Argumentative Essay On Fast Food

America is known as the fattest country in the world. Is fast food the culprit? According to the article, "F as in Fat 2005," America's obesity rate in 2005 was a whopping 60%. Many people believe that this is due to the increasing popularity in fast food. It is much easier to go through a drive through and pick up a meal than making the food yourself. When eating out, people are more likely to eat more than when they cook. Meals at fast food and restaurants have become popular, in America the size of each meal is significantly bigger than any other country. According to Christina Sarlch, author of “Guess How Many Calories Are In A Typical Fast Food Meal” the amount of calories in a fast food meal is a gouging 1100 calories with a drink .The average number of calories needed for a person is 2000-2500 calories . Split between 3 meals that averages out to 666.67-833.33 calories a meal. Of course not many people follow that suggested calorie intake.

In today’s society a huge issue is that we constantly hear about the food industry in America. We often hear in the news that obesity rates have increased, or that Americans have many diseases that contribute to being obese. “What You Eat is Your Business” by Radley Balko expresses that people are at fault for making such unhealthy food choices. Others argue that the food industry is to blame for being so unhealthy. According to David Zinczenko in “Don’t Blame the Eater” he blames the fast food industry as well as the consumer. Zinczenko asks “shouldn’t we know better than to eat two meals a day in fast food restaurant’s?” (392). So, who is to blame for American’s eating so much unhealthy food? Should it be the consumers’ burden or the fast food companies? On one hand, as consumers we continue to purchase foods that we know are making us overweight. On the other hand, fast food companies continue to offer high in calories foods.

In 2010, 43 million children were projected to be overweight because of these products. However, the nation exceeded this statistic by having 92 million children being at risk of obesity (Borghi, De Onis, and Blossner 1). Because of the country’s inability to take control of this problem, lawsuits have begun to be filed against major fast-food companies, such as McDonalds, Burger King, Taco Bell, and Hardees. These companies are being sued because citizens claim they are unaware of the detriments that grease and tons of sugar can do to one’s body. For instance, in the court case Pelman v. McDonald’s Corporation, these people were suing McDonalds because they strongly believed that their fast food was the reason why they were having health issues (Kornblet 209). Though this argument seemed to be valid, countless factors affect weight and health of

In "Don't Blame the Eater," David Zinczenko responds to arguments that overweight people are to blame for their health problems. However, Zinczenko forgets to mention that fast food joints fail to uphold their responsibilities of providing healthy and nutritious foods to the public. In other words, they merely only care about making money and by doing so they make cheap, unhealthy products and sell them at reasonably low prices. Furthermore, this leads to more and more people purchasing their foods and an increase in health problems. While fast food places do a splendid job in advertising their foods using the words "juicy" and "delicious", they fail to show their consumers just how unhealthy their products actually are. Many people, such

These corporations know that we have long work hours, chronic stress, and lack of sleep, making us prone to put on excessive weight. They increase portion sizes, create more opportunities for snack times, for example vending machines in schools and add ingredients to foods that make you want to eat more. Examples of common ingredients in foods and drinks that can cause you to want to eat more are: sugar, high fructose corn syrup, MSG, aspartame and refined mineral-depleted salt(“Food Industry and Obesity”). Because of this knowledge factory owners know exactly what to do to get us to buy their products, therefore making us vulnerable to excessive weight gain.Not only do food companies target adult, but also children. Bill Whitaker, a CBS News correspondent conducted a similar study of TV ads on kids. The results showed that American children are bombarded with commercials for unhealthy foods that contain a lot of salt, fat, and sugars.Children are an easy target for the food industry. Young and impressionable, children are eager to eat whatever looks and tastes good.(Voiland and Haupt). The food industry is now capable of influencing the youth of America, making it easier to raise the rate of being overweight and or obese. Mcdonald's being the largest fast food industry has found ways to attract children. A cheeseburger Happy Meal has 520 calories, 20 grams of total fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 50

In Zinczenco’s view “I'd say the industry is vulnerable. Fast-food companies are marketing to children a product with proven health hazards and no warning labels. They would do well to protect themselves, and their customers, by providing the nutrition information people need to make informed choices about their products” (Zinczenco, 2002.) In making this comment, Zinczenco urges fast food

You cannot watch your favorite shows without coming across an advertisement for a fast food restaurant. It happens so often that people get persuaded to try out the new items at these places, but what the advertisement is not providing are the nutritional facts. Most of what is being promoted on television is not healthy for anyone, but people get blinded by that because the food looks appetizing and it is so easy to access. For instance you cannot travel anywhere around the United States without passing a McDonald’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) or Pizza Hut (“Don’t Blame the Eater”). These are the three most recognized food chains across the United States and they are also the same fast food restaurants that are causing major health problems within the community such as obesity, diabetes, heart disease, etc. Some may say that it is not the restaurant’s fault that people are enduring these health problems because no one is forcing a person to eat the fast food which is true, but if these restaurants were not being promoted as much, people would not be so compelled to go out and eat that type of food. In David Zinczenko’s article “Don’t Blame the Eater”, he talks about how we cannot blame people for what they are eating. I agree with Zinczenko up to a point, I cannot accept his overall conclusion that the consumer is not to be blamed for the food that goes into one’s body because children eat what is being placed in front of their face at

