Analysis Of Fast-Food Nation: The True Cost Of America's Diet

The article, “Fast-Food Nation: The True Cost of America’s Diet”, contained various bold statistics but one stood out the most of all of them. This was the statistic on page 3 of the article stating, “A survey of American schoolchildren found that ninety-six percent could identify Ronald McDonald. The only fictional character with a higher degree of recognition was Santa Claus. The impact of McDonald's on the nation's culture, economy and diet is hard to overstate. Its corporate symbol – the Golden Arches – is now more widely recognized than the Christian cross.” This statistic majorly changed the way I interpreted the information in the article. In all, the statistic affected my understanding by showing how far the industry has gone and how easily a company can manipulate people. …show more content…
For example, as stated on page 6, “In 1970, Americans spent about $6 billion on fast food. Last year they spent more than $100 billion on fast food.” The fact that the fast food industry alone made $100 billion in the U.S. alone. In fact, the fast food industry makes over $570 billion annually. The fact that they make over half a trillion dollars shows how children are part of these numbers. The way big companies like McDonald’s has changed their marketing is alarming. Children, as they are young, can be easily manipulated as their brains are still developing their sense of logic. The companies reaching as far enough to children shows how much they have progressed. Think about how many children eat fast food if the industry is worth over half trillion