Fast Food: A Natural Source of Waste

Fast food is a staple within American society. The convenience, deals, coupons that come in the mail, and tastiness make fast food restaurants a go-to pick for many of our food choices. For my family and I, we go out to eat at McDonalds or KFC at least once every two weeks to fill our cravings for this type of food.

After studying the topic of food waste in our class, it has made me realize the vast amounts of food waste sources there are. My solution introduces a plan that allows fast-food restaurants to have an opportunity to save and donate food to those in need; some examples of individuals that can be affected by this are the food insecure, financially troubled, and the homeless. Specifically, I want to explore reducing waste from returned orders by customers and end-of-day cleanup at fast-food restaurants as a food-waste solution.

Presenting the Facts

A broad reason for a need of a solution is the enormous amounts of waste food establishments produce. Around the US every year, we waste an average of 38.5 billion pounds of food from US restaurants (“How Is Restaurant Food Waste Recycled?”). This only counts the waste from restaurants, so the number beyond this is much more once you factor in personal waste from people. 

Another problem that stems from food waste is the methane it produces during decomposition. In 2007, 23 percent of the world’s methane emissions came from landfills; food waste yielded the most methane (Bloom 17). All sources of food waste contribute to global warming, which is another important issue for the future.

In fast-food restaurants, Jonathan Bloom states that food is made and placed inside a heater; within this heater, chicken patties are stored for up to an hour, thirty minutes for fish, twenty minutes for chicken nuggets and burgers, and just seven minutes for French fries (121-122). And after these set times, the food is thrown away to be replaced by newly cooked ones. 

• With an estimated 200,000 fast-food restaurants in the US, preserving these uneaten items would put a huge impact on the amount of food waste restaurants produce by reducing global emissions and providing food for people (“Fast Food Restaurants”).

    There are also a number of programs that aid in donating food. Organizations like Feeding America is an example of a domestic hunger-relief group in the US. They work with their staff to take food before it goes to waste and repurpose it to people that need it. Their website also holds information regarding waste, products, and blogs that help educate people about reducing food waste (Brett).

•      Jonathan Bloom found that fast-food restaurants waste up to 10 percent of their items due to the time limits they put on them while they are set aside (Bloom 122). Fast-food restaurants like McDonald’s earn billions of dollars in revenue. In fact, this last quarter McDonald’s earned $5.66 billion from their sales (McDonald’s Revenue). This money could be put toward making connections with food waste prevention organizations and methods of preserving left over food at their restaurants.

      The Interview

     In an interview I conducted with a friend, I was able to gather a deeper understanding of how food and waste was managed at a fast-food restaurant. Here are some key questions that I asked regarding food waste:

     1. What does the manager tell you to do with leftover food after closing?

• "A lot of the fried stuff and smaller items were thrown away. Things like potatoes and cinnabons are thrown away."

       2. Are you allowed to take food home from Taco Bell? If not, what policy or rules prevent you from doing this?

• "Technically you are supposed to throw it away, but we are able to take home left-overs that are uneaten."

        3. Are there any preventative waste measures at Taco Bell?

• "There is not. If anything is not used when cooking, it is thrown away."

        4. What is done with food that is completely uneaten and is returned by a customer?

• "Any food that is brought back to us is automatically thrown away because we do not know if they had done anything to it."

        5. Do you think it is possible to change the way fast food chains handle waste?

• "It is hard to keep food because a lot of the orders are unique and not an item that is commonly ordered. We do keep popular items that are rejected at the drive through to reserve in a few orders; if it is not ordered we throw it away. If this happens in the lobby, we usually let the customer keep the item and serve them the correct food free of charge. If they do not want to keep the item, we just throw it away."

        6. How much does the quality of a food product matter before serving it to a customer?

• "It matters to a point. I’m not going to serve somebody rock-hard potatoes. However, some of my co-workers give out food in the worst quality and that food will usually be brought back and thrown away."

        7. Does the manager keep track of how much food is used every day?

• "Yes. In the morning, middle of the day, and at night after we close there are counts that are done. And, after putting in all the numbers for the counts it will show on the computer if you’re over or under product based on product sales. So, if we sold tacos, it will tell is if we are over or under the amount of beef we should be using."