As you’re driving home from work in the evening how many different fast food places do you pass? Just in a two mile radius there is probably a McDonalds, Wendy’s, Taco Bell, Chick-fil-a, and many others. In David Zinczenko’s “Don’t Blame the eater,” he makes a point that fast food restaurants don’t have to provide information on their food. Zinczenko also mentions that not only is obesity an issue, but diabetes rates have seemed to rise, causing children issues and money spent to treat it to increase. Children are big targets to the fast food industry. With fast food being as unhealthy as it is and companies not being required to tell its food ingredients, obesity, diabetes, and more importantly the cost to fix these health issues has increased tremendously, and for that reason fast food restaurants need to be regulated.

One of the author's good points, is the fact that even though fast food restaurants have now started showing their food's nutritional values, they seem to deliberately show them in such a way that makes it easy to miss a few important details.

“As Americans add pounds, critics are increasingly blaming the fast-food industry. Teenagers have filed lawsuits against McDonald’s, saying that the fast-food chain caused their weight gain and loss of health. A public health group in California has asked the governor to declare childhood obesity a state of emergency. But parents—not the fast food companies, not the government—are in the best position to fight the epidemic of overweight children.”. They are the consumer who chooses to get the quick, and easy fix. They do not realize they are compromising their own health, and their children’s health.

Is Greed actually not of a financial use rather than a emotional use. If so would employees who work at fast-food establishments or even major corporate heads of these billion dollar fast-food chains allow their own children to indulge themselves in them, knowingly aware of the vast risks they could embark on later in life due to their unhealthy choices? David Zinczenko brings up valid points on how fast-food is harmful to one’s body in “Don’t Blame the Eater,”. Zinczenko is able to effectively argue against the manipulation of the food industry by showing the reader that the consumer is the victim while the food industry is the one to blame. His use of questioning, personal appeals, imagery, direct tone and colorful diction results in a compelling case that supports his accusations of manipulation by the fast food industry.

He argues that fast-food packaging gives us less information on what we are consuming. For instance, advertisements don 't carry warning labels, foods that are prepared are not covered under the food and Drug Administration labeling laws. Some restaurants will provide calorie information on request but not all. In addition, David concludes that because fast food restaurants are everywhere and the lack of warning label and information on the foods, it leads consumers to buy more unhealthy food and live in an unhealthy lifestyle.

The complaint to the courts was filed by Caesar Barber, 56, of Bronx County New York who was struggling with heart disease. He said, “For years I ate fast food because it was efficient and cheap […] I had no idea I could be damaging my health.” (Tyre, 1) His class-action lawsuit, run by Attorney Samuel Hirsch, is for people who have consumed/purchased fast food from McDonalds, Burger King, Kentucky Fried Chicken, and/or Wendy’s “and as a result thereof, have become obese, overweight, developed diabetes, coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol levels, and/or other detrimental and adverse health effect and/or diseases.” (Caesar, 1) The suit also shows the preliminary stages of the argument against the fast food corporation’s “marketing towards children” and not informing the pubic about the ingredients and nutritional value of their food.

People have been paying money every time they've gone through a drive-through because of how much gas you waste. This has become a serious waste in the U.S. because so many citizens have been wasting their fuel in a long and slow line for five minutes; every time they go to a drive-through. Drive-Throughs have accounted for nearly seventy percent of fast food sales because of how convenient they are. For these reasons being drive-throughs should be banned from restaurants, so that people may not have to waste their time and money in a line. Even though thirty-two million gallons of gas are being wasted per year, we shouldn't get rid of them because fast-food places would go out of business.

The fast food industry is a thriving enterprise in America 's economy these days. One can find a fast food vendor on nearly every block, says David Zinczenko in his article "Don 't Blame the Eater". The article explains the growing expanse of the fast food industry and the subsequent number of nutritional food businesses declining, there by leaving the fast food industry responsible to provide adequate nutrition for countless numbers of young American adults. As well as sympathizing with a group of children suing McDonalds for apparently making them “fat’. As an obese child, David recalls the limited options of nutritional food in and outside of his household. With what seems like no other options, children all over America are now turning to fast food as a means of quick, cheap, and an inexpensive food alternative. Are there really no other options though? Fast foods presence in the neighborhood and poor nutritional makeup contribute to childhood obesity. Even though fast food chains should be held responsible for providing inadequate nutritional meals and inaccurate nutritional information, the reality is parents are responsible for instilling healthy eating habits into their children therefor combating child hood obesity. Both parents and fast food corporations are equally responsible for children’s obesity by over marketing and parents being irresponsible with their