Jorge Camacho Professor Marshall English 116-601 3 November 2015 Fed Up v. Forks over Knives For the previous couple decades, Americans have been misled by the government and health professionals, who were implementing inaccurate dietary standards that led to the promotion of certain items as “healthy”, has actually resulted in a nationwide obesity epidemic of vast proportions. This unprecedented surge in obesity has affected everybody from children in elementary schools, to retired seniors, and has contributed to the single largest rise in diseases, the world has ever known. Obesity has actually reached the number two cause of preventable death in the United States (Healthaliciousness), thus created the first generation of children ever in history which is predicted to have a shorter lifespan than their parents. The documentaries Fed Up and Forks over Knives are both in support of creating a healthier America for all individuals. Although they both share a similar concept on how fast-food is extremely harmful, but both take quite different approaches to support their claim. In the documentary Fed Up, Stephanie Soechtig allows us to follow the lives of four families who are struggling with a childhood obesity problem. Throughout the film she has various “experts” express their opinions to help combat the epidemic, but their selection of “experts” is mainly through politicians, political leaders, and journalist, but not so much on nutritional scientist. On the other hand,
Profit-oriented leaders of new diet fads surely would be infuriated while reading the words of Michael Pollan in his work, Unhappy Meals—not necessarily because of his aim to disprove diet fallacies but, rather, the possible ramifications of Pollan’s words on their bank accounts. Explained in the article, the world’s understanding of diets and their effects on the human body has improved steadily—if not exponentially—throughout recent history. Here, the advocates of new diets claim the changing world and its understanding of health requires changes in diet; the human body will adapt to the new times. To counter, Pollan argues that is definitely true, but we have to be open to the idea of the death that occurs during the process.
With obesity rates increasing at a high rate, David Zinczenko, author of “Don't Blame the Eater”, tells his readers about his argument about how it's not the fault of the children consuming so much fast food. He works as a nutrition and wellness editor for ABC News. Before working for ABC News he was also an editor-in-chief of Men’s Health magazines as well as editorial director of Women’s Health magazines. Past jobs and the job he has now put him in an appropriate position to publish his thoughts on obesity. His intended audience for this essay are the fast food industries and also the people who laugh at the children for trying to sue for being obese. Zinczenko has written an effective argument by establishing himself as an authoritative
According to his article, “The Battle Against Fast Food Begins In The Home”, the author, columnist and blogger Daniel Weintraub, argues parents, not fast-food companies or the government are responsible for their child's health and well being. Weintraub supports this claim by providing data from the Center For Public Health Advocacy on the subject of overweight schoolchildren, State law recommendations outlining nutritional standards, and his own experience with the problem. Weintraub intends to convince or persuade the parents or parent to accept the blame for their overweight child. From my standpoint, however, it is clear the
Thousands of children around America are increasingly joining the obesity epidemic and are struggling to get out of it. In the documentary, Fed Up, by Stephanie Soechtig, she creates a documentary that targets young teenagers and parents to uncover the truth of the epidemic and reveal how the food industry is hurting the children 's diet by making them become addicted to sugar. It explains how it is beyond people 's willpower and exercise alone that solves the epidemic, rather it is the food industries ' fault for the nfood they produce. Soechtig uses pathos, ethos and logos by documenting personal stories from young obese teenagers, providing a numerous amount of credible sources from a wide range of experts, and having evidence for the epidemic.
The purpose of Crister's essay is to stigmatize the activity of overeating, but not to stigmatize the person or people. Crister, in turn, blames the media for a large part of the country's obesity problem. Crister states that "today's bounty of cheap unhealthy food gives inconvenience in healthy food decisions." Crister believes that children should be supervised by adults when eating meals, