The dietary and food industry of America is deplorable but not unredeemable.
Let's start off with large scale agribusiness. The almost factory like mass production of food has allowed three consequences. First, the large surplus and thus cheap prices of food stuffs from produce to animal protein. Second, the need for vast amounts of agricultural land, heavy machinery, and chemicals of all sorts. Now third but possibily not the last, the necessity to increase efficiency and production at all costs.
Okay-so what does this mean? Simply put the ever growing demand for vast amounts of cheap food has forced food production into its current state. Thus for agribusiness to remain profitable it must produced food fast, cheap, and in great amounts...Which comes at the expense of "animal cruelty", environmental damage, and lower nutritional quality.
I will not be addressing the entire food industry nor the American diet as a whole. however I am obliged to say that not all is as bad as it seems. The reasons why is, we as a society are affluent enough to reform our diets for the better by simply purchasing healthier alternative food stuffs.
I can not go on in detail much on this subject with out losing focus. Yet this is my last statement...We must treat this issue holistically in order to bring about the change we desire, because like a food web just improving one connection isn't enough.
The fact that animals are abused this way is extremely disturbing and the fact that people support it is even worse. The amount of hormones they inject into these animals must be frighteningly large in order for them to be the perfect size at the age of 5. People do not realize that what they ingest daily is harmful to their health and will eventually have a great effect on the human life span and genetic make up. Over the years, younger and younger people have been diagnosed with heart problems and diabetes. More babies are even being born with such life long illnesses. This nutritional awareness should definitely expand and be advocated all over the world.
First and foremost we have to understand that we are what we are. As a super power be it economical, or military wise. What does that mean? We are a consumer driven society, the need to have the best is what gives "us" and "advantage" over other countries. That in turn leads to our food. We are obsessed about having an surplus of food. Our fruits,meats,vegetables are filled with steroids to make them bigger. Is this process healthy? Depends on how you look at it, are we going to have enough food for the US or do we go organic and significantly reduce the amount of food produced? In the US our culture is the culture of right now, we have no patience, ergo we fill our food with steroids to produce more to feed the masses that is constantly asking for more. Now, the professor says that it's not all bad,which to a certain degree i agree to, but i must reiterate, that it is very hard to maintain a "wholesome" diet, i.e food not chemically enhanced, it is expensive until the market for un-enhanced food makes a significant dent in today's consumer market, we're going to continue to see, the mass production of processed food.
It's a terrible fate that these animals must endure so that we can "enjoy" $.49 hamburgers. But what's truly worse, the fact that these animals are tortured by these farmers or that we encourage and support this by consistently buying stuff at McDonalds and countless other fast food restaurants? What makes it possible for us to know this and yet continue to scarf down those cheap burgers? What does it say about our nature that we can cringe at the images of animals being abused and mistreated and yet put those same images into the deepest corners of our minds when we take in fast food? I don't believe that we are evil beings however I do believe that sometimes we don't stop and think before we consume the worst possible food for us and those with whom we share this Earth.
I just want to start off by saying that I really enjoyed this weeks topic. It really is a big problem that is unique only to the United States. If you travel anywhere else in the world you will see on average people that aren’t anywhere near obesity. In other countries just having a burger from McDonalds or having a Coca-Cola is a rare occasion and usually a treat. But here in the United States, people are literally going to these fast food restaurants on a daily basis for all three meals. How can you expect to be healthy from a diet that consists of steroid injected meat and high fructose corn syrup (used in place of sugar in most products, read the label) ?
To be honest, we could do something about our obesity problem or the Big Business Advertising, or even the way we get our food. But the current generation growing up isn't interested in the big issues like those from the 60's and 70's. All we are interested in are these popular products that Big Business says we should have because its cool and everything else.
No, nothing will change until society says enough is enough.
Simply put the ever growing demand for vast amounts of cheap food has forced food production into its current state. Thus for agribusiness to remain profitable it must produced food fast, cheap, and in great amounts...Which comes at the expense of "animal cruelty", environmental damage, and lower nutritional quality.
