Rantish post about the loss of fast food as a net gain for society

so, recently there have been a few posts about fast food restaurants. I am decidedly against them, the restaurants not the post...

There really isn't a forum I thought this would fit into so its here due to the fact that WE as humans on this planet could be so much better off without this blight.

WE could do so much more if society would shed this excess skin of "fast food"

Did you know that nearly 40% of all food in the US is wasted:

the United States discards more food than any other country in the world: nearly 60 million tons — 120 billion pounds — every year. That’s estimated to be almost 40 percent of the entire US food supply, and equates to 325 pounds of waste per person. That’s like every person in America throwing 975 average sized apples right into the garbage — or rather right into landfills, as most discarded food ends up there. In fact, food is the single largest component taking up space inside US landfills, making up 22 percent of municipal solid waste (MSW). All told, the amount of food wasted in America has an approximate value of nearly $218 billion – the equivalent of 130 billion meals.

www.rts.com...#:~:text=About%20Food%20Waste-,How%20much%20food%20is%20wasted%20in%20America%3F,120%20billion %20pounds%20%E2%80%94%20every%20year.

That's just a sick FACT but it gets better (no not really)
Up to 25% of that comes restaurants.
You know, those places where your overpriced meals never come the way you ordered them and then you are expected to to tip your rude server because the establishment chooses not to pay them a minimum wage...

According to the National Restaurant Association, restaurants generate an estimated 22 to 33 billion pounds of food waste annually in the United States.

moveforhunger.org...#:~:text=How%20much%20food%20is%20actually,annually%20in%20the%20Uni ted%20States.

We can do without this, or to put into a better phrase, we can do things with this.
Imagine what an extra 33 BILLION pounds of food could do
Not just in the idea of feeding hungry people, but think of the impact on society from the farms that grow these foods, to the supply chains that move them across the country.

Imagine not having to utilize Monsanto's chemicals or seeds just to grow more food per acre?

Imagine not using all that diesel fuel to move it, that would also mean less trucks on the roads and less traffic.
That means your drive to work just got shorter so your using less fuel also.

Imagine all the health impacts of the greater population.

Are you seeing the big picture yet? NO? why not?

What benefits can see stemming from the loss of restaurants in our society?

a reply to: datguy

If people want to poison their body then so be it. Where do we start and where do we stop?

The food waste is mismanagement on the side of the restaurants and fast food chains. If people can't get their fast food, they will resort to even more processed "food" but from the supermarket. Also it greatly depends, a pizza delivery service should not have a lot of waste, yet it is considered fast food.

The ones that won't cook healthy because they can't or won't, will not suddenly start cooking healthy. But let's just ban fast food? Or what is your solution, because people won't stop doing it as of now. Make it illegal?

Tastes a bit like paternalism. I got no solution either but I am also not part of the problem.

Everybody knows how bad fast foods are for people but few are aware of all the harmful, toxic ingredients in and on store bought foods.

There's no getting away from death by diet at this point; you can maybe prolong the inevitable by growing your own if you have the time, finances and resources but the poisoning of our environment goes far deeper than the food we consume.

a reply to: TDDAgain

i can agree partially to the "mismangement" concept, as someone who managed a restaurant there are definitelt steps that can be taken but one cannot project for portion size in comparison to each individuals appetite. Alot fo the waste is by regulation from people outside the industry.
Some foods that are still edible are forced to be thrown away instead of donated, some are federal regulations, some are state restrictions.

The ones that won't cook healthy because they can't or won't, will not suddenly start cooking healthy.

Darwinism at its best, or population control whichever suites your ideals. Its not up to me save them, THAT is a paternal concept

I don't really have a solution, sure lets ban them so we can debate about "rights" or some other nonsense.
The fact is, society would be better off without them.

a reply to: datguy

And what exactly is the difference from fast food and opening a can or one of those plastic no refrigeration meals?
The convenience factor is not going away by not having fast food. It will be replaced with other convent junk food for those that want it. Still wasteful.

