Obesity? Diet? Good nutrition? Health? What does this all really mean? It was all known to have a direct and universal book definition to society. But, society itself evolved this. Not all see obesity as having a BMI of over 30 kg/m. Some see it not as weight and fat percentage but how many times you've been to the hospital for a heart attack from fatty tissue blocking your arteries. Not all see good nutrition as having their daily servings of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, meats, etc. Some see it as having one apple a week or eating a number 1 from McDonalds just once a day instead of 3 is ok, reason being lack of knowledge.
Apart from this lack of knowledge the government, food industry, and advertising companies are going full force and taking advantage of this time. All for PROFIT! Now the country is going through a recessions of course. Now more than ever people are finding ways on how they can make the most and how they can maneuver society like pieces of a chess game. Do you think they care about the consequences they cause to this world and to the people? No, of course not. They want to continue driving their million dollar bars and their hundred million dollar homes. With the help of advertising companies that use psychologists to brainwash you and make you want the products and the help of the government that lacks the prevention of letting this get out of hand this is achieved. It is a masterpiece of disaster for this world.
Having most of society uneducated and brainwashed in this subject matter can be agreed to. Yes, not all people think this way or have been brainwashed and some do actually care on these critical points that are being stated in this article. Yes,not all businesses in the food industry ignore these issues and actually try to change things. But is it enough? Negative.
People can say if i was president and i would change this in a hear beat. Well is not that simple, this government has become from being able to run anything to being run over by all this big time corporations such as General Electrics and BP. They all benefit from this. They benefit from consumers buying and consuming these foods. Meaning that the government benefits from it because these corporations support and aid the government, especially economy wise. We are hurting since this war on terrorism has sucked us into an empty piggy bank (An intense issue that can be argued indefinitely). Everything has a domino effect and it's just a matter on what domino to push first and how far that domino chain goes.
We pushed that domino on eating these easy, quick, great tasting and unhealthy foods. It continues on and branches off knocking down the global warming domino that will continue for decades until our ozone and temperature goes to hell or unless we stop these factors. It also branches off into obesity which will continue on for decades as well until this is changed and that will later knock the domino of deaths. It also branches out and knocks down the domino of limited and decreasing resources that will go on for decades and maybe even centuries and later create a fight for survival and a civil war if things are not changed. All this keep branching out and more dominos are dropped.
"the higher availability of these foods would be a sufficient condition for the price of these food to come down." "if the greater part of the American population participated in making better food choices is a necessary condition for there to be food production reform in the U.S."
These are grabbed from another class’s blog. This person is hitting exactly what needs to be done. Those necessary and sufficient conditions need to be met in order to turn this around and we can argue that
"If there are cheaper and more supported, healthier foods it is a sufficient condition that the majority of Americans will participate in better food choices" .
There are millions of things people can do to turn this around but simply not all are paying attention to this because society has made it ok but I do believe that the major is economy at this point. I'm surprised people do not see the end of this world soon enough due to population increase and increase need of natural resources. What will it take to make the majority of society participate in better food choices? This will all be learned the hard way if Americans continue to dig themselves deeper in this cave of darkness and force the future generations in it too.
As a person living in a society where a fast-food restaurant is located on every street corner and hundreds of billboards advertising unhealthy foods I think the eating habits we make for ourselves dare based on us.In fact, education is very important because if many of us were educated on what is nutritional essential for our body than, most of us wouldn't be eating McDonald's everyday. Though education is a impact to many people eating habit, I also think money is a factor also. Now a days many people are losing their jobs or don't even have a job which leads them to having to save money. In order for many people to do so they have reduce their expenses which leads them to not having to send a lot of money on eating or etc. So, they end up eating at a fast-food restaurant.I believe you can eat healthy on a budget and still have a healthy lifestyle. The percentage of obesity in the world can decrease only if the people is willing to change eating and exercising habits and also stop being tempted with all these unhealthy food advertisements and fast-foods restaurants on every street corner.
This article explained that the amount chemicals used to grow the corn, and the amount of antibiotics used to keep the livestock healthy, is unhealthy. The article also explains that the living conditions of the pigs are unhealthy for them, causing them to need the antibiotics to be healthy. The other side to this argument would be the simple fact that this is the cheapest possible way to produce meat for the people to consume. Now days incident of averweight and obesity among Americans are prevalent. It is because people do not take the way they eat seriously. Going to eat to McDonnalds will save you time but when the time goes by you going to noticed the differents. american needs to eat more frit and vegetables and stop consuming sugar,., satured fat and sodium. We have to educated people and thet have lack of knowledge and it could have seriously effect on the future.
I found this article extremely important because what we digest, absorb and assimilate into our body is critical to our health. There are circumstances in which we may have special nutrient needs, either temporarily or permanently, that are not being met nowadays because of the poor food that we eat. We can change our eating behavior consuming more whole grains, fruits and vegetables and avoiding others foods full of antibiotics and chemicals.
Whether we look at this objectively or subjectively, it seems that adoption of more sustainable agricultural practises is the best choice. Objectively, we can weight the short-term positive impact of cheap food against the short and long-term negative impacts of obesity, pollution, cruel treatment of animals, destruction of the natural environment, &c. We can also realise that our current practises are not sustainable in the long-term. Despite what our wallets and stomachs may want, sticking to what we have been doing would be folly. Further, decisions regarding human behaviour ought to take into account human values. On such a basis, I argue that we must respect the natural world and recognise that we are no greater than the rest of the universe and that the animals we so mistreat are thinking, feeling beings like ourselves. -Elvis Hatcher
In my opinion eveyone in America should change their eating habits. We have fast food restaurants located on every corner of our neighborhood. So how can some people eat healthy? America doesnt not promote healthy foods. When have you seen a commercial that is advertising healthy foods? & some peple may not know how to eat healthy.- Valerie
Like this article points out people don't want to know what they are eating, especially when its cheap and convenient, and even if they know, they just pretend it isn't true. Awareness seems to steadily be growing especially amongst college students, however because it is much more expensive to choose healthier alternatives people still choose conventional food sources, and lets be honest after work and between classes something like Mcdonald's seems easier than cooking yourself something. Advertisement aside, people would still choose something easily accessible, take for instance the Wolfson campus, there is a Subways not to far from building one and farther down there are a number of restaurants that cater to healthier food choices, but you still find a ridiculously long line in Mcdonald's which is right between buildings one, two, and three. Considering that a lot of us have taken either nutrition classes or other classes that have in some way informed us about the problems with the agriculture in this country its safe to say we are educated in the matter, yet you still find a lot of those same people eating this cheap (bad) food, so it seems that simply knowing about it isn't enough. We can blame advertisements, the government, our parents, and even the rest of the country, but ultimately it depends on us to make the choice to spend a little extra on better, healthier foods.
When we make that choice and we increase the demand of organic foods companies will supply that demand. We blame these companies of taking advantage of us, manipulating us, and cutting corners but they are simply doing their jobs, they see a demand for something so they supply that demand and we pay them for that service they provide. You could argue that this problem might stem from America's obsession with making money as quickly and as easily as they can, this obsession taught us that easy and convenient is better then quality and health, but in the end we still would blame someone else for our inability to get out of our comfort zone and change what we know needs changing. My point is that it doesn't matter how much we spend or whether it's better or worse for us, we seem unable to change a system we are comfortable with until the system itself collapse on top of us.
When the food that we consume is no longer an agent of life but death, it should produce within every individual a voice for change. What we consume in our diets can keep us alive or it can be the cause of our removal from this planet. Why rely on a culture of death to do for you and your family what you can do better (provide good nourishing food)? When people become more health conscious, more concerned for there well being, they will produce change and those who place profits over the consumer's health, or the environment will rise to the occasion and meet the demands for better food, if they wish to perpetuate their trade.
Reading this blog was actually disturbing. I live in North Miami Beach, around every corner I have at least 4 or more fast food place, Its not healthy. In my opinion the reason America wont show this type of information about what we are eating is because of the billons of business around the U.S will get lose customers and lose money. To decrease obesity?? Thats something America has to do ourselves. Ever since the year 2000, people thought America will have healthy choices and give healthy food commercials to improve America's health and obesity...we are in the year 2012 now and it still havent happened. Healthy choices might be expensive, for its for the better in America. The unhealthy fast food choices we have in every corner for a quick bite is not worth the aftermath of not eating healthy. The change should start NOW!!! -Kathiana Vixama
We live in a country where information is at our disposal at all times. The true culprit in all of this is ignorance. It is hard for people to accept the fact that we are causing damage to our environment just by eating a piece of fattening bacon. Sure, what you put in your mouth now may not have an instant consequence, but we do not think for the future of our health and that also includes the health of our environment. We need to stop letting all of these food companies brainwash us by showing us all of these commercials of food that is detrimental to us, and the environment. What can be done of us not a hard task at all; we need to be more informed about the things we are putting into our bodies, be aware of where these food products come from and in what conditions are they being produced and the most important thing we can do to really make a change is actually care about our health and not just what tastes good for a short moment. If we do not care about ourselves, and the environment we live in, then a plan to modify the food industry can never happen. Americans are always looking for a quick and easy way to eat a meal, yet they don’t stop to think that these quick meals can cause damage to bodies. With the conditions that these animals and products are raised in are simply not healthy. Nothing can be accomplished if we do not care about the issue at hand here.
