Is there a way to make food healthy and affordable? Currently, consumers are consuming food without the knowledge of what ingredients were injected into them. Some of these ingredients are proving to be safe, but not all. These unsafe chemicals aren't mentioned or displayed to the buyer in any way. The people have a right to know what substances and chemicals were put into their food. In order to make the food supply healthy and affordable, policymakers should enforce food labeling, provide nutritional education for pre-adolescence and ban certain types of unhealthy foods from schools.
One action that policymakers can take is enforcing food labeling. With this requirement, producers will be limited to what ingredients and chemicals they can mix
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When children between the ages of 10 and 12 walk into a food store, they don't know that they should go look for the healthier food, but they go towards the unhealthy aisles due to the lack of knowledge. On the other hand, children who would understand what type of additives are put into their food will choose more wisely. People may think that this education will have no use in influencing children at this age, but after I conducted a survey, the results show that children between the ages of 10 and 12 begin to make and choose their own food. In order to complete the survey, I attended two schools located in Sacramento, Wilson C. Riles and Spinelli Elementary. I interviewed 40 12-year-olds, 40 11-year-olds, and 35 10-year-olds with the same question, “ do you make and/or Choose your own food?” the data resulted in 65% of the students saying yes, they made their own food, and 35% saying no, someone made their food for them. With this data, it is clearly visible that this is the Asian children begin to realize what they want and choose to eat. Furthermore, this will give a positive influence on food choices for children between the ages of 10 and
In conclusion, all aspects of food labelling, from nutrition facts to words and symbols, are all regulated to help provide consumers with accurate information about products. However, industry practices seeking to inflate product values through labelling or hide seemingly undesirable facts only serve to limit the consumers’ knowledge. Legislation attempts to deal with this, but food companies are still generally able to work around laws. If implemented correctly, the benefits of nutrition labelling according to the Food and Consumer Products of Canada (FCPC), " over the next 20 years will save $5 billion in health costs in preventing cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, according to a government study." (Starphoenix). Sadly, labelling is still used as a method of influencing sales and international trade rather than helping consumers make good purchasing choices.
According to an article entitled, The Child in the Garden: An Evaluative Review of the Benefits of School Gardens, by Dorothy Blair, “Anonymous prepackaged food arrives at supermarkets from energy-intensive, polluting, and often obesity-promoting industrial food-manufacturing systems.” This is the main reason that I am interested in food based education programs because I am a mother of three school aged children and as a mom it is difficult for me to encourage healthy eating habits when everything is against me. Television commercials are constantly advertising sugary foods, radios promote candy, and grocery stores encourage more candy sales at checkout lines. On top of that they are packaged in a way that is appealing to young children. For example, I was at the grocery store and saw a box of cereal with the characters of Frozen as did my daughter. Since Frozen is my daughter’s favorite movie she wanted me to buy it for her. I looked at the nutrition content and it was just another sugary cereal. As a mother this is a hard decision because I know the only reason she wants it is because of the packaging. If I say no than she becomes upset and if I say yes than I am not providing healthy food choices. This is the
Obesity in the United States, which the media has labeled a national crisis, has also been connected to poverty rates. Big fast food industry’s target poor communities, and spend millions of dollars each year to create advertising that appeals to these specific areas. These industry’s also target naïve children when advertising because they know that eating habits developed in childhood are usually carried into adulthood. Children who are exposed to television advertisements for unhealthy food and who are not educated well enough on good nutrition will grow up and feed their families the same unhealthy foods they ate as kids. A big way fast food giants are able to make certain young people have access to unhealthy food is by strategically placing franchises in close proximity to schools. They will often place three times as many outlets within walking distance of schools than in areas where there are no schools nearby. The way fast food advertising is targeted towards children is very alarming considering how important good nutrition is for young people and how a child’s eating habits can affect their growth and
