"Hundreds of millions of people buy fast food every day without giving it much thought, unaware of the subtle and not so subtle ramifications of their purchase" (Pg. 10). The widespread phenomenon of fast food consumption has transformed even the simplest aspects of everyday life. An era when eating out was rare and saved for special occasions is coming to an end, and is quickly being replaced with a sky-rocketing demand for fast food. Over time, the fast food industry has increasingly manipulated consumers and corrupted the stability of the nation, and although the convenience and affordability of fast food has made it widely popular, the disadvantages noticeably exceed the benefits.
Corporations make us fat Many people claim that it is personal responsibility of what you eat, however fast food corporations and their marketing strategies make it almost impossible to say no. From childhood we are conditioned to grab a large combo meal on our way home instead of going to the grocery store then cooking it ourselves. The ease, convenience, and the cheap prices make it all too easy for consumers. Corporations are to blame for America’s obesity problems because of their lack of nutritional information available to consumers, their lack of alternatives, and their brand recognition and advertisements addicting us from childhood. There is no calorie information posted in any fast food restaurant.
The Fast Food Industry is responsible for obesity in America as they have many fast food restaurants typically many within a small radius providing cheap easy solutions to societies hunger. David Zinczenko, a writer for The New York Times, describes marketing powers in his assessment "Don't Blame the Eater" he states that just about all fast food restaurants falsely advertise their foods and pass to many as a "healthy" meal choice but little do people know is that they are still extremely unhealthy foods that should not be included in anybody's diet what so ever. There has been many varieties of marketing techniques developed over the years of the fast food industry's attempts to persuade others to eat at their establishments. The fact that the foods they are extremely unhealthy for people of all ages from kids to adults is helping to cause obesity throughout America although some may be aware of the risks the average American still continues to eat out at fast food establishments along with the family giving the fast food industry a chance to get the entire family hooked for life. Going to fast food restaurants to prove his theory about how horrible fast food restaurants are for the human body.
The article, "The battle against fast food begins in the home" by Daniel Weintraub, explains how people are blaming McDonalds and other fast food restaurants such as Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Starbucks, and Pizza Hut for their obesity. The author disagrees with the blaming that people are doing. I also disagree. People are blaming and sueing the fast food restaurants for the decision they have made of being unhealthy. They are making comments such as, "The problem of obesity is so staggering, so out of control, that we have to do something."
Prof. Neuman ENC 101 March 10, 2014 “Don’t Blame the Eater” Summary “Don’t Blame the Eater” by David Zinczenko points out how easy it is to go and buy unhealthy food. Due to the growing expense of the fast food industry, unhealthy food can be purchased at any fast food restaurant, but the numbers of nutritional restaurants are declining. If you drive down any street, you will find more than one fast food restaurant, but if you drive back up the block you will not find a place to buy healthy foods. As an obese child, David recalls the limited options of nutritional food in and outside of his household. Parents today are allowing their children to eat more fast food because it is fast, convenient and seemly affordable.
I completely agree with Weintraub and believe that they should take more responsibility. I’ll admit that fast food advertisements play a big role in child obesity. But not big enough to overpower the kids’ parents; at least, it shouldn’t. According to David Barboza’s “If you Pitch it, They will Eat”, “most big food companies, despite some promises to offer healthier foods and in some cases to limit marketing in schools, deny that they are to blame for the
Food served today does not come with proper warning labels. The food industry is marketing to a group of children and since there are no warnings, it will cause more problems. Problems like sickness, obesity, & litigious parents. Honestly the obesity problem in America wont is solved quickly. There is so much money to be made and for a fast food company to do something that would endanger their revenue is unlikely to happen.
So since they have low income they only thing they can do is go buy fast food. Arken and Houston also state more causes of obesity in the inner-city, “Obesity is determined by many factors (e.g inactivity, high-fat diet cultural preference)”(2).The culture the parents put their child in is basically by forced because of their living situation. With the low income it’s hard for the African American people to take their child to get health insurance, so they can’t receive advice from the medical establishment on how to prevent obesity. In, “Facing Up to Childhood Obesity” Phillips states the effects of inactivity in Great Britain. Arken and Houston do the same in Obesity in Inner-City African
In David Zinczenko's "Don't Blame the Eater", published in the New York Times, on November 23, 2002, Mr. Zinczenko explains how children and teenagers aren’t at fault for being overweight. Zinczenko mentions how teenagers can’t find healthier places to eat instead of fast-food. It’s pretty hard to find a healthier alternative to fast-food when you’re an overweight teenager with a car and you’re hungry. The only places really to go are Subway and Chipotle. Yet there's plenty of fault to go around in explaining the problem of obese children and teenagers.
Both private and publicly owned institutions that have not kept the public sufficiently educated on the dangers of eating the products they serve or produce; these companies have made millions of dollars on the sales of fast food, junk food, and sugar drinks. As a nation we should be stressing physical activity in home and at school, however, recess is being systematically eliminated, while games and sports equipment is being sacrificed for other costs. The fast food industry has done a wonderful job in making children want fast food and convincing parents that fast food meals are a nutritious alternative to cooking meals at home and they are quick, easy, and affordable. “Advertisements often portray unhealthy eating messages to children. As many commercials are for fast food, soft drinks, and cereals sweetened with sugar, one could argue that children are encouraged by the media to consume high fat, energy dense food” (Ebbeling, Pawlak, & Ludwig, 2002).