UNIVERSITI TEKNOLOGI MARA

FACULTY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA STUDIES

BACHELOR OF MASS COMMUNICATION (HONS) JOURNALISM

PROGRAMME MC221

SOCIOLOGY – LIB402

RESEARCH PAPER: FAST FOOD AND ITS IMPACT ON ROLES AND SOCIALIZATION

BY:

NAME MATRIX IDAZIFF AZUDDIN 2009370661

NUR HANIZ MOHD NOR 2009771217

SUBMITTED TO:

MR NORSHAM FIRDAUS

9 MARCH 2010

FAST FOOD AND ITS IMPACT ON ROLES AND SOCIALIZATION

“More people recognize the Golden Arches than they do the Christian Cross”.

Those were the words written down by journalist Eric Schlosser in his book Fast

Food Nation. And no words written have ever been truer. Fast food franchises are so

deeply rooted in a part of our daily life that we take it for granted. Advertisements

everywhere show the wholesome illusions of fast food, usually coupled with

subliminal messages of it being hassle-free and delicious.

The advent of fast food has since then brought around issues and debates

regarding health as well as a major shift in lifestyles, particularly in the United States

of America, where it was born. But since the fast food franchises are widely

globalized all over the World, the effects of fast food are bound to experience its

effects to the shores of other countries as much as it has affected the American

shores. (Schlosser, 1997)

THE ROLES IN THE KITCHEN

In Malaysian cinemas, before the big blockbuster is played, a Kentucky Fried

Chicken advertisement rolls into the screen: a young girl walks into a kitchen carrying

ingredients to help her mother make a home-cooked meal but creates a mess as she

does so. The mother in the end decides to bring the whole family out to a KFC outlet

to enjoy a hassle-free meal devoid of lengthy and messy preparations. The mass

media’s power to influence society is exceptionally powerful to the extent where it

presents to us an ideal way to live our lives and affect our decisions.(rayuso, 2008)

In today’s growing economy where both parents are outside the home, fast

food take-outs become increasingly commonplace where the parents are more apt to

replace family meals with a more quick and hassle-free alternative: fast

food(Hendrick, Home-Cooked Meals Elusive for Some Working Parents, 2009). In a

poll study done, 92.3% of respondents agreed that fast food was quick and most of

them mentioning, “I’m too busy to cook”, a popular line among college degrees than

those who were less educated (Hitti, 2008). So the answer gets pretty obvious to why

it’s such a commodity among society.

But the question lies on how this will solely affect the basic role of parents

within the kitchen. In traditional views, the mother is primarily responsible for cooking

(Henslin, 2006) - meaning they have a certain responsibility to what goes on inside

the kitchen as well as what the family consumes. Preparation of meals and lunch-

boxes that were the norms of the 70s rarely exist in today’s society where economy

and Women’s Rights development have pushed women to work and put bread on the

table, earning them a place right next to their husbands in earning income(United

Nations, 2009).

Fast food franchises offer the convenient option for these hard-earning

parents by taking the role of the kitchen out of their hands. With heavy advertising

aimed towards the children. They are of course, excited with the idea of having a

meal in fast-food restaurants where the treat of the toy that comes with their meal

awaits them. According to Alfred R. Kahn, CEO of the 4Kids Entertainment, “In

research. We’ve seen the kids are clearly motivated by the toy, not the meal” (Ritzer,

2000). With promises of toys, playgrounds and easy-meals, it’s no wonder why fast

food is the preference, not only for the children but also the parents themselves. It’s

not hard to see where the shift in the kitchen role from the parents to fast food

franchise exists.

PREPARATION AND HEALTH ISSUES

No issue regarding fast food has been brought up more times than health. It

is no wonder why, seeing the very nature of how these fast food franchises prepare

and the lengthy process their food goes through before it reaches the counter. Fast

food all over is similar in the sense that they use a uniform system of ingredient

purchasing. Ingredients have to be predictable and consistent (Ritzer, 2000). The

conventional method of using fresh ingredients results in unpredictability of the final

product that goes into the customer’s stomach; the beef patty may be slightly larger

than the other, the serving perhaps a little more than how it should cost at RM7, the

serving of fries which are a medley of overcooked and half-cooked.

