Fast Food Nation

We're talking about the United Kingdom here, not the States, mind you. Subway is on track to become the UK's largest fast-food franchise and London has the second higest concentration of Starbucks in the world: Which suggests that when it comes to dietary habits we Yanks aren't the only people on the globe who have traded taste for convenience.

Of course, the UK has never been known for its cuisine. Not until curry became the unofficial national dish of England, anyway.

I wonder how the mammoth fast-food chains are doing on the Continent where the slow-food movement was born. Could Starbucks ever gain a foothold in Italy? Not without changing its recipe for cappucino, one would think, but who knows. And what about Subway? I predict that they'll eventually take over Europe just like they did the states. Their strategy of market saturation has proven to be ruthlessly (to their competitors) effective.