I grew up about five miles from the first McDonald’s store in Des Plaines IL. The store opened in the year I was born, 1955. Unfortunately, I did not visit that historic establishment. My mother was convinced she could cook better hamburgers than McDonald’s. And why would someone who loves food boast about how quickly they cooked food?
Fast food thrived because it offered tasty food at low prices. Fast food became a staple in America because it was so easily accessible. Cooking for the family became an option as women began moving out of the home and into the workplace. McDonald’s and Burger King were perfect for harried mothers who had to feed their children or singles who didn’t want to cook.
Families saw fast food as a lifesaver because the food was so cheap that they could go to them two or three days a week. Fast food has become a luxury because of inflation, unionization and unrealistic minimum wages mandated by the state.
Biden’s bureaucrats are just as eager to see fast food restaurants disappear. His National Labor Relations Board is trying to destroy franchise businesses, including McDonald’s Burger King Pizza Hut and others.
They claim that the food is unhealthy, and that employees are exploited. This deliberate attack on fast-food on multiple fronts has, in all likelihood, led to a resounding victory for bureaucrats. Fast food is in for a disaster if you add a dramatic rise in inflation.
Recent Lending Tree research showed that 80% Americans now consider fast food to be a luxury item.
It’s not the best choice for our health, but for families who are living paycheck-to-paycheck and struggling to make ends meet it can be a good financial option.
Inflation is changing this. The majority of Americans (75%) eat fast-food at least once per week. However, 62% say that rising prices force them to eat less frequently.
Not surprisingly, the lower your household income, the more likely you are to say you’re eating less fast food because of rising prices, with 69% of those making less than $30,000 a year saying so. However, even among the highest-income Americans, more than half say they’re eating it less (52% of those earning $100,000 or more a year). Women are more likely than men to say so (65% versus 60%), while Gen Xers ages 44 to 59 are the most likely generation to say so (66%, compared with 62% of baby boomers ages 60 to 78 and millennials ages 28 to 43 and 54% of Gen Zers ages 18 to 27).
This radical change in the industry is not due internal changes. This is a direct result of government interference with the most successful business models since Henry Ford’s improvement on the assembly-line concept led to a revolution both in transportation and in labor.
The left is known for punishing success.
It’s not surprising that fast food is changing people’s opinions. Fast food is no longer a cheap option to make ends meet. Most Americans now say that fast food is more likely to ruin your budget rather than help you stretch it. It has, in other words become a luxury.
Nearly eight out of ten respondents (78%) agreed. This percentage was higher for those earning less than $30k a year (83%) as well as parents with children 18 and older (82%), Generation Xers (81%), and women with children younger than 18 years old (80%).
It’s both sad and shocking at the same. This is so unnecessary. The government believes that people are too stupid to choose what they eat.
Joe Biden has made a terrible, horrible commentary on America today.
