EE1 draft

It’s no secret that Americans like fast. Our society is arguably one of the most fast-paced in the world, with instantaneous connections to others via text or email, high-speed transit, and perhaps most famously, fast food. Our streets are lined with drive-thru restaurants and our store shelves stocked with microwavable meals and portable snacks.  While fast food is certainly not a phenomenon limited to the United States, there is a definitive cultural value that’s reflected in our penchant for all things fast, and that’s convenience. We’ve also experienced a general shift away from traditional practices surrounding food, such as eating at conventional mealtimes, places, or the concept of the family table. These factors are all indicative of a larger trend in which food is becoming an afterthought, an accompaniment to another activity, and not, as it has been in the past, an event.

            The transition into a fast food culture has been a relatively recent one.  Just a few short decades ago, the idyllic American household with a mother who had dinner ready at the same time every night was the norm. In fact, the first McDonald’s drive-through was not opened until 1975. Interestingly enough, the drive-through was not simply a convenience feature, it was actually installed to allow soldiers from a nearby military base who were not permitted to leave their vehicles in their fatigues to eat McDonald’s (McDonald’s). As more and more businesses introduced drive-throughs, the focus quickly shifted to convenience for civilians, and now even liquor stores come in a convenient drive-through format. The countertop microwave, one of our essential instruments for heating easy food, didn’t become popular until the 1970s (Nut). It’s no coincidence that the personal computer and cellular phone industries, too, boomed in the late 1970’s (PBS). It was a period of rapid growth and expansion in all sectors.  No industry is safe from the ever-present American desire for innovation, and this is exactly what happened to our food as the technology developed to make it possible.

            The growth of convenience food industries has not stopped since those pivotal years in the 1970’s. 24 hour drive-thru restaurants are now quite common, so a consumer doesn’t have to stick to traditional mealtimes and can have a Big Mac at 2 AM if they desire. Vending machines in airports and microwaves in dorm rooms leave the consumer with the ultimate power to decide when and where they eat, not constrained by business hours. This has led to a phenomenon that Jamie Horwitz describes as “eating on the edge,” meaning that “food is an additive to a situation, such as a cigarette would be, rather than being definitive” (Horwitz 42). What this means is that meals at a traditional time around a traditional table are becoming increasingly rare. Recent statistics reflect that nearly half of American families sit down and eat a meal together less than three times a week, and one third report that the TV is always on during these meals (CBS). It stands to reason that if a family isn’t eating together, they’re all off doing something individually, supporting Horwitz’s hypothesis that food is an accessory to another activity. Even eating in front of the TV is a great example of ‘eating on the edge.’ The workplace exemplifies the lack of a defined mealtime, too. A 2012 survey found that 65% of American workers eat their lunch at their desks while working or don’t take a lunch break at all (Muhammed). They work through lunch to get more done or to be able to go home earlier. Driving down any busy street will more than likely reveal people eating in their cars, using the time required to get where they’re going to also accomplish the task of eating. All of these examples point to a conclusion that to modern Americans, eating is more of a chore than an enjoyable experience. Most people do not have time in their day to sit down exclusively for the purpose of eating, so it’s added on to another activity. This is not to say that traditional meals are not still valued, though, they’re just increasingly saved for special occasions like holidays, when we sit down with friends and family and enjoy the food and one another’s company. On a day-to-day basis, however, Americans have decided, as a culture, that our responsibilities and tasks are more important dedications of our time than food, and we have more than enough convenient products and restaurants at our disposal to make that easy to do.

            It’s interesting to note that this is a characteristically American experience. Most European countries still place a high value on family meals, even though they, for the most part, have the same technologies that we do. In fact, on the International Space Station, where astronauts from multiple countries live and work together, it was observed that more American crew members preferred to eat alone, while working at a computer or doing something else, as compared to their European counterparts, who had a greater tendency to sit together to eat a meal. American astronauts did, however, like their earthly counterparts, eat meals together for special occasions like the boarding of a new crew member (Horwitz 44). This reflects a difference in cultural values as a whole. European societies tend to be more slow-paced, with more emphasis on family time, especially at meals. Dinnertime is an event, often with multiple courses, sipping of wine, and chatting with family and friends.