        8. How often do you see customers throw away unfinished food?

• "Pretty often. A lot of the time they would leave half-finished burgers and half-finished meals all the time."

        9. How do you view other fast-food restaurants knowing about the waste they produce?

• "I think food waste within fast-food chains are more prevalent than other food places like regular restaurants. Our expiation dates are really short and the policies we have kind of encourage food waste."

        10. What was your view of working in fast food before you started?

• "I knew it was bad from the start before I went to work at Taco Bell. I did not know it was going to be super stressful, but I had to do a lot more work than I initially thought."        

   Discussing the Interview

    

    This interview gives an idea of how often food is thrown away in situations such as a customer returning an item, an item that has sat out for too long, and customers willingly throwing away food that they over-ordered. And just like our standards of only choosing perfect fruits and vegetables at the grocery store, this restaurant also suffers from needing to present high quality and fresh food.

    

    What also surprised me was that employees were technically not able to take home leftovers at the end of the day. With an estimated 10.5% of households that struggle with acquiring food, letting those who work these restaurant jobs take leftovers home could impact their access to food, and possibly lessen financial stress ("Key Statistics & Graphs")

   How Would This Solution be Achieved?

To spread the idea of preserving leftovers from fast-food restaurants would take many people, large amounts of time, and several different methods.

• Social Media: Social media is a strong platform for gathering attention towards a problem or topic. Using it would not only help spread awareness of waste in fast-food restaurants, but also educate everyone about how much food is wasted. From oursocialtimes.com, they claim that influencers are paid $12,500 to $300,000 per post when sponsored by a company/organization. This could easily cost millions of dollars to get key figures in social media to take notice and speak about food waste.
  
• Billboards: Billboards are a common way of seeing an advertisement, and just having it linger as a thought in your brain. In a study by the Arbitron National In-Car Study, they found that 71% of people look at billboards. Those people would learn about an event, or even go to a restaurant that was advertised (Tarsah).
• Commercials & Online Advertising: Phones, tablets, and computers are abundant in today's society. TV and video hosting websites often have commercials that play before or in the middle of a viewers selected show/video. To nationally broadcast a commercial, it would cost $115,000 to air it. A website like YouTube would cost $10-$30 per 1,000 views ("HOW MUCH DOES A 30"). 

   Final Thoughts & Reflection

      Fast-food restaurants are solely responsible for policies, time limits, and rules that encourage food waste. Like any issue, it will not be focused on if the general populous is not aware of it. Garnering enough attention towards this issue would be extremely difficult due to variables like money (companies not wanting to incorporate ideas) and publicizing the plan on a large-scale. 

    Reflecting on the semester, CRE101 and its learning content have changed how I think, especially with our frequent application of the book “Asking the Right Questions” with “American Wasteland” and other assignments. I have been taking this class alongside an English course and chapters 4-7 of ARQ, which covered ambiguity, assumptions, fallacies, and source credibility. These chapters and assignments helped me read, write, and analyze sources more effectively throughout the semester. Food waste also has made me realize that I should eat and preserve my food more properly, and even helped me be more reserved in other areas like spending money.

Entry #10: Here we go again

Coming to the end of the year and looking back, 2020 and 2021 gave witness to many major events that all affected us. I feel like the world is slowly going back  to normal, but recent events also seem to prove the opposite.

A societal issue that has been growing is police brutality. Notably, the incident between George Floyd and police after he was suspected after using a counterfeit $20 bill sparked protests against racism. Floyd was killed after being pinned down by the neck from officer Derek Chauvin for 9 minutes and 29 seconds. Almost a year later, Chauvin was sentenced to 22 years in prison. 

Brexit, the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, is another decision that holds significance to the world. Their transitional period started on the 31st of January, 2020 and since then, several changes have been set. From the BBC:

• European travel rules
• Duty-free shopping (tax exempt goods during travel from the EU to UK)
• Changes for citizens that want to move to the EU
• New immigration system
• Trade between the UK and EU

Immigration, vulnerability, and economic opportunity are all arguments made for the UK's decision. This event was interesting to research, and I recommend clicking the hyperlinks if you want to know more.

