families, even those  disadvantaged  families can afford it. On the other hand, fast food contains high salt and fat so many adults  have  suffered from diabetes. Studies show that there is a strong  connection  between fast food and childrens obesity because most of  obese  children eat much fast food  frequently. Therefore, government should help those  disadvantaged  families and encourage them to  cook  fresh  food for their children. Additionally,  fast food  outlets should not be allowe d to  locate  near school premises.  Fast food  companies should not be allowed to  sell  big  portions to children. Meanwhile, working mothers should  manage  to spend more time cooking healthy  food  at home. With the efforts made by both government and parents, children can have more  healthy  diets and the number of children with obesity  will be reduced  sooner or later.