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Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All American Meal The affinity of the American people with fast food can be understood because it enables people to eat on the go and to be able to take out their meals that are set to an affordable price. Fast-food restaurants address a societal need of Americans today which is the lack of time to cook their own food for themselves. If there is such a thing as instant coffee then it would make perfect sense that instant meals would be accepted by the population with open arms. However, this innocuous idea of a fast meal has the makings of a false benefit that slowly plants the seed of negative effects into your system.
This paper looks into the fast food industry and makes the claim that, indeed the fast food business is a multi-billion dollar industry that services several billions of customers each day and is continuing to grow at a rapid pace in this century of instants. This paper also maintains that the main cause of the burgeoning problem is the mushrooming presence of fast foods that tempt people to eat and go. The issue on fast foods is enhanced due to the technological world where mass media, especially the television, exerts great power in influencing the buying capabilities of viewers, leading to a worsening of the problem. The rising epidemic reflects the profound changes in society and in behavioral patterns of communities over recent decades. While genes are important in determining a person's susceptibility to weight gain, energy balance is determined by calorie intake and physical activity.
Thus societal changes and worldwide nutrition transition are driving the obesity epidemic. Economic growth, modernization, urbanization and globalization of food markets are the major forces that underlie the epidemic. Schlosser takes his readers in the entire production of fast foods and brings readers to a temporary shock as he reveals bad practices that happen in the making of the ordinary hamburger we so conveniently eat. We dwells on the actual processes behind the creation of these foods, even dwelling on how the raw products are packed and stored, to the selling and circulation until it is finally served to the customer in the restaurant.
Whats worst is that the fast foods have invaded even the schools with the most vulnerable consumer the small children who are attracted to the color, packaging and all the visual delight. This concerns the author so much that he tells it in no unequivocal terms, There's shit in your food. Schlosser does not blink as he tells it quite blatantly that the fast food industry has led to changes in American society and that it uses political influence to increase its profits with disastrous effects to its workers and the publics health as a whole. As a start, Schlosser describes Cheyenne Mountain. This is a military base in Colorado and in his narration, establishes a connection between fast food and the military base through a hypothetical war.
His account just emphasizes what for example, future anthropologists would find in the future when they discover fast food wrappers littered around the place from its employees who consumed all those convenience foods. Here Schlosser becomes animated as he figures out that these discarded fast food wrappers are actually indicative of American society than anything else. With a well-research and well-documented account of the history of fast food, Schlosser reveals that the fast food coincided with the manufacture of the automobile. Them he takes readers on a journey on how independent restaurants to several franchises. This change of processes also manifested itself in the preparation of food. So, just like cars are made, in a step-by-step, almost clinical way of manufacturing, fast food also followed that mechanical, kitchen prototype standardization that changed the complete marketing strategies from teenager to the family, especially the youngest member in the family.
Oblivious to possible attacks from these multinational food companies, Schlosser proceeds to zero in on the use of Ronald MacDonald as a very effective marketing strategy in hooking the children and necessarily, his parents, to continue buying the burgers due to the toys that go with that food. He argues that this makes these young kids loyal patrons as they grow up, wrecking havoc on their health in the process. He further examines the meat packing industry, Schlosser reveals that these industries are compose mainly of immigrants who are exploited and belong to the most number of injuries. According to the author, "Fast Food Nation", fast food is "both a commodity and metaphor. What makes the book an interesting read is the fact that Schlosser actually visits laboratories where scientists formulate scents and tastes of every food to make it more palatable.
He roams the different abattoirs and studies records of meat product. He even investigates how the fries are so popular. He looks at this issue and situates it at a larger scope of having the ability to change peoples lifestyle, the workforce, the economy and the culture in general. The contents of his book demonstrate the depth of his knowledge on the material. He looks at the ordinary foods we have and contends that even the ordinary meat could have been handled in such a way as to make people sick. He looks at the advertising strategies that the big companies employ and state that these companies are out to entice even the very young children.
The author tries to balance his findings, citing also the people who succeeded because of their entrepreneurial abilities. He mentions the accomplishment of Carl Karcher, founder of Carl's Jr. chain. Yet this is not a book about the rise of the food business and its founders. It is more a showcase of the ill effects of fast foods and the way these big food giants gobble the consumers as a whole. Indeed, from the issues that the author brings up, this researcher agrees with most of it.
