Fast Food

1. Fast food is the term given to food that can be prepared and served very quickly.

a. The concept of ready-cooked food for sale is closely connected with urban development.
b. Nearly from its inception, fast food has been designed to be eaten "on the go", often does not require traditional cutlery, and is eaten as a finger food.
c. Providers –
i. Street vendors
ii. Gas stations/convenience stores
iii. Fast food restaurants
d. Slow food movement
i. Local restaurants
ii. Sit-down meals

2. The food is usually standardized, from the ingredients to the packaging to the employees.

a. The key to a successful franchise, according to many texts on the subject, can be expressed in a single word: uniformity
b. The organization cannot trust the individual; the individual must trust the organization. . . ." (McD’s standpoint on uniformity)
c. Customers are drawn to familiar brands by an instinct to avoid the unknown.

3. Low quality is also a characteristic of fast food.

a. Modern commercial fast food is often highly processed and prepared in an industrial fashion, i.e., on a large scale with standard ingredients and standardized cooking and production methods.
b. Bad nutritional value
i. Fried in oils which cause higher fat content in food. (Oils and Processing(Chemical Changes in Food During Processing p. 219))
ii. Oil not changed at proper intervals
iii. Oil and most other ingredients are processed
1.
c. New Trend = “Higher quality”
i. General - http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/sfgate/detail?blogid=26&entry_id=17235
ii. BK - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17844064/

4. Fast food is meant for take out more than for a sit down meal.

a. …advanced computer software not only assigns food orders to various workers in order to maximize efficiency but also predicts future orders on the basis of ongoing customer flow.
b. The new software brought the "just in time" production philosophy of Japanese automobile plants to the fast-food business - a philosophy that McDonald's has renamed Made for You.

5. Employment

a. The restaurant industry is now the largest private employer in the state of Colorado - as it is in the rest of the country
b. The management no longer relies upon the talents or skills of its workers - those things are built into the operating system and machines. Jobs that have been "de-skilled" can be filled cheaply.
c. Workplace safety issues
i. The most common workplace injuries at fast-food restaurants are minor burns from the fryers, broilers and grills.
ii. Many of the features that make fast-food restaurants so convenient - such as their locations near highway offramps - also make them attractive targets for armed robbery. (Fast money too!!!)