If Americans demand more healthy foods then the food industry will supply more healthy foods. If advertising companies promote healthy foods then Americans will demand healthy foods If the FDA becomes stricter on truthful food labels then Americans will know more how to eat. When the U.S. is no longer in an economical deficit then food companies will concentrate on researching and creating better foods. If Americans become more educated on nutrition then Americans will know what damage these bad foods do to thier body. If less fast food restaurants are removed from plain sight in neighborhoods then society will be less tempted to eat there. If the food industries manufacture healthier foods then global warming will decline. If the younger generations continue following these steps then future generations will follow.
I can continue on in every factor that everyone is starting on why this is happening. Each factor has the same amount of fault. Americans, government and corporations. All these arguments can be connected since it is all cause and effect. Stopping this has be done in different levels.
But there is one thing that is in common to all this. Everyone involved are human beings. All have feelings, personalitys, thought, memories, etc. This has to be changed by involving every human being. We all have natural instincts, we all have grown with nature and nurture. Our brains evolve to what we currently live in and we ourselves have created this poor value of life. This all wil be learned by nature. When millions of Americans start dying and fall like pigeons because of health by nutrition and environment then our brains will kick in and notice what is happening. It's nature and it will become a fight for the fittest. Meaning we will dramatically change our ways trying to beat death before the population dissappears. We are creating a metaphoric ice age and the reason why the dinasours became extinct. This will happen unless we work as a non discombobulated society and make this change, it's a lot of work and a large population that will need to change their state of mind by nurturing vs nature.
The lack of interest and education that people have adopted toward our food industry reflects the selfishness of human beings. Most of the time when we are about to consume a regular meal from the local Mcdonalds we don't ponder upon how the meal has been processed and what damages has brought to our ecosystem. If we keep buying and sponsoring these industries we are letting them know that we really don't care for else except that the final bite of the Big Mac is tasty. We, as reasoning human beings, that care for the well-being of society as a whole, must start a change in one of the most ordinary acts of our daily lives, which is eating. I believe we have the right for the healthiest food, and also have the right to question the making of the food as well. It is also very inhuman from the Industries (Mcdonalds, BK, Wendy's) that target us with their unhealthy food. It's clear how they are not compassionate for our well being. When they realize that they are not improving the world in any way with promoting that type of food; and when we realize that we must find ways to improve our lives, to make them worthwhile and meaningful - and that we can start by changing our daily routines - then we will be building a habitat that supports and works together for a better world.
Don't blame the people because Many are expected to consume health life style but there's never a health shop on every corner on our streets .Health food isn't being shown as frequent as fast food.As a nation we expected the people to do the opposite what the media display. Help the people by making the health organics food afforable and display more health food on television and bring more health shop on every corner.
It's very informative for articles like these to be available for the public to read. The facts and information provided do not lie, unfortunately, society has learned to avoid and deny these facts. The united States intensely suffers from obesity. The access we have to food has been modified over time to be cheaper and easier to purchase. Of course, the price (in money) seems like it's a great deal, but in the long run, we are paying a higher price in health. The bottom line is the "nutritions" we are consuming are damaging our bodies. The pigs in this article have not been handled properly. Fast food has been the easy way out of cooking home cooked meals or just spending more money on healthier foods. Culturally, fast food has been praised and has become an addiction many share in common. Yes, healthy food may be more expensive, but the price is worth it in the end! A heart attack can happen to anyone. People have been blinded, thinking, swearing, that a healthy risk or situation can never happen to them. It's better to be safe than sorry!
In our present day world, we are used to eating very unhealthy food. Such problem is because we eat anything as long as it is cheaper than healthy food. As mentioned in the article, pigs are raised in confined pens and killed around 5 months after they are born. This is very cruel of us but reality is that we do not care about what these animals feel, we care about how cheap we can eat the products that are made from them. Can we really do something about it? I would say only a limited number of us can. We can because it is possible to change our diets and we can make an effort to pay a little bit more for better food. However most humans do not want to be part of the movement, they just go with the bigger group and the bigger group is not willing to change. An argument could be that people do not like eating healthy because they are used to eating unhealthy, just like people that smoke. However, smoking is also about consuming nicotine. Fortunately, eating does not include this problem, but people do need to have the will to change their diets. Another factor that does not help is the advertising of companies, instead of the government making everyone not only aware but also to keep showing these hazards to nature by publicity. Maybe one way of changing these habits is to make people aware of these harms, to motivate them to change their habits. Burgers and fries, are not what will help you live longer.
I can not believe people are actually taking the time out to do all of this for bacon? All bacon is doing is increasing the number of people who are obese. It is actually disturbing to see what pigs or any other animal goes through. In our society no one doesnt care anymore about what they eat or what the process is to get food. Not everyone realizes what bacon can do to you unless you end of in the hospital. The lack of knowledge has killed many Americans. In this case what you don't know can you hurt you in the long run.-Valerie
There are ways to change the terrible eating habits that has resulted in a large percentage of obesity in this country. I believe the problem is that a lot of us were raised to eat animal foods constantly. Not only do they taste great, but they fill you up also. The one thing I think about when I'm hungry is eating something that I really like. Unfortunately a lot of times the better it tastes the worse it is for you. So how do we solve this problem. Well, I think the only way is to change the way we think. Caring about your health is obviously the first step. Some people may think that eating great tasting unhealthy foods is part of living a happy life. But really the satisfaction of eating unhealthy is only at the moment that your eating it, that's it. After that everything else is negative and ultimately can lead to unhappiness since the foods can change our moods and make our body's physically collapse. We need to understand that there are many great tasting healthy foods we can enjoy and also make us feel good. This can play a major role in being happy. I think that if people change the way they think to this way of thinking it can solve the problem of obesity. It's challenging but defenitely possible.
In my opinion as a person who currently lives in the U.S., I think that organic food is definitely over priced and hard to find. That is why many Americans go forward to buying cheap processed food that is easy to find in every corner of Miami. People don't really stop to think about how they process the foods or nothing, all they think about is not getting out of their car just going through a drive-thru, not costing them too much money, and that their families enjoy it without thinking of the harm they are causing their families with how much fat the food they are putting into their mouth may have, etc... People should really take some time and realize how unhealthy processed food is for their families. -Claudia Bocanegra
@Javier and all Why should leaders of the companies such as McDonalds and Burger King feel compassion for those consuming their food and becoming obese? Fill in their shoes and say that you are the CEO of McDonalds. All you would care about is profit, profit, and profit! Anyone can say right now that you would try to change things but once you let money control you, it is like a disease. And in the corporate world they had their system of politics and democracy, not everyone is going to agree to change things.
Yes we have the right to eat the healthiest of foods, same as having the right to stop doing drugs. It has nothing to do with rights, our rights are not being problematic, its our motivation to exercise them.
I am not taking the side of these food companies but what they are doing, i do not consider it inhumane. If you believe that it is inhumane to be offering this bad food. Then it is inhumane for us to be consuming it and letting our children consume it.
@Daniel You say that fast food doesn't have the same concept as smoking cigarettes. Nicotine is addictive, yes, fat is also additive as well. It can be advertised that fat is as bad as Nicotine and all the other addictive drugs but it is not. Great tasting fattening food that is quick and ready all the time is probably more addictive than nicotine and other drugs just because it has so many factors on the "feel good" effect. What i mean is, it is great tasting, it is super convenient, it's fast and it can be cheap. Thats is 4 good factors vs 1 (being unhealthy). Compare that to nicotine. The good: stress reliever? the bad: expensive, kills your lungs, kills teeth, makes everything smell like smoke. That is 1 good vs 4 bad. Fast food beats cigarettes on it being addictive. It not only has to be addictive chemically in the brain and mode but also in your mind and your thoughts. Look how hard it is to get people to quit smoking, fighting obesity is going to take 4 times that.
