As well as this, the expansion of the fast food industry also means increase in taxes which help the economy and government. The fast food industry may also sponsor local charities or sports teams, which benefits society.
However, there are also many social costs in the existence of the fast food industry. These costs include health, choice and culture costs.
Health-wise, the existence of the fast food industry means the existence of deep-fried, salty and ultimately unhealthy food. Many people don’t know about the unhealthiness of the food in the fast food industry – from lack of information – and therefore are unaware that their lives are at risk. Fast food consumption often leads to obesity, diabetes and dental decay. The existence of so many of the fast food restaurants means that everywhere you see is fast food, and may lead to addictions. With so many people sick from eating fast food, the costs of health care increases, as there are state run hospitals for people who can’t afford to go to other hospitals. This increases the costs in these areas and therefore it affects the economy and tax goes up (as the hospitals rely on government funding).
The fast food industry is also starting to influence schools. This brings bad influences to the children in these schools who then grow up eating only fast food (which affects their health). These industries are also trying to imprint the product into young children at young ages, e.g. by offering playgrounds in their restaurants which draw the children as there aren’t many playgrounds around, so the children grow up living around the fast food environment.
The existence of the ever expanding fast food industry means more competition for local businesses which get overwhelmed by the number of fast food restaurants, also known as ‘brand bombing’, and ultimately fail. This then means no decent food around certain areas and thus less choice for consumers.
As well as affecting the local community, the expansion of the fast food industry affects the environment. As the industry expands, it means more food (e.g. beef) and therefore more cows are raised. This then causes overgrazing which leads on to deforestation of certain areas.
Culture is also being affected badly by the expansion of the fast food industry. There’s the globalization issue. The fast food industry expands worldwide which damages local restaurants and national culture – as the restaurants with local traditions are being driven out. One example of this is McDonald’s golden arc versus the Christian cross. It has been proven that the golden arc is recognized more often than t he Christian cross.
By comparing the social benefits and the social costs of the existence of the fast food industry, it can be seen clearly that social costs outweigh the social benefits of the fast food industry. It is shown that the community suffers much more than it benefits from fast food restaurants. Therefore society is worst off with the existence of the fast food industry.