As a working and fulltime college student I know that the most evident advantage of fastfood is that it saves time. There's nothing better than getting a ready meal, No mater how much people praise the benefits of fresh food, at the end of a hardworking day when you return home all tired and hungry a pizza or hamburger can be godsent. Besides the time that is spent in the kitchen preparing the vegetables it also requires one to make a trip to the supermarket to buy the ingredients for the dish. then there's the added effort and time consumed in washing and peeling the vegetables. All this makes eating fastfood score more preferably over cooking a meal for a busy individual. Besides time, cost savings also gives fastfood an edge over vegetables or a meal prepared in the kitchen. Ready made food being served fast and right in front of us is like a blessing after a hard days work, however like everything it has its own pro's and con's advantages and disadvantages, and ultimately it comes down to the individual consumer. We are all aware of the fact that many fastfood choices contain harmful fats that negatively affect the body and also that fastfood is full of trans fat that is linked to obesity, coronary heart disease, strokes,liver damage and even cancer. The negative effects of fastfood contribute to a host of health problems for both children and adults. Fastfood has little nutrition value and also contains some harmful substances that damage the body's health and wellness. There is enough common knowledge out there so we should'nt be pointing fingers at anyone but ourselves. We choose to eat fastfood and no one is holding a gun to us. We need to suck it up, be mature, pay attention to our own diets and quit trying to blame someone else for our own habits.
I find it embarrassing and sad that America is famous for its obesity. The land of the free and home of the brave, also the habitat of the fat? The fact is though that people are eating what is cheap and convenient and unfortunately that also means it’s produced with the least care for nutritional value. However, it seems overly optimistic to attempt to offer one solution to solve the whole problem, and I certainly don’t have any practical solutions.
It would be ideal if the healthier food items were more affordable and if quality was substituted for quantity at these fast food empires, like McDonald’s, but we live in an imperfect world. This topic is resonant of the movie Super Size Me which was a horrifying eye opener to what’s really in a happy meal.
As a working and fulltime college student I know that the most evident advantage of fastfood is that it saves time. There's nothing better than getting a ready meal, No mater how much people praise the benefits of fresh food, at the end of a hardworking day when you return home all tired and hungry a pizza or hamburger can be godsent. Besides the time that is spent in the kitchen preparing the vegetables it also requires one to make a trip to the supermarket to buy the ingredients for the dish. then there's the added effort and time consumed in washing and peeling the vegetables. All this makes eating fastfood score more preferably over cooking a meal for a busy individual. Besides time, cost savings also gives fastfood an edge over vegetables or a meal prepared in the kitchen. Ready made food being served fast and right in front of us is like a blessing after a hard days work, however like everything it has its own pro's and con's advantages and disadvantages, and ultimately it comes down to the individual consumer. We are all aware of the fact that many fastfood choices contain harmful fats that negatively affect the body and also that fastfood is full of trans fat that is linked to obesity, coronary heart disease, strokes,liver damage and even cancer. The negative effects of fastfood contribute to a host of health problems for both children and adults. Fastfood has little nutrition value and also contains some harmful substances that damage the body's health and wellness. There is enough common knowledge out there so we should'nt be pointing fingers at anyone but ourselves. We choose to eat fastfood and no one is holding a gun to us. We need to suck it up, be mature, pay attention to our own diets and quit trying to blame someone else for our own habits.
In order to understand why Americans are so obese and addicted to fast food we need to analyze what drives our food choices. Well, some of those decisions are base on our taste and culture, social reason and trends (eating late at a party or sharing food with a group of friends), advertising, time and convenience (everyone is always running or late that have no time to stop an eat a home-made dish), habits and emotions (eating “junk” food because you are sad, stress, and/or nervous). Additionally, Americans do not realize that a GOOD NUTRITION plays an important role in reducing the risk of many chronic diseases and conditions, including heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity. How can we solve this problem of obesity? Most of the times Americans will think that in order to change their diet to a healthy one they have to become vegetarians and thus decide not to do anything. Being a vegetarian it is not as difficult as most individuals will think. I, personally, decided to become a vegetarian 3 years ago and I can vouch that it is in fact a healthier lifestyle. However, the key of a healthy lifestyle is not necessarily becoming a vegetarian but keeping in mind this 3 steps; BALANCE between the amounts of calories consumed and expended, VARIETY of nutrient-dense food, and MODERATION as in consuming smaller amounts 3 to 4 times a day. How can we solve the problem of cheap meat? The food industry has increased the amount of product produce while lowering the standard of process in order to always have a profit. It is devastating but nonetheless surprising to see animal cruelty be so popular in order for Americans to consume meat at the lowest price. I think that organizations like PETA will help stop animal cruelty while promoting organic food. For instance, these organizations will send undercover agents to work for food industries in order to obtain relevant facts that will later be use as evidence by the authorities. Therefore, the food industry will have to be more conscious on how to raise and treat animals in order for consumers to obtain valuable food and to stop billion-lawsuit based on animal cruelty.