An analogy would be useful to support this point of view. Is going against nature something good? Evolutionary theories say that our ancestors started evolving when they did not have more food in the trees. Today, we talk about that evolution as something good. However, what did our ancestors think when they ran out of food? It would be a good guess to say that they found it as something detrimental. Clearly, at that point they did not have our current sense of morality that forces us to confront dilemmas about what is good and bad for our future. Maybe they could have reduced their reproduction rates and or the amount of food they were eating from the trees in order to make it last longer. However, they just followed the course of nature, which was neither good nor bad; it just led to something different. Today, the natural relationship of demand and supply shows that when there are more people who want to buy food, the production increases and technology helps to improve the time and methods of production. If people buy more food without anyone forcing them to buy it, it makes sense to say they are following their natural instincts or the course of their nature. Same thing happens to the supply. People want to make more money so they increase their production. Although our ancestors may see it just as something that is happening without analyzing it, our currently non-neutral sense of morality starts judging this phenomena with the hope of affecting it somehow. It is true that we have cheaper food but that the quality of this kind of food is making people get fatter. We are also contaminating our rivers with fertilizers, which will kill a lot of fish. The conclusion as we see it today is that, in the long run, our environment will be destroyed which is something bad. However, will this situation lead to something bad or just to something different like evolution did? Being fat is a personal decision, which changes the physical properties of the person. Something bad about these new properties is that you may die younger. However, having a bigger mass also allows you to create a bigger force over the objects, which can be useful in different situations. “Destroying” the environment can be related to the moment when our ancestors ran out of food. It was a great reason for them to go to the ground and learn how to walk. It may also be a great catalyst for the evolution of our civilization and perhaps even the development of interplanetary technology. It could make us find ways to create conditions to live in other planets. Due to these current conditions we may be calling home the whole universe instead just planet Earth. It is worth to keep spending resources in the raising animals for food as long as there are people who want to buy it and become responsible for the consequences, which will be always a synonym of change. Saying that any kind of change is detrimental is just analyzing it from a current point of view without taking into account our abilities to adapt and overcome the everyday changing environment. Going against the demand and supply of this food is not the solution to the problem if there is one. At some point it will regulate itself if our surviving expectancies or any of our natural needs is in danger. Maybe it is too late but according to the Greek tragedy Oedipus what is meant to be will happen anyways. Going against our own personality or nature will never be the answer as this tragedy shows.
“Cheap food” as the article describes it is a double edge blade. Yes, it helps when in a budget, but the continuous ingesting of these types of foods is unnecessary and dangerous. The food is a big issue, but in this discussion it’s also one side of the coin. Exercise plays a monumental factor in our health, especially in America where we have become for the most part lazier, but that’s not the issue at hand. We live in the land of choices and options, a lot of people complain that organic foods are too expensive, but they don’t realize that we expend that same amount of money if not more in doctor’s visit and things that we do not need like energy drinks, coffee, pastries, sugary treats and others. The mentioned before are not nutritive and not needed in our daily diets at all. Another major problem is the amount of food that our country produces for no reason, because at the same time we are the country that throws away the most. The change has to come from us by changing our eating habits and change the flow of demand so those multinational companies start to slowly but surely change as well. If we don’t start from our own diets and then families and friends then the prognostics will not fail and by the year 2030 one half of the US will be obese. Those won’t be strangers those will be us, our kids and our families. Those will be us suffering from diabetes, gout, osteoarthritis, various forms of cancer etc. Carlos Gonzalez
To many of us who have taken nutrition at Miami Dade have learned that the food industry doesn't really help us with the food labels they put to the food we eat, although it's there to be "helpful". All it really does is confuse us more and the main issue here is that we don't know how to read them properly. Obesity is an epidemic not only rising in the United States but also the world. With proper eating and exercise it can be eradicated just like most diseases, but the first step must be made by you and it will have an outstanding impact in your life and the people around you.
Along with the lack of education and information, we live in a very fast pace world. We need everything, right now, this very second. And so, fast food corporations have made a lot of money from us and feed into this fast lifestyle we're living. Instead of taking the time to make a healthy sandwich on your own or bringing a fruit salad to lunch, we resort to Burger King, McDonald's, Taco Bell, etc, for our digestive needs.
Furthermore, ethically, this isn't the proper way to treat these animals that we consume. Nor is it right to inject them with these antibiotics that could potentially fail and dumping their manure with that chance that they can destroy ecosystems every season. We now have girls that begin puberty around the time they are in the third grade because of the hormones that are in our meat.
Is there a way to change these eating habits? Sure. But it's easier said than done. We have to take a stand against the fast-food industry and farming industry. To go back to the old-fashioned way of agricultural. Would you rather be satisfied knowing that the steak your eating had a space to roam and organic food to eat? Knowing that you're getting the proper nutrients and no potentially deadly chemicals and hormones. While at the moment it might seem to be a pricey investment, its long term health benefits will outweigh its price.
@Andy Why give up? Why not try to change it? Wanting to just let this be is even worse than trying and failing. We can buy time for the world in order to save it rather than sitting and waiting for the world to deteriorate from this.
We have not successfully landed human beings on mars and it has been 42 years since our first landing of the moon and we can't get any further other than sending satellites and robotics. Even if we have another 42 years to boost technology and discover other areas in the universe and galaxy for humans to live, it can be too late. It is possible that tomorrow that NASA creates this super rocket to reach pluto, but we don't know that. This is being plain lazy. We don't need something to push us to look for other paces that is sustainable for human life, we are doing this now and a well funded government organization, NASA, has the best scientists, mathematicians, pilots and leaders trying to get out there in space. Even if we live through our life on planet earth without a problem still living this way, sooner or later it will be destroyed by eating these unhealthy foods and destroying the environment. What about our children that we will have, and our grandchildren and so on. Would you want them to live like that?
Yes we evolve and naturally we learn from survival skills that we are born with. Maybe this is something that will reach too far and wipe civilization. It is not only body health, it is environmental too. We are dealing with many problem by us doing this.
It's not that we are unable too. Slowly but surely this will change but it's just time that is needed to defeat all these opposing factors that is causing this mayhem. Our populations is enormous and we are using resources after than they can be reproduced.
But i do agree if this isn't changed, nature is going to take over and destroy.
Articles and concepts of nutrition, health and fitness are discussed nowadays on every magazine, tv talk show and school. Higher education equips us with the skills that will be used outside of classroom. The university provides us with nutrition class in order to educate us in how to make healthy choices and improve our overall health. Unfortunately, the same institutions that provide us nutrition education fail to provide a healthy choice food in our cafeterias. Most of the food that is served on campus or around it is fast food and unquestionably unhealthy for you. We all understand that university students are extremely busy and are always on the run. This fast pace life contributes to unhealthy choice that young people make which creates to a long term issue. Due to the fact that for 4 to 5 years a young individual spends in college he or she is conditioned to making unhealthy choices. For that reason while in college they are set to believe that time is better spend in other activities rather than cooking. Many state advertisement companies have a big impact in our dieting, selling and promoting delicious and cheap food. However hundreds don't even stop to consider this cheapness brings with it bad nutrition. Therefore, it is not only big advertisement companies the ones that ruin our eating habits; it is the society in general always too busy to cook lunch.
Animal farming and advertisement by the meat industry account for one of the greatest crimes in humanity. We talk about genocides, civil wars, and incredible amounts of human lives lost in wars that keep revisiting humanity as the ocean waves revisit the beaches. But we are not aware as a society in general of the abuse of animals by the factory farming and the big corporations that control the economics and destiny of the American society. We probably need to dive into the roots of our society values and discover when was it that it became more important to profit than to provide quality products to our fellow humans and dignity to those giving their lives to sustain ours. At one point in our history we became slaves of the big corporations and the axiological problem of what makes an action right or wrong slip from our hands and became the sole property of the corporations running the show. Nowadays animals are killed by the millions each year in gruesome conditions, in poor standards of life and risking epidemics daily that could decimate human population. Still the corporations maintain their big schema and orderly processes to maximize profits while getting the American population sicker and weaker (mentally and physically), which in turn will feed the pockets of the health providers that will happily treat society’s diseases with the products of the big pharmaceuticals that will humbly receive the hard earned money of the American worker and pocked it. Education is the key to rid society of the evil hand of the big corporations behind animal farming, to bring back family owned farms that provide quality of products and an environment that is healthy for the workers and the stock they raise. Organic products while more expensive than factory produced provide higher nutritive and healthy alternatives that are not harmful to humans or the environment. By doing so, an average citizen will save money in health costs, and enjoy a more plentiful life. It is important that we support the efforts of those pushing for more organic products in the market, that we buy local and that we visit farmer’s markets to buy fresh products that sustain family owned farms. Meat and dairy product consumption needs to be reduced, by doing so several things will happen; first the standards of life of the meat eaters will increase and their long term health will be better. The great obesity outbreak that we deal with every day will be controlled by eating healthier alternatives, many types of cancer will disappear or greatly decrease and we will stop putting into our bodies the large amounts of antibiotics and hormones that are given to those animals to accelerate the production of meat and dairy products. While all this happens we will allow the environment to heal, restoring life to rivers and oceans and redirecting the great amounts of food used to raise cattle and other animals to feed humans. The connection between the factory farms pumping millions of gallons of pesticides, excrements, and waste into our rivers will be shifted and in return new life will spring from them. The only ones who will suffer with such a choice will be the big corporations that will be forced to go along the main stream and produce goods that are sustainable and morally good for mankind in order to continue pocketing money. Yes, we have been lied, used and abused by the big corporations, Animal farming is just an illusion created to make believe Americans they are receiving quality products when in reality we are being chained to the system and brainwashed. Millions of animals are killed under the excuse they are needed to sustain our bodies, but in the process we are passing into ourselves stress and disease causing bacteria and germs along with a very bad karma.
