i’ve been seeing this cultural shift over my lifetime, too. it started with implications shaming poor folks for “wasting” money on fast food bc “making food at home is so much more affordable!” patronizing financial advice that ignores the reality of people’s time and energy budgets when working full-time jobs, and often more than one job, just to barely scrape by. then, as inflation has hit without any pay raises or raising the minimum wage, you see fast food evolve from an “unnecessary expense” to a “luxury” all while the actual quality of the food declines.
we never should have let the idea of fast food, or hell even simply the act of eating out, be seen as something that can reasonably be cut from a budget to save money! we should not have let it get so thoroughly ingrained in the cultural zeitgeist. people have always eaten food made by other people in their community, whether that’s been a restaurant or just some neighbors who are passionate about cooking as a hobby. being expected to cook all of your own meals at home, especially given how much more expensive even THAT has gotten, is just not feasible for everyone. everyone should have the ability to go eat out as many times as they’d like without the fear of breaking their budgets.
regulate food pricing and raise the minimum wage NOW. no more waiting!