The way the pigs or animals in general are treated in the farms is unjustifiable. That fact that they are animals doesn’t mean they need to be treated like they are or as animals that do not have a sense of feeling. I think it will be very hard to convince people now a day not to eat meat from fast food restaurants since there is a Mc Donald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s and many other fast food restaurants in every busy intersection. It is a fast way to eat, you can get a burger and drive to your work or to school and it doesn’t take time away from our busy lives. I think the only way to really make the farmers start treating the lives of the animals correctly is by checking on them and making sure the pigs can move around the stalls and their waste is being disposed correctly and not in the river and on to the gulf. But then again this is a cycling problem, not only the farmers are at fault. Since we have been brainwashed through so much advertising everywhere we turn we feel the craving to eat that. If there wasn’t a great demand for this type of food, the pigs can be raised as they should be free or within large quarters where they can run around and get fat through protein from grass and not get big on corn that has fertilizer which in reality in the end we get sick from it. Also if they were treated right we wouldn’t have some epidemics that surf up from time to time because of their lifestyles.
One of the results of being the most productive country in the world is obesity. As our lives change to accommodate the demands of a high pruduction society, so does something that not many of us notice until we are deep into trouble, our health. It is incredible that we are willing to accommodate, for a few dollars more, our lives to high production. Shifts of 16 hours daily in high stress jobs do not give enough time to a person to eat three healthy meals a day, leaving the only option of fast food during a 30 minute lunch break, meaning that you can’t even chew your food properly. The change does not begin within the government, but us. We have to start appreciating the simple things. All the lexuries we can afford when we work over time every day, which leads us to pay less attention to one self, are not worth the harm to your self and the ones that would miss you if you were gone.
The United States is without a doubt one of the countries that uses fast food as daily meals. People, always in a hurry finds this kind of nourishment very useful. And it is true that at first, it was created in order to help this category of people. Unfortunately, fast food took insane proportions. Nowadays, when someone tells people he is going to eat a fast food, nobody will be shocked. It became a custom of life. It is a necessity for people to understand that this nutrition is not sane at all. This is the reason why the American people tend to be so obese. When finally they will realize that, and are ready to make some lifetime changes in their diet, then we can talk about finding a cure to this “pandemic”.
Alarming statistics show that more than a third of the american population is obese and this obesity is often related to bad eating habits. It is sad that America, being one of the richest and most progressive countries in the world, could also be described as the fattest, or most unhealthy. I would say that the only solution, or at least the most effective and realistic one, is that all Americans come to the realization that their children are becoming obese. With more parents monitoring their kids meals, and giving them REAL and healthy food, this problem would probably decrease at a high rate. The governement could also help in this issue, by promoting people to be conscious about what is healthy and what is not, because the future of our children depends on that. Putting t.v commercials that shows a family running, instead of entering a McDonald's would be more reasonable. We have to keep in mind that our children will acquire the same habits that we have, and their genes will most likely be similar to ours. Let’s exercise more and be physically active, stop eating fast food, and create healthy lifestyles.
It is true that this fast food trend is a horrible spiral for all parties involved, us, and the animals. But making a change and moving away from this trend is not a simple task. For one, fast food establishments like McDonalds have been conditioned into the American diet it’s what we know what we were raised on. You can say it is part of our culture, and when you say you want to change a culture you are looking at a difficult task. I am not saying this is impossible just something that should not be taken lightly. You also have to take into account that now more than ever Americans are working. The majority of people don’t have the time to look for the nutritional alternative, so they go for the cheap but convenient fast food. Part of the fast food appeal is it’s convenience to us Americans who always seem to be moving 1000 miles an hour. In countries like Spain where they take mid day breaks and work isn’t as a crazed phenomenon as it is here fast food isn’t as popular. They have a much healthy diet than we do. I believe to change this trend in cheap food that’s bad for both us and the animals we must first come to a change in culture. By, Joel Duran
Cheap food has several bad effects.Animals are grown in bad condition.They grow quickly and they are full of fat.For example, the chicken are big at three months old and they can barely stand on their feet.The plant are full of toxic produce.These chemicals are really bad for the envoronment.They kill the fish on the sea and on the river.It also has bad health effect.People who eat cheap food eat a lot of fat.They become obese quickly..The best thing to do is to eat healthily.We could eat a well balance meal.Twill protect our health and protect us against many deseases.Eating well is very important.We should eat healthier food.This will affect positively our health.We will be in better shape.We should eat a lot of fruit and take care of ourselves
It is impossible to cease this issue. Our generation and even the next has already been brain washed by the fast food corporations. The advertisement alone attracted us to the toys as young children. Even then it was convenient for the parents knowing they didn’t have to prepare the food or wash any dishes afterwards. After a hard working day most of us wouldn’t mind grabbing a fast food meal anyways. If everyone were to stop eating McDonalds, some of the animal cruelty would stop but then the franchise would collapse and over 2 million jobs would be lost. Part of America’s economy is based more on ethical & less on moral decisions. Meaning it doesn’t matter how you feel about a certain situation, since their numbers are right they don’t care about the rest. The only way to stop it is if the government banns the fast food restaurants. As long as the fast food corporations pay their taxes we will still see the ugly clown putting happy faces on the children across America.