It is not news that the American diet is harmful not only to our environment but to our health as well. The facts are clear: the mass production of meat consumes tremendous amounts of energy, land to harvest and feed animals, and chemicals which end up polluting our environment and our body. Some individuals have taken these facts and have made a choice to develop a healthier life style, such as becoming vegan. More and more, eating healthy seems to be promoted in our society as a new fashion, just like being “green”. However, it’s also a fact that this is a choice which can only be made by the elite, since eating organic sustainably produced food has a higher price. It seems obvious, then, that it will not be the shift in these few individual’s lifestyle that will change the structure of food production. The truth is that the harm we do in ourselves and our environment through industrialized mass production of meat is not translated by the cost we pay for it at the supermarket. In fact, it is cheaper to buy all kinds of cold meats than a bag of organic carrots, for example, and more likely the cold meats will make us feel “fuller”. It gets worse when we look at the broader picture with an increase of meat consumption in the world. If it seems unlikely to change 300 million people’s lifestyle, it is unthinkable to shift the way of living of nearly 7 billion people. We not only need to educate, but the food production must take another direction, using other types of energy and technology to keep the mass production in order to respond to an increasing population, without making a major impact in our environment and our health. After all, those are the major concerns we should have, since our life depends on them.
This society has demolished many people thoughts on eating a healthy diet by replacing it with fast food restaurants, and plenty more. I don’t think it’s worth spending so many resources to raise animals for food products, because rising animals’ period is a long process. Killing a variety of animals in a short period of time will be hurtful for the future. Diet and exercise is a key factor in our society, but has not been successful over the few years. We can improve our diet by simply changing the harmful/ unhealthy food products, which are in stock in many stores today. The food we consume on a daily basis play a major role for someone who is on a diet, or anyone who simply wants to change their eating habits. If the media/ government would stop promoting non-healthy products and simply tell the people the truth about the products it would make a huge difference in society, but individuals must seek their own knowledge about the food we eat and consume and make the decision if they want to eat healthier. It’s really up to the people who live in their community to rebel and change their diet. The young generation is even affected more, because their mind has been “suppress” eating healthy is not a big topic while growing up in society. - Daniel Lozandier
This society has demolished many people thoughts on eating a healthy diet by replacing it with fast food restaurants, and plenty more. I don’t think it’s worth spending so many resources to raise animals for food products, because rising animals’ period is a long process. Killing a variety of animals in a short period of time will be hurtful for the future. Diet and exercise is a key factor in our society, but has not been successful over the few years. We can improve our diet by simply changing the harmful/ unhealthy food products, which are in stock in many stores today. The food we consume on a daily basis play a major role for someone who is on a diet, or anyone who simply wants to change their eating habits. If the media/ government would stop promoting non-healthy products and simply tell the people the truth about the products it would make a huge difference in society, but individuals must seek their own knowledge about the food we eat and consume and make the decision if they want to eat healthier. It’s really up to the people who live in their community to rebel and change their diet. The young generation is even affected more, because their mind has been “suppress” eating healthy is not a big topic while growing up in society. - Daniel Lozandier
In today's society , it is more than evident that more people are being diagnosed with obesity and the many complications along with it daily . This cheap foods, also termed as bad is the main attribute of this all. The abundant amount of fast food restaurants , the reasonable price of these cheap food compared to wealthy food, the easy preparation, the flavor , and many other tiny aspects that allow society to turn to this cheap foods first without thinking.
We learn that the nutrition labels on foods are usually false and mislead a lot of their consumers.. From the start, the rearing or breeding of animals to even make these 'cheap' foods are already detrimental to us because of the chemicals n steroids used as stated. No, the government should not be spending so much money the rearing but they see it from the financial benefit.
If we as people were more knowledgeable of all these information , i think less people would consume any of these foods and turn to the healthier ones. If we modify eating habits , and monitor what we eat, it can work and this problem can be resolved. As of recent , parents should instill from home that fast food not be included in any childs diet because it is unhealthy .
Change is the major thing needed to resolve all this . Our habits can be changed , if the help of the government is involved it would be better. Less fast food, or this 'cheap' foods' and more eating of what is nutritionally right is the only way.
Cheap food has been a policy choice for decades, bought with a great chain of subsidy for big agriculture and big food. But if unhealthy foods are more available than healthy foods, this does not mean that we can't choose to eat something healthy. Fast food and other unhealthy foods are made to easy to get, but there is a reason why foods that are bad are so easily accessible, it's because our society craves them more because they taste better. Therefore stores tend to have more of these products to keep up with the high demand. If society as a whole decided that they wanted to eat more healthy food I would be willing to bet that the stores would transition from mainly bad foods to mainly good foods. Even with the environment being unhealthy though we need to decide for ourselves if we want to be fat or not, the choice is ours. Prices of higher quality food also play a role. I feel that not being available to afford healthier foods isn't an excuse. Even if we don't have the money, that doesn't mean we have to live off of unhealthy fast food. Yes, we can go to fast food restaurants, most of them offer salads, grilled chicken, yogurt/fruit, etc. We can still eat pretty healthy even if we don't have that much money. I think the US needs to continue to try to fight this growing obesity/unhealthy epidemic. It needs to be treated.
In our current world, people live their lives in a day-by-day basis. They don’t think about the future or who they are affecting by the poor choices they make today. We have been exposed to the cruelties that animals have to go through to feed the largest amount of people with minimal supplies and minimal cost. Unfortunately, in our world, people have become desensitized to the news and the brutal images of the lives these animals live. Most people prefer to go on living ignorant of the negative meat they are consuming. While most people talk about change, they don’t realize that change starts with our own lives and the lives of those closest to them. If we want to impact our world, we have to start with ourselves. Unfortunately, our materialistic generation only cares about having the most expensive clothing or shoes. They are happy consuming “meat” that was treated poorly, only to be provided cheaply. If we want to change the way people consume meat, it has to be done by apply stricter regulations on the food industry.
When I see a topic such as this, I can’t help but think back to one of the basic principles taught in economics, the cost-benefit analysis. A process used for figuring out the benefits and costs of a decision for the purposes of feasibility. We do this all the time and probably don’t even realize it. The problem comes when we only factor in the costs that immediately affect us. The long term effects of a decision are often neglected, as in the case with this pig farm. At a time when science has proven that we are consuming our resources at an unsustainable rate. America, one of the countries with the highest rate of obesity, consumes 815 billion calories of food each day, which is 200 billion more than what’s needed, and we throw out 200,000 tons of edible food daily. (www.mindfully.org) We are wasting resources at a time when we can’t afford to. The long term economic cost alone are not worth it, but when you factor in the health bills attributed to obesity and bad eating, it far exceeds the monetary benefits that these companies are so narrowly focused on. The way we change this is by educating ourselves on a proper nutritional lifestyle change. We stop being enablers for the bad practices of the food industry and lower the demand of these “cheap” meats. It doesn’t end there, the solution has to come from our law makers. They need to understand that poor ethics of the food industry is a priority concern for Americans and needs to be remedied asap. No more backroom deals that guarantee a blind eye. The costs are simply too great for all of us.
42 comments:
Obesity? Diet? Good nutrition? Health? What does this all really mean? It was all known to have a direct and universal book definition to society. But, society itself evolved this. Not all see obesity as having a BMI of over 30 kg/m. Some see it not as weight and fat percentage but how many times you've been to the hospital for a heart attack from fatty tissue blocking your arteries. Not all see good nutrition as having their daily servings of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, meats, etc. Some see it as having one apple a week or eating a number 1 from McDonalds just once a day instead of 3 is ok, reason being lack of knowledge.
