While fast food may have its origins in the United States, it’s something that has spread around the world.

Fast food provides that opportunity to the public. If there is an upcoming deadline for a news article that needs to be submitted in two hours but your stomach is rumbling, a fast food restaurant is a hop, skip and jump away from your office building.

There are so many different franchises scattered across North America, with McDonald’s, Burger King, White Castle, Chick-fil-A, and Taco Bell just some examples.

The McDonald’s franchise is one of the largest fast food chains in history, established in 1955 by Ray Kroc in San Bernardino, California, USA. There are over 36,000 restaurants worldwide and nearly 19,000 international restaurants.

Fast food in a monochromic society

The United States is a monochronic society, meaning folks value their time. Every second counts and there is no time to stop, hence the desire for fast food.

Others live in a polychromic society, meaning time is infinite. There is never a lost minute and there is no pressure about being on time or late to an event, for example.

However, that hasn’t stopped McDonald’s from spreading out worldwide to countries that do not live the same lifestyle those in the United States do.

Many of the countries that have McDonald’s are more slower-paced and laid back about time, with people in those countries enjoying their meals. According to Lindsey Bradley, who has traveled to multiple countries outside the United States, “I saw at least one McDonald’s in every city I visited, sometimes up to four. In the five months I was [traveling], I only ate it about twice. Though, I didn’t see many Americans or locals — it was mostly tourists.”

Europe is not a fast-paced society, she added. So why do these polychromic societies need fast food restaurants?

Our eating habits are different, that’s why. Some examples are things like anti-social meals. Europeans are known to spend hours at the dinner table (i.e. three hours spent for lunch in France). So, is McDonald’s a culture all on it’s own? Or is it influencing other cultures and changing the way they view their food?

— By ewageck

Raised in California and Colorado, U.S.A., Wageck believes each state has its own culture. In traveling the world, she is able to learn what she can share with society and other people. After traveling and truly experiencing the world, she plans one day to return “home.”

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