I lived in Europe the whole of my live.When I moved here in USA two years ago,I experienced the shock of understanding the Americans eating habits and food culture. Who is responsible for the obesity of the people and the "animal cruelty"?! Where ends the consumer personal responsibility and where starts the corporate one?! From one side is very easy to blame the companies that theirs products are very bad for us,that they don't give enough information about them or that theirs commercials are very aggressive. From the other side is people own fault and choice what to eat. It is easy to eat at McDonals and drink coke 5 times a day and wait till one day a person is 300 ponds,his cholesterol is extremely hight and he has a diabetes from which he can stop to see properly.How kids suppose to eat healthy if they think that the french fries are vegetables?!Why parents allow theirs kids eating junk food and don't teach them what they should eat instead(the right quality of protein,carbs and fat)?. Eating healthy is not a rocket science everybody is capable of it!!!
Even though I don’t believe I have much knowledge of this subject, other than the cliff notes given to me by this website, I’ll try my best to understand why our country is going through such a crisis. But in order to understand you must first rid yourself of superstition. I do believe advertisements help distribute foods; however I don’t believe it is a main culprit behind this health issue in America. Once you tasted a certain food or drink, you have tasted it and even though the advertisement has convinced you to try it first time it really relies on how much you liked the taste to buy to again. Advertisements do, in fact, remind you of the taste and this may cause you to seek out to relive that taste, however condemning advertisement as brainwashing is a little far-fetched. If something tasted like crap and the person didn’t like it would be very hard to convince them to buy the product again with catchy jingles. It can provide false answers to goals like attracting the opposite sex or something, but the consumer needs to at least tolerate the taste to consume the product. But, in reality these are just estimated guesses from a kid who has only seen the tip of the iceberg, so if any would want to correct me please feel free.
The fact that animals are abused in any type of way really bothers me. How chemicals end up in the gulf of Mexico killing fishes really upsets me. I understand that many of us are brought up thinking that eating the way we do is a normal, but in reality when we open our eyes we realize its far from normal. Either way we continue these habits. It's sad what the US has become. We have a large percentage of obesity and when humans health is on the line the first thing we should all do is look out for eachother. We must continue spreading topics like this one all over this country. Changing our eating habits is a must, to better our health now and specially for the future.
When i was a child there wasn't much of a problem with eating a balance meal or enough to eat. we ate sol food and lots of it. I'm from georgia the country part with outhouses and chickens and gardens. it wasn't until the 90's that heard things about the food we ate and the effects on our health if we ate this or if we ate that, like MSG or Mcdonalds being unhealthy. I also remember have lots of recreational time. obesity is not just eating the wrong foods it's also and econmic problem mainly in impoverished families where courting calories verse a full stomach comes second.
It's always been easier to go out for the easy stuff and buy fast food instead of cooking a nutritious meal that not only happens in America, but also in any other culture out there. Nowadays people don't take time to worry about the kinds of food their families eat. Junk food takes less time and at first glance seems to be the best option, but as soon as you sit down really think about what your eating you'll realize it's no so great and yea eventhough it cuts time and money now in the end you might end up paying more in hospital bills and medicine or even with your own life. I don't think it would kill anyone to at least try and eat healthier for their sake and health and also the animal's sake because they also suffer in order for us to consume the things we do. Maybe things won't ever stop and companies will keep doing it, but if we try to stop them we might at least get them to lower the amount of animals that are tortured and sacrificed and that would help us in the long run.
22 comments:
The dietary and food industry of America is deplorable but not unredeemable.
