Fast food, slow food: the decline of junk

As soon as someone says ‘fast food,’ you think of burgers and fries. Of course, the cheese inside the burger and the soda that accompanies the meal are an added bonus to the temptation. And then you have a second thought: is it healthy? But obviously, no! Fast-food chains would give away their entire fortune without a second thought to anyone who could disrupt a consumer’s ability to have that second thought.

Moving on to the next thought: why are you hesitant about having junk food? Of course, every doctor, nutritionist or gym instructor advises against it, to state the obvious, it deteriorates health. But he is so tasty and never fails to tickle the taste buds to glory.

Humans are a constantly evolving species, and luckily, their brains have finally become, colloquially speaking, a highly advanced version of what it used to be. Therefore, he is now able to cope with the ‘junk food’ syndrome. Although slowly, people are moving the ball to the ‘healthy’ side of the court.

There is another underlying force working against fast food chains and it has to do with the science of commodity economics. Wondering what the hell economics has to do with ‘junk food’ syndrome? Well, it’s called the law of diminishing marginal utility. Consumers derive less and less utility from consuming junk food, put bluntly: getting bored.

And by boring it means that:
1) have healthier things to eat,
2) want to avoid obesity or any other direct/indirect adversity from junk food, and
3) They are now attracted to gourmet and organic groceries.

Americans are now seeking a “healthy” lifestyle, free from all the ills of eating junk food. Cafeterias in public places like schools and hospitals are canceling their contracts with fast food chains and switching to healthier alternatives. Companies like Pepsi, McDonald’s and the like have reported sales declines by a substantial margin. Therefore, these companies are allocating large sums of money to R&D to find alternatives and create “healthy fast food”.

“Whoever snuck into the ‘s’ in ‘fast food’ was a smart little jerk.”

Now look at where this trend is leading the fast food industry: the repercussions can be multilateral and multifaceted. Either this trend is ephemeral and would be subsidized over time, or the paradigm shift would be maintained throughout future generations.