Fast Food Everywhere

One thing we've noticed from driving through Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Arkansas, is the domination of fast food in the south. We really began to notice this when we passed through Gadsden, Alabama, which is practically the fast food capital of the world.

As we approach Gadsden, which is surrounded by lots of nowhere, we can tell we're getting close to a town because we see a couple little barbecue and southern restaurants - you know, the types of places just outside town that you stop on the side of the road for good grub. It's hard to stop an 11,000 pound camper going 55mph on short notice, and in order to do it you have to be very decisive and break as soon as you see something promising. We can be a bit indecisive at times, so unfortunately we didn't stop at one of these road-side joints, but we figured there would be a handful of places to choose from in the town itself.

We were wrong. We hit the town, and we see a legion of tall signs sporting fast food logos. There's almost every fast food place I've ever heard of - Micky D's, BK, Sonic, Taco Bell, Arby's, A&W, KFC, Chick-fil-A, and more. There were also some we haven't seen before until we came down south, like Jack's (Jack in the Box?), Five Guys, and Zaxby's. Some of these chains had two locations in the town of Gadsden. We couldn't find a single local non-chain restaurant amongst the fast food giants.

Gadsden is a large blue-collar town due to the huge one-square-mile Goodyear factory on the river that runs through it. I'm guessing the reason for fast food being so popular in Gadsden is because the townsfolk work long hours and don't have time to cook or sit down to a leisurely lunch or dinner. However, Gadsden isn't the only town like this - fast food places are everywhere, abundant in every town in the south. So it's not just because people don't have time to enjoy good food - plenty of people down here work normal 40 hour weeks. Fast food has become a part of southern culture, at the cost of the great soul food and barbecue traditions.

Personally, I think a little fast food now and then is fine. But clearly, in the states we've been in recently, fast food is what people eat on a regular basis. Now I'm not the one to lecture on eating healthy, and I'm not going to. Other people will tell you that fast food will kill you. Instead, I'll tell you that it's bad for your mind and bad your soul. Food is something we are eating every single day multiple times a day. I believe is very important to enjoy it, to savor it, to let it be as culturally and socially important as it is necessary for survival. As we drive through the south and continue to see those bright, tall fast food signs peppering the landscape, I really am seriously bothered by how many fast food restaurant there are. And I'm worried that the trend toward fast food will continue to spread throughout the United States, until all regions of the country relegate good food as an afterthought.

-Wax