However the food we eat is high in fat and sodium and lack the nutrition needed to lead a healthy life. What’s being done to stop obesity, and whose problem is it? Should our government be able to step in and stop obesity as it becomes a matter of public health and a concern to the American people? This essay will discuss two authors with important views on the subject. In “What you Eat is your Business”, Radley Balko describes how our government is letting American's live unhealthy lives, while the healthy people have to pay for others unhealthy habits.
“Junking Junk Food” Judith Warner Judith Warner’s, “Junking Junk Food”, discusses the eating habits in America and how the government is trying to urge a healthier lifestyle to the public. The Obama administration has declared war on unhealthful eating, and has been teaching Americans and children in healthier eating habits as part of Michelle Obama’s apolitical personal project as the first lady. Changing specific eating behaviors, without addressing that way of life, and without changing the culture of food is a difficult task. Warner discussed how Michelle Obama succeeded in enlisting some bipartisan support and some cooperation from the food industry. The Obama administration is taking on the central aspects of the American lifestyle, but the administration needs to present a healthier way of eating as a new, desirable and freely chosen option of the American way.
By listing the main points used by the food industry when approached with criticism, it allows Brownell and Nestle to rebut it later in their essay. With their counterargument they also use morality. “Why quarrel with the personal-responsibility argument? First, it’s wrong” (Brownell and Nestle 525). The morality of the issue definitely helps to convince readers that the government holds the responsibility on obesity.
Their conclusion surprised the designers as much as their sponsor: they determined that promoting the concept of a “foodshed” — a diversified, regional food economy — could be the key to improving the American diet. All of which suggests that passing a health care reform bill, no matter how ambitious, is only the first step in solving our health care crisis. To keep from bankrupting ourselves, we will then have to get to work on improving our health — which means going to work on the American way of eating. But even if we get a health care bill that does little more than require insurers to cover everyone on the same basis, it could put us on that course. For it will force the industry, and the government, to take a good hard look at the elephant in the room and galvanize a
September 22, 2013 What You Eat Is Your Business Obesity has become a huge issue in America, and fast foods are believed to be one of the leading causes, yet many Americans still love fast foods and practically live off of them. Those who deal with obesity usually see it as a problem but realized it too late, and struggle to make things rights. Many blame others or make excuses for their obesity, which is really a result of their own free will. Therefore, in some cases, others pay the consequences of those poor choices. Balko uses logos to explain that the people of America need to start taking responsibility for their own health, particularly with diet and obesity, because those are results of their own choices.
Pollan wants to know how we lost our way. For him, America reached a new level of absurdity in 2002, when the Atkins diet saw a resurgence and, almost overnight, carbohydrates became dietary villains (replacing fat as our nutritional enemy number one). Pollan hypothesizes that any culture that could change its eating habits on a dime must have some sort of eating disorder because such a thing “never would have happened in a culture in possession of deeply rooted traditions surrounding food and eating.” (2) After all, why do Americans — unlike people in most other countries in the world — rely on the government to come up with dietary goals to tell them what to eat? Why do we choose our meals on the “food pyramid” — which itself changes every few years and is often dependent more on politics than on science? Why do we pay more attention to the percentages of vitamins in our breakfast than we do to its taste, or substitute “nutrition bars” for meals?
If the many families of our societies and the government don’t start to control the situation, then it will always be a major problem within our households. It is true that fast food is promptly available it doesn’t mean the habit should be avoided. I believe the epidemic on child obesity with fast food consumption can be solved by first solving the problem with the parent. It will take time to eliminate the problem with the consumption of always eating fast food but it will be a start. Whether if the government decided to take action related to fast food for the cause of child obesity.
With these fads being used to influence the diets of Americans and all the while health statistics are not showing any improvement, demonstrates the impact that culture has on the food disconnection. With iconic images like the food pyramid still being utilized in government nutrition programs such as Women Infants and Children (WIC) and in the public and private education systems, the American populace is being reinforced with information supported by outdated research (as cited in Hargrove, n.d.). Cereal campaigns promoting a healthy start to your day with products comprised of complex sugars, genetically modified grains, and a side of milk that is filled with synthetic nutrients that can’t be processed by the body are sold as the solution to healthy eating (Kenner, 2008). With the American public continually bombarded with advertising campaigns promoting new half-baked quick fixes such as Slim fast or the lemon detox, the advertising market continues to exploit the yearning for a solution to healthy eating. The “French paradox” addresses the role of culture and its impact on eating habits, it draws a contrast between the French populace who’s eating habits are motivated by pleasure and long-standing culture, from that of Americans, who’s
The quality of food has decreased significantly though out the years. The two articles I will be analyzing to support my topic is Jane Mt. Pleasant’s academic article “The Three Sisters” (2001) and Michael Pollan’s popular article “The Way We Live Now.”(2003) Michael Pollan and Jane Mt. Pleasant are American authors, journalists, and activists, who have one thing in common- to inform the seriousness of the bad eating habits and its consequences if actions are not taken. Food is one of the major necessities for all humans to survive.
As obesity and its effects gain awareness, Americans are making more efforts to encourage a healthy lifestyle. Many restaurants are incorporating healthier choices into their menus and “policy-makers are taking action to protect children from the fast-food trend” by limiting “food advertising aimed at children” (“Fast Food”). In 2004 the health campaign Verb was launched, using boldface names to promote physical activity and healthy decision-making. Unfortunately, Verb was terminated in 2007 due to a lack of funds (Kluger 227). The problem with the current endeavors, then, is that they are not void of any possible defects.