Like has been stated, most wasted food is from mismanagement at all levels of food production.

a reply to: beyondknowledge2

ok so, according the stats, about (max approximation) 40% of all food purchased by restaurants, is wasted, and that is the 120 billion pounds per year estimate.

So accordingly, about 300 billion pounds of food, would never need to be produced, or packaged.

Less chemicals in the ground, less chemicals in the air. 0 lbs. of food wasted from any kind of management (from restaurants).
and thats just in production, never mind the fuel/energy/resources to transport/store/distribute.

originally posted by: nugget1
Everybody knows how bad fast foods are for people but few are aware of all the harmful, toxic ingredients in and on store bought foods.

There's no getting away from death by diet at this point; you can maybe prolong the inevitable by growing your own if you have the time, finances and resources but the poisoning of our environment goes far deeper than the food we consume.

Exactly true, but consider most of those toxins are there to preserve or protect the food due to storage and transportation needs of the nearly 1.5 trillion pounds of food produced in the states every year.

What impact would there be if we cut that amount by nearly 1/5th?

a reply to: datguy

I think something that should be done is planting fruit bearing trees in parks, along side walks, and on median strips in residential areas.

a reply to: watchitburn

That's actually a really good idea. Even fruits like grapes, dragon fruit, kiwis, that grow on vines would be great also, even tomatoes and other veggies.

Some places in florida you can come across a few orange trees that aren't infected with the blight.

Now i want an orange...

There is no doubt that alcohol is bad for you. Nothing good comes from it and billions of dollars are wasted on it. It's bad for your health and bad for society. Alcoholism kills many thousands of people each year. So let's just ban it!

Oh, wait....

a reply to: schuyler

That's twice now the concept of banning has been brought up.
I only mentioned banning it hypothetically in response to another comment, in hopes of furthering the conversation, so I'm curious why that seems to be the "go to" ?

Is it easier for people to accept things that are bad for them if they use this type of thinking, instead of working out other ideas?

It would also not be too different from the idea of states and small government banning the production of food in ones own home...oh wait...

originally posted by: datguy
a reply to: schuyler

That's twice now the concept of banning has been brought up. I only mentioned banning it hypothetically in response to another comment, in hopes of furthering the conversation, so I'm curious why that seems to be the "go to" ?

Why can't you take ownership of your rant rather than try to wiggle out of it with semantics? The reason is because there are always people who want to "better society" by telling other people what to do. There's no end to it. Pay attention to your own self and lead by example rather than wag your finger at others.

a reply to: schuyler

I guess you missed the part about a statement that ends in a question mark...I guess that's your version of someone wiggling with semantics? What happened to a conversation, why does every topic have to devolve into argument
Sure I said society would be better off without fast food, I do stand by that, i even made certain claims to back up that belief.
Then i asked the community if they saw any benefit to this

Show me where i said i was going to impose my will upon others and enact a ban? show me where i wagged my finger at anyone?
did you even read the OP? or were you just bored and thought you would come start an argument?

originally posted by: watchitburn
a reply to: datguy

I think something that should be done is planting fruit bearing trees in parks, along side walks, and on median strips in residential areas.

Great idea, but off course they pursposely will NEVER do that becuase of revenue lost for supermarkets.

a reply to: datguy

Most of the waitresses and waiters I have known make out really good on tips, much better than the cooks and other people in those places. I have known waitresses who made more per day many times than I did running my construction business. The only waiters and waitresses who did not do well were the lazy ones that did not give good service.

I do not care for big fast food companies, I think their food is too full of improper chemicals...but they do provide jobs for people but rarely do they get tips, so they get minimum wage at those places. There is no deduction for tip earnings like waitresses in regular full service restaurants get.

Most of the waiters and waitresses around here get really good tips. We just went out with my daughter yesterday and the bill was eighty one bucks and the tip was twenty bucks...she was friendly and very good so got a twenty five percent tip.

