Today it seems as if America is on
the upswing when it comes to healthy eating. Grocery stores are filled with
more health-conscious products such as 100 calorie snacks and Naked juice.
Shopping at Whole Foods for more organic, locally-grown food is more common
than ever before. Restaurants serve smaller portions for meals and provide
low-calorie meals for their customers. Schools around the country are improving
their menus. However, despite this growing trend of healthy eating, it still
seems as if America is eating unhealthily. Driving past any number of fast food
chains, the parking lot and drive-thrus always seem full, which makes sense
with Americans spending over $140 billion on fast food each year and one-third
of Americans considered to be overweight or obese. This begs the question, how. How are American
eating habits still so unhealthy despite the better availability of healthy and
organic products? This is because Americans still value convenience over health
and nutrition.
The nutrition of food products is
under more scrutiny now than it was in the past. Consumers do want to have more
whole grains, fiber, calcium, and vitamins in their meals. However according to
respected online news service, foodnavigator-USA.com, which researches news
pertaining to food and beverage development in America, the three main driving consumer behaviors are
“an increased reliance on sandwiches at mealtimes, the use of fewer fresh
ingredients, and more take-out lunches” (Heller). The overall force behind
these behaviors is convenience. American culture is defined by being constantly
on the go. As the saying goes, time is money. Meals are now valued for the
price and availability of ingredients and the preparation time. This is why
sandwiches are becoming increasingly commonplace at the dinner table. They are
quick and easy to fix.
The need for quick and easy meals is
a trend that has been growing in America since the dawn of the TV dinner. In her article,
“Eating at the Edge” Jamie Horwitz, a university professor, analyzes the way
that Americans consume food and how they now eat within a “space of flow”. In
other words, the food has become something that is worked around our daily
activities rather than an activity itself. This basically boils down to the
fact that most Americans no longer have set meal times where they gather with
family or friends and eat face-to-face. This phenomenon started with the TV
dinner. Rather than meals being shared around the family dinner table, they
were now shared around the TV. Interestingly enough this started not because
Americans love television, but because we like the ability to have small one
serving meals that are easy to prepare and have no cleanup time. This has
evolved to become the many one-serving meals that we see today, a trend that
can be found in even the most unusual places, such as space. Also in her article,
Horwitz discusses the eating habits of American astronauts. She notes how they
paralleled the change in the general American public’s eating habits. While
they started with sit-down meals, the standard practice became eating small
servings on your own. It even became more convenient for the astronauts to eat
small meals by themselves to fit within the confines of their schedules
(Horwitz 46). Whether it’s each family member getting their own
individual sandwich, a college student popping an Easy Mac container in the
microwave or even an astronaut eating while working on the International Space
Station, Americans now crave the ability to make a small meal for themselves. By
studying the steady changes of how we eat meals, you can see the drive toward convenience.
Meals are shortened to the smallest possible amount of time and the easier it
is to eat with one hand the better.
With the drive toward shorter
preparation times, fresh foods have also become inconvenient in American
culture today. Purchasing fresh, organic food is more expensive and requires
more preparation. Eating a meal with primarily organic ingredients involves a
trip to the closest Whole Foods Market where you spend more money than the
local grocery store. This does not even take into account the time needed to
prepare and cook the meal. Fresh food also spoils quickly, meaning that you
have to resupply very often causing an even bigger expense problem. It is much
easier for the average American to buy food that can be stored for long periods
of time and ready at a moment’s notice. Despite these factors, people still
want to eat meals that are prepared with fresh ingredients. Very few people
would be willing to eat basic, microwavable meals for breakfast, lunch and
dinner every day. Thus, to accommodate both
the need for fresh food and convenience, Americans have turned to restaurants. By eating at local restaurants, people can eat
meals filled with relatively fresh ingredients without having to buy or prepare them. With restaurants
With an increase in take-out meals
from restaurants, fast food chains have become a very common location to eat at,
being the very definition of convenience.
