The Food Court; America's Pit Stop

The Food Court: America’s Pit Stop

Entering the Park Meadows food court, one is immediately struck by the chaos of the room. Countless families and groups of friends fill every corner. Everyone is determinedly walking, whether they are trying to be next in the line at the Taco Bell, chasing after a mischievous child, or looking for an open place to sit. The center of the room is filled with small tables, most able to seat four people. Very few tables are open; most are occupied by various shoppers. Purchased items in colorful bags can be seen sitting at their feet or hung along the back of a chair. Many groups sit at the tables and chat for a while, enjoying the time to relax. Others can be seen hurriedly wolfing down food, refueling before they hit the next store on their list. Most shoppers are casually dressed, jeans and a t-shirt being the common theme. An enormous variety of people can be seen throughout the food court, people of every ethnicity and age. Looking past the people in the room, the atmosphere of the room itself becomes more evident.

Most food courts in America have the same atmosphere and look. The typical American mall food court is a very large room, with generic art along the walls and a very simple cafeteria feel. However, some malls allow for some creative liberties within the food court. The Park Meadows mall has a very unique “Colorado” feel that would not be found in a food court in Northeastern United States. It has a very rustic feel with an enormous stone fireplace in the middle of the small crowded tables. Along one side of the fireplace, an expansive painting of a Colorado landscape can be seen. The room has vaulted ceilings with exposed wood beams along the top, giving the room the feel of a log cabin. The restaurants follow this by having identical design styles, each distinguishing itself with colorful signs and menus. The atmosphere is noisy, yet relaxed. Different songs can be heard floating about the room from different stores and restaurants. Casual conversations can be had at any table, giving the room a loud background noise that is constantly changing.

Along the walls fast-food restaurants are arranged, each with an extensive line of customers waiting to place their orders. Going through a buffet line of sorts, the customer is allowed to pick and choose their meal. Employees move the orders through quickly and efficiently. The people that work at the food court can be assembled in two groups—those who work at the restaurants and those who clean the tables. While many may think workers are workers there is a distinct difference between the two. The people who are working at the restaurants appear to generally be young, white people who are working to get through school. The people who are working as the cleaning staff appear to generally be middle-aged, ethnically diverse people who are working to provide for their families.

There is nothing special about the range of fast-food chains available to the shoppers; all can be found in any mall or shopping district. Each restaurant has a unique type of food—Chinese, Mexican, American sub sandwiches—with different meals on each menu. However, none stray too far from “Americanized” food, sticking with the classic Panda Express, Taco Bell, and Subway. All meals are served on paper plates and plastic trays, similar to a school cafeteria. The meals are all similarly priced, few exceeding $10. Despite the variety of meals that a customer has to choose from, most seem to boil down to a main dish, a side, and a fountain drink. Most of the meals also have very similarly sized portions. The meals come with large quantities of food, with most of it high in calories. This provides the shopper with more energy to continue with their tasks of the day, most moving on to the next store in the mall.

                Because malls are filled with almost all demographics in America, it gives keen insight into American culture. In almost any standard American mall, a certain selection of food is available at the food court, namely fast-food. The Park Meadows food court was filled with 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 a 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 be seen in any age and ethnicity group. One study was done to observe the calorie-intake of various teenagers in a certain area. To make sure that the meals eaten by the subjects of the study were done in a more natural setting, they were instructed to eat at the local mall food court. In the study, the teenagers were observed to be eating high-calorie meals that accounted for a generous amount of the energy that is required of a teenager for the average day (Scene From a Mall: A Study of Teens and Fast Food). This study showed that especially when given the option of fast-food, a person will opt for the meal that will give them more energy ignoring the nutrition of the food itself. This study showed very simply how many Americans value food. The focus on food in the average day is on the value of the energy it provides. While this is probably the most important aspect of food, it allows people to dismiss the nutrition of it. Through these observations of the eating habits of people in mall food courts, many different connections can be made between food and culture in America.

Works Cited

“Scene From a Mall: A Study of Teens and Fast Food” Eating Disorders Review. Jul/Aug2004, Vol. 15 Issue 4, p4-4, 2/3p. EBSCOhost.

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