Food is a necessity in our lives; it provides us our basic biological needs; however, when it is misused it can be deadly. This is a problem faced in many western societies because the people of these societies prefer the processed fast food, over healthy foods. Over consumption of these fast foods can make consumers ill, obese, and can possibly shorten their lifespan. Many people in these societies believe the scapegoat is the diet itself, refusing to believe there are many other factors that contribute to the problem; however, there are many factors that come into play such as culture, personal responsibility, and a parsimonious food industries. Our cultures have the greatest influence over our eating behaviors; one’s environment and biology …show more content…
In order to live a healthy lifestyle we need skills such as self control and a good work ethic. In David Zinczenko’s article “Don’t Blame the Eater” he questions to the reasoning of the kids that sued Mcdonald’s and other fast food chains for making them gain weight (Zinczenko 391). Zinczenko believes that our society fails to assume any responsibility, instead we are quick to place the blame on others. If people in our society can take responsibility for their actions, I believe that it would go a long way in making many people have a positive healthy mindset. Having a positive mindset when dealing with these particular situations can help motivate the person to eat and live healthier. Another aspect of a healthy lifestyle is our work ethic, people who have a good work ethic can positively influence their lives through exercise, however; an inadequate work ethic can lead to a dramatic weight gain. For people who want to live healthy, they must know that it does not come easy, there will many obstacles and personal changes they must overcome to become and stay …show more content…
Zinczenko also states that, if you were to drive down any thoroughfare in America you are guaranteed to see a Mcdonald’s, but you are unlikely to find a place that sells any fresh fruits (Zinczenko 392). Zinczenko’s point is that the food industry’s unwillingness to promote more healthier foods is most likely the cause of the unhealthy diets of western societies. Another part of the problem is the pricing of healthier options, such as whole foods, fresh fruits, and low calorie snacks; all these foods are ridiculously overpriced compared to their unhealthy counterparts. One would think the food that is made to help prolong your life would be more accessible, instead it is the foods that are high on calories, fats and sugars that are cheap and available. Fast food companies go by the motto that cheaper is better, and it is how they compete with each other. Almost all fast food companies followed in McDonald 's footstep by creating a dollar menu, because they saw the drastic increase of McDonald 's revenue. When consumers see all these cheap meals for a dollar they readily buy their food from the dollar menus, rather than buying a single granola bar for the same price. In a society where most of the population is the working class, these dollar
He begins his argument by commenting about kids suing McDonald’s for “making them fat” (Zinczenko 462). Zinczenko ponders the absurdity of this claim considering how food choices are based on personal responsibility. However, he then considers the overwhelming availability ratio of fast food to fresh food while sympathizing he was once obese himself (Zinczenko 462). Zinczenko uses the primary argument that fast food companies are deceiving consumers with misleading advertisement, hidden nutrition facts, and calorie risks. He believes companies are encouraging the public to eat their unhealthy foods by omitting alarming information and levying “good” deals. In consequence, fast food companies are increasing the chances of obesity and diabetes in consumers by stimulating poor eating
The article “Don’t Blame the Eater” by David Zinczenko, is an article aimed to bring attention to the ever increasing obesity rates in the United States, which he believes has been caused be the ever increasing amount of fast food restaurants in the United States.
Have you ever see a legal dispute on TV of a teenager suing a major fast food company over the food that has made them obese? Many people have and began to think that it is the teenagers fault for eating the fast food in the first place. This could have all been avoided if the consumer had decided not to eat at that particular fast food restaurant at all. While this is true another question is asked. What other place is there to get a quick bite of food for an affordable price? That is the argument that is brought up in “Don’t Blame the Eater” by David Zinczenko. Zinczenko wrote an article stating that he takes sides with the consumer in saying that they should not be held accountable the way the fast food affects their bodies. Of course they
It is not a secret that USA is becoming fatter. Zinczenko, in his article “Don’t Blame the Eater”, believe that fast food restaurants and corporations are the ones to blame for the increasing weight gain in America today. Zincenko argues that the lack of healthy options in the United States today is a key concern. “But where, exactly, are consumers-particularly teenagers- supposed to find alternatives. Drive down any thoroughfare in America, and I guarantee you’ll see one of our country’s more than 13,000 McDonald’s restaurants. Now, drive back up the block and try to find someplace to buy grapefruit” (Zinczenko, 154). For me, this quote is absurd because how can you blame the business for a person’s personal decision to eat there? It is the
In the United States, Food is one of the basic needs of life.We tend to spend tons of money every year to buy food. Consuming food reflects America’s culture in the United States. In America, Fast food is a way to enjoy delicious food made with sugar, fat and salt. It’s impossible to back away from eating good tasting food. Unfortunately, this is leading to major destruction. In the human life, food procurement, preparation, and consumption have devoted to an art form.Spite the terms of “America has a food problem,” it shows that our nation is unable to produce and supply safe, nutritious food in a way where it sustains our global population. Health Issues are a result of over consumption, which lead to portion sizes, and food production.
In his article “fast food and personal responsibility”, Ninos P. Malek (2003) argues about the public community blaming their obesity on restaurants rather than their own personal responsibility. He starts by explaining that all the fast food companies have their nutrition facts posted on their websites so people can’t complain about not knowing that the food is unhealthy. Furthermore he suggests that fast food restaurants do not force any one to buy their products instead people decide to drive to the restaurants and order themselves, which shows that it’s peoples’ choice and they’re not forced to buy that kind of food. He continues by giving examples of his high school students blaming the school cafeteria for their unhealthy habits but the
The world we live in today revolves around our convenience. The average lifestyle involves juggling school, work, sports, and family but where does food fit into the equation? We need to feed ourselves to survive so we have no choice, but to fit it into our busy schedules. Most people don’t have time to sit down and have the traditional home cooked meal anymore. Instead they have to eat on the go to keep up with their fast pace schedule. The food that can be provided fast and through a drive through is not necessarily the healthiest for our bodies and this is why I believe the majority of society is becoming overweight. An online source stated, “Partly due to the fast food culture, about 60% of Americans are overweight or obese.” The busy American lifestyle requires us to eat processed foods that cannot provide our bodies with the needed nutrients to stay at a healthy weight.
