ENG 1A FOOD ESSAY IMPROVED
Lil_Dicky
FASTFOODESSAY.docx
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Fast Food Easy
Food has always been the cornerstone of our everyday lives. Our grandparents give us stories about how they walked for long distances to school shoeless and in the snow. All they had to do was to take heavy food that was mostly boiled which gave them the energy to cover 10 miles a day to and from school. While some of these stories may be a bit of exaggeration, the main concern is that the food we eat today has drastically changed within the last half century and is no longer suitable for our health. According to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), most of the food we eat is formed through the manufacturing process and contains high levels of cholesterol – the leading cause of heart diseases in the United States. Today, fast food restaurants serve more than 50 million Americans per day. Statistics indicate that the fast-food industry generates sales of over $110 billion dollars each year. The rise in the consumption of fast food has moved in direct proportion to the decline of our health.
Over the past years, the consumption of fast food among the Americans has increased tremendously. This has led to a high number of fast-food restaurants that serve millions of Americans each and every day. Several factors are attributed to high levels of fast-food consumption. First, hey are moderately inexpensive, easy to access, and quick to prepare which makes them the best choice for many people. Most of the Americans spend much of their time working and have no time to prepare meals in their homes. Children are usually given money to buy snacks, pizza, fries, and burgers for breakfast or lunch because their parents are busy and do not have time to prepare meals for them. The unfortunate thing is that the food contains low levels of nutrients and high levels of cholesterol, sugar, salt and calories that lead to health problems such as obesity and diabetes. What complicates matters is the fact that fast food restaurants do not provide information to the consumers about what they are eating. David Zinczenko in his article, ‘Don’t blame the eater’ says, “There are no calorie information charts on fast-food packaging, the way there are on grocery items” (Zinczenko 463). This makes it hard for people to predict the ingredients in the food they eat. High rise in the consumption of fast food has led to massive decline of people’s health which has increased the cost of healthcare. Zinczenko notes that the cost of treating diseases such as diabetes has skyrocketed over the years. He says “the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that diabetes accounted for $2.6 billion in 1969. Today, the number is an unbelievable $100 billion a year” (Zinczenko, 2009). This is an indication that poor eating habits are costing Americans billions of dollars annually.
Zinczenko’s article, “Don’t blame the eater” attempts to provide a solution to the health issues caused by the high consumption of fast food. He attributes the growing rate of obesity among the Americans to the fast food industry and suggests that the government should set up fast food standards to regulate the industry and ensure that the food prepared is covered under the U.S Food and Drug Administration (FDA) laws. He says, “And I’d say the industry is vulnerable. Fast-food companies are marketing to children a product with proven health hazards and no warning signs” (Zinczenko 464). And like the tobacco companies who give warning to their customers on the negative effects of smoking, Zinczenko suggests that if the companies are properly regulated they will be able to protect their customers by giving them nutrition information they need to make informed choices about the food they buy. He notes that if this is not done, the health of the Americans will continue to decline. He says “Without such warnings, we’ll see more sick, obese children and more angry, litigious parents.”
Jonathan Foer, in his essay, “Against Meat” explores the history of his own family and explains why he and his wife became vegetarians. Although he was bought up in a family where meat was part of the everyday meal, Jonathan and his wife are bringing up their children not to eat meat. He explains that the realities of the present situation compelled them to make that choice. Meat prepared in the restaurants and sold in supermarkets mostly come from factory farmed animals that are genetically modified and contains a high level of chemicals that cause health problems such as heart diseases and cancer. Jonathan says that according to reports by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the U.N. and others, factory farming has made agriculture the number one contributor to global warming (Foer, 2009). This is because of the inorganic substances they use that cause serious environmental problems. According to Jonathan, eating meat nowadays has not only become a health hazard issue but also an environmental risk. He says, “Eating factory-farmed animal – which is to say virtually every piece of meat sold in supermarkets and prepared in restaurant – is almost certainly the single worst thing that humans do to the environment” (Foer 457).
My conclusion is that people should take care of the food they consume because health issues have become a major concern in today’s world. We should be more responsible of our food choices. Fast food as well as food materials from processing companies and factory farms are not only harmful to our health but are also a great risk to our financial health. Consuming these food materials in large quantities increases the likelihood of developing chronic diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. Treating these illnesses is very expensive. To avoid these problems, parents should ensure that they prepare meals at home for their families. This food is healthy because it is prepared in a clean and hygienic environment (Cooke, 2007). We should also teach our children about the importance of eating healthy food and discourage them from consuming a lot of junk food. The government should also come up with ways to regulate the fast-food industry to ensure that they improve the standards of health of the food they prepare and provide nutrition information to the customers to enable them to make informed choices about the food they buy.
Work Cited
Foer, Jonathan Safran. "Against meat." The New York Times (www. nytimes. com) (2009).
Zinczenko David. “Don’t Blame the Eater” They Say/I Say: 2009 print.
