With little income and a large hunger to fill, where can teens go to find affordable food? As inflation increases excessively in fast food restaurants, it makes us question if it’s reasonable. Prices continue to rise, with it difficult to buy a full meal under $10. Is it corporate greed, are ingredients significantly more expensive, or are Americans really just eating out more?
I’m not one to say back in my day, but a Big Mac the year I was born, in 2008, was $3.21. Now, it sits at $5.29. This has caused some angst for customers. Although, many don’t understand the underlying reason behind the reality of the big cost behind their Big Mac.
Andrew Johnson, a senior at East and a McDonald’s worker since June 2023, has countless experiences with upset customers over price increases.
“We have shirts that show the 25 cent hamburgers,” Johnson said. “Older customers come in and say, ‘I remember when that was still a thing.’ And we have others who say how insane it is how much the prices have gone up.”
The days of unhappy elderly customers are not over, as it seems our demand for fast food continues to rise. To combat increasing prices, we must lower our demand for fast food, especially at these outrageous prices.
“Businesses will charge the price that is best for their profits,” Dr. Eric Thompson, professor of economics at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln and the director of the Bureau of Business Research said. “Prices will moderate or even fall if consumers cut back in response to higher prices.”
Unfortunately, customers are not cutting back. Many consumers complain about the lack of money to afford a meal, and McDonalds and other fast food restaurants must make up for this through increasing their wages, which in turn spikes the price of fast food even more.
According to the article, ‘Even with food prices flattening out, the cost of dining out is still going up’, over the past year, grocery prices have risen at a steady rate of 1%, while fast food prices have risen 4.5%.
It’s a hard truth to swallow, but the change of the relative prices of goods, as well as demand, will drive up prices. While we look at the grocery rate of increase in comparison to fast food prices, it makes us want to believe that we are a victim of corporate greed, when in fact companies are just doing what is best for them when faced with the rise in cost of materials and labor.
Now we ask, how can we combat the increase, and not become a victim to inflation as a teenager with little money?
“Change your purchasing habits towards items that are lower cost,” Thompson said. “Work more to take advantage of rising wages, or push for a higher wage, perhaps by changing jobs.”
If we hope for lower fast food prices, we must decrease the demand. Although it’s sad to say, it’s crucial to change our purchasing habits, and save the fast food for special occasions instead of an everyday lunch outing.
