Richard Balko and Mary Maxfield discuss personal responsibility, and choices in one’s health in their essays “What You Eat Is Your Business,” and “Food as Thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating” respectively. Balko feels the government should not intervene in people’s food intake because it is an individual preference. Instead, Balko asserts that the government should foster a program to assist the American people to take on personal responsibility and ownership of their own health. Similarly, Maxfield paints the same picture that our culture now finds it immoral to eat what our body needs, therefore believing in the idea of eating less is healthier. Maxfield points out the multi-billion dollar campaign of corporations into advertising false hope into consumers by buying into eradication of fatness. Why has food have suddenly become a risky subject at the dinner table? And who is to blame? Is it everyone else or do we blame ourselves? …show more content…
Some evidence points out too much food and not enough exercise as one of the main causes. According to the publichealth.org website, “Americans are notorious for their fast-food consumption ― such food makes up about 11% of the average American diet. Another study demonstrates the full effect added sugars from soda and energy drinks are wreaking havoc on American waistlines.” So it is not just how much we eat, but what we eat? On the other hand, Americans spent more than $50 billion annually on quick diet scheme, books, and work-out videos to lose weight. Most especially as a New Year’s resolution wish having had too much holiday dinners and parties. The irony of the mixed messages on health, and food consumption in America could send anyone to a therapist chair on conflicting emotions about food and
“Food as thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating,” is an article written by Mary Maxfield in response or reaction to Michael Pollan’s “Escape from the Western Diet”. Michael Pollan tried to enlighten the readers about what they should eat or not in order to stay healthy by offering and proposing a simple theory: “the elimination of processed foods” (443).
I am responding to the request to analyze Radley Balko’s article, “What You Eat Is Your Business” and make a recommendation for or against publication in The Shorthorn at University of Texas at Arlington. In order to respond, I have examined the rhetorical appeals of Balko’s piece and determined why this article should be posted in the next edition of The Shorthorn. I believe that the Shorthorn audience would be interested in what is being discussed regarding of obesity, things that could potentially affect their lifestyle as well as the professors. In “What You Eat Is Your Business”, Balko claims that obesity is the responsibility of the individual not the government, and how our government is allowing American to live an unhealthy lifestyle
In his article “What You Eat Is Your Business,” Radley Balko emphasizes that we ought to be accountable with what we eat, and the government should not interfere with that. He declares that the state legislature and school boards are already banning snacks and soda at school campuses across the country to help out the “anti-obesity” measure. Radley claims that each individual’s health is becoming “public health” instead of it being their own problem. Balko also states, “We’re becoming less responsible for our own health, and more responsible for everyone else’s.” For instance, a couple of new laws have been passed for people to pay for others’ medicine. There is no incentive to eat right and healthy, if other people are paying for the doctor
In “Don’t Blame the Eater”, by David Zinczenko and in “What You Eat is Your Business”, by Radley Balko both authors discuss and make their stance’s clear on their believed cause of obesity in America. On one hand, Zinczenko argues that it is not the consumers fault for putting themselves at risk of becoming obese or being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, but that it is the fast-food companies fault. While on the other hand, Balko argues that we as individuals hold responsibility on whether or not we are putting ourselves at risk for obesity.
Throughout the passage of time, individuals have been plagued with a falsified identity, more so in the likes of women than those of men. Contrived from birth to see oneself through a predefined definition of what it means to adhere to the socially excepted norm of your gender. Manufactured to see oneself has having a choice, of having an identity that is build from within; that you may desire to be whatever you want, accomplished what you seem fit, as long as your desire is to be a man, to be a woman. What rarely gets asked is why do we desire to be this, have the same thing, to be a man, to be a woman? Advertisements, the existence of freedom through personal sovereignty from consumption, and the ideological societal customs create an environment
Society has always been in the mindset of a white cis male, racist and sexist. In the article “The Globalization of Eating Disorders”, by Susan Bordo, talks about how the media portrays women in an impossible light and how women of color are overlook in eating disorders. The article “Saving the Life That Is Your Own: The Importance of Models in the Artist’s Life” by Alice Walker, talks about how women of color are overlook and not taken seriously in literature and how people need good models in life to do and become great things. They both have a common topic of that women of color are often over looked in literature and media and if women of color were truly portrayed in society then girls of all ages could really benefit from it.
