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There is a reason why Frank Bruni drove through the South and not, say, Montana, on his hunt for the best fast food in the country. It is because there is more fast food eaten in the South than in any other part of the country.

According to Scarborough Research (pdf), while the average American adult eats fast food about 5.2 times per month, residents of Birmingham, Alabama dine at fast food restaurants 6.5 times per month. Given that the examples used by the research firm were McDonald's and Subway, it seems likely that they only included major chain restaurants in their survey, too. Rounding out the top five for fast food consumption were Louisville, KY; Austin. TX; Memphis, TN and Raleigh, NC, ranging from 6.4-6.2 average visits.

The company also looked at the cities in which "sit-down" quick service restaurants, like Applebee's or TGI Friday's, were frequented. Orlando, Florida came out on top, with 4.5 visits per month. The other top cities included Cincinnati, OH; Fort Meyers, FL; Tampa, FL and Atlanta, GA.

Cities like Syracuse, NY and Philadelphia, PA were towards the bottom of the fast food visit rankings, with only 4 visits per adult per month, and Honolulu, HI, Buffalo, NY and Spokane, WA had the fewest "sit-down" visits, at 3, 2.9 and 2.5, respectively.

 

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The Guardian recently featured several excerpts from Fast Food Nation author Eric Schlosser's new book Chew On This, a kid-oriented exploration of the fast food industry. Schlosser uses plain English and, of course, plenty of alarming statistics to show young readers the basics of fast food marketing and food processing. The Guardian samples focus on television marketing (American kids watch an average of 25 hours of TV each week, Schlosser says) and how McDonald's has changed the soft drink industry. According to Schlosser, 20 percent of one- and two-year-olds in America drink soft drinks daily and the average American adult drinks 500 cans of soda each year.

Food Technology Magazine published their report in trends in the food industry this month, which includes statistics indicating that the popularity of take-out and premade foods is on the rise and that people perceive foods found in the refrigerated section of the supermarket as being healthier than frozen foods. Health concerns are growing, but still only 32% of meals are made "from scratch" at home and fewer than 20% of all meals are eaten at home - takeaway or homemade - are eaten at the table, with the whole family. The article (available as a PDF) is packed with fascinating statistics, but one of the lists is a clear indicator that no matter what adults are saying and doing in the quest for a healthier diet, the most important age group is being ignored: children.

The Independent has an article about people committing food fraud--making meals using ready-made packages and passing it off as their own creation. They say that 40% of young women have done this, as compared to only 22% of young men. The survey strikes a chord with the older generations--are the younger generations simply incompetent in life skills? Should home economics be reinstated to teach these essentials?

I don't know anyone who has ever tried to commit food fraud--in fact, I feel that cooking is actually making a comeback amongst the young people in the US. But perhaps I'm hanging out with a skewed crowd. What do you think? Is the next generation simply an instant meal kind of crowd?

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