Living in the Fast Lane

Helena Schlesinger

Living in the Fast Lane

High cholesterol, weight gain, headaches, vomiting, vanished sex drive, and depression; these are the effects of consuming nothing but McDonald's for a whole month. That is just what happened to Morgan Spurlock, a filmmaker who ate McDonald's three times a day, every day, for one month for his documentary on the dangerous effects of fast food on the body called "Supersize Me."

The quantity of damage McDonald's would leave on Spurlocks body was unpredictable. By revealing the “evils” about fast food, the truth came out. We have no conscious knowledge on what we consume on a day-to-day basis. Fast food restaurants are becoming a negative manipulating influence on our lives physically, socially, and economically. Citizens should become more educated about this matter and obtain solutions to this crisis. This will prevent the negative effects from occurring.

The increasing quantity of fast food restaurants contributes to its outcome within society. In today’s world you can find fast foods around each corner. There are approximately two hundred thousand fast food restaurants in the United States alone. With thirty thousand restaurants internationally, the McDonald's Corporation owns the most retail possessions in the world. It is nearly impossible to steer clear of seeing a fast food restaurant, which is why the majority of people eat junk food so frequently.  

Fast food is not only affecting America, it’s also affecting the whole world. In foreign countries, McDonalds gets familiar with the local cuisine and their food preferences. Then it incorporates the taste and flavors into their burger to attract people of all cultural backgrounds. McDonald's has about seventeen thousand fast food vendors outside the United States, in more than 120 foreign countries (“Super Size Me”). They open about five new restaurants daily! With the rising number of restaurants, McDonald's is becoming more and more acknowledged and a...