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Fast Food
Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale and with a strong priority placed on “speed of service” versus other relevant factors involved in culinary science. Fast food was originally created as a commercial strategy to accommodate the larger numbers of busy commuters, travelers and wage workers who often did not have the time to sit down at a public house or diner and wait for their meal. By making speed of service the priority, this ensured that customers with strictly limited time (a commuter stopping to procure dinner to bring home to their family, for example, or an hourly laborer on a short lunch break) were not inconvenienced by waiting for their food to be cooked on-the-spot (as is expected from a traditional “sit down” restaurant). For those with no time to spare, fast food became a multibillion-dollar industry.
The fastest form of “fast food” consists of pre-cooked meals kept in readiness for a customer’s arrival (Boston Market rotisserie chicken, Little Caesars pizza, etc.), with waiting time reduced to mere seconds. Other fast food outlets, primarily the hamburger outlets (McDonald’s, Burger King, etc.) use mass-produced pre-prepared ingredients (bagged buns & condiments, frozen beef patties, prewashed/sliced vegetables, etc.) but take great pains to point out to the customer that the “meat and potatoes” (hamburgers and french fries) are always cooked fresh (or at least relatively recently) and assembled “to order” (like at a diner).
Although a vast variety of food can be “cooked fast”, “fast food” is a commercial term limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredients, and served to the customer in a packaged form for take-out/take-away.
Fast food restaurants are traditionally distinguished by their ability to serve food via a drive-through. Outlets may be stands or kiosks, which may provide no shelter or seating,[1] or fast food restaurants (also known as quick service restaurants).[citation needed] Franchise operations that are part of restaurant chains have standardized foodstuffs shipped to each restaurant from central locations.[2]
Fast food began with the first fish and chip shops in Britain in the 1860s. Drive-through restaurants were first popularized in the 1950s in the United States. The term “fast food” was recognized in a dictionary by Merriam–Webster in 1951.[citation needed]
Eating fast food has been linked to, among other things, colorectal cancer, obesity, high cholesterol, and depression.[3][4][5][6] Many fast foods tend to be high in saturated fat, sugar, salt and calories.[7]
The traditional family dinner is increasingly being replaced by the consumption of takeaway fast food. As a result, the time invested on food preparation is getting lower, with an average couple in the United States spending 47 minutes and 19 seconds per day on food preparation in 2013.[8]
Johnstown
Johnstown is a city and the county seat of Fulton County in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2010 Census, the city had population of 8,743.[1] The city was named after its founder, Sir William Johnson.[2]
The city of Johnstown is mostly surrounded by the town of Johnstown, of which it was once a part when it was a village. Also adjacent to the city is the city of Gloversville. The two cities are together known as the “Glove Cities”. They are known for their history of specialty manufacturing. Johnstown is located approximately 45 miles (72 km) west of Albany, about one-third of the way between Albany and the Finger Lakes region to the west.
Johnstown, originally “John’s Town”, was founded in 1762 by Sir William Johnson, a Baronet who named it after his son John Johnson.[3] William Johnson came to the British colony of New York from Ireland in 1732.[4] He was a trader who learned American Indian languages and culture, forming close relationships with many Native American leaders. He was appointed as the Superintendent of Indian Affairs, as well as a major general in the British forces during the French and Indian War (Seven Years’ War). His alliances with the Iroquois were significant to the war.
As a reward for his services, Johnson received large tracts of land in what are now Hamilton and Fulton counties. He established Johnstown and became one of New York’s most prosperous and influential citizens. He was the largest landowner in the Mohawk Valley, with an estate of more than 400,000 acres (1,600 km2) before his death. Having begun as an Indian trader, he expanded his business interests to include a sawmill and lumber business, and a flour mill that served the area. Johnson, the largest slaveholder in the county and perhaps in the state of New York, had some 60 enslaved Africans working these businesses. He also recruited many Scots-Irish tenant farmers to work his lands.[5] Observing Johnson’s successful business endeavors, the local Native American inhabitants dubbed him Warragghivagey, or “he who does much business.”[6]