Not everyone can afford to give that good a tip because restaurant food prices have gone up so much lately...in fact, all restaurants around here have been less than half full, because of that and their overhead prices are jumping and again, less and less people go in them because the costs rose.

We rarely go out and eat...to expensive on social security...plus the food we make at home is probably better for you than what they serve in most restaurants and our homemade foods also tastes way better. We make sixty percent of our foods from scratch...another twenty percent have some limited highly processes chemistry in them....so technically they are not made from natural ingredients totally.

We need jobs for people, even if the jobs are restaurant jobs.

originally posted by: datguy
Are you seeing the big picture yet? NO? why not?

What benefits can see stemming from the loss of restaurants in our society?

People talk about the "Big Picture," but then they don't think it through to what the actual big picture is.

Sure, fast foods restaurants are claimed to not be healthy for you, but do you really think that if all the fast food restaurants disappeared, those "Mom and Pop" restaurants they replaced and put out of business will magically be reborn and rise like a Phoenix from the ashes to fill that sudden void? I don't think so. Those mom and pop restaurants have almost been priced out of and regulated out of the market. They're not going to come back in big enough numbers to actually feed people like they used to.

The only benefit from all this is not what I would call a benefit. I don't think having less choices to eat, and causing more people to starve could be considered a benefit. That is, I personally don't see it that way.

Now, someone named "Klaus" might see it that way. But, I don't know.

a reply to: datguy

Aside from Subway, I haven’t had fast food 10 times in 5 years.

That stuff isn’t good for anyone, really.

Now, when I’m near one, I’ll splurge on a double double animal style at In-n-out. But, that’s a delicious treat - not a typical lunch. 😎

a reply to: datguy

It’s not fast food per se, but the quality of fast food in the US.
In many countries fast food can be healthy.
Also some countries make composting mandatory so there’s that as far as waste.

Here’s one of my favorites, bi bim bap, so good, so healthy…

a reply to: rickymouse

I agree, people deserve the ability to provide for themselves and their families. Perhaps the loss of these types of jobs, which many consider "low skill" will open new avenues and create new ideas. Necessity is the mother of invention.


a reply to: TrulyColorBlind

I realize that putting "fast food" in the title kind of limited the scope of my hopes that ALL restaurants would go away. ALL of them. In line with the comments above there are other industries that can grow, and that need workers.
But do you honestly think that a lack of restaurants will cause starvation? I wasn't suggesting that we stop producing food, just stop making the food we waste, lighten the load a little.


a reply to: VulcanWerks

I'm not a big guy but I eat like one. I haven't eaten from a real restaurant or fast food in over 20 years, but where I am there are a lot of lunch trucks that sell the best Mexican/Spanish style food you can find. Occasionally I indulge in big spicy burrito or a fresh batch of chicken empanadas...

a reply to: JAGStorm

coupled with the idea of planting fresh foods in and arounds our cities, composting leftover foods would be much better than wasting them in landfills.
I have heard that some of the issues with mass farming is fallow land and bad soil from over farming and chemical use. Utilizing some of the waste to bring back these lands would be a worthy effort.

Your video made me very hungry it looks so good but...
Look at the piles of fresh veggies, how much of that gets wasted daily, it only last so long. I understand that is a different culture and I don't know how they deal with these issues in Korea but at some point those foods are just unsafe to serve.

a reply to: datguy

So you do have your personal agenda about restaurants going away, that often are more healthy than the fast food places. Yet you write this

I'm not a big guy but I eat like one. I haven't eaten from a real restaurant or fast food in over 20 years, but where I am there are a lot of lunch trucks that sell the best Mexican/Spanish style food you can find. Occasionally I indulge in big spicy burrito or a fresh batch of chicken empanadas...

So if you're not eating often at those trucks and if you never have been to a restaurant for 20 years, how can you say they sell the best Mexican/Spanish style food one can find?

It's all a bit wiggly-waggly like someone else said. I don't think you really thought this through, as you admitted yourself already. It reads like you know best for people while not having a real idea yourself.