Fast food is the source of obesity in America and causes health and environmental problems throughout the world. Global influences of the fast food industry are shown in the health problems in society today. The cheap production of meat and grains for the fast food industry cause harm to the environment, humans, and animals. The fast food that is consumed is not only bad for the health of people but also for the environment. The fast food industry’s extensive advertising through television, radio, newspapers, billboards, and sponsoring reach all people in a strategy to convince consumers that their food is healthy and available to everyone. Fast food menu’s are based on meat which comes from slaughtered animals that are bred solely for the fast food industry. These animals provide unhealthy, calorie filled, and chemically conditioned contents. Meat is the majority of all food poisoning incidents due to the cheap production methods to get the food to the food to the public at low prices and large portions. The fast food industry causes people to consume large portions of unhealthy food that effects all aspects of life including health and environmental issues that arise from the availability of fast food.
Nevertheless, some people insist that fast foods, such as chips, hamburgers and fizzy drinks, that are so cheap and tasty, are not a consequence of the health problems. However, I strongly disagree that fast food has no bad impact on people’s health. I believe that fast food has a negative impact on society and, therefore, people must take care of themselves and lead a healthy lifestyle if they do not want to face serious problems with their
After reading the article Don’t Blame the Eater, I immediately became upset about the fact that we have succumb to blaming others for problems that are in our control. When it comes to eating fast food, it is important that we fix the problem now through understanding that there are other options and learning to balance our poor choice with good choices. It isn’t the fast food companies that decide our fate it is our own. If we continue to blame others for our problems, we will continue to see an even greater decline in children’s
In the Article “Don’t Blame the Eater”, the author, David Zinczenko discounts many details while adverting his notion that Fast Food Corporations are at fault for obesity in adolescents. Zinczenko uses rhetoric, and personal experience to divert the reader’s attention to the emotional aspects of the above mentioned argument instead of showing genuine refutable actualities. At the start of his article Zinczenko complicates matters when he writes “And the problem isn’t just theirs- it’s all of ours.”, implying that we contribute to obesity misfortunes among children. However, his personal account about being a teen who acquired a large quantity of weight because of an assiduous mother, and lack of food alternatives contradicts the statement
Many people in America love to get greasy, high calorie fast food from many places such as McDonalds and its competitors, but in the article “Don’t Blame the Eater” by David Zinczenko, he reveals the health problems associated with these fatty, salty meals. His articles are affective with its well organized layout, rhetorical appeals and tone which give it a very convincing argument. As you read through the article the author reveals the underlying problems with eating fast food and how there are no warnings of such problems posted. As a former obese child who grew up to diet and watch what he ate he sets a credible stance for the argument.
We are facing a big problem that will make our life more miserable. We are eating junk food constantly that is bad for our health. Many people eat junk food because they think it’s cheap and faster or some people do not like to cook their own food. “Don’t Blame the Eater” by David Zinczenko. This article is talking about how fast food is making us eat bad because of their fast service and cheap prices. People tends to choose fast food instead of cooking a healthy meal. It is easy for teenagers to gain weight by eating fast food meals. Zinczenko also argues about the absence of nutrition information about the food. I agree with Zinczenko. However, Zinczenko could also have examined the issue of fast food advertisements, mention some benefits
It became so clear that junk foods lead to a punch of catastrophic diseases like obesity, type two diabetes, vascular diseases and cardiac disorders. Those kinds of diseases cost more than $150 billion annually, just to diagnose, treat people who suffer from them. That disease is chronic and leads to many health-related issues, for example, obesity considers a risk factor for type two diabetes, and high blood pressure, joint disorders and many others (The Denver Post 2012). The key of preventing many chronic problems is nutrition. Low income plays an important role of limiting most people to buy and eat a healthy diet and in the other hand, it is easy for people budgets to purchase junk foods. So controlling the prices of healthy foods to be suitable for all people make good nutrition available for everyone. Adequate diets mean decreasing the epidemic of those serious diseases, and stopping the spread and break the bad sequences that may happen. Long-term exposure to junk foods that are full with chemicals like additives, preservatives have led to chronic illnesses difficult to treat. Also, the chemical added to junk foods are tasted unique and made millions of people becoming addicted to them and are available everywhere for example in restaurants, cafes, lunchrooms (The Denver Post
One of the chief causes is unhealthy diets. On one hand, there are high-calorie foods in daily diets like chocolates, sugar, cheese and butter. Teenagers eat more and more high-fat burgers and pizza in fast food restaurants. For example, according to Altman and Leitch (2012), in Mexico, students drink cola rather than water due to the short of hygienic drinking water. Coca cola made agreements with many schools that they would exclusively sell Coca cola inside the schools. Therefore, Mexicans are considering being the most obese country which will have 70% overweight people including 30% obsess in the future. (Altman and Leitch,2012). The foods most commonly eaten by over 80% of kids are white bread, savoury snacks, chips, biscuits and chocolate confectionery. Besides, almost 20% kids do not eat any fruit at all. In general, kids eat about half the recommended five portions of fruit and vegetables a day. On the other hand, some people judge traditional food healthier; however, some traditional foods are extremely oily as well. For example, Chinese pay attention to use oil to heat the ingredients quickly. This makes the food fairly oily and high-fat. Furthermore, diets today are changing according to ...