He argues that tobacco labels have warnings yet fast food does not. However, this argument fails to recognize the fact that anything is bad in large amounts (Bowerman). According to Doctor Andrew Weil, too much fruit can hurt one’s effort to lose weight, and it can even raise a person’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease. These risks for fruit exist, yet nobody complains that there are no warning labels on apples. This serves to show that anything has the ability to make a person unhealthy. A diet that includes occasional fast food will not cause a person to become overweight as long as the diet is balanced. Again, this comes down to a person’s choice. If the person chooses to monitor calorie intake and maintains a diet with a variety of good foods, he will keep a healthy lifestyle. Additionally, the author’s complaint that fast food companies sell products “with proven health hazards and no warning labels” further proves that the knowledge is available for anyone to obtain (Zinczenko 464). If parents have a concern about the food that they are buying for their children, they can search for and find this information and adjust diets accordingly. The author also states that health information is available upon request. It is up to the consumer to take action and take control of his own health rather than put the blame on the
Most people do not spend their days wondering where their next meal is going to come from, but as the economic situation gets worse and jobs get harder to find it is becoming an every occurring issue in the United States today. Not only will some of us have to worry about with what money will we buy our food, but now we will all start having to worry about where our food is coming from and is it safe for us to consume. We are moving toward a safer tomorrow every day by regulating certain parts of our food supply system. No matter how long it takes, it is clear that there is always opportunity for improvement in making our Nation healthier and safer.
The food industry continues to be a major contributor to health problems in the United States and around the world. Currently, 13% of the world’s 671 million obese individuals live in the United States. (Kaplan) Some believe that it is the government’s responsibility to go to educate the people and then to further encourage them to make wise decisions on what they choose to eat. Others argue that it is the consumer’s personal responsibility to educate themselves and make a conscious decision about their food. After all, we have the freedom to do so. No one forces people to buy and eat the things that they do. But it would be naive and even outrageous to say that there are no extraneous factors counteracting a person’s will to make healthy
This concedes that now America is creating health issues from consuming unhealthy foods. According to, “The battle against fast food beings in the home”, by Daniel Weintraub, “Kids eat unhealthy food and sit in front of the television or computer for hours at a time”. The article states that now obesity has affected many kids in America. Due to obesity affecting many kids in America the argument here is that, parents are not thinking about their child’s health and how it affects their body. Their main worry if the food is cheap and that it’s reasonable to buy for their family; which is understandable. Thus, many kids health are in danger from the lack of a nutritious diet. At the same time, fast food companies believe that it’s not their fault. According to Daniels Weintraub’s article, it states that “ It’s the parents, not the government, not the fast food companies who are responsible for teaching kids unhealthy habits” (Weintraub 1). The argument here is that parents need to try to feed their kids much healthier diets such as vegetables. Feeding them fast food is going to wreck their health. For this reason, fast food companies should try to sell healthier food for a reasonable price. Having produce companies sell more affordable fruits and vegetables will clear this problem. This will allow people who don’t have much money be able to provide a healthy dish
If we label articles such as cleaning supplies and nail polish remover that will do harm when ingested then why do we not label foods that can cause serious illness of death? Each day thousands of adults and children are diagnosed with disabling conditions such as heart disease and diabetes and the rates are rapidly increasing. Many of these lifelong impairments are directly related to the diets that we attest to as a society. Foods with GMO’s, hydrogenated oils, artificial sugars (aspartame), high fructose corn syrup, and monosodium glutamate ought to be clearly labeled on the front of its packaging for the consumer to recognize.