Let's start off with large scale agribusiness. The almost factory like mass production of food has allowed three consequences. First, the large surplus and thus cheap prices of food stuffs from produce to animal protein. Second, the need for vast amounts of agricultural land, heavy machinery, and chemicals of all sorts. Now third but possibily not the last, the necessity to increase efficiency and production at all costs.
Okay-so what does this mean? Simply put the ever growing demand for vast amounts of cheap food has forced food production into its current state. Thus for agribusiness to remain profitable it must produced food fast, cheap, and in great amounts...Which comes at the expense of "animal cruelty", environmental damage, and lower nutritional quality.
I will not be addressing the entire food industry nor the American diet as a whole. however I am obliged to say that not all is as bad as it seems. The reasons why is, we as a society are affluent enough to reform our diets for the better by simply purchasing healthier alternative food stuffs.
I can not go on in detail much on this subject with out losing focus. Yet this is my last statement...We must treat this issue holistically in order to bring about the change we desire, because like a food web just improving one connection isn't enough.
The fact that animals are abused this way is extremely disturbing and the fact that people support it is even worse. The amount of hormones they inject into these animals must be frighteningly large in order for them to be the perfect size at the age of 5. People do not realize that what they ingest daily is harmful to their health and will eventually have a great effect on the human life span and genetic make up. Over the years, younger and younger people have been diagnosed with heart problems and diabetes. More babies are even being born with such life long illnesses. This nutritional awareness should definitely expand and be advocated all over the world.
Bon Jour!!
First and foremost we have to understand that we are what we are. As a super power be it economical, or military wise. What does that mean? We are a consumer driven society, the need to have the best is what gives "us" and "advantage" over other countries. That in turn leads to our food. We are obsessed about having an surplus of food. Our fruits,meats,vegetables are filled with steroids to make them bigger. Is this process healthy? Depends on how you look at it, are we going to have enough food for the US or do we go organic and significantly reduce the amount of food produced? In the US our culture is the culture of right now, we have no patience, ergo we fill our food with steroids to produce more to feed the masses that is constantly asking for more. Now, the professor says that it's not all bad,which to a certain degree i agree to, but i must reiterate, that it is very hard to maintain a "wholesome" diet, i.e food not chemically enhanced, it is expensive until the market for un-enhanced food makes a significant dent in today's consumer market, we're going to continue to see, the mass production of processed food.
It's a terrible fate that these animals must endure so that we can "enjoy" $.49 hamburgers. But what's truly worse, the fact that these animals are tortured by these farmers or that we encourage and support this by consistently buying stuff at McDonalds and countless other fast food restaurants? What makes it possible for us to know this and yet continue to scarf down those cheap burgers? What does it say about our nature that we can cringe at the images of animals being abused and mistreated and yet put those same images into the deepest corners of our minds when we take in fast food? I don't believe that we are evil beings however I do believe that sometimes we don't stop and think before we consume the worst possible food for us and those with whom we share this Earth.
I just want to start off by saying that I really enjoyed this weeks topic. It really is a big problem that is unique only to the United States. If you travel anywhere else in the world you will see on average people that aren’t anywhere near obesity. In other countries just having a burger from McDonalds or having a Coca-Cola is a rare occasion and usually a treat. But here in the United States, people are literally going to these fast food restaurants on a daily basis for all three meals. How can you expect to be healthy from a diet that consists of steroid injected meat and high fructose corn syrup (used in place of sugar in most products, read the label) ?
To be honest, we could do something about our obesity problem or the Big Business Advertising, or even the way we get our food. But the current generation growing up isn't interested in the big issues like those from the 60's and 70's. All we are interested in are these popular products that Big Business says we should have because its cool and everything else.
No, nothing will change until society says enough is enough.
Simply put the ever growing demand for vast amounts of cheap food has forced food production into its current state. Thus for agribusiness to remain profitable it must produced food fast, cheap, and in great amounts...Which comes at the expense of "animal cruelty", environmental damage, and lower nutritional quality.
Good point, Le Bateau.
