Fast Food Poverty

At a time when unemployment is incredibly high, 46 million Americans live below the poverty line, and the minimum wage remains almost 20 percent lower(adjusted for inflation) than it was 40 years ago, farmers are dying at unprecedented rates, and obesity and diabetes are killing millions of people all over the world, there is often a need to find someone or something to blame. In this case, there are multiple factors that play into the global issues we are facing, one of which is the creation of the fast food market. From climate change, to the greed of food cooperations, to the declining of the nations economy all of these things combine to create the need for cheap easy food, it's no wonder that fast food restaurants are popping up at an unprecedented speed in malls, shopping centers, grocery stores, and schools across the world. It is hard to pinpoint what exactly led to the domino effect that was created and allowed for the rise of the fast food industry, but Raj Patel author of Stuffed and Starved, posits that a large contributor was the global food system and the recession of 2008, both of which perfectly set future events into motion. Along with that were the multiple hits to the farmers who grow much of the worlds foods. Climate change causing extreme weather events like storms, floods and droughts caused 1% less food to be produced by farmers in 2007 and 2008 and an overall 5% of the past 30 years.(Patel 1) Low crop output and price received for goods has been a large contributing factor in farmers having to take out loans to stay afloat. In other areas of work, if something failed they may have been able to walk away and try something new. For farmers their land is often tied to sentimental attachments as it is likely their land was inherited or given to them by their fathers, and their father’s father before them. When production fails and farmers default on their loans, the …show more content…
With both parents working incredibly long hours, many children are spending more time at school and more time watching tv and fast food cooperations are banking on it. In the US alone over $10 billion dollars a year is spent marketing fast-food products to children. At school our children are being introduced to sugary snacks and drinks in addition to being force fed educational activities like reading programs and challenges from companies like McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Coca Cola, and more. At home children are bombarded with an endless barrage of ads, toys, contests, and marketing gimmicks that have fueled fast food sales. Families in which both parents work outside the home often don’t have the time to prepare meals from scratch, between working all day to children’s extracurricular activities meals are often purchased at the nearest drive through and eaten on the way to little Johnny's soccer game. Furthermore, Patel points out that the nations poor and persons of color live in environments that unlike their whiter richer counterparts, are less likely to have inexpensive, healthy, fresh food easily accessible. The fact that there are food deserts, or lack of supermarkets in neighborhoods where the population is predominantly African American, Latino, or poor is not a coincidence, and because of that you will find that this neighborhoods boast the highest concentrations of fast food