It's neither parents nor fast food companies. It's the result of the federal government fiddling with commerce/labor markets and overall economic prosperity.
After WWII, Eisenhower built the Interstate Highway System. This created suburban sprawl, shopping malls with huge parking lots, motels and fast food joints. I've even read that Levitt, the man who planned the infamous Levittowns, colluded with GM/Ford executives to include two-car garages in his townhouse models. Of course, both automobile and suburban housing planners would profit. Before WWII, automobiles were pretty fuel inefficient and expensive, but the Interstate Highway System forced auto companies to improve automobiles and put two cars in every family home. During wartime, GM/Ford assembly lines were converted to make Army jeeps, so they had experience in improving fuel efficiency. It also helped that fuel was cheap. So now, cars were popularized and required to navigate the suburban sprawl.
The Interstate Highway System meant improvements in "food logistics". Most potatoes could be farmed in Idaho alone, and driven to McDonald's franchises all over the country. Those industrial farms that provided agricultural goods for the whole country would drive small, local farmers out of business, because of economies of scale ( ie. plant more potatoes, each potato is cheaper). So this effect made local farmers obsolete, and relied even more on commercial automobiles to transport agricultural goods. On top of all that, the government throws in agricultural subsidies for corn, wheat and potatoes. Guess what that does? It makes sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, french fries, potato chips and other shitty GI foods really cheap. That's why obesity is an epidemic among the poor. A family pack of potato chips is cheaper than a sack of rice. Let's compare a liter of Coca Cola ($1.50) vs liter of water ($1). For $0.50 more, I'm getting hundreds of calories more. If I'm running a family on food stamps and meeting minimum caloric intake is an issue, would long-term risk of diabetes seem that important? Probably not. The Coca Cola seems like a pretty rational option.
Finally, the job market in the U.S. has transformed. During WWII, we were a manufacturing powerhouse. Sedentary labor, like typewriters and administration were done by women. Men were mostly blue-collar, and a college education wasn't as prominent. The post-war G.I. Bill was what made college education the golden standard. So in the past few decades, the federal government made college education the golden standard, shrinking the agricultural/manufacturing sectors. Combine that with irrigation/fertilizers/pesticides to make farms ultra-productive and outsourcing of manufacturing jobs to China/Korea/Mexico and we have a minuscule agricultural and industrial sector.
Less Agriculture/Manufacturing:
![[Image: privatesectoroutputaspctofgdp.png]](https://www.minnpost.com/sites/default/files/images/articles/privatesectoroutputaspctofgdp.png)
![[Image: mfg-vs-gdp-per-capita.jpg]](https://cosmoscon.files.wordpress.com/2012/11/mfg-vs-gdp-per-capita.jpg)
So now, most Americans jet-set on an office chair, bounce home in a comfy SUV, and watch Netflix while feasting on some Taco Bell. And all of that are compliments of the federal government.
After WWII, Eisenhower built the Interstate Highway System. This created suburban sprawl, shopping malls with huge parking lots, motels and fast food joints. I've even read that Levitt, the man who planned the infamous Levittowns, colluded with GM/Ford executives to include two-car garages in his townhouse models. Of course, both automobile and suburban housing planners would profit. Before WWII, automobiles were pretty fuel inefficient and expensive, but the Interstate Highway System forced auto companies to improve automobiles and put two cars in every family home. During wartime, GM/Ford assembly lines were converted to make Army jeeps, so they had experience in improving fuel efficiency. It also helped that fuel was cheap. So now, cars were popularized and required to navigate the suburban sprawl.
The Interstate Highway System meant improvements in "food logistics". Most potatoes could be farmed in Idaho alone, and driven to McDonald's franchises all over the country. Those industrial farms that provided agricultural goods for the whole country would drive small, local farmers out of business, because of economies of scale ( ie. plant more potatoes, each potato is cheaper). So this effect made local farmers obsolete, and relied even more on commercial automobiles to transport agricultural goods. On top of all that, the government throws in agricultural subsidies for corn, wheat and potatoes. Guess what that does? It makes sugar, high-fructose corn syrup, french fries, potato chips and other shitty GI foods really cheap. That's why obesity is an epidemic among the poor. A family pack of potato chips is cheaper than a sack of rice. Let's compare a liter of Coca Cola ($1.50) vs liter of water ($1). For $0.50 more, I'm getting hundreds of calories more. If I'm running a family on food stamps and meeting minimum caloric intake is an issue, would long-term risk of diabetes seem that important? Probably not. The Coca Cola seems like a pretty rational option.
Finally, the job market in the U.S. has transformed. During WWII, we were a manufacturing powerhouse. Sedentary labor, like typewriters and administration were done by women. Men were mostly blue-collar, and a college education wasn't as prominent. The post-war G.I. Bill was what made college education the golden standard. So in the past few decades, the federal government made college education the golden standard, shrinking the agricultural/manufacturing sectors. Combine that with irrigation/fertilizers/pesticides to make farms ultra-productive and outsourcing of manufacturing jobs to China/Korea/Mexico and we have a minuscule agricultural and industrial sector.
Less Agriculture/Manufacturing:
So now, most Americans jet-set on an office chair, bounce home in a comfy SUV, and watch Netflix while feasting on some Taco Bell. And all of that are compliments of the federal government.