A few questions about fast food

The U.S. Census Bureau’s economic census says people in Hawaii love fast food more than any other state in the country.

At least, we did back in 2002, so says the latest data available. How much do we like fast food? Folks in Hawaii spent an average of $609 per person on fast food restaurants.

We’re not talking just McDonald’s or Burger King or Jack in the Box. Fast food extends to plate lunch places, too. Hawaii’s international culture also included Japanese, Chinese, Korean, and more.

In short, folks in Hawaii like to eat out. Or, do we?

True, people in Vermont spent less than half as much per person to eat fast food, but it’s so cold there who wants to go out to eat? I’ll bet microwave soup is popular in Vermont.

Consider this– fast food costs more in Hawaii than anywhere else in the country.  Could that have something to do with the ranking?

Slicing and dicing the math yields a few other realities. Per day, per person, the fast food folks of Hawaii still spend only $1.67 per day on whatever they eat. Even accounting for only five days a week, and a couple of weeks for vacation, it’s still only $2.44 per day, per person for a fast food fill up.

Who can fill up on $2.44 a day? Even eating fast food just twice a week comes to a modest and respectable average of $5.86 a meal. Somehow that sounds about right.

Just remember that dining out costs less per meal in Vermont. Frankly, if fast food were free in Vermont, dining out would still be a better deal in Hawaii.