The Industry Doesn't Want You To Know

The Market Is A Tool, And A Useful One. But The Worship Of This Tool Is A Hollow Faith. Far More Important Than Any Tool Is What You Make With It.

There's Also A Growing Trend Toward Having Gardens In Schools To Literally Show Kids Where Food Comes From By Having Them Grow And Prepare Their Own Food. There's Also A Movement That's Bringing Farmers Into Schools And Creating Relationships Between Local Farms And Local Cafeterias, So That Instead Of Frozen Mystery Meat, You Have Fresh Produce That's Coming From The Area That Has A Name And A Face Associated With It.

Future Historians, I Hope, Will Consider The American Fast Food Industry A Relic Of The Twentieth Century--a Set Of Attitudes, Systems, And Beliefs That Emerged From Postwar Southern California, That Embodied Its Limitless Faith In Technology, That Quickly Spread Across The Globe, Flourished Briefly, And Then Receded, Once Its True Costs Became Clear And Its Thinking Became Obsolete.

In 1970, Americans Spent About $6 Billion On Fast Food; In 2000, They Spent More Than $110 Billion. Americans Now Spend More Money On Fast Food Than On Higher Education, Personal Computers, Computer Software, Or New Cars. They Spend More On Fast Food Than On Movies, Books, Magazines, Newspapers, Videos, And Recorded Music—combined.

A Generation Ago, Three-quarters Of The Money Used To Buy Food In The United States Was Spent To Prepare Meals At Home. Today About Half Of The Money Used To Buy Food Is Spent At Restaurants--mainly At Fast Food Restaurants.