Apart from this lack of knowledge the government, food industry, and advertising companies are going full force and taking advantage of this time. All for PROFIT! Now the country is going through a recessions of course. Now more than ever people are finding ways on how they can make the most and how they can maneuver society like pieces of a chess game. Do you think they care about the consequences they cause to this world and to the people? No, of course not. They want to continue driving their million dollar bars and their hundred million dollar homes. With the help of advertising companies that use psychologists to brainwash you and make you want the products and the help of the government that lacks the prevention of letting this get out of hand this is achieved. It is a masterpiece of disaster for this world.
Having most of society uneducated and brainwashed in this subject matter can be agreed to. Yes, not all people think this way or have been brainwashed and some do actually care on these critical points that are being stated in this article. Yes,not all businesses in the food industry ignore these issues and actually try to change things. But is it enough? Negative.
People can say if i was president and i would change this in a hear beat. Well is not that simple, this government has become from being able to run anything to being run over by all this big time corporations such as General Electrics and BP. They all benefit from this. They benefit from consumers buying and consuming these foods. Meaning that the government benefits from it because these corporations support and aid the government, especially economy wise. We are hurting since this war on terrorism has sucked us into an empty piggy bank (An intense issue that can be argued indefinitely). Everything has a domino effect and it's just a matter on what domino to push first and how far that domino chain goes.
We pushed that domino on eating these easy, quick, great tasting and unhealthy foods. It continues on and branches off knocking down the global warming domino that will continue for decades until our ozone and temperature goes to hell or unless we stop these factors. It also branches off into obesity which will continue on for decades as well until this is changed and that will later knock the domino of deaths. It also branches out and knocks down the domino of limited and decreasing resources that will go on for decades and maybe even centuries and later create a fight for survival and a civil war if things are not changed. All this keep branching out and more dominos are dropped.
"the higher availability of these foods would be a sufficient condition for the price of these food to come down."
"if the greater part of the American population participated in making better food choices is a necessary condition for there to be food production reform in the U.S."
These are grabbed from another class’s blog. This person is hitting exactly what needs to be done. Those necessary and sufficient conditions need to be met in order to turn this around and we can argue that
"If there are cheaper and more supported, healthier foods it is a sufficient condition that the majority of Americans will participate in better food choices" .
There are millions of things people can do to turn this around but simply not all are paying attention to this because society has made it ok but I do believe that the major is economy at this point. I'm surprised people do not see the end of this world soon enough due to population increase and increase need of natural resources. What will it take to make the majority of society participate in better food choices? This will all be learned the hard way if Americans continue to dig themselves deeper in this cave of darkness and force the future generations in it too.
-Jonathan Flores
There are a lot we can do to improve our eating habits nowadays. The most important factor is implementing change. In this day and age data can easily be accessed and available, so using the old cliché and excuses are unacceptable and tiring. Once you know you must do better and educate those you love and close to you. We can no longer keep blaming companies especially if you we have options. Most of us are willing to buy designer bags and expensive cars, but will complain about the cost of organic foods. Taking the time to research companies that sell organic foods is a long time investment in ones future and in my opinion that is a worthwhile investment. With obesity, diabetics, cancer, and many more ailments and disability taking the small step is a giant step in prosperous and healthy life.
As a person living in a society where a fast-food restaurant is located on every street corner and hundreds of billboards advertising unhealthy foods I think the eating habits we make for ourselves dare based on us.In fact, education is very important because if many of us were educated on what is nutritional essential for our body than, most of us wouldn't be eating McDonald's everyday. Though education is a impact to many people eating habit, I also think money is a factor also. Now a days many people are losing their jobs or don't even have a job which leads them to having to save money. In order for many people to do so they have reduce their expenses which leads them to not having to send a lot of money on eating or etc. So, they end up eating at a fast-food restaurant.I believe you can eat healthy on a budget and still have a healthy lifestyle. The percentage of obesity in the world can decrease only if the people is willing to change eating and exercising habits and also stop being tempted with all these unhealthy food advertisements and fast-foods restaurants on every street corner.
This article explained that the amount chemicals used to grow the corn, and the amount of antibiotics used to keep the livestock healthy, is unhealthy. The article also explains that the living conditions of the pigs are unhealthy for them, causing them to need the antibiotics to be healthy. The other side to this argument would be the simple fact that this is the cheapest possible way to produce meat for the people to consume.
Now days incident of averweight and obesity among Americans are prevalent. It is because people do not take the way they eat seriously. Going to eat to McDonnalds will save you time but when the time goes by you going to noticed the differents. american needs to eat more frit and vegetables and stop consuming sugar,., satured fat and sodium. We have to educated people and thet have lack of knowledge and it could have seriously effect on the future.
I found this article extremely important because what we digest, absorb and assimilate into our body is critical to our health. There are circumstances in which we may have special nutrient needs, either temporarily or permanently, that are not being met nowadays because of the poor food that we eat. We can change our eating behavior consuming more whole grains, fruits and vegetables and avoiding others foods full of antibiotics and chemicals.
Whether we look at this objectively or subjectively, it seems that adoption of more sustainable agricultural practises is the best choice. Objectively, we can weight the short-term positive impact of cheap food against the short and long-term negative impacts of obesity, pollution, cruel treatment of animals, destruction of the natural environment, &c. We can also realise that our current practises are not sustainable in the long-term. Despite what our wallets and stomachs may want, sticking to what we have been doing would be folly. Further, decisions regarding human behaviour ought to take into account human values. On such a basis, I argue that we must respect the natural world and recognise that we are no greater than the rest of the universe and that the animals we so mistreat are thinking, feeling beings like ourselves.
-Elvis Hatcher
In my opinion eveyone in America should change their eating habits. We have fast food restaurants located on every corner of our neighborhood. So how can some people eat healthy? America doesnt not promote healthy foods. When have you seen a commercial that is advertising healthy foods? & some peple may not know how to eat healthy.- Valerie
Like this article points out people don't want to know what they are eating, especially when its cheap and convenient, and even if they know, they just pretend it isn't true. Awareness seems to steadily be growing especially amongst college students, however because it is much more expensive to choose healthier alternatives people still choose conventional food sources, and lets be honest after work and between classes something like Mcdonald's seems easier than cooking yourself something. Advertisement aside, people would still choose something easily accessible, take for instance the Wolfson campus, there is a Subways not to far from building one and farther down there are a number of restaurants that cater to healthier food choices, but you still find a ridiculously long line in Mcdonald's which is right between buildings one, two, and three. Considering that a lot of us have taken either nutrition classes or other classes that have in some way informed us about the problems with the agriculture in this country its safe to say we are educated in the matter, yet you still find a lot of those same people eating this cheap (bad) food, so it seems that simply knowing about it isn't enough. We can blame advertisements, the government, our parents, and even the rest of the country, but ultimately it depends on us to make the choice to spend a little extra on better, healthier foods.
When we make that choice and we increase the demand of organic foods companies will supply that demand. We blame these companies of taking advantage of us, manipulating us, and cutting corners but they are simply doing their jobs, they see a demand for something so they supply that demand and we pay them for that service they provide. You could argue that this problem might stem from America's obsession with making money as quickly and as easily as they can, this obsession taught us that easy and convenient is better then quality and health, but in the end we still would blame someone else for our inability to get out of our comfort zone and change what we know needs changing. My point is that it doesn't matter how much we spend or whether it's better or worse for us, we seem unable to change a system we are comfortable with until the system itself collapse on top of us.
When the food that we consume is no longer an agent of life but death, it should produce within every individual a voice for change. What we consume in our diets can keep us alive or it can be the cause of our removal from this planet. Why rely on a culture of death to do for you and your family what you can do better (provide good nourishing food)? When people become more health conscious, more concerned for there well being, they will produce change and those who place profits over the consumer's health, or the environment will rise to the occasion and meet the demands for better food, if they wish to perpetuate their trade.
Khaliq Muhammad
Reading this blog was actually disturbing. I live in North Miami Beach, around every corner I have at least 4 or more fast food place, Its not healthy. In my opinion the reason America wont show this type of information about what we are eating is because of the billons of business around the U.S will get lose customers and lose money. To decrease obesity?? Thats something America has to do ourselves. Ever since the year 2000, people thought America will have healthy choices and give healthy food commercials to improve America's health and obesity...we are in the year 2012 now and it still havent happened. Healthy choices might be expensive, for its for the better in America. The unhealthy fast food choices we have in every corner for a quick bite is not worth the aftermath of not eating healthy. The change should start NOW!!!
