1y ago

Fast food should be expensive.

I get that until recently it was considered normal and relatively cheap, but you are literally paying someone else to make food for you.

It can't be sustainable without exploitation of workers and/or animal welfare to have that available to the majority of people on a regular basis.

If you can only afford fast food as a luxury, to me that seems like a good thing.

21 comments

Try "healthy food should not be a luxury".
I'm sure McDonalds would be glad to increase their bottom line by increasing the prices on their products, while giving none back to their hard working employees.
Cigarettes are more expensive than ever, yet people keep smoking. You don't fix a problem by beating on its victims.
- According to the CDC, price increases are the most effective way to reduce tobacco consumption.
  https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/economics/econ_facts/index.htm#economic-costs
  
  I found a meta analysis that also deals with that subject, the gist of it is, "it's complicated": https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3228562/
  
  Obv anecdotal, but in my experience people just swap to less well known, less regulated (through obscurity) brands. Or they start to roll their own using lower quality materials.
- It’s because of price elasticity, people are going to keep on buying cigarettes even if the price keeps on increasing. If smoking becomes as expensive as renting an apartment or owning a car, that’s when we’re going to see some decrease in cigarette consumption. At the moment, people also complain about electricity and gasoline prices, but I suspect those prices could double without hurting sales that much. Increasing them about 10X would probably cross a line and people would start using those resources as sparingly as possible.
  
  Tobacco use has dropped significantly over the years, while their prices have dramatically risen. Yes there are people who still smoke, but that probably is more attributable to it being a severe addiction than really a choice. Electricity and gasoline are both necessities. The price does continue to go up, and people have no choice but to pay.
  Something that would be interesting to look at would be true luxuries; like cable tv, video games, smart phones, etc.
  
  Price increases for tobacco tend to prevent new users rather than convince current users to stop, but it is effective.
I would agree with most of this, if that excess cost was actually going towards paying the workers better or animal welfare. However, the excess costs are there because, maybe for a brief period, the companies had to raise their prices due to legitimate issues stemming from Covid. When the supply issues cleared up and costs should’ve gone back down though, everyone just collectively decided, “Why should we make it cheaper? They’ll still pay.” So that extra money we’re paying is to give the execs and shareholders more money. It’s greedflation and the exploitation of workers continues.
Based on that though, we should punish companies where we can and stop going to fast food anyways, though given that prices also rose in the supermarket too, it’s like a drop in the bucket.
Define expensive?
Because labor isn't the main cost of fast food as far as I'm aware. Doubling the wage of laborers saw only modest price changes in places that hiked minimum wage... Despite franchise owners being able to set their own prices.
McDonald's near me in NYC is more expensive than Alabama, sure - but it's not double the price. ~$20 for 2 people to have 2 large meals with drinks is eminently reasonable.
- While part of this is definitely some price gouging the reality is we are seeing inflation visibly occurring. Because 'line go up' requires a corporation to counteract inflation this is the result... unfortunately what isn't inflating is consumer wages. The consumer is getting pinched and over time it is starting to take a toll. Welcome to the bubble, boys.
It can't be sustainable without exploitation of workers
Boy, I have a surprise about capitalism for you.
There are such things as food deserts where fast food is the only viable option for people to get cheap food.
It absolutely can be sustainable without exploiting labor. All it takes is for owners to settle for less profit.
I've typed up and re-written a couple of paragraphs a few times just to realize I'd be better off linking this video. Basically, there used to be more business models in the food industry that helped to feed it an laborers- people who may not have a kitchen and probably didn't have time to go buy groceries, cook, and clean. These businesses (automats, lunch wagons, diners) took a more utilitarian approach to food to make it affordable and nutritious, rather than the luxury experience "eating out" is today.

21 comments