As a working and fulltime college student I know that the most evident advantage of fastfood is that it saves time. There's nothing better than getting a ready meal, No mater how much people praise the benefits of fresh food, at the end of a hardworking day when you return home all tired and hungry a pizza or hamburger can be godsent. Besides the time that is spent in the kitchen preparing the vegetables it also requires one to make a trip to the supermarket to buy the ingredients for the dish. then there's the added effort and time consumed in washing and peeling the vegetables. All this makes eating fastfood score more preferably over cooking a meal for a busy individual. Besides time, cost savings also gives fastfood an edge over vegetables or a meal prepared in the kitchen. Ready made food being served fast and right in front of us is like a blessing after a hard days work, however like everything it has its own pro's and con's advantages and disadvantages, and ultimately it comes down to the individual consumer. We are all aware of the fact that many fastfood choices contain harmful fats that negatively affect the body and also that fastfood is full of trans fat that is linked to obesity, coronary heart disease, strokes,liver damage and even cancer. The negative effects of fastfood contribute to a host of health problems for both children and adults. Fastfood has little nutrition value and also contains some harmful substances that damage the body's health and wellness. There is enough common knowledge out there so we should'nt be pointing fingers at anyone but ourselves. We choose to eat fastfood and no one is holding a gun to us. We need to suck it up, be mature, pay attention to our own diets and quit trying to blame someone else for our own habits.
I find it embarrassing and sad that America is famous for its obesity. The land of the free and home of the brave, also the habitat of the fat? The fact is though that people are eating what is cheap and convenient and unfortunately that also means it’s produced with the least care for nutritional value. However, it seems overly optimistic to attempt to offer one solution to solve the whole problem, and I certainly don’t have any practical solutions.
It would be ideal if the healthier food items were more affordable and if quality was substituted for quantity at these fast food empires, like McDonald’s, but we live in an imperfect world. This topic is resonant of the movie Super Size Me which was a horrifying eye opener to what’s really in a happy meal.
As a working and fulltime college student I know that the most evident advantage of fastfood is that it saves time. There's nothing better than getting a ready meal, No mater how much people praise the benefits of fresh food, at the end of a hardworking day when you return home all tired and hungry a pizza or hamburger can be godsent. Besides the time that is spent in the kitchen preparing the vegetables it also requires one to make a trip to the supermarket to buy the ingredients for the dish. then there's the added effort and time consumed in washing and peeling the vegetables. All this makes eating fastfood score more preferably over cooking a meal for a busy individual. Besides time, cost savings also gives fastfood an edge over vegetables or a meal prepared in the kitchen. Ready made food being served fast and right in front of us is like a blessing after a hard days work, however like everything it has its own pro's and con's advantages and disadvantages, and ultimately it comes down to the individual consumer. We are all aware of the fact that many fastfood choices contain harmful fats that negatively affect the body and also that fastfood is full of trans fat that is linked to obesity, coronary heart disease, strokes,liver damage and even cancer. The negative effects of fastfood contribute to a host of health problems for both children and adults. Fastfood has little nutrition value and also contains some harmful substances that damage the body's health and wellness. There is enough common knowledge out there so we should'nt be pointing fingers at anyone but ourselves. We choose to eat fastfood and no one is holding a gun to us. We need to suck it up, be mature, pay attention to our own diets and quit trying to blame someone else for our own habits.
In order to understand why Americans are so obese and addicted to fast food we need to analyze what drives our food choices. Well, some of those decisions are base on our taste and culture, social reason and trends (eating late at a party or sharing food with a group of friends), advertising, time and convenience (everyone is always running or late that have no time to stop an eat a home-made dish), habits and emotions (eating “junk” food because you are sad, stress, and/or nervous).
Additionally, Americans do not realize that a GOOD NUTRITION plays an important role in reducing the risk of many chronic diseases and conditions, including heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity.
How can we solve this problem of obesity?
Most of the times Americans will think that in order to change their diet to a healthy one they have to become vegetarians and thus decide not to do anything. Being a vegetarian it is not as difficult as most individuals will think. I, personally, decided to become a vegetarian 3 years ago and I can vouch that it is in fact a healthier lifestyle. However, the key of a healthy lifestyle is not necessarily becoming a vegetarian but keeping in mind this 3 steps; BALANCE between the amounts of calories consumed and expended, VARIETY of nutrient-dense food, and MODERATION as in consuming smaller amounts 3 to 4 times a day.
How can we solve the problem of cheap meat?
The food industry has increased the amount of product produce while lowering the standard of process in order to always have a profit. It is devastating but nonetheless surprising to see animal cruelty be so popular in order for Americans to consume meat at the lowest price. I think that organizations like PETA will help stop animal cruelty while promoting organic food. For instance, these organizations will send undercover agents to work for food industries in order to obtain relevant facts that will later be use as evidence by the authorities. Therefore, the food industry will have to be more conscious on how to raise and treat animals in order for consumers to obtain valuable food and to stop billion-lawsuit based on animal cruelty.
