It is difficult to imagine a time when people were free to smoke anywhere they pleased, including public airplanes! The idea seems outrageous now but not long ago, producing toxic fumes within the confines of an airplane was considered “normal.” Efforts to enhance the “public good” have put an end to smoking in nearly all public environments. Is it possible for fast-food chains to face a similar extinction? Contemporary attempts to address public health as a public good have led to an evolution of how we, as a society, view fast food.
A relatively recent article by Business Insider reveals that fast food sales in the United States are declining; McDonald’s sales in particular dropped 3.3% in the final quarter of 2014. A number of hospitals have taken it upon themselves to remove McDonald’s from their cafeteria menu in their own endeavor to improve the health of their patients and the health of the public as a whole. So what is the underlying cause of this reduction in sales? Health officials have increased public awareness of the poor quality of mass produced foods through social media, in an attempt to restore the public good. The evolution of fast casual dining, such as Chipotle Mexican Grill and Panera Bread, has contributed greatly to this mindfulness. Chipotle advertises itself as having “food with integrity,” a powerful statement that places like Taco Bell or White Castle cannot attest to. They have become the first restaurant chain to eliminate GMO ingredients from their menu completely. Advertisements everywhere are desperately trying to convince us that places like McDonald’s and Wendy’s now offer new and healthy options to their menus such as premium salads or grilled chicken sandwiches to compete with the growing fast-casual market. These changes seem to be keeping them afloat for the time being but I’m sure the FDA will continue to press for non-synthesized, organic food to promote the public good. This leads me to believe that, maybe not in our lifetime but eventually, fast-food restaurants will cease to exist and revolutionary versions of fast-casual dining will stand alone. Just take one look down Calhoun Street and you’ll see that this type of dining currently dominates the college market.
It is incredible to see how demands to promote the “public good” can have such a profound effect on modern culture.
Olinga, Luc. “Fast Food Is On The Decline In America.” Business Insider. N.p., 11 Nov. 2014. Web. http://www.businessinsider.com/afp-the-slow-decline-of-fast-food-in-america-2014-11
Jordan Cotleur
Communicating Health, Science and the Environment 
It is very interesting to see how changes in public attitudes have altered the fast food market. I would love to see a day where non-GMO is not the exception but the norm. We are one of the only industrialized powers in the world that do not have governmental regulations against GMOs. I find it crazy that there isn’t more regulation to ensure that natural, non-processed, non-chemically-altered food is a mainstay in grocery stores. This should be an obvious public good in this country.
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(Tessa Ward)
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It is evident that fast food chains are under declining sales due to less consumption by the American people. The article you referenced in your blog clearly shows this and proposes the thought that as long as the public continues to demand better quality in their food, this trend will continue. It is interesting to see how choices within our economy made by the American population have such a large influence on the fast food market. As more and more people choose these “fast casual” dining options such as Panera and Chipotle over competitors, fast food chains, such as McDonald’s, will be forced to change the quality of their food, and perhaps their prices, in order to successfully make profits. This article discusses this and the effects that will occur as McDonald’s switches to cage-free eggs.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/clarkwolf/2015/09/10/mcdonalds-pledges-cage-free-eggs-increases-value-of-breakfast/
(Sophie Fain)
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As a health food person I’m happy to see better options on menus, but I do wonder about the unintended consequences of this change. Unfortunately, non-processed foods tend to be more expensive than processed and preparation takes more time (and thus even more money).
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-Alexis Wilsey
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Cool article! I wonder if McDonald’s being kicked out of hospital cafeterias will affect things like the Ronald McDonald houses that help shelter families with sick children. I wonder if they’d end up eliminating those as well. That would suck! But it goes to show how even fast food chains will put their money and good intentions somewhere else to promote their company. Kind of like cigarette companies supporting breast cancer awareness, its interesting that these world-wide known companies KNOW something is gross about their business, and want to use other outlets than food/products to make up for it.
Jenny Gifreda
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This is very interesting. I try not to eat fast food unless i absolutely have to. Like only if I’m in a rush and that’s the only kind of restaurant around. Good choice in an article!
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Abigail Cain ^
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