Fast food restaurants have developed a standard principle to use pre-

processed ingredients in their franchises, such as frozen products and pre-sized beef

patties. All in order to ensure predictability and uniformity in their meals. The fries are

chemically-processed in order to be able to endure long hours of transport as well as

to curb the problem of not being able to get the certain variety of potatoes during its

different seasons. The buns are made of white bread with all nutritious elements of

the wheat, such as bran and germ – stripped away. Preservatives are added to

prevent spoilage (Ritzer, 2000).

It is no wonder, that with these preparation methods and added preservatives,

health becomes a big issue regarding the case of fast food. In 1993, a large number

of children are admitted to a hospital at Seattle, they were diagnosed with bloody

diarrhea. When health officials did their investigations, it traced back to under-cooked

hamburgers served at a fast food franchise, Jack in a Box. The hamburgers

contained a lethal microbe known as E. coli. And that was not the only case

(Schlosser, 1997).

If that is not enough as proof, a new study conducted since the year 2000

suggest that stroke risk is linked to the number of fast food restaurants in the certain

area. Neighbourhoods with fewer fast food franchises had significantly few cases of

stroke, even after demographic and socioeconomic data taken into account

(Hendrick, Stroke Risk linked to Fast Food Restaurants, 2009). Fast food, being a

cheaper alternative to traditional home cooking or even better-class restaurants – Is

preferred by most people, especially those with no time to spend in the kitchen or

perhaps those short on money.

But as the saying goes, you get what you pay for. There is a wide gap in

calorie and fat content between fast food meals and home-cooked meals. Where a

standard McDonalds Big Mac McValue meal and Burger King Whooper with Cheese

has 1680 and 1844 calories respectively. A standard home-cooked meal consisting

of roasted-chicken breast, baked potato, milk and applesauce has only 546 calories.

Less than half the amount of calories carried by either the fast food meals. (Pearson

Education, 2007).

The problem comes where fast food is taken in excessive amounts, and in

this fast-paced economic world where money is time, consuming fast food because it

is “easy” is exactly the case why these health problems are cropping up. The known

side effects to come with excessive consumption of fast food meals are obesity, heart

disease, food poisoning and etc. (Crystal). This in turn affects how society functions

as a whole with regards to poorer health conditions.

HEALTH PROBLEMS

Fast food is considered a meal to be consumed at least a day by Malaysians.

Whether it’s from burgers to pizza, they will take. Sadly they do not take into account

and ignore, that fast food causes many health problems. In addition to causing

obesity, fast food causes a plethora of other ailments such as diabetes and heart

trouble, just to name a few. To society, fast food is convenient. It is serve fast and

ready to be eaten. That is the number one reason so many tons get consumed each

year. Not to mention that fast food, artery clogging, heart-stopping junk tastes pretty

yummy. According to (Conforth, 2009) eating frequent fast food meals causes society

to gain more weight and face an increase risk of developing insulin resistance.

Obesity and diabetes are on the rise because of this junk food consumption. In the

article of (World Health Organization, 2006) on the title of Obesity and Overweight,

obesity defines as abnormal or excessive fat accumulation that impairs health. Many

now substitute fries for fruits, snack food for vegetable, and sodas for milk. For

example, Mc Donald’s burger, Big Mac, has 560 calories and it is not good for the

body consumption.

Diabetes is a chronic disease in which the body does not produce properly

insulin, a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starches and other food into

energy needed for daily life. Thus, if lessen the intake of sugar daily, one will not

suffer from diabetes. Several studies has shown that people who eat fast food on a

regular basis are more likely to gain weight and in turn experiencing insulin

resistance in early middle age that is mentioned by the (NLHBI) who funded the

study

After one realizing that when consume fast food causes many illness, and

maybe one will gain weight, the individual will decide to diet to reduce him or her

weight. One will less intake of carbohydrate, which is the most important elements if

we want to have energy, to loose weight. Less intake of rice or even force yourself

not to eat. It will lead to society having members who will have bulimia nervosa that is

unhealthy for the members of the society.

