America’s Love-Hate Relationship with Fast Food, from Guillermo Perales

Fast food restaurants are generally easy to get to, well advertised, and offer an increasingly diverse menu of foods to entice customers. Guillermo Perales is the owner of 400 restaurant and fast food franchises and knows about the country’s desire for cheap meals while cursing the growing rate of obesity.

Fast food franchises cater to a growing number of people who have little time in their lives to cook a full meal. Dual-earning households make family meals harder to schedule and leave little time to cook full and balanced meals. “Fast food fills that niche of providing a meal in a pinch. The food is quick and ready to eat. Parents don’t have to spend as much time listening to their children complain about being hungry. It also saves time on clean-up because the bags can be thrown away instead of washed, dried, and stored,” says Guillermo Perales.

The hate comes into play when people examine the repercussions of the convenience. Guillermo Perales may own hundreds of food franchises, but that doesn’t mean he eats them every day. “People have the choice to examine what they eat. They make the choice to sacrifice healthy food for convenience. Many people like to blame the fast food industry for the rising rate of obesity but the truth is, these are parents or individuals choosing to buy burgers for themselves. The restaurants are there because the market is there,” says Guillermo Perales.

But the love-hate relationship has inspired many fast food restaurants to widen their menus with healthier food options. Despite the healthy additions, people still chose the foods that give fast food a bad name. “People love a deal, and often times, the healthier choices such as the salads or fruit drinks are more than a burger or carbonated beverage. It is the way of the industry. Changes have been made to provide healthier foods, but fast food restaurants can’t tell people what to buy, they can only let customers know the option is there,” says Guillermo Perales.

There have been many studies and much research performed on the links between the fast-paced world we live in and the diets we eat. Guillermo Perales knows the need for quick-service restaurants continues to drive the fast food industry. Even in the recession, some fast food chains like McDonald’s continued to make profit.

For more information about the popularity of fast food restaurants and the complaints against fast food, Guillermo Perales invites you to research the topic for yourself from the following sites:

http://www.obesityaction.org/educational-resources/resource-articles-2/nutrition/fast-food-is-it-the-enemy

http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-204_162-326858.html

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-human-beast/201009/top-reasons-americans-are-food-obsessed