-Kathiana Vixama
We live in a country where information is at our disposal at all times. The true culprit in all of this is ignorance. It is hard for people to accept the fact that we are causing damage to our environment just by eating a piece of fattening bacon. Sure, what you put in your mouth now may not have an instant consequence, but we do not think for the future of our health and that also includes the health of our environment. We need to stop letting all of these food companies brainwash us by showing us all of these commercials of food that is detrimental to us, and the environment. What can be done of us not a hard task at all; we need to be more informed about the things we are putting into our bodies, be aware of where these food products come from and in what conditions are they being produced and the most important thing we can do to really make a change is actually care about our health and not just what tastes good for a short moment. If we do not care about ourselves, and the environment we live in, then a plan to modify the food industry can never happen. Americans are always looking for a quick and easy way to eat a meal, yet they don’t stop to think that these quick meals can cause damage to bodies. With the conditions that these animals and products are raised in are simply not healthy. Nothing can be accomplished if we do not care about the issue at hand here.
If Americans demand more healthy foods then the food industry will supply more healthy foods.
If advertising companies promote healthy foods then Americans will demand healthy foods
If the FDA becomes stricter on truthful food labels then Americans will know more how to eat.
When the U.S. is no longer in an economical deficit then food companies will concentrate on researching and creating better foods.
If Americans become more educated on nutrition then Americans will know what damage these bad foods do to thier body.
If less fast food restaurants are removed from plain sight in neighborhoods then society will be less tempted to eat there.
If the food industries manufacture healthier foods then global warming will decline.
If the younger generations continue following these steps then future generations will follow.
I can continue on in every factor that everyone is starting on why this is happening. Each factor has the same amount of fault. Americans, government and corporations. All these arguments can be connected since it is all cause and effect. Stopping this has be done in different levels.
But there is one thing that is in common to all this. Everyone involved are human beings. All have feelings, personalitys, thought, memories, etc. This has to be changed by involving every human being. We all have natural instincts, we all have grown with nature and nurture. Our brains evolve to what we currently live in and we ourselves have created this poor value of life. This all wil be learned by nature. When millions of Americans start dying and fall like pigeons because of health by nutrition and environment then our brains will kick in and notice what is happening. It's nature and it will become a fight for the fittest. Meaning we will dramatically change our ways trying to beat death before the population dissappears. We are creating a metaphoric ice age and the reason why the dinasours became extinct. This will happen unless we work as a non discombobulated society and make this change, it's a lot of work and a large population that will need to change their state of mind by nurturing vs nature.
Nice comments. Go on.
The lack of interest and education that people have adopted toward our food industry reflects the selfishness of human beings. Most of the time when we are about to consume a regular meal from the local Mcdonalds we don't ponder upon how the meal has been processed and what damages has brought to our ecosystem. If we keep buying and sponsoring these industries we are letting them know that we really don't care for else except that the final bite of the Big Mac is tasty.
We, as reasoning human beings, that care for the well-being of society as a whole, must start a change in one of the most ordinary acts of our daily lives, which is eating. I believe we have the right for the healthiest food, and also have the right to question the making of the food as well.
It is also very inhuman from the Industries (Mcdonalds, BK, Wendy's) that target us with their unhealthy food. It's clear how they are not compassionate for our well being. When they realize that they are not improving the world in any way with promoting that type of food; and when we realize that we must find ways to improve our lives, to make them worthwhile and meaningful - and that we can start by changing our daily routines - then we will be building a habitat that supports and works together for a better world.
Don't blame the people because Many are expected to consume health life style but there's never a health shop on every corner on our streets .Health food isn't being shown as frequent as fast food.As a nation we expected the people to do the opposite what the media display. Help the people by making the health organics food afforable and display more health food on television and bring more health shop on every corner.
It's very informative for articles like these to be available for the public to read. The facts and information provided do not lie, unfortunately, society has learned to avoid and deny these facts. The united States intensely suffers from obesity. The access we have to food has been modified over time to be cheaper and easier to purchase. Of course, the price (in money) seems like it's a great deal, but in the long run, we are paying a higher price in health. The bottom line is the "nutritions" we are consuming are damaging our bodies. The pigs in this article have not been handled properly. Fast food has been the easy way out of cooking home cooked meals or just spending more money on healthier foods. Culturally, fast food has been praised and has become an addiction many share in common. Yes, healthy food may be more expensive, but the price is worth it in the end! A heart attack can happen to anyone. People have been blinded, thinking, swearing, that a healthy risk or situation can never happen to them. It's better to be safe than sorry!
In our present day world, we are used to eating very unhealthy food. Such problem is because we eat anything as long as it is cheaper than healthy food. As mentioned in the article, pigs are raised in confined pens and killed around 5 months after they are born. This is very cruel of us but reality is that we do not care about what these animals feel, we care about how cheap we can eat the products that are made from them.
Can we really do something about it? I would say only a limited number of us can. We can because it is possible to change our diets and we can make an effort to pay a little bit more for better food. However most humans do not want to be part of the movement, they just go with the bigger group and the bigger group is not willing to change. An argument could be that people do not like eating healthy because they are used to eating unhealthy, just like people that smoke. However, smoking is also about consuming nicotine. Fortunately, eating does not include this problem, but people do need to have the will to change their diets. Another factor that does not help is the advertising of companies, instead of the government making everyone not only aware but also to keep showing these hazards to nature by publicity. Maybe one way of changing these habits is to make people aware of these harms, to motivate them to change their habits. Burgers and fries, are not what will help you live longer.
Daniel Rincon
I can not believe people are actually taking the time out to do all of this for bacon? All bacon is doing is increasing the number of people who are obese. It is actually disturbing to see what pigs or any other animal goes through. In our society no one doesnt care anymore about what they eat or what the process is to get food. Not everyone realizes what bacon can do to you unless you end of in the hospital. The lack of knowledge has killed many Americans. In this case what you don't know can you hurt you in the long run.-Valerie
There are ways to change the terrible eating habits that has resulted in a large percentage of obesity in this country. I believe the problem is that a lot of us were raised to eat animal foods constantly. Not only do they taste great, but they fill you up also. The one thing I think about when I'm hungry is eating something that I really like. Unfortunately a lot of times the better it tastes the worse it is for you. So how do we solve this problem. Well, I think the only way is to change the way we think. Caring about your health is obviously the first step. Some people may think that eating great tasting unhealthy foods is part of living a happy life. But really the satisfaction of eating unhealthy is only at the moment that your eating it, that's it. After that everything else is negative and ultimately can lead to unhappiness since the foods can change our moods and make our body's physically collapse. We need to understand that there are many great tasting healthy foods we can enjoy and also make us feel good. This can play a major role in being happy. I think that if people change the way they think to this way of thinking it can solve the problem of obesity. It's challenging but defenitely possible.
In my opinion as a person who currently lives in the U.S., I think that organic food is definitely over priced and hard to find. That is why many Americans go forward to buying cheap processed food that is easy to find in every corner of Miami. People don't really stop to think about how they process the foods or nothing, all they think about is not getting out of their car just going through a drive-thru, not costing them too much money, and that their families enjoy it without thinking of the harm they are causing their families with how much fat the food they are putting into their mouth may have, etc... People should really take some time and realize how unhealthy processed food is for their families.
-Claudia Bocanegra
@Javier and all
Why should leaders of the companies such as McDonalds and Burger King feel compassion for those consuming their food and becoming obese? Fill in their shoes and say that you are the CEO of McDonalds. All you would care about is profit, profit, and profit! Anyone can say right now that you would try to change things but once you let money control you, it is like a disease. And in the corporate world they had their system of politics and democracy, not everyone is going to agree to change things.
Yes we have the right to eat the healthiest of foods, same as having the right to stop doing drugs. It has nothing to do with rights, our rights are not being problematic, its our motivation to exercise them.
I am not taking the side of these food companies but what they are doing, i do not consider it inhumane. If you believe that it is inhumane to be offering this bad food. Then it is inhumane for us to be consuming it and letting our children consume it.
@Daniel
You say that fast food doesn't have the same concept as smoking cigarettes. Nicotine is addictive, yes, fat is also additive as well. It can be advertised that fat is as bad as Nicotine and all the other addictive drugs but it is not. Great tasting fattening food that is quick and ready all the time is probably more addictive than nicotine and other drugs just because it has so many factors on the "feel good" effect. What i mean is, it is great tasting, it is super convenient, it's fast and it can be cheap. Thats is 4 good factors vs 1 (being unhealthy). Compare that to nicotine. The good: stress reliever? the bad: expensive, kills your lungs, kills teeth, makes everything smell like smoke. That is 1 good vs 4 bad. Fast food beats cigarettes on it being addictive. It not only has to be addictive chemically in the brain and mode but also in your mind and your thoughts. Look how hard it is to get people to quit smoking, fighting obesity is going to take 4 times that.
