What You Eat Is Your Business Radley Balko Analysis

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Homework #2 “What You Eat is Your Business”

In Radley Balko’s article “What You Eat is Your Business”, Balko argues that obesity is the responsibility of the individual, not the government or anybody else for that matter. He argues that obesity should be more so a matter of personal responsibility instead of being looked at as a matter of “public health”.

After reading Balko’s article, his position is pretty clear. He is completely against obesity being a “public health” crisis. What a person consumes, unhealthy or healthy, should not be anybody’s business but their own. He is also against the public paying for others unhealthy choices. Balko states, “It’s difficult to think of anything more private and less public concern than …show more content…

I do support Zinczenko’s position that the fast food restaurants should be held accountable, but I find Balko’s argument about personal responsibility to be equally persuasive. They each make really important points. I agree that fast food companies play a huge role in a lot of health risks, in today’s society, but I cannot agree that they are the only ones to blame. Nobody is forcing me to purchase that ten piece chicken nugget meal from McDonalds instead of getting something from Wholefoods that I can cook, it’s a choice. Everything that we do in life is a choice. It takes more than eating to become obese. Balko States, “We’ll all make better choices about diet, exercise, and personal health when someone else isn’t paying for the consequences of those choices.” People in today’s society don’t take accountability for their unhealthy choices because they don’t have to, the government makes it okay not to. Personal responsibility should be primary in our nutrition choices. The government shouldn’t be trying to control what we eat, but they should instead be giving us a healthier, affordable alternative. It’s not okay that we lack healthier alternatives, nor is it okay that we lack information about what we’re consuming, but it is definitely not okay us to look at everything possible to blame without even looking at

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