Last, but not least, is the spread of SARS-CoV-2. Almost two years into the pandemic, we have all experienced the societal and economical changes that came with it. My family and I actually had the virus, but thankfully none of us were seriously harmed by it. Anti-vaccine activists, mask and vaccine mandates, and the lack of space in hospitals are just some of the many things that came with COVID-19. Even at the time of this post, a new variant was discovered. Named "Omicron", this variant was found in South Africa and has spread to a few locations in the EU (apnews.com).

While 2021 has not been as chaotic as 2020, it is easy to see that we still can not return to how life was before these events. I hope 2022 will be a better year for all of us and reduce the disorder we are currently going through.

Entry #9: Food Now, and Later

For many of us, food is a regular part of our lives that we do not consider so important. However, there are many problems we are ignorant of in the world. An article from 2015, by the Wharton University of Pennsylvania covers important food challenges that affects us now, and will in the future. 

The growing population of people is one huge factor of the future regarding food production. The article states that, "it will require raising overall food production by some 70% between 2005-2007 and 2050". Doubling the entire world's production would be an impressive feat. However, in the film Fresh, it shows the unsafe and cruel processes of harvesting crops and animals that are currently practiced. Will this eventually require us to sacrifice the quality and safety of our foods further for the sake of efficiency?

Obesity is another serious issue that has been steadily rising. Since the 2000s, obesity has increased by 12% among adults 20 years old and over. This means that 42% of the entire American population is obese, with another 9% being severely obese. With the availability of convenient and unhealthy foods becoming more common, disease will follow and many people will be affected by obesity. 

The article shows all of these subjects in good detail, with interesting statistics to go along with. While researching this topic, there was such a vast amount of information on food's challenges that it really made me think of what will happen in the future, and if we will be able to solve these issues.

 

Entry #8: Vacation

 Setting up time to take yourself away from life's responsibilities is a luxury we all love to have. And going on a vacation is an activity many of us do whenever we do decide to go on these extended breaks. I recently went to the Grand Canyon at Eagle Point in the Hualapai reservation, and the trip made me think of all the interesting places that exist in the world.

Vatican City, the home of the pope, headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church, and ancient Roman sculptures is located in the heart of Rome, Italy. The main buildings around St. Peter's Square boasts giant white pillars, beautiful architecture, and the impressive dome roof of the basilica. In 2019, before the virus hit, the city welcomed 6.9 million visitors and it shows how popular of a location this is.

In the northwest of Cambodia holds the 900 year old temple Angkor Wat. What you will notice first are four towers surrounding a central spire that rises to 65 meters above the ground. This temple covers 3.47 square miles of land and you are allowed to walk inside by the long bridge and path. This historic monument is overgrown with plant life and exploring the temple throws you to the past as you look at the almost millennium old sculptures and fixtures. Deep in Southeast Asia, you will have to go through a lot of traveling, but this location is definitely worth the visit.

The Great Wall of China like many of these man-made creations is like no other. The wall's existence dates back 2,000 years and from that time, over 13,000 miles of wall was laid down across China. While I researched about the wall, I found out that three men in 1984 walked from the eastern most part of the wall to the west which took them 508 days. This simply highlights the sheer size of the wall and I would love to see the winding fortification for myself one day.

Travelling is a time consuming task, but the outcome is being able to see these incredible wonders built by regular people like us. What is a place you always have dreamt of traveling to and what qualities make the location attractive? 

Entry #7: Fresh, an Insight to Food

 

Have you ever thought about the origin of what we eat at restaurants, fast food chains, and at home? Fresh, a film about the background of the cruel and unsafe methods of how farms produce our food, and the possible solutions people can make. 

Featuring people who are like us (people who love to eat), it targets regular people to inform them of how our food is being treated and produced. Some of those ways are through shock value as exhibited in the film. In the beginning, the chickens are shown being thrown to the ground from the baskets they were held in, along with an audible thud from the impact. This shows the inhumane treatment livestock are victims of in the proceeds of efficiency.