An analogy would be useful to support this point of view. Is going against nature something good? Evolutionary theories say that our ancestors started evolving when they did not have more food in the trees. Today, we talk about that evolution as something good. However, what did our ancestors think when they ran out of food? It would be a good guess to say that they found it as something detrimental. Clearly, at that point they did not have our current sense of morality that forces us to confront dilemmas about what is good and bad for our future. Maybe they could have reduced their reproduction rates and or the amount of food they were eating from the trees in order to make it last longer. However, they just followed the course of nature, which was neither good nor bad; it just led to something different.
Today, the natural relationship of demand and supply shows that when there are more people who want to buy food, the production increases and technology helps to improve the time and methods of production. If people buy more food without anyone forcing them to buy it, it makes sense to say they are following their natural instincts or the course of their nature. Same thing happens to the supply. People want to make more money so they increase their production. Although our ancestors may see it just as something that is happening without analyzing it, our currently non-neutral sense of morality starts judging this phenomena with the hope of affecting it somehow.
It is true that we have cheaper food but that the quality of this kind of food is making people get fatter. We are also contaminating our rivers with fertilizers, which will kill a lot of fish. The conclusion as we see it today is that, in the long run, our environment will be destroyed which is something bad. However, will this situation lead to something bad or just to something different like evolution did? Being fat is a personal decision, which changes the physical properties of the person. Something bad about these new properties is that you may die younger. However, having a bigger mass also allows you to create a bigger force over the objects, which can be useful in different situations. “Destroying” the environment can be related to the moment when our ancestors ran out of food. It was a great reason for them to go to the ground and learn how to walk. It may also be a great catalyst for the evolution of our civilization and perhaps even the development of interplanetary technology. It could make us find ways to create conditions to live in other planets. Due to these current conditions we may be calling home the whole universe instead just planet Earth.
It is worth to keep spending resources in the raising animals for food as long as there are people who want to buy it and become responsible for the consequences, which will be always a synonym of change. Saying that any kind of change is detrimental is just analyzing it from a current point of view without taking into account our abilities to adapt and overcome the everyday changing environment. Going against the demand and supply of this food is not the solution to the problem if there is one. At some point it will regulate itself if our surviving expectancies or any of our natural needs is in danger. Maybe it is too late but according to the Greek tragedy Oedipus what is meant to be will happen anyways. Going against our own personality or nature will never be the answer as this tragedy shows.
Andy D.
“Cheap food” as the article describes it is a double edge blade. Yes, it helps when in a budget, but the continuous ingesting of these types of foods is unnecessary and dangerous. The food is a big issue, but in this discussion it’s also one side of the coin. Exercise plays a monumental factor in our health, especially in America where we have become for the most part lazier, but that’s not the issue at hand. We live in the land of choices and options, a lot of people complain that organic foods are too expensive, but they don’t realize that we expend that same amount of money if not more in doctor’s visit and things that we do not need like energy drinks, coffee, pastries, sugary treats and others. The mentioned before are not nutritive and not needed in our daily diets at all. Another major problem is the amount of food that our country produces for no reason, because at the same time we are the country that throws away the most. The change has to come from us by changing our eating habits and change the flow of demand so those multinational companies start to slowly but surely change as well. If we don’t start from our own diets and then families and friends then the prognostics will not fail and by the year 2030 one half of the US will be obese. Those won’t be strangers those will be us, our kids and our families. Those will be us suffering from diabetes, gout, osteoarthritis, various forms of cancer etc.
Carlos Gonzalez
To many of us who have taken nutrition at Miami Dade have learned that the food industry doesn't really help us with the food labels they put to the food we eat, although it's there to be "helpful". All it really does is confuse us more and the main issue here is that we don't know how to read them properly. Obesity is an epidemic not only rising in the United States but also the world. With proper eating and exercise it can be eradicated just like most diseases, but the first step must be made by you and it will have an outstanding impact in your life and the people around you.
Along with the lack of education and information, we live in a very fast pace world. We need everything, right now, this very second. And so, fast food corporations have made a lot of money from us and feed into this fast lifestyle we're living. Instead of taking the time to make a healthy sandwich on your own or bringing a fruit salad to lunch, we resort to Burger King, McDonald's, Taco Bell, etc, for our digestive needs.
Furthermore, ethically, this isn't the proper way to treat these animals that we consume. Nor is it right to inject them with these antibiotics that could potentially fail and dumping their manure with that chance that they can destroy ecosystems every season. We now have girls that begin puberty around the time they are in the third grade because of the hormones that are in our meat.
Is there a way to change these eating habits? Sure. But it's easier said than done. We have to take a stand against the fast-food industry and farming industry. To go back to the old-fashioned way of agricultural. Would you rather be satisfied knowing that the steak your eating had a space to roam and organic food to eat? Knowing that you're getting the proper nutrients and no potentially deadly chemicals and hormones. While at the moment it might seem to be a pricey investment, its long term health benefits will outweigh its price.
@Andy
Why give up? Why not try to change it? Wanting to just let this be is even worse than trying and failing. We can buy time for the world in order to save it rather than sitting and waiting for the world to deteriorate from this.
We have not successfully landed human beings on mars and it has been 42 years since our first landing of the moon and we can't get any further other than sending satellites and robotics. Even if we have another 42 years to boost technology and discover other areas in the universe and galaxy for humans to live, it can be too late. It is possible that tomorrow that NASA creates this super rocket to reach pluto, but we don't know that. This is being plain lazy. We don't need something to push us to look for other paces that is sustainable for human life, we are doing this now and a well funded government organization, NASA, has the best scientists, mathematicians, pilots and leaders trying to get out there in space. Even if we live through our life on planet earth without a problem still living this way, sooner or later it will be destroyed by eating these unhealthy foods and destroying the environment. What about our children that we will have, and our grandchildren and so on. Would you want them to live like that?
Yes we evolve and naturally we learn from survival skills that we are born with. Maybe this is something that will reach too far and wipe civilization. It is not only body health, it is environmental too. We are dealing with many problem by us doing this.
It's not that we are unable too. Slowly but surely this will change but it's just time that is needed to defeat all these opposing factors that is causing this mayhem. Our populations is enormous and we are using resources after than they can be reproduced.
But i do agree if this isn't changed, nature is going to take over and destroy.
Articles and concepts of nutrition, health and fitness are discussed nowadays on every magazine, tv talk show and school. Higher education equips us with the skills that will be used outside of classroom. The university provides us with nutrition class in order to educate us in how to make healthy choices and improve our overall health. Unfortunately, the same institutions that provide us nutrition education fail to provide a healthy choice food in our cafeterias. Most of the food that is served on campus or around it is fast food and unquestionably unhealthy for you.
We all understand that university students are extremely busy and are always on the run. This fast pace life contributes to unhealthy choice that young people make which creates to a long term issue. Due to the fact that for 4 to 5 years a young individual spends in college he or she is conditioned to making unhealthy choices.
For that reason while in college they are set to believe that time is better spend in other activities rather than cooking. Many state advertisement companies have a big impact in our dieting, selling and promoting delicious and cheap food. However hundreds don't even stop to consider this cheapness brings with it bad nutrition. Therefore, it is not only big advertisement companies the ones that ruin our eating habits; it is the society in general always too busy to cook lunch.
Veronica Paredes
Animal farming and advertisement by the meat industry account for one of the greatest crimes in humanity. We talk about genocides, civil wars, and incredible amounts of human lives lost in wars that keep revisiting humanity as the ocean waves revisit the beaches. But we are not aware as a society in general of the abuse of animals by the factory farming and the big corporations that control the economics and destiny of the American society.
We probably need to dive into the roots of our society values and discover when was it that it became more important to profit than to provide quality products to our fellow humans and dignity to those giving their lives to sustain ours. At one point in our history we became slaves of the big corporations and the axiological problem of what makes an action right or wrong slip from our hands and became the sole property of the corporations running the show.
Nowadays animals are killed by the millions each year in gruesome conditions, in poor standards of life and risking epidemics daily that could decimate human population. Still the corporations maintain their big schema and orderly processes to maximize profits while getting the American population sicker and weaker (mentally and physically), which in turn will feed the pockets of the health providers that will happily treat society’s diseases with the products of the big pharmaceuticals that will humbly receive the hard earned money of the American worker and pocked it.