The way the pigs or animals in general are treated in the farms is unjustifiable. That fact that they are animals doesn’t mean they need to be treated like they are or as animals that do not have a sense of feeling. I think it will be very hard to convince people now a day not to eat meat from fast food restaurants since there is a Mc Donald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s and many other fast food restaurants in every busy intersection. It is a fast way to eat, you can get a burger and drive to your work or to school and it doesn’t take time away from our busy lives. I think the only way to really make the farmers start treating the lives of the animals correctly is by checking on them and making sure the pigs can move around the stalls and their waste is being disposed correctly and not in the river and on to the gulf. But then again this is a cycling problem, not only the farmers are at fault. Since we have been brainwashed through so much advertising everywhere we turn we feel the craving to eat that. If there wasn’t a great demand for this type of food, the pigs can be raised as they should be free or within large quarters where they can run around and get fat through protein from grass and not get big on corn that has fertilizer which in reality in the end we get sick from it. Also if they were treated right we wouldn’t have some epidemics that surf up from time to time because of their lifestyles.
One of the results of being the most productive country in the world is obesity. As our lives change to accommodate the demands of a high pruduction society, so does something that not many of us notice until we are deep into trouble, our health. It is incredible that we are willing to accommodate, for a few dollars more, our lives to high production. Shifts of 16 hours daily in high stress jobs do not give enough time to a person to eat three healthy meals a day, leaving the only option of fast food during a 30 minute lunch break, meaning that you can’t even chew your food properly. The change does not begin within the government, but us. We have to start appreciating the simple things. All the lexuries we can afford when we work over time every day, which leads us to pay less attention to one self, are not worth the harm to your self and the ones that would miss you if you were gone.
The United States is without a doubt one of the countries that uses fast food as daily meals. People, always in a hurry finds this kind of nourishment very useful. And it is true that at first, it was created in order to help this category of people. Unfortunately, fast food took insane proportions. Nowadays, when someone tells people he is going to eat a fast food, nobody will be shocked. It became a custom of life. It is a necessity for people to understand that this nutrition is not sane at all. This is the reason why the American people tend to be so obese. When finally they will realize that, and are ready to make some lifetime changes in their diet, then we can talk about finding a cure to this “pandemic”.
Alarming statistics show that more than a third of the american population is obese and this obesity is often related to bad eating habits. It is sad that America, being one of the richest and most progressive countries in the world, could also be described as the fattest, or most unhealthy.
I would say that the only solution, or at least the most effective and realistic one, is that all Americans come to the realization that their children are becoming obese. With more parents monitoring their kids meals, and giving them REAL and healthy food, this problem would probably decrease at a high rate.
The governement could also help in this issue, by promoting people to be conscious about what is healthy and what is not, because the future of our children depends on that. Putting t.v commercials that shows a family running, instead of entering a McDonald's would be more reasonable. We have to keep in mind that our children will acquire the same habits that we have, and their genes will most likely be similar to ours. Let’s exercise more and be physically active, stop eating fast food, and create healthy lifestyles.
It is true that this fast food trend is a horrible spiral for all parties involved, us, and the animals. But making a change and moving away from this trend is not a simple task. For one, fast food establishments like McDonalds have been conditioned into the American diet it’s what we know what we were raised on. You can say it is part of our culture, and when you say you want to change a culture you are looking at a difficult task. I am not saying this is impossible just something that should not be taken lightly. You also have to take into account that now more than ever Americans are working. The majority of people don’t have the time to look for the nutritional alternative, so they go for the cheap but convenient fast food. Part of the fast food appeal is it’s convenience to us Americans who always seem to be moving 1000 miles an hour. In countries like Spain where they take mid day breaks and work isn’t as a crazed phenomenon as it is here fast food isn’t as popular. They have a much healthy diet than we do. I believe to change this trend in cheap food that’s bad for both us and the animals we must first come to a change in culture.