CHANGING ROLE OF WOMEN

Economy is growing with the society. Now, married couples doesn’t depend

only on the husband but the wife as well as it is much stable to raise a family with a

double income. Thus, this makes the women having a career, spending more time in

the office rather than at home and makes the function of this particular member of the

family decrease greatly. Women who owns a career rarely, have the time to be in the

kitchen and prepare meals for their family thus, resulting them to take out food

instead of preparing the meal at home.

Nowadays, girls at their teenage age couldn’t be bothered to learn cooking or

having the initiative to learn, as they are keener to eat out, as it is very convenient for

them. For example, if a house of a teenage girl is nearby with a fast food outlet, thus

she will be a regular at that outlet resulting the girl, doesn’t have the initiative to open

the fridge, look what ingredients can be cooked up to have a decent and a healthy

meal. Like it or not, fast food really have a big impact on society, and it effects more

on to the negative side greatly. In some cases, where in families, the husband who is

unemployed while the wife is, so eventually the wife will be the breadwinner of the

family thus resulting the wife to have work late nights, will not have even a little time

to be in the kitchen.

CONCLUSION

The fast food franchise is a growing industry worldwide and is reaching far

into the crevices of the countries it is established in. This globalization is no doubt an

economically-convenient path for us to take, but in the long-run – fast food

franchises, hiding behind brightly colored advertising and promises and efficient,

quick food is affecting society by uprooting us from our traditional roles and well as

define socialization in an entirely new perspective. It’s not too late to stop.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Henslin, J. M. (2006). Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. Boston, United States of America: Pearson.

Ritzer, G. (2000). The McDonaldization of Society (New Century ed.). California, United States of America: Pine Forge Press.

REFERENCE

Conforth, T. (2009, November 30). Eating Fast Food Means Weight Gain, Insulin Resistance for Teens. Retrieved March 7, 2010, from About.com: http://womenshealth.about.com/od/girlshealth101/a/fastfoodteenwei.htm

Crystal, D. (n.d.). The link between fast food and health problems. Retrieved March 8, 2010 from Helium - Where Knowledge Rules: http://www.helium.com/items/827764-the-link-between-fast-food-and-health-problems

Hendrick, B. (2009, September 9). Home-Cooked Meals Elusive for Some Working Parents. Retrieved March 7, 2010 from WebMD - Better Information. Better Health: http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/news/20090909/home-cooked-meals-put-on-the-backburner

Hendrick, B. (2009, February 19). Stroke Risk linked to Fast Food Restaurants. Retrieved March 8, 2010 from WebMD - Better Information. Better Health: http://www.webmd.com/stroke/news/20090219/stroke-risk-fast-food

Hitti, M. (2008, December 2). Top 11 Reasons for Fast Food Popularity. Retrieved March 7, 2010 from WebMD - Better Information. Better Health: http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/news/20081202/top-11-reasons-for-fast-foods-popularity

Nelson, R. (2010, February 21). Fast Food and Diabetes. Retrieved March 8, 2010, from LiveStrong: http://www.livestrong.com/article/85388-fast-diabetes/

Pearson Education. (2007). Fat and Calorie Content of Fast Food Versus a Home-Cooked Meal. Retrieved March 8, 2010 from InfoPlease: http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0934642.html

rayuso. (2008). Mass Media Influence on Society. Retrieved March 7, 2010 from HubPages: http://hubpages.com/hub/Mass-Media-Influence-on-Society

Schlosser, E. (1997, September 3). Press Articles - Rolling Stone 2. Retrieved March 7, 2010 from McSpotlight: http://www.mcspotlight.org/media/press/rollingstone2.html

United Nations. (2009). Women’s Control over Economic Resources and Access to Financial Resources, including Microfinance. United Nations, Department of Economic & Social Affairs. New York: United Nations.

World Health Organization. (2006, September). Obesity and overweight. Retrieved March 7, 2010, from World Health Organization: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs311/en/

APPENDIX