Education is the key to rid society of the evil hand of the big corporations behind animal farming, to bring back family owned farms that provide quality of products and an environment that is healthy for the workers and the stock they raise. Organic products while more expensive than factory produced provide higher nutritive and healthy alternatives that are not harmful to humans or the environment. By doing so, an average citizen will save money in health costs, and enjoy a more plentiful life. It is important that we support the efforts of those pushing for more organic products in the market, that we buy local and that we visit farmer’s markets to buy fresh products that sustain family owned farms. Meat and dairy product consumption needs to be reduced, by doing so several things will happen; first the standards of life of the meat eaters will increase and their long term health will be better. The great obesity outbreak that we deal with every day will be controlled by eating healthier alternatives, many types of cancer will disappear or greatly decrease and we will stop putting into our bodies the large amounts of antibiotics and hormones that are given to those animals to accelerate the production of meat and dairy products. While all this happens we will allow the environment to heal, restoring life to rivers and oceans and redirecting the great amounts of food used to raise cattle and other animals to feed humans. The connection between the factory farms pumping millions of gallons of pesticides, excrements, and waste into our rivers will be shifted and in return new life will spring from them. The only ones who will suffer with such a choice will be the big corporations that will be forced to go along the main stream and produce goods that are sustainable and morally good for mankind in order to continue pocketing money.
Yes, we have been lied, used and abused by the big corporations, Animal farming is just an illusion created to make believe Americans they are receiving quality products when in reality we are being chained to the system and brainwashed. Millions of animals are killed under the excuse they are needed to sustain our bodies, but in the process we are passing into ourselves stress and disease causing bacteria and germs along with a very bad karma.
It is not news that the American diet is harmful not only to our environment but to our health as well. The facts are clear: the mass production of meat consumes tremendous amounts of energy, land to harvest and feed animals, and chemicals which end up polluting our environment and our body. Some individuals have taken these facts and have made a choice to develop a healthier life style, such as becoming vegan. More and more, eating healthy seems to be promoted in our society as a new fashion, just like being “green”. However, it’s also a fact that this is a choice which can only be made by the elite, since eating organic sustainably produced food has a higher price. It seems obvious, then, that it will not be the shift in these few individual’s lifestyle that will change the structure of food production. The truth is that the harm we do in ourselves and our environment through industrialized mass production of meat is not translated by the cost we pay for it at the supermarket. In fact, it is cheaper to buy all kinds of cold meats than a bag of organic carrots, for example, and more likely the cold meats will make us feel “fuller”.
It gets worse when we look at the broader picture with an increase of meat consumption in the world. If it seems unlikely to change 300 million people’s lifestyle, it is unthinkable to shift the way of living of nearly 7 billion people. We not only need to educate, but the food production must take another direction, using other types of energy and technology to keep the mass production in order to respond to an increasing population, without making a major impact in our environment and our health. After all, those are the major concerns we should have, since our life depends on them.
This society has demolished many people thoughts on eating a healthy diet by replacing it with fast food restaurants, and plenty more. I don’t think it’s worth spending so many resources to raise animals for food products, because rising animals’ period is a long process. Killing a variety of animals in a short period of time will be hurtful for the future. Diet and exercise is a key factor in our society, but has not been successful over the few years. We can improve our diet by simply changing the harmful/ unhealthy food products, which are in stock in many stores today. The food we consume on a daily basis play a major role for someone who is on a diet, or anyone who simply wants to change their eating habits. If the media/ government would stop promoting non-healthy products and simply tell the people the truth about the products it would make a huge difference in society, but individuals must seek their own knowledge about the food we eat and consume and make the decision if they want to eat healthier. It’s really up to the people who live in their community to rebel and change their diet. The young generation is even affected more, because their mind has been “suppress” eating healthy is not a big topic while growing up in society.
- Daniel Lozandier
This society has demolished many people thoughts on eating a healthy diet by replacing it with fast food restaurants, and plenty more. I don’t think it’s worth spending so many resources to raise animals for food products, because rising animals’ period is a long process. Killing a variety of animals in a short period of time will be hurtful for the future. Diet and exercise is a key factor in our society, but has not been successful over the few years. We can improve our diet by simply changing the harmful/ unhealthy food products, which are in stock in many stores today. The food we consume on a daily basis play a major role for someone who is on a diet, or anyone who simply wants to change their eating habits. If the media/ government would stop promoting non-healthy products and simply tell the people the truth about the products it would make a huge difference in society, but individuals must seek their own knowledge about the food we eat and consume and make the decision if they want to eat healthier. It’s really up to the people who live in their community to rebel and change their diet. The young generation is even affected more, because their mind has been “suppress” eating healthy is not a big topic while growing up in society.
- Daniel Lozandier
In today's society , it is more than evident that more people are being diagnosed with obesity and the many complications along with it daily . This cheap foods, also termed as bad is the main attribute of this all. The abundant amount of fast food restaurants , the reasonable price of these cheap food compared to wealthy food, the easy preparation, the flavor , and many other tiny aspects that allow society to turn to this cheap foods first without thinking.
We learn that the nutrition labels on foods are usually false and mislead a lot of their consumers..
From the start, the rearing or breeding of animals to even make these 'cheap' foods are already detrimental to us because of the chemicals n steroids used as stated. No, the government should not be spending so much money the rearing but they see it from the financial benefit.
If we as people were more knowledgeable of all these information , i think less people would consume any of these foods and turn to the healthier ones. If we modify eating habits , and monitor what we eat, it can work and this problem can be resolved.
As of recent , parents should instill from home that fast food not be included in any childs diet because it is unhealthy .
Change is the major thing needed to resolve all this . Our habits can be changed , if the help of the government is involved it would be better. Less fast food, or this 'cheap' foods' and more eating of what is nutritionally right is the only way.
-Lalique Edwards
Cheap food has been a policy choice for decades, bought with a great chain of subsidy for big agriculture and big food. But if unhealthy foods are more available than healthy foods, this does not mean that we can't choose to eat something healthy. Fast food and other unhealthy foods are made to easy to get, but there is a reason why foods that are bad are so easily accessible, it's because our society craves them more because they taste better. Therefore stores tend to have more of these products to keep up with the high demand. If society as a whole decided that they wanted to eat more healthy food I would be willing to bet that the stores would transition from mainly bad foods to mainly good foods. Even with the environment being unhealthy though we need to decide for ourselves if we want to be fat or not, the choice is ours.
Prices of higher quality food also play a role. I feel that not being available to afford healthier foods isn't an excuse. Even if we don't have the money, that doesn't mean we have to live off of unhealthy fast food. Yes, we can go to fast food restaurants, most of them offer salads, grilled chicken, yogurt/fruit, etc. We can still eat pretty healthy even if we don't have that much money. I think the US needs to continue to try to fight this growing obesity/unhealthy epidemic. It needs to be treated.
-Eric Diniz.
In our current world, people live their lives in a day-by-day basis. They don’t think about the future or who they are affecting by the poor choices they make today. We have been exposed to the cruelties that animals have to go through to feed the largest amount of people with minimal supplies and minimal cost. Unfortunately, in our world, people have become desensitized to the news and the brutal images of the lives these animals live. Most people prefer to go on living ignorant of the negative meat they are consuming.
While most people talk about change, they don’t realize that change starts with our own lives and the lives of those closest to them. If we want to impact our world, we have to start with ourselves. Unfortunately, our materialistic generation only cares about having the most expensive clothing or shoes. They are happy consuming “meat” that was treated poorly, only to be provided cheaply. If we want to change the way people consume meat, it has to be done by apply stricter regulations on the food industry.
When I see a topic such as this, I can’t help but think back to one of the basic principles taught in economics, the cost-benefit analysis. A process used for figuring out the benefits and costs of a decision for the purposes of feasibility. We do this all the time and probably don’t even realize it. The problem comes when we only factor in the costs that immediately affect us. The long term effects of a decision are often neglected, as in the case with this pig farm. At a time when science has proven that we are consuming our resources at an unsustainable rate. America, one of the countries with the highest rate of obesity, consumes 815 billion calories of food each day, which is 200 billion more than what’s needed, and we throw out 200,000 tons of edible food daily. (www.mindfully.org) We are wasting resources at a time when we can’t afford to. The long term economic cost alone are not worth it, but when you factor in the health bills attributed to obesity and bad eating, it far exceeds the monetary benefits that these companies are so narrowly focused on.
The way we change this is by educating ourselves on a proper nutritional lifestyle change. We stop being enablers for the bad practices of the food industry and lower the demand of these “cheap” meats. It doesn’t end there, the solution has to come from our law makers. They need to understand that poor ethics of the food industry is a priority concern for Americans and needs to be remedied asap. No more backroom deals that guarantee a blind eye. The costs are simply too great for all of us.
-Fritz Charles
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