There are many known adverse effects of eating fast food and several new studies prove the previous studies right. A recent study has currently given a scientific influence to a conclusion that a lot of people already recognize as obvious: eating a lot of fast food makes you fat and it significantly increases the odds of the person developing diabetes. This study was published in the Lancet medical journal has discovered that those who frequently dined on fast food were able to gain a 10 pounds more than those who did not eat that much fast food. These people were also twice as likely to develop a certain insulin disorder that is directly related to diabetes. A certain Dr.
David Ludwig who is the director of the obesity program in the Childrens Hospital in Boston tries to refute this claim by giving the statement that essentially no long-term studies that have documented the effects of this dietary pattern on the key chronic diseases of Western civilization obesity, Type 2 diabetes, heart disease. (Associated Press, 2004) The United States has experienced dramatic increases in obesity among teenagers. There is a pressing need for innovative interventions to prevent obesity. There has been widespread speculation that television viewing might be one of the most easily modifiable causes of obesity among teens. This hypothesis has broad appeal, but has been difficult to validate. There are now proposals for an innovative experimental model. A lot of experiments are now going on to help curb obesity by using the medium of television.
Fixing the problems of teenage obesity and its link to television isnt easy. There are many factors that have to be considered and people to be convinced. This problem will, no doubt, never go away and continue to get worse if left unattended. There are measures that should be taken by the authorities. After all, whats the world going to be like when the people who are now teenagers are running the world?
Many consumers are attracted to super-sized food because they believe they are getting better value for their money. Have you ever noticed how Starbucks's males-size coffee is called "tall, " not "small?" Even when servings aren't that large, they are labeled to make consumers feel that they " re getting added value. These super-sized foods only make people eat more than they usually need. Researchers have found that when we order larger portions of food, we eat more than we " re actually hungry for. Super-sizing tempts the consumer to spend more money to buy extra calories he or she does not need. These extra calories may make Americans feel like they are getting a bargain but are also contributing to the country's 66 percent rate of adult obesity.
Whether snacks, sandwiches or full restaurant meals, recent experiments have shown that we eat more when we are given more and that large portions may be contributing to the obesity epidemic. Hence, it is very possible to gain 10 pounds in a year by consuming only 100 additional calories a day. Controlling portion size is important to control weight, and the larger portions offered by fast food restaurants, which are often a better deal economically, may make people resistant to change. It is important to remember in all these, that the goal is for the compulsive eater is to break her addictive relationship toward food.
While weight loss is generally an important sign that the addiction is broken, our primary concern is that one begins to feel more comfortable toward food. This cannot be stressed too strongly. Continued obsession with weight loss or weight gain hinders the process of learning to love food and eating what your body is wanting. While this process is not a magical shortcut, its philosophy provides a basis for a more natural and relaxed relationship toward food and our bodies. Attention to the details of eating is a first step toward having a normal relationship with food. As one can say yes to a particular food, so the possibility is there for one to say no to particular foods at particular times.
Saying no is a great tool in self-definition especially in todays modern times when people are bombarded by all these food fads (Lemonick, Michael). Therefore, people need to be on the lookout about how insidious new marketing strategies can still come in on the pretense that it is good food. Companies, especially those with creative management, will always seek ways to bring new products to market when consumer demands change. The market is always adapting to meet consumers desires or theyre expressing a lack of faith in the ability of ordinary citizens to make intelligent choices in a free marketplace. We should be on the lookout if more people are getting fatter because callous, or even corrupt, food companies are cynically devising new ways to get people to buy too much food, or too much bad food aggravating the rising obesity problem in America. Works Cited Associated Press, The (2004).
Study says eating fast food makes you fat MSNBC News. 2004. The Associated Press. Accessed 6 March 2006 at: < web > Lemonick, Michael D. , The Power of Mood, Time Magazine. Ed. Philip Elmer de Witt. 20 Jan 2003 Noyes, Richard and Stifflemire, Paul, Big Medias Role In Covering And Promoting the Obesity Debate, Special Report: Free Market Project, Accessed 6 March 2006 < web > Reducing the Size of the Obesity Problem, World Economic Forum, Jan. 24, 2004, Article Accessed 6 March 2006 < web > Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All American Meal.
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