Worldwide, millions of people are consuming fast food, unaware of the mental and physical consequences it can cause to their body. The fast food industry lacks to label the food they advertise, leaving individual’s clueless and with little, to no choice. In the article An Equal Shot: Big Fat America the author claims that “The real solution here is to give people the choice to eat organic foods that are in season and are locally produced. But that can only work if people are informed, and that means more labeling.” On the other hand, if the fast food industry informed people about the ingredients they are putting into their bodies and labeled more of their food items, it would be no one, but the individual to blame.
The amount of unhealthy food consumed in America goes well beyond McDonalds. In fact, you have to go no farther than your local grocery store to find equally as terrible food choices. For example, in recent years the government has put out warnings against eating fat in excess, which lead many big food companies, from yogurt to Wheat Thins, to send out new products with “less fat”. However, products with “less fat” actually have nearly twice as much sugar. Many studies have shown that sugar in excess is much worse than fat.
The life pursued by the average young person in America is fast paced and scheduled to the point of breaking. As time has progressed this time stretched life style has impacted the need for food that isn’t cooked at home or even at restaurants that cook with traditional methods. This coupled with the swelling number of households with either a single parent or two working parents has increased the reliance on the fast food industry and in turn increased the overweight and obesity rates in the country. In his article “Don’t Blame the Eater,” David Zinczenko addresses this topic and places the blame not on those partaking in these delectable dinners, but in the hands of the fast food industry and their lack of understandable labeling. Zinczenko’s argument is valid and strong due to his equal use of ethos, logos and pathos.
In “How Junk Food Can End Obesity” David Freedman argues that ending processed food is not going to help solve obesity problems. He knows that “Junk food is bad for you because it’s full of fats and problems carb” (Freedman 515). Freedman believe that we should use technology to improve fast-food by taking out the unhealthy products in it, instead of getting rid of fast-food entirely. He also talks about his experiences with food between wholesome food and McDonald’s. He discusses how McDonald’s smoothies have the lowest calories and are cheapest out of all other smoothies he had.
More cheaper and “efficient” products mean more money coming their way. As people are getting more greedy with their income, the people who can not afford the better choice of a healthier diet are getting unhealthy. “More sweeteners, salt, and trans fat. Cheaper meat, more animal fat”, Saletan expressed. As a server at a ramen restaurant, I fully understand how this works.
Many of us enjoy fast food restaurants because they are quick, cheap and the food is appeasing to our taste buds. It would be very hard for many of us to turn down junk food for veggies. In the article, How Junk Food Can End Obesity, David H. Freedman presents, “Demonizing processed food may be dooming many to obesity and disease. Could embracing the drive-thru make us all healthier?” Freedman believes in the process of making prepackaged foods healthier.
As the author puts it, "A hallmark of the western diet is food that is fast, cheap, and easy" (425). To elaborate, the particular food Pollan refers to are those that typically fall under the fast-food category. Whether it be a quarter-pounder from McDonald’s or the famous Baconator from Wendy’s, these menu items all share characteristics of what the western diet entails. These processed foods are composed of genetically modified organisms and include lab-made ingredients that the industry produces rather than foods and ingredients mother nature herself creates. Pollan makes almost the same claim when he says “…instead of worrying about nutrients, we should simply avoid any food that has been processed to such an extent that it is more the product of industry than of nature.”
With this in mind, Freedman claims that the whole-some movement also believes that processed food has more sugar, salt, and fat, which means the unprocessed foods, have notably less sugar, salt, and
The book, Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser, is about “The Dark Side of the All-American Meal”. Fast food in America is not as good as it seems. Most customers don’t know that by eating this food, they are putting their health at a serious risk. You only see the good side of things, but never the bad. Fast food chains are now in control.
Junk food is responsible for the growing rate of obesity. This is outlined by David freedman in his article of “How junk food can end obesity.” David Freedman has credited the “health-food” motion, and followers of it along with Michel Pollan. Freedman claims that if the America desires to stop the obesity epidemic, or at least reduce its effects, they must shift to the fast meals and processed meals enterprise for assist, now not the “health-food” movement.
However, this is not his only purpose in writing this essay. Additionally, Michael Pollan seeks to reassure the reader that this change will eventually occur and how it will happen. He argues that the food movement of our generation has been successful in changing popular consciousness. However, it has been struggling with shifting, in any impactful way, the “standard American diet,” which he purports has only gotten worse since the 1970s (Envision in Depth p.g
The main purpose throughout the article is to specifically persuade the intended audience. Particularly the author wants meatatarian fast-food restaurants to incorporate relatively inexpensive ingredients that can grow into productivity. Though the author mentioned various quotes that perhaps strengthened his argument to an extent, his inability to implicate different forms of persuasion significantly weakened the message that he was trying to deliver. Mark Bittman’s article “Fast, good and good for you” is ineffective in using rhetoric because of his overuse of logos rather than using other appeals to persuade.
In David Freedman’s essay How Junk food Can End Obesity, Freedman makes the claim to policy arguing that instead of demonizing processed foods, Americans should instead support the idea and production of healthier processed and junk foods. He calls on the public to recognize that while many products on the market these days are labeled as “wholesome” and “healthy”, consumers should learn to become aware of the fat and calorie content in these products because many times they have the same- if not more- fat and calorie contents as that of a typical Big Mac or Whopper. In his essay, Freedman primarily places blame on the media and the wholesome food movement for the condemnation of the fast and processed food industries saying, “An enormous amount of media space has been dedicated to promoting the notion that all processed food, and only processed food, us making us sickly and overweight” (Freedman), he further expresses that this portrayal of the
The claim is that consumers should not be buying a package of eggs for $3.45 when they can buy the same eggs for $.99. Well, that's what is wrong with the society, we want what is cheap and fast, not necessarily whether or not it is better for us. The Industrial chain puts out fast food that is terrible for the body, and uses lots of poisonous chemicals to make the food look and taste “Good.” What the consumers also do not see in Industrial food chain supermarkets is that most of the popular chains failed to achieve decent grades for fresh food, and reducing the amount of food wasted. Over 165.6 billion dollars was wasted over the surplus of foods, and 40% of food was thrown out for being old and modeling(USDA).
Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser discusses how the American nation has been shaped and changed by fast food. The author takes something that is so American, fast food, and portrays to the reader the impact it has really had on American life and its culture. The author talks to multiple people who feel the negative impacts of the fast food industry and then goes more in depth about it. He relates life today to different time periods, such as the 1920s, great depression, and the industrial revolution. This book shows the read that in fact, history does repeat itself.