By, Joel Duran
Cheap food has several bad effects.Animals are grown in bad condition.They grow quickly and they are full of fat.For example, the chicken are big at three months old and they can barely stand on their feet.The plant are full of toxic produce.These chemicals are really bad for the envoronment.They kill the fish on the sea and on the river.It also has bad health effect.People who eat cheap food eat a lot of fat.They become obese quickly..The best thing to do is to eat healthily.We could eat a well balance meal.Twill protect our health and protect us against many deseases.Eating well is very important.We should eat healthier food.This will affect positively our health.We will be in better shape.We should eat a lot of fruit and take care of ourselves
It is impossible to cease this issue. Our generation and even the next has already been brain washed by the fast food corporations. The advertisement alone attracted us to the toys as young children. Even then it was convenient for the parents knowing they didn’t have to prepare the food or wash any dishes afterwards. After a hard working day most of us wouldn’t mind grabbing a fast food meal anyways. If everyone were to stop eating McDonalds, some of the animal cruelty would stop but then the franchise would collapse and over 2 million jobs would be lost. Part of America’s economy is based more on ethical & less on moral decisions. Meaning it doesn’t matter how you feel about a certain situation, since their numbers are right they don’t care about the rest. The only way to stop it is if the government banns the fast food restaurants. As long as the fast food corporations pay their taxes we will still see the ugly clown putting happy faces on the children across America.
Toshio Shimabukuro
I lived in Europe the whole of my live.When I moved here in USA two years ago,I experienced the shock of understanding the Americans eating habits and food culture.
Who is responsible for the obesity of the people and the "animal cruelty"?! Where ends the consumer personal responsibility and where starts the corporate one?!
From one side is very easy to blame the companies that theirs products are very bad for us,that they don't give enough information about them or that theirs commercials are very aggressive.
From the other side is people own fault and choice what to eat. It is easy to eat at McDonals and drink coke 5 times a day and wait till one day a person is 300 ponds,his cholesterol is extremely hight and he has a diabetes from which he can stop to see properly.How kids suppose to eat healthy if they think that the french fries are vegetables?!Why parents allow theirs kids eating junk food and don't teach them what they should eat instead(the right quality of protein,carbs and fat)?.
Eating healthy is not a rocket science everybody is capable of it!!!
Even though I don’t believe I have much knowledge of this subject, other than the cliff notes given to me by this website, I’ll try my best to understand why our country is going through such a crisis. But in order to understand you must first rid yourself of superstition. I do believe advertisements help distribute foods; however I don’t believe it is a main culprit behind this health issue in America. Once you tasted a certain food or drink, you have tasted it and even though the advertisement has convinced you to try it first time it really relies on how much you liked the taste to buy to again. Advertisements do, in fact, remind you of the taste and this may cause you to seek out to relive that taste, however condemning advertisement as brainwashing is a little far-fetched. If something tasted like crap and the person didn’t like it would be very hard to convince them to buy the product again with catchy jingles. It can provide false answers to goals like attracting the opposite sex or something, but the consumer needs to at least tolerate the taste to consume the product. But, in reality these are just estimated guesses from a kid who has only seen the tip of the iceberg, so if any would want to correct me please feel free.
The fact that animals are abused in any type of way really bothers me. How chemicals end up in the gulf of Mexico killing fishes really upsets me. I understand that many of us are brought up thinking that eating the way we do is a normal, but in reality when we open our eyes we realize its far from normal. Either way we continue these habits. It's sad what the US has become. We have a large percentage of obesity and when humans health is on the line the first thing we should all do is look out for eachother. We must continue spreading topics like this one all over this country. Changing our eating habits is a must, to better our health now and specially for the future.
When i was a child there wasn't much of a problem with eating a balance meal or enough to eat.
we ate sol food and lots of it. I'm from georgia the country part with outhouses and chickens and gardens. it wasn't until the 90's that heard things about the food we ate and the effects on our health if we ate this or if we ate that,
like MSG or Mcdonalds being unhealthy. I also remember have lots of recreational time. obesity is not just eating the wrong foods it's also and econmic problem mainly in impoverished families where courting calories verse a full stomach comes second.
It's always been easier to go out for the easy stuff and buy fast food instead of cooking a nutritious meal that not only happens in America, but also in any other culture out there. Nowadays people don't take time to worry about the kinds of food their families eat. Junk food takes less time and at first glance seems to be the best option, but as soon as you sit down really think about what your eating you'll realize it's no so great and yea eventhough it cuts time and money now in the end you might end up paying more in hospital bills and medicine or even with your own life. I don't think it would kill anyone to at least try and eat healthier for their sake and health and also the animal's sake because they also suffer in order for us to consume the things we do. Maybe things won't ever stop and companies will keep doing it, but if we try to stop them we might at least get them to lower the amount of animals that are tortured and sacrificed and that would help us in the long run.
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