The Sociat Costs and Benefits of a Fast Food Industry Essay -- Papers

The Sociat Costs and Benefits of a Fast Food Industry There are many social benefits to a fast food industry. Firstly, it’s the accessibility and convenience of having the fast food restaurants – they’re located practically everywhere. The service is also fast, hence â€Å"fast food† and therefore maximizing the convenience of them to consumers. Most of the time, the products of the fast food industry are cheap, tasty and therefore have good value for the product. The existence of so many fast food restaurants also means lots of play areas for children (as there are very few playgrounds in most places, the some industries such as McDonalds have playgrounds) and also social areas to â€Å"hang out† in, for young adults. The existence of these industries also benefits the government (as they provide lots of employment opportunities to local people and thus reduce any unemployment problems). As well as providing jobs into their business, they also provide jobs into other businesses related to them. For example as the fast food industry increases the suppliers increase and expand and therefore they create more jobs for other people. 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’... ... 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.