The film also features the vast amounts of pesticides used on crops. Monocultures are large fields of one specific plant being grown. Farmer George Naylor actually states that there are so many weeds and bugs that decide to grow in these fields, that it is just necessary to spray the fields to preserve their crops.

    I have thought of how our food ends up on tables before, but after this film, it has really confirmed my thinking and really helped me see how we all eat without giving thought. I also thought that the farmer, Will Allen, teaching people how growing fresh and the tricks to it was another impactful scene. By doing so, it displays that even us regular people can grow our own natural and healthy foods. Though we may not like the way our food is brought to us on a large-scale, it is inconvenience which stops us from putting in the extra work to maintain our own sources of local, healthy food.

Entry #6: Video Games on the Horizon

Many of us spend our off time doing hobbies, hanging out with friends, or even just sleeping. I personally, and many others, like to play video games. Whether it be on PC, Xbox, or PlayStation, the video gaming scene of 2021 to the near future of 2022 has proved to be impressive with many trailers and upcoming releases.

The sequel to the 2018 reboot, God of War Ragnarok will continue on the cinematic and action-packed experience proved by its previous installment. In the reveal trailer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EE-4GvjKcfs), It opens to Kratos and Atreus out on another adventure. It shows cutscenes of combat, dialogue between past characters, and even gameplay in the last half. We can surmise that from the trailer, the story will go even deeper into Norse mythology and that they have expanded upon the game's combat mechanics further. With the expected release date to be somewhere in 2022, this is a game with a strong narrative that will immerse you through hours of content.

Another anticipated title is Forza Horizon 5 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYH9n37B7Yw). Showing off the incredible graphics and variety of racing types, the game revolves around the competitive Horizon festival with you entering the pool. It will feature over 400 different cars and compared to the 4th game, has a map that's 50% larger and the highest elevation of all of its predecessors. The arcade-like gameplay with hints of realism is a good pickup to explore the modern selections of cars. With it releasing on November 8th, whether you are serious into cars or looking for a casual game, Forza Horizon 5 can provide what you seek.

Disconnecting the trend of its previous games taking place in the World Wars, Battlefield 2042 goes back to the recognizable gameplay of modern infantry, vehicular, and aerial warfare on their biggest maps yet. One notable addition are the weather effects like tornados ripping through the battlefield (https://youtu.be/ASzOzrB-a9E?t=232) and the increase of the player count from 64 to 128. Having played the open beta, it reminds me of their beloved 2013 game Battlefield 4. If the final release plays like it, I guarantee a chaotically fun team-based shooter.

So are you an someone who plays video games casually, or an avid gamer? Tell me what game you have been enjoying recently and maybe an upcoming game that has caught your interest!

Entry #5: Mayhem

  Tailgater

Tailgater, a commercial by Allstate, begins with Mayhem driving a car and aggressively tailgating a man. While doing so, the driver ahead becomes distracted by the tailgating. As the man stares at his rear view mirror, ignoring the road, Mayhem says, "But you're so busy watching me tailgate, that you don't see the one in front of you." At the last second, the distracted driver breaks, but it was not enough to keep himself from hitting the stopped truck.

Allstate uses many devices to gather attention towards the ad. Using tailgating as an example will intrigue people who have experienced it, and having Mayhem repeat it three times at the very start also sends that message faster to people. After the driver being tailgated impacts the truck ahead of him, Mayhem claims that whatever your insurance you have may not even cover the accident and that the viewers should, "Get Allstate and be better protected from Mayhem." Not only does this appeal to people that have been tailgated, but also to frequent drivers.

Another device is the character Mayhem himself. He works as the personification of the word mayhem as his sole purpose is to cause inconveniences. Portrayed by his neat appearance and vehicle filled with football-related items, it is quite irregular as people are not usually in this situation and helps grab people's attention.

The ad successfully gives one example of what may happen when you are on the road. What the advertisers want you to feel is that if you make a simple mistake, Allstate will be there to help cover the costs through their auto insurance.