Contents

• DEFINITION, HISTORY AND GENERAL INFORMATION
• ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF FAST FOOD
• Conclusion
• Bibliography

Description

Fast food can be defined as a type of food which can be prepared fast and served quickly. Judith C. Rodriguez (2009) reflects that the fast food industry had its actual beginning in the mid- twentieth century. Gradually, it became very popular among the masses and grew very fast during the last three decades of the last century.
James Richardson has mentioned in his article that though the growth of fast food originated in the US, but it gradually spread to other countries of the world as well. The fish-n-chip concept was very much there in the UK since the eighteenth century. They were visited most by working class who used to purchase inexpensive prepared foods.
While analyzing the history of fast foods, James Richardson has mentioned that in the USA, the first hamburger outlet was opened in the mid 1930’s and the concept of fast food chain started slowly after the Second World War. With the expansion of urban areas, people had to commute longer hours to reach to their workplace. Richardson has also nicely described that the presence of women also started getting increased in the workplace and it led to less time allocated for preparing food at home.
But the food presentation and preparation witnessed a major change with the advent of technology. Preparation and serving of food became very fast with the advent of microwave. Outlets which used to rely heavily on staff and use of crockery moved on to the new concept of ‘eat with your fingers’.