According to “US Fast Food Market
Outlook 2010” a report done by RNCOS, a leading market research
and information analysis company, consumers
in the US spend nearly half of their food budget on restaurant. Almost 30% of the
money is spent at fast food chains (RNCOS). So despite the very unhealthy food
served at these restaurants, why is so much of Americans’ money going toward
eating a Double Down at KFC or a Bacon Double Cheeseburger from Burger King? This
is because along with the health risk, fast food restaurants provide many benefits
to its customers, mainly convenience. They serve popular items that the
consumer is familiar with;, few people in America are unaware of what a Big Mac
is. Also, because Americans are familiar with the menus, deciding what you want
and ordering requires little time. Most restaurants even use their average wait
time to market to consumers. For example, McDonalds boasts a 5 minute wait time
in many of their ads. Along with the time saved within the restaurant, is the
time saved by driving to the restaurant. Because people will not travel too far
for just okay food, fast food restaurants must be within a reasonable distance.
Driving down the highway you’ll see at least four different fast food chains at
every exit, with the same chain repeating every other exit. While this seems
outrageous, it works in the companies favor. Americans prefer to have the many
different options, for both when and what they eat. This is something that can
be seen every day, with almost any activity.
Because malls are filled with almost
all demographics in America, it gives keen insight into American food culture.
In almost any standard American mall, a certain selection of food is available
at the food court, namely fast-food. In a personal, observational study of the
Park Meadows Mall food court in Denver, Colorado, the food court appeared to be
filled with numerous fast food options that while may have some nutritious
options, undoubtedly allow shoppers to indulge in more unhealthy meal choices.
Looking at the standard meal options, one sees certain commonalities in the
food. Most have large portions with a large amount of calories that fill the
weary shopper and allow them to continue on with renewed energy. The focus is
not on the nutrition of what is being eaten, but rather on its ability to get
them through the day. This can especially be seen with the fact that most malls
are surrounded by fairly upscale restaurants such as Red Robin and the Macaroni
Grill. Shoppers could leave the mall to go to these restaurants and eat
healthier meals. Unfortunately they are too far away for the average shopper
despite being just across the parking lot. This plays into how shoppers prefer
the food court for its convenience.
Along with it being located within
the mall, I made a few other observations about the convenience of the food
court. Watching the shoppers I noticed the chaos of everyone rushing to get their
food, eat and leave within a timely manner. Few groups would take their time
and enjoy the break from bustling from store to store. Even the food court
itself was designed so that shoppers spend as little time as necessary there.
The room was composed of closely placed restaurant stands so shoppers could
quickly see what was available and in some cases move from stand to stand so each
member of the group could order from their favorite restaurant. The room also
had an enormous amount of tables squished together so that no one would have to
wait to sit. The food was also served on paper plates and plastic trays to trim
the clean-up time. The food court itself was placed in the middle of the mall,
so that no shopper had to go too far out of the way for a quick lunch break. Observing
the food court showed how much Americans value convenience in their daily lives
even with activities such as shopping.
Every day Americans find ways to fit
more into their day. I find myself, an average college student, skipping breakfast
to make it to an early class or heating up a meal in the microwave because
walking to the dining hall feels like too much of a chore. While cutting down
the time for our meals may be more time efficient and allow us to get more work
done, it has a detrimental effect on our health. We choose less nutritious and
higher-calorie meals because they take up less of our time, despite
the fact that our culture is changing with organic and low-calorie foods being
more available. Americans
need to reevaluate what they value when it comes to food, before unhealthy,
one-serving meals become the only things left to eat.
Works Cited
Heller, Loraine. “Convenience trumps
health in American eating choices, report.” Foodnavigator-USA.com.
26 Oct 2006. 2012: William Reed Business Media SAS. <http://www.foodnavigator-usa.com/Business/Convenience-trumps-health-in-American-eating-choices-report>
Horwitz, Jamie. “Eating at the Edge.”
University of California Press. p.42-46. Souce: Gastronimca: The Journal of
Food and Culture, Vol. 9, No. 3 (Summer 2009).
<http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/gfc.2009.9.3.42>
“Fast Food Remains Recession Proof in
US” RNCOS Industry Research Solutions.
05 May 2009. PRLog (Press Release). <http://www.prlog.org/10230013-fast-food-remains-recession-proof-in-us.html>
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