Fast Food Destroys Americas Health - Essay Example

Faisal A. Alnafia Dr. Susan Fox English 1001-07 21 November Why Fast Food is Destroying America’s Health People nowadays eat vastly different food than those people who lived hundreds or even thousands of years ago. Because life was very primitive, every meal had to be cooked. This was usually done with starting a fire and cooking some animal that had just been caught. As such, these people lived simple lives and never really developed ill health due to poor food choices. Disease was very common in old times, yet that is for a different reason entirely—poor hygiene. Because modern technology has improved so much, food is able to be processed. This is much faster than the traditional way of cooking a meal. Also, due to our busy schedules, fast food has become inevitable in most people’s daily lives (“Too much alcohol and not enough vitamins”). The convenience of being able to get something to eat in an instant has meant that many people now prefer this option instead of regular home cooking. However, there are consequences to a steady diet of fast food. Many people do not think of these consequences when they are eating fast food because the effects are only felt after a long period of time. With all the advertising around today promoting fast food, it makes it almost impossible to resist. Added with poor family backgrounds, fast food has become a stable amongst America’s population. Fast food is destroying America’s health because of a lack of education about the issue, addictive qualities, and cheap prices. The major reason why America is suffering from too much fast food is due to the contents in most fast food choices. It is almost common knowledge that fast food is bad for someone’s health, although not many people could actually recognize why this is so. If people were more informed about the contents of the food that they were consuming, maybe they would make alternative choices to fast food. However, this is not currently the case with fast food. Legislation has been passed by the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act (NLEA) that requires nutrition labels on almost every food product (Thyroff 432). The problem is that this does not apply to food prepared for immediate consumption. Fast food happens to fall under this category and so fast food producers are not required by law to inform its customers of what contents are in its food products. Action groups are attempting to change this and have succeeded to some extent. If consumers have knowledge about the fast food that they are consuming then they are more likely to think twice before doing so. Specific focus groups on this issue have seemed to suggest that the majority of consumers would be pleased about nutrition information being presented on the packet or wrapper that they buy their fast food in (Thyroff 433). It makes sense that people would make better food choices if they were given better information about the food that they are consuming. If they do not have access to this knowledge and choose to consume fast food, then they cannot be considered lazy. A more appropriate term would be uninformed or unaware. This requires education about the issues at hand and, more than likely, they will come to understand how their fast food choices can affect their daily lives. Unfortunately, many high profile restaurants do not want to go to the hassle of putting labels on their food products. The major reasons given were operationally ineffective, cost would go up, and America’s obesity problem would not change in the long term (Thyroff 434). As long as these businesses are out there to make money, they don’t care what they tell or do not tell their clients. It really comes down to an ethical issue. This is something that the federal government should address for the sake of the nation as a whole. The reason why America’s health is failing is due to the addictive substances contained in many fast food products. Fast food manufacturers, like any business, want to make as much money as possible. In order to do this, they need to provide food that keeps customers coming back for more and more. This type of customer is the best one to target because they will become loyal to a brand and will continually make purchases of the product. Unlike other types of food, fast food can be particularly addictive. Some fast food products, such as hamburgers and French fries, have been found to be as addictive as heroin (“Fast food ‘as addictive as heroin’” 2003). Heroin users typically cannot go without their fix because they become dependent on it in order to get through the day. Fast food is no different because many fast food consumers seem to consume fast food on a regular basis. There are those customers who will only consume fast food every once and a while, but these people are few and far between. Researchers from the United States have discovered that the key ingredients that make fast food so addictive are sugar and fat (“Fast food ‘as addictive as heroin’” 2003). These substances can cause excessive weight gain because there is no nutritional value in them. Just as in a drug user, many fast food users are unable to control their addiction. It really comes down to an issue of self-control. The hard thing for fast food consumers is that fast food manufacturers make it so hard to do so. The addictive qualities of fast food cause consumers to become addicted over the long term. The documentary Super Size Me shows the real-life effects of someone who consumes fast food over the long term. Morgan Spurlock both directed the documentary and starred in it. The documentary was shot over a 30-day period between the 1st of February and 2nd of March, 2002 (Super Size Me). During that period of time, all Spurlock ate was McDonald’s food. The purpose of the documentary was to note any physical or psychological effects on Spurlock due to his enormous fast food consumption. During the experiment, Spurlock ate an average nine Big Macs (Super Size Me). The end result was that he gained close to 25 pounds and went through severe mood swings. Part way through the experiment, Spurlock’s doctor advised him to stop eating McDonalds because of the detrimental effects on his health. Although he had small heart problems, Spurlock decided to carry on the experiment until completion. This documentary, although grossly over-exaggerated, is not too far from the truth for some Americans. A regular diet of fast food such as McDonalds inevitably leads to health complications. Finally, fast food is destroying America’s population due to its low cost. Because fast food is processed, it does not take too much time or money to produce. This, in turn, allows fast food companies to sell their products for very low prices. Compared to home cooking, which may take hours of work and energy, fast food is convenient because it can be bought in an instant. The only way that people can be deterred from purchasing fast food is if the prices go up. One way to do this is to let the federal government enforce some kind of fast food tax on all fast food chains. This would force fast food outlets to raise their prices in order to maintain revenue. The end result would be that consumers would purchase less fast food because of the raised prices. Demand would decrease in response to an increase in price. More than this though, simply raising the cost of fast food will not deter some individuals. These people are highly dependent on fast food and will not give it up no matter how much it costs. Instead of targeting them, the focus needs to go on people who may give up fast food if it costs too much. In conjunction with a fast food tax, there needs to be better advertising against the consumption of fast food. This is not likely to happen, however, because fast food chains hold enormous power and can pay big money to put their message across. Fast food is becoming a normal part of American’s everyday diets because of its availability, low cost, and cheap prices. Even though many people would admit that fast food is bad for them, they still continue to buy it because of the convenience of having food in an instant. Many people underestimate the effects that fast food has on the American people. Fast food is having a detrimental effect on America because of not enough knowledge about the issues, addictive qualities, and the low cost associated with it. Better labeling and education is required to inform people of the content in fast food. This may not affect everyone, but it will help to control the situation somewhat. The problem is that fast food has been compared to certain drugs in the way that its users are addicted to it. For many, cheap food is all that they can afford and fast food is the most logical option in this case. Works Cited “Fast food ‘as addictive as heroin.’” BBC News, 30 Jan. 2003. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. Retrieved from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2707143.stm Super Size Me. Dir. Morgan Spurlock. Perf. Morgan Spurlock and Alexandra Jamieson. Samuel Goldwin Films, 2004. Film. Thyroff, Anastasia et al. "Weighing In On Fast Food Consumption: The Effects Of Meal And Calorie Disclosures On Consumer Fast Food Evaluations." Journal Of Consumer Affairs 44.3 (2010): 431-462. Academic Search Complete. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. “Too much alcohol and not enough vitamins: How poor diet is putting women of all ages at risk.” The Daily Mail, 1 Jun. 2010. Web. 21 Nov. 2011. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1282909/Busy-lives-appetite-fast-food- pressure-How-British-women-risking-health-shunning-nutritious-foods.html Read More