In the essay “Her Chee-to Heart”, by Jill McCorkle, she discusses about the various difficulties she has encountered of being a junk-food junkie and the struggles of overcoming the guilty pleasures of junk food. Firstly, one of the many difficulties she encounters are her feelings, which ultimately overwhelm her into continuing to eat various types of junk foods. Her feelings of nostalgic memories when consuming such goods as a child, the enjoyment and the savory tastes it grants her, are constantly mentioned throughout the essay, directly contributing a major factor into her desires of junk food. Furthermore, while she is quite aware of the consequences regarding the health side effects of consuming such foods and what the food is ultimately
“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).
Journalist, David H. Freedman, and author of How Junk Food Can End Obesity, dedicates an article to address the situation regarding the wholesome food movement. In his writings, he points out that although this new phenomenon brags about healthier foods being made available, there are some faulty aspects within the cause. Many loyal fast-food customers are put off by the anouncement of healthier menu items, while health fanatics are raving about restaurants catering to their needs. There are two types of consumers in the world of food; both of which are blind to the opposing sides’ work ethics.
American health, specifically our obesity epidemic, has grown into a trending media topic. A quick Google search will bring up thousands of results containing a multitude of opinions and suggested solutions to our nation’s weight gain, authored by anyone ranging from expert food scientists to common, concerned citizens. Amongst the sea of public opinion on obesity, you can find two articles: Escape from the Western Diet by Michael Pollan and The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food by Michael Moss. Each article presents a different view on where the blame lies in this public health crisis and what we should do to amend the issue. Pollan’s attempt to provide an explanation pales in comparison to Moss’s reasonable discussion and viable
In Michael Moss’ “The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food” he argues that companies have a huge influence on what consumers purchase and have been successfully able to get people addicted to junk foods because one’s willpower does not overpower their lack of adequate information and time, vulnerability to manipulative marketing and formulation of products, and their socioeconomic status.
It is expressed throughout the video that the concept of food becoming a comfort for an individual undergoing mental stress or trauma is something that could have a major effect on the mental and physical health of this specific kind of person. What resonated most with me while watching this video is the importance of how abuse, trauma or neglect can place so much strain on an individual throughout their life, and how one’s coping mechanisms may be affected by this. Using food as a comfort source is something that is displayed in everyday life; for example the concept of comfort food, midnight snack, or soul food. Throughout the video Binge Eating Addiction it is shown that every time the individual felt down about himself the only way he could pick himself back up mentally was by eating mass amounts of food in a short period of time. It really interested me that this individual talked about how his past trauma and neglect as a child made him presently turn to food as comfort for his
In this paper, it will focus on how junk food marketing impacts childhood obesity. Childhood obesity continues to be on the rise from junk food marketing because of the schools food policies and vending machines, increased junk food available at supermarkets and advertisements in social media.
Obesity in America is directly due to the fast food industry. From the rising mortality’s among people who are obese from fast food. To even the preservatives fast food chains use within their food. Not only have that calorie’s people intake from these restaurants even been miss looked. While people may think they can overcome the urge, fast food chains exclusively use addictive’s in their products to hook people from day one of use. Healthy lifestyles among society have been misled by the very fast food chains, which state their “healthy”. With that said, emotional issues even come to play when involving a human’s appetite to fast food. Even beverages sold at these fast food chains exceed the normal limit of sugar a healthy being should consume. Even America’s view point on serving sizes of meals served at these fast food chains goes way beyond a healthy lifestyle that everyone wants.
Ziauddeen and Fletcher in this article discuss the concept of food addiction from a clinical and neuroscientific perspective. They argue that the evidence in food addiction is limited and that further research must be done in order to fully validate the concept. Despite the uncertainty, food addiction has influenced the neurobiological models of obesity and developing debates about formulation of the public health policy. Ziauddeen and Fletch also debate that because there are so many possibly pathways leading to obesity, it is unlikely that food addiction is the most effective cause. Even with their caution, they also propose there are many arguments saying many aspects of eating in obesity are “addictive.”
Eating the pizza instead of the salad seemed like a good idea at the time, but now one is stuck in this sloth like state hours later. It seems letting cravings control what and how to eat is not the best strategy to healthy living. Mary Maxfield, in her article “Food For Thought: Resisting the Moralization of Food” discusses her views on how people should eat. She believes people crave what their bodies need, therefore, people should eat what they crave. Maxfield claims that diet, health, and weight are not correlated with each other, and because of this, people view obesity as unhealthy, thus forcing them to distinguish “right, healthy” foods from the “wrong, unhealthy” choices.
I can safely admit that I eat too much of the wrong food at the wrong time. This stems from a deeper habitual desire to gain excessive pleasure from food, which is the vice of gluttony. Contrary to modern usages, gluttony does not necessarily reflect how much people are eating. Rather, it reflects how much pleasure has taken over one’s thought process regarding food. I will briefly explain gluttony, implement an action plan, and describe how the plan will combat the vice.
The essay Junking Junk Food written by Judith Warner, brings to the audiences attention the wicked problem of how there has been a decline in Americans health. Warner’s information speaks loudly about being forced into a healthy lifestyle by the Obama administration. The Obama administration tried to enforce a healthy lifestyle among the citizens by focusing on the youth and taking away sugar options for them. Warner, puts her voice into this by mentioning the system during the world war when the soldiers had to eat overseas so there was less food consumption in America, which helped stop over consumption of food. Back then food was also much healthier thought, with less hormones, chemicals and less options of fast food. Again making it easier
In this hectic world, people look for ways to save most of their time. They do not even have time to prepare a good and healthy meal for themselves. That's when the food companies come to their rescue with their low nutritional products. These are readily available packaged snacks with high sugar or salt content with little to no proteins, vitamins and minerals. Billions of dollars are spent each year for marketing these silent killer foods to people who are looking for alternative convenient snacks. "The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food" written by Michael Moss tells us about the reasons behind the popularity and addiction of junk foods. People are being manipulated into buying junk foods and fast foods which boosts their addiction.
Americans went from being attached to the fast food culture to depending on it. The result--obesity; a negative effect of the fast food culture. Morgan Spurlock experimented with eating McDonald 's food for breakfast, lunch and dinner; In just five days, he added ten pounds. He thus found out that fast food restaurants are the single greatest contributor to the obesity epidemic in America (Gilbert). “Functional neuroimaging studies further revealed that smell, taste, and appearance of food produce a similar effect as drugs of abuse. Many of the brain changes reported for hedonic eating and obesity are also seen in various forms of addictions” (Liu et al). Fast food restaurants selectively choose certain flavors and effects, to create craving and dependence on their food. “Animal studies have shown that the predisposition to food addiction in offspring, was caused by feeding rat mothers junk food, consisting of fatty, sugary, and salty snacks, during pregnancy and lactation” (Liu et al). Apart from chemical factors such as ingredients like sugar and salt, external cues also lead to craving for food despite satiation. Advertising on television further elicits food cues encouraging even normal weight children and adults to seek out food despite the lack of hunger signals (Liu et
Yet some readers may challenge my view that the U.S. government should further regulate Junk food. After all, many believe that the government would be infringing on the rights of consumers. Indeed, my argument seems to ignore that you should be able to purchase and consume what you want, and that reducing obesity comes down to personal responsibility. However, I still maintain that further government intervention is required because although we may think we have a choice in what we eat, the addictive properties in fast food prevent us from selecting healthier options. In fact, according to a study conducted by the American Journal of
Moss, Michael. “The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food.” The New York Times 20 February 2013 (12 March 2014)