A thought struck me last night as the latest McDonald's ad came across the television...no matter how bad the food is, how unhealthy it makes us, or how hazardous working conditions can be, the American economy needs fast food.
That is a scary thought...at least to me it is. It wasn't too long ago that a group of teens sued McDonald's for making them fat. Study after study has been done that shows that fast food is not good for the human body and our consumption of it leads to obesity. This article states that over $36 billion...yes BILLION...was spent in 2002 on obesity-related illnesses; over 11% of total medical-related spending. That is an astounding statistic, and one that is only expected to grow.
Then there is the constant risk of food-borne illness. There are plenty of articles about specific instances of national chains being blamed for outbreaks of certain illnesses. Whether it is E.coli in tacos or a Dateline report about dirty restaurants, the food (to me) is always suspect.
Finally (for the purpose of keeping this semi-brief), the workplace hazards abound in fast food restaurants. This article/book does a great job laying out the specific problems associated with this type of work. I
spent my high school and college years working in restaurants (not fast food) and many of the issues laid forth are always of concern.
So there are three major issues with fast food...health, wellness, and safety. They all have a severe and significant economic impact on America. The numbers have already been laid forth pertaining to caring for fat Americans. The economic impact due to outbreaks is huge...how much do you think tomatoe farmers are currently losing because of this latest E.coli outbreak? Then there is the cost passed to the consumer because of safety issues and injuries and insurance costs. So if fast food is so bad for America and creates such an economic strain, why is it needed?
Well, here is my thought...which started, like I said, with that commercial on television last night. Fast food companies pump huge sums of money into the economy by way of marketing. Businessweek put McDonalds' 2006 ad spending at around $820 million and Taco Bell at over $250 million. That doesn't include Burger King, which probably spends close to McDonalds, Wendys, Chick-fil-a, or any of the other regional fast-food joints. You are talking about billions of dollars in ad dollars being pumped into the economy.
But that is not all. Fast-food restaurants create millions
of jobs and generate huge revenues and massive economic output. I have only
done minimal searching, but this one article states that franchised businesses,
of which fast-food joints are a part, generate over a trillion and a half
dollars ($1.53 trillion) in economic output, which is nearly 10% of the private
sector American economy and over $600 billion in revenues. Wow!
But the economic impact does not stop there. In 2001, a
study conducted for the International Franchise Association Educational
Foundation (IFAEF) by Pricewaterhouse-Coopers shows, franchised businesses
created 9.8 million jobs and generated close to $230 billion in payroll. That
is significant because now these 9.8 million people have the ability to spend
money elsewhere. According to the study "the total impact of franchising
was to create 18,121,595 jobs (13.7% of all private sector jobs) and $506.6
billion of payroll (11.1% of all private- sector payroll) in 2001. In very
round terms, economic activity in franchised businesses generated about the
same amount of additional activity in non-franchised businesses."
Of course this report discusses all franchised businesses.
Fast-food joints compose just a portion of the numbers detailed above. But even
still…the economic impact is huge.
Fast-food places are attempting to do their part to stunt
the growth of obesity in America;
they stopped using trans-fat (supposedly), they offer more healthful
alternatives to burgers and fries, and they are providing more nutritional
information about their offerings. But their food is still not healthy…it still
causes major problems for America.
But after looking at the huge economic impact that these businesses have in America, it is no wonder that they aren't being run out of business. America needs fast-food.
