How the world learned to love fast food

6 Minute English

BBC

Language Learning, Education

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 23 January 2025

⏱️ 7 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How did fast food spread around the world?

Find a full transcript and worksheet for this episode to help you with your English at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/6-minute-english_2025/ep-250123

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Transcript

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0:00.0	6 Minute English from BBC LearningEnglish.com.
0:07.7	Hello, this is 6 Minute English from BBC Learning English. I'm Phil.
0:12.6	And I'm Beth.
0:14.1	Love it or hate it? There's no doubt fast food is popular. Are you a fast food fan, Beth?
0:21.2	Not really, no.
0:23.4	I think sometimes it can be quite convenient,
0:26.1	obviously because it's quick, but not really.
0:29.4	Well, whatever you think about them,
0:31.7	fast food brands like KFC, Domino's, and of course the big one,
0:36.1	McDonald's, are incredibly successful.
0:39.2	In this programme, we'll be discussing the global spread of fast food from its beginnings in 1950s America.
0:46.8	As usual, we'll be learning some useful new words and phrases.
0:50.7	But first, I have a question for you, Beth.
0:53.7	Roughly how many fast food restaurants are there in the UK?
0:58.9	Is it A, 4,000, B, 42,000 or C, 4 million?
1:07.2	I'm going to go for B, 42,000.
1:10.5	Okay, well, later on we'll find out the answer.
1:13.8	In the United States, cheap and easy food like hamburgers, French fries and milkshakes have been popular since the 1950s.
1:22.2	Listen as Adam Chandler, author of the book Drive-Thru Dreams, which traces the history of American fast food,
1:29.1	tells BBC World Service program, The Food Chain, how it all got started.
1:34.8	At the heart of the story of fast food is a very, anyone can do this sense.
1:41.1	A lot of the company founders didn't have a college degree who didn't have a high school
	...

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