Science Forums 2

[HydrogenBond]

Some simple and practical considerations are cost, convenience and value. The healthiest foods, such as organic, are not cheap, compared to processed foods. Even if one wanted to eat healthy foods this may not be possible if one is watching their budget and/or has to feed many people day after day on a fixed income. Fresh produce is better for you, than canned or processed, but it also more expensive and more work in terms of the needs of preparation and clean up.

Fast foods have low cost, high convenience and taste good. It would be better to buy fresh organic meat and fresh farm grown produce without pesticides and whip up a healthy meal, with fancy spices to compensate for not using cheap old fashion butter and salt. But not everyone has the money or time to do this.

I like eating salads but it is often too much trouble, for me, to gather all the ingredients for a well built salad of many veggie colors. I don't like to eat it every day, so I end up having extra veggies that aren't so fresh by the end of the week. It seems like a waste of good food. So I tend to have salad when I go out and this is an option on the menu. But once there, I think to myself, if I also get the salad, I would be eating two meals and I only want one. Then I think, I can make salad at home, easier, than the chef's specialty. My multi-colored salad is better anyway. So I pick the entree and vow to make a salad at home, which is not convenient and more practical to have when I eat out. But then I would have two meals and be a pig.

When someone eats out, you are looking for flavor, value, and good size portions. Nobody goes where the food is small, over priced and tastes like crap. The first two variables do have a following. But most restaurants use the three step formula for success. Even if you don't eat it all, you feel better if they give you a good portion. Once it is there, one hates to waste good food, so either we bound it down, or snack later, between other meals.

At home I may feel guilty about making this huge mound of french fries covered in fried seafood. There is too much time to think during preparation about being a pig. But at the restaurant I expect a good portion for what I am paying. Also as a good guest, I will show my appreciation to my restaurant host by eating every last french fry. This is where convenience also comes in. You only have to eat. You don't have to shop, prepare and clean for a bunch of people who don't appreciate how much effort this takes. I am free to complain too.

With both parents having to work, or in single parent families, where that parent has to work, fast food is always helpful since it saves time and effort and can even save cost. Try to make a healthy home made organic pizza or lasagna from scratch to see the time and the cost. Or I can call ahead and on my way from work, pick thus up in stride and have no cleanup for half the cost. That means I can buy two, so I also have some for later.

Once we can make fast, cheap and convenient healthy fast food that tastes good people will go there to feed. As long as it is expensive, inconvenient and tastes marginal without doctoring, people will follow the free market for value and convenience leading to poor eating habits.