The seventh grade health curriculum at Wayne Central teaches that foods are either gold, silver, or bronze; representing healthy, okay, and unhealthy retrospectively. This information is accompanied by instruction to not eat bronze foods and eat silver foods sparingly. Education that gives strict, polarized, definitions of food can cause adolescents to become pre-occupied with what they eat and dissatisfied with themselves. Welch, McMahon, and Wright conducted a study on the ways nutrition and health have become increasingly influential to children’s everyday behaviors and conceptualizations of food. The study included an interview of 32 primary students in which the children were asked, “What does health mean to you?” Students’ answers indicated extensive consideration was given to classifying foods as ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘healthy’ and ‘unhealthy’. All students, except one who answered “protein”, defined “healthy” or “good” foods as fruits and vegetables, well omitting mention of other essential food groups. Sugar, fat, and “junk” food such as chips, cookies, and cake were among answers describing ‘bad’ or ‘unhealthy’ foods. “In the interviews the consumption of the ‘wrong’… food was always regarded as dangerous and transgressive, signifying ‘bad’ or ‘sinful’ practices…. The consistency and intensity of this message shapes the thoughts of individuals in ways that can conjure up feelings of shame and disgust” (Welch et
In America itself only about two percent of kids eat a healthy diet. The topic I
“When children watch television, they cannot escape food advertising. “Sugared snacks and drinks, cereal, and fast food advertisements respectively comprise approximately thirty-two percent, thirty-one percent, and nine percent of all advertisements marketed specifically to children.” (Termini, Roberto, Hostetter) Due to limited cognitive abilities, children view many food advertisements, and don’t really have the knowledge or capability to comprehend that the food being advertised is not healthy. They don’t believe that anybody would want to sell them something that harms them, so they might plead to their parents to get them that cereal with the funny talking frog on the cover, not knowing how much sugar is in the cereal, and how harmful it is to their bodies.... ...
Nestle, discloses information on public policy, how the food industry is one of the largest and most powerful industries, making profits of $1.3 trillion dollars on an annual basis. The article covered information on school food as well as strategies for change. Change can only come with cooperation and unity. In the meantime, children can be introduced to healthy foods and taught about the consequences of junk food (processed foods). Nestle, M. (2002).
Food labels are supposed to tell us exactly what’s in the foods we consume but we don’t know where those things come from. I think that food labels should state exactly where and what companies provided the ingredients in the foods on the food labels. If we knew exactly what we were eating we could prevent each other from getting sick from the foods. The government will never release exactly what we are eating because they’re are gaining too much money when they keep things kept a secret but; too many people are getting sick from these foods we need to be able to prevent ourselves from getting
The issue of making choices is important because we need to take care of our health. Nobody going to tell you what to eat or how to live. We have to do it on our own. We have to make decision to eat heathy when we can and change our way of living. Michael Maimaran and Ayelet Fishbach wrote an article online that shows we only about the choice of eating junk food or healthy food. In describing their research, she said, “We propose that preschoolers infer that if food is instrumental to achieve goal, it is less tasty, and therefore they consume less of it. Accordingly, we find that preschoolers (3 – 5.5 years old) rated crackers as less tasty and consumed fewer of them when the crackers were presented as instrumental to achieving a health goal (studies 1-2)” (Michal and Ayelet). In other words, kids will think that if it’s for them to improve in education than they think it is going to taste bad but if you gave them a choice to choose from then they mostly end up getting that same food that we provided them earlier. Their research shows that making choices is important because we have to make decisions to remain healthy. This source highlights the importance of making choices, which David Zinczenko should have addressed in his essay because making
Some grocery stores started to post very informative information in the produce section. It labels the nutritional facts next to the item you are considering purchasing. Some of these labels give detail about the vitamins and how it impacts your body. For example, next to bananas at a Wholefoods grocery store the label read high in potassium and will give you energy. Chain restaurants such as, The Cheesecake Factory are required to provide nutritional information on most menu items. The FDA is trying to incorporate the same information on prepackaged meals at grocery stores. “The proposed regulation would require store owners to label prepared, unpackaged foods found in salad bars and food bars, soups and bakery items” (Bream). If we take the time to read these labels, I believe there will be a reduction in obesity. Continued help from the government is needed to ensure this regulation is incorporated at all grocery stores. This support will encourage Americans to select healthier foods over foods that don’t over much