The False Economy of Fast Food

One night, a former housemate of mine came home with a couple bags of groceries. This guy never, ever bought groceries. On his days off, he loved to order Jimmy John's or run to Taco Bell. When I remarked on his grocery purchases he replied that "He finally had the money" to do some grocery shopping.

Sadly, this kind of attitude is common today. People look at the cost of buying a loaf of bread, cheese, and deli meat, mustard, and whatever else and compare it to the price of a Subway sandwich and conclude that fast food is less expensive than making food at home. Yes, the cost of all the sandwich ingredients might be $10, which seems a lot more expensive than the "$5 foot long," but the grocery store purchase makes several meals, making the overall cost per meal far, far less. According to The New York Times, the cost of feeding a family of four at McDonald's can easily exceed $25, while the same family can eat a healthier meal at home for less than $10.

When you also take into consideration the unhealthy nature of most fast food options, the true cost of fast food is clear. Sure, we all know that the high fat and sodium contents are 'bad' for us, but most people do not realize how many chemicals, stabilizers, fillers, and other additives are present in most fast food. The award-winning US Food Safety Blog points out that "...additives commonly found in many fast food items include propylene glycol, used to prevent ice cream from becoming rock solid; and silicone dioxide or calcium silicate, used to prevent caking in cheese products. Propylene glycol is similar to ethylene glycol, the main ingredient in anti-freeze. Silicone dioxide is essentially sand, and calcium silicate is found in cement and bricks." Yikes!

For years, people have turned to fast food as a 'convenient' way to get 'inexpensive' food, but what is convenient about waiting too long (realistically) to pay too much for low-quality food that may simply serve to shorten your life? Many Americans are under time pressure and feel they don't have the time to make home-cooked meals, but it is actually possible to carefully plan a menu, use the freezer, and cook once a month.

Please, for the sake of your health and wallet, stop and reconsider the next time you want to head to the drive-in because you think it's the cheaper, easier option.