Fast food Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Fast food - Essay Example The contemporary world has seen the emergence of a new consumption behavior where the major aspects include up scaling of lifestyle norms, competition for acquiring goods, and disconnect between the consumer desires and incomes. The modern mode of consumption can be referred to as consumer culture where income and wealth determine what people eat. This is because of â€Å"an up-scaling of lifestyle norms, the pervasiveness of conspicuous, status goods and of competition for acquiring them; and the growing disconnect between consumer desires and incomes† (Schor 412). The major reason behind the fast food problem in the U.S is social comparison or competitive consumption. This implies that individuals strain to consume according to the norms of a specific social group with which they identify. In particular, the lifestyles adopted by the rich and the upper middle class individuals have become a prominent point of reference all through the income distribution. From an economic pe rspective, American neighborhoods are homogenous groupings as opposed to the past when individuals used to compare themselves with other individuals of similar income. Such practices reduced the gap between aspirations and means. The opposite of this is usually known as the upscale emulation, which is prevalent in the modern American society. The problems resulting from such lifestyles are magnified further for the low-income households because their income sources are becoming inadequate and erratic. This is because of employment instability and limitations on welfare payments. Research suggests that this can be resolved through psychological independence. However, this might not be the solution since individuals changed due to structural changes that include decline in social connection, growing impact of social media, and intensification of inequality. Therefore, the solution lays both on practical and psychological dimensions. This