Is there any way that fast food could NOT have been invented & popularised to the extent that it is today?
No fast food
- Thread starter Melvin Loh
- Start date
America stays British 
No honestly I don't think that can be solved, if it wasn't macky D's and KFC it would be street venders with eel pie, or chinese people with locusts.
No honestly I don't think that can be solved, if it wasn't macky D's and KFC it would be street venders with eel pie, or chinese people with locusts.
As a matter of degree that would be relatively simple. A cultural shift that places greater emphasis on the perceived quality of food over convenience, or a less prosperous twentieth century, or some unrelated event that inspires legislation that destroys the concept. Say in the course of late-19th-cetury nativist passion, the US legislates that every restaurant must have a qualified master cook so that the dagoes can't poison good Anglo-Saxon blood with their fiendish concoctions. The law stays on the books and by the 1940s, it creates a completely divided food markert with fast food relegated to mobile sales points and all fixed-location restaurants employing certified cooks. That kills the McDonald's concept of high-tech production line cooking (and the Autmaton in NYC). Fast food stays short-order food.
In terms of concept, though - no, there's no way you can prevent the existence of fast food short of deurbanisation.
In terms of concept, though - no, there's no way you can prevent the existence of fast food short of deurbanisation.
I like it! I world with no fast-food or franchises! The world would be helathier place with everyone as trim as me.... although I would miss the occasional blizzard, but if that's the price to pay to trim the fat, so be it.
However, to obtain it, I'm suspecting one would have to go further back in our history than the 50s. Fast food stems from a culture of instant gratification.
However, to obtain it, I'm suspecting one would have to go further back in our history than the 50s. Fast food stems from a culture of instant gratification.
Michael Busch
Probably not completely: given an Industrial Revolution and a society where a large fraction of the population works long hours, there is always going to be a huge demand for relatively cheap food that is either pre-prepared or cooks quickly.
Now it would be interesting to see what happens if the food is of higher quality - better nutritional value, fewer empty calories, more reasonably sized portions. This is starting to happen, even at McDonalds, thanks to better understanding of public health.
Now it would be interesting to see what happens if the food is of higher quality - better nutritional value, fewer empty calories, more reasonably sized portions. This is starting to happen, even at McDonalds, thanks to better understanding of public health.
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Valdemar II
Banned
Fast food has existed as long as cities has, so the only way, I can see it happening is if we stay hunter-gatheres.
I would like to respectfully disagree.
It was correctly pointed that 'fast food', in a broader sense of the world, is extremely old.
But I think it is still possible to ban it from downtown of European cities
("possible" in the AH sense, of course).
By this I mean both corporate franchises and snacks huts.
Consider the society as before WWI.
It is easy to imagne it being considered bad form to eat in the street.
While such rules do certainly not concern every class,
I suppose at least a third of the citizens would comply with.
Then somehow you have to prevent that this item is maintained thoughout
all social revolutions since ...
OK, does not seem so easy.
It was correctly pointed that 'fast food', in a broader sense of the world, is extremely old.
But I think it is still possible to ban it from downtown of European cities
("possible" in the AH sense, of course).
By this I mean both corporate franchises and snacks huts.
Consider the society as before WWI.
It is easy to imagne it being considered bad form to eat in the street.
While such rules do certainly not concern every class,
I suppose at least a third of the citizens would comply with.
Then somehow you have to prevent that this item is maintained thoughout
all social revolutions since ...
OK, does not seem so easy.
Laws like this:
Food prepared for commercial purposes must be cooked by a liscenced member of the Chefs Guild. Any business which sells prepared food must have a Guild Accreidited Master Chef on staff. Any establishment which sells prepared food must have clean and safe accomidations where patrons can sit and consume the meal. Said accomidations must pass anual inspection and meet all standards set by local council. Prepared food must be consumed on the premises. The majority owner of any food establisment must be on the premisies whenever the establishment is open to the public so as to oversee the operations for which they are responsible.
Food prepared for commercial purposes must be cooked by a liscenced member of the Chefs Guild. Any business which sells prepared food must have a Guild Accreidited Master Chef on staff. Any establishment which sells prepared food must have clean and safe accomidations where patrons can sit and consume the meal. Said accomidations must pass anual inspection and meet all standards set by local council. Prepared food must be consumed on the premises. The majority owner of any food establisment must be on the premisies whenever the establishment is open to the public so as to oversee the operations for which they are responsible.
There is a huge difference between sidewalk vendors selling hotdogs/vending machines selling stale sandwiches/etc. on the one hand and McDonalds on the other.
When I grew up, sure there were burger joints and KFC etc. on the strip. But most of these were drive-ins that shut down for 6 months of the year. Moreover, they were places where teens went and congregated. I remember the first McDonalds coming to town, and it was thought that Saskatoon, a city of ~150,000 was only big enough for one of them.
McDonalds was the first fast food place that was family friendly, and really, truly, caused a revolution in eating habits.
Pizza places, fish and chips, chinese takeout all existed, but you either phoned in your order and went to pick it up 20 minutes later, or you went and sat for that 20 minutes (a bit less for fish and chips, and chinese, but the principles the same.)
So, yes, fast food existed. But "Fast Food" didn't. Most of you guys have never lived in a world without fast food, and don't understand the difference, I'm afraid.
Now. Would someone else have created a "Fast Food" industry? Maybe, maybe. But I am not sure it is nearly as inevitable as some think.
It could easily have happened in some totally different way (sandwich vending machines, e.g.).
When I grew up, sure there were burger joints and KFC etc. on the strip. But most of these were drive-ins that shut down for 6 months of the year. Moreover, they were places where teens went and congregated. I remember the first McDonalds coming to town, and it was thought that Saskatoon, a city of ~150,000 was only big enough for one of them.
McDonalds was the first fast food place that was family friendly, and really, truly, caused a revolution in eating habits.
Pizza places, fish and chips, chinese takeout all existed, but you either phoned in your order and went to pick it up 20 minutes later, or you went and sat for that 20 minutes (a bit less for fish and chips, and chinese, but the principles the same.)
So, yes, fast food existed. But "Fast Food" didn't. Most of you guys have never lived in a world without fast food, and don't understand the difference, I'm afraid.
Now. Would someone else have created a "Fast Food" industry? Maybe, maybe. But I am not sure it is nearly as inevitable as some think.
It could easily have happened in some totally different way (sandwich vending machines, e.g.).
I agree I don't think it is inevitable.
Sure the broader sense of "Fast Food" includes street vendors, home delivery, buffets, I'll say even certain bars and cafe's could count. But I think the question refers specifically to Fast Food Franchises such as McDonald's, KFC, Wendy's, or anything with the word "express" in it or with a Drive Thru, etc.
To get rid of this is not so hard. Lack of suburban development would definitely help. Urban dwellers, particularly the pedestrian kind, are more of the food stand and cafe type of people. With less suburbs you can pretty much get rid of car culture which leads to the absence of drive thru's.
Possibly one of the best ways to get rid of "Fast Food" as described above is to get rid of the Great Depression, which in turn butterflies the industrialization to kick start the economy, and WWII, which could then butterfly suburban development.
If you could avoid is to avoid or delay Ford (or any car company) from developing the Model T, inline assembly structure it would certainly help as well. As lack of cars also means lack of suburban development.
But it does not necessarily mean the world is healthier either as said above. If you need an example Mexico is not big on Fast Food (or suburbs) but it is big on street stands, taquerias, and soft drinks. It is also up there in the obesity index because of it. The healthy factor is a completely different cultural determination. Sure fast food does not help at all but no matter what you do Texans will always eat bbq ribs large enough to satisfy an male lion.