Fast Food's Dirty Little Secret: It's the Middle Class Buying Burgers

For years the conventional wisdom has been that fast food is poor people's food; that, thanks to government subsidies that ensure cheap calories, the drive-through is where people who can't afford the "good" stuff -- organic, grass-fed, etc. -- go to feed their families on a budget. Why else would anyone eat that stuff?

But a new study to be published in the Journal for Population Health Management reveals the dirty little secret of the American middle class: It's not cash-strapped Americans who are devouring the most Big Macs and Whoppers, it's us! According to the study, a household earning $60,000 a year eats the most fast food, and one bringing in $80,000 is actually more likely to have it their way than one with $30,000. Suddenly, last year's news from the Centers for Disease Control makes sense: Nearly half of obese adults in this country are not poor but middle-class, earning at least $77,000 for a family of four.     Full Read