The lure of the fast food demon

Americans are obsessed with fast food. Constantly on the go, Americans rely their ability to consume an hour-old, corn-fed beef product wrapped in wax paper that has been slowly been warming under a heat lamp until the taste of any actual meat has been replaced by the taste of stale ketchup. This is our lifestyle, and we revel in it. According to healthyeatingguide.com,
• Americans are now spending over $140 billion on fast food each year
• There are now over 25,000 fast food chains in the U.S. (an increase of more than 1,000% since 1970)
• Fast food restaurants spent $294 million on marketing messages aimed at children in 2007
• A cheeseburger happy meal with fries and a Sprite at McDonalds has 640 calories and 24 grams of fat. This is over half of the total calories many children should be eating in a day!
• The average serving size for burgers, fries, and sodas has more than tripled since the 1970’s!

Frankly, the affinity Americans have for the fast food industry is nothing short of disgusting. It's no wonder more than 1/3 of adults in America are obese. That's more than 72 MILLION people, and 2/3 of adults are either obese or overweight! And on top of that, 16% of children are obese. That statistic is even more terrifying and sad. What are we teaching future generations? 

Obesity has more than tripled since the 1980's and the majority of this problem can be traced back to Americans insatiable need for the drug produced by these fast food giants. McDonalds is the new dinner table, and double cheeseburgers are the replacement for mom's famous meatloaf. Americans need for instant gratification has made us into a monster, a fat, grease-filled monster. 

This is not just an American problem however, our disgusting habits have no spilled over into the innocent cultures of the world. China. Hong Kong. Amsterdam. They too have become obsessed with instant gratification. They have taken it a step further, however, and have made it into a vending machine business. Fast food is everywhere, you cannot escape it, and it is the future. As outrageous as the current trend is, it will only grow and multiply as the laziness and demanding attitude of the people of the world grows exponentially.