This final reading of Peter Singer and Jim Mason’s “The Ethics of What We Eat” was probably the most eye-opening for me. Here, Singer and mason discuss ethical eating options as well as the food choices of a vegan family, the Farbs. They end up summarizing where we should try and get our food and what exactly we should eat. There were many topics that Mason and Singer wanted the readers to hold onto after that section, but I believed that they can all be generalized into one statement: humans must realize that animals are not inanimate objects with no feelings, and how we raise animals for food not only affects us on a personal level but everyone on a global level. They explain that the output is not worth the input, and that there are many
In “What you eat is your Business”, Radley Balko argues that as the government is trying to control people’s health and eating habits by restricting food, taxing high calorie food and considering menu labeling. He claims that people should consider making better choices about diet, exercise and personal health when health insurance companies are not paying for the results of the choices they make. He cites ……………………… to support his assertions .However, Balko fails to support the claim with credible reasons. Therefore, the Shorthorn should not publish” What you eat is your Business” the article does not contain ample reasons to support the claim; it is tedious, poorly argued and does not hold the attention of the readers.
Obesity has become an epidemic in today’s society. Today around 50% of America is now considered to be over weight. Fast-food consumption has been a major contributor to the debate of the twenty-first century. Chapter thirteen, titled “Is Fast-Food the New Tobacco,” in the They Say I Say book, consists of authors discussing the debate of fast-food’s link to obesity. Authors debate the government’s effects on the fast-food industry, along with whether or not the fast-food industry is to blame for the rise in obesity throughout America. While some people blame the fast food industry for the rise in obesity, others believe it is a matter of personal responsibility to watch what someone eats and make sure they get the proper exercise.
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
Should people be held accountable for what they eat? Many believe that it is a matter of public health, but some think that it is the matter of personal responsibility. In the article “What You Eat Is Your Business,” Radley Balko argues that the government spending more money on anti-obesity measures is the wrong way to fix the obesity epidemic. He claims that people should be more responsible for their personal health. I am of two minds about this author’s claim that eating and lifestyle are matters of personal choice. On the one hand, I agree with his claim because of the unfair insurance policies, people should be more responsible for their own health, and people should take the time to be responsible for their kid’s health instead of blaming someone or something irrelevant. On the other hand, the government should do their best to dispose of “food deserts,” provide more opportunities to live a healthy life style, and give tax breaks to people selling healthy foods.
Radley Balko, The author of the essay “What You Eat is Your Business”, would agree that in order to stop obesity, we must turn this public problem around and make it everyone’s individual responsibility. Instead of inflicting the importance of personal ownership, government officials, politicians and congress make obesity a public problem by prohibiting junk food in school vending machines, federal funding for new bike trails and sidewalks, and restrictive food marketing to children. Overall I agree that this manipulation of food options is not the proper way to fight obesity, however, I think that government should inform people about the food they are eating because then they have no excuses for not taking responsibility of the actions.
According to the USDA, at the start of century 21st American people have increased their daily caloric intake by consuming five hundred calories more than in 1970. As cited by Whitney & Rolfes (2011), there are many recognized causes of obesity such as genetics, environment, culture, socioeconomic, and metabolism among others; but the cause most evident is that food intake is higher than the calories burned in physical activity. Excess of energy from food is stored in the body as fat causing an increase of weight. During the course of the last 40 years, obesity has grown enormously in the United States and the rates remain on the rise (pgs. 272-273).
Ever since the creation of the golden arches, America has been suffering with one single problem, obesity. Obesity in America is getting worse, for nearly two-thirds of adult Americans are overweight. This obesity epidemic has become a normal since no one practices any type of active lifestyle. Of course this is a major problem and many wish it wasn 't in existence, but then we start to ask a major question. Who do we blame? There are two articles that discuss numerous sides of this question in their own unique way. “What You Eat is Your Business” by Radley Balko is better than “Don 't Blame the Eater” by David Zinczenko due to its position in argument, opposition, and it’s reoccurrence in evidence.
In '08 the actual Un declared a global food stability crisis, however exactly what is food stability? According to the Food and also Farming Business on the Un, food stability “exists while anyone, continually, include real, social, and also financial use of ample, safe, and also healthful food in order to meet their own eating requires and also food inclinations a great lively and also healthful life” . In line with the classification associated with food stability, food self-deprecation is actually then thought as “a situation which is available while folks deficiency protected use of ample numbers of safe and also healthful food pertaining to usual development and also advancement, and also a lively and also healthful life”.