As soon as someone says “fast food,” they think burgers and fries. Of course, the cheese in the burger and the lemonade that accompanies the meal are an added bonus to the temptation. And then you come to a second thought – is it healthy? But obviously no! The fast food chains would happily give away their entire fortune to anyone who could change the consumer’s ability to have that second thought.
Moving on to the next thought – why are you concerned about eating junk food? Of course, every doctor, nutritionist or fitness trainer advises against it, to state the obvious – it worsens your health. But it’s so delicious and never fails to tickle the taste buds to glory.
Humans are an ever-evolving species, and thankfully, their brains have finally evolved into a colloquially highly advanced version of what it once was. Thus, now able to cope with the “junk food” syndrome. Although slowly, but people actually take the ball to the “healthy” side of the pitch.
There is another underlying force working against fast food chains, and it deals with the science of commodities – economics. Wondering what on earth economics would have to do with junk food syndrome? Well, it’s called the law of diminishing marginal utility. Consumers are getting less and less benefit from consuming junk food, in short: boredom.
And by bored it means they:
1) eat healthier,
2) want to avoid obesity or other direct/indirect disadvantages of junk food, and
3) are now tempted by gourmet and organic edibles.
Americans are now looking for a “healthy” lifestyle, free from all the ills of eating junk food. Canteens in public places like schools and hospitals are terminating their contracts with fast-food chains and switching to healthier alternatives. Companies like Pepsi, McDonald’s and the like have reported a significant drop in sales. Therefore, these companies allocate large sums of money to research and development to find alternatives and develop “healthy fast food”.
“Whoever smuggled the ‘s’ in ‘fast food’ was a smart little git.”
It is now a question of watching where this trend takes the fast food industry – the effects can be varied and complex. Either this trend is ephemeral and would fade over time, or the paradigm shift would last for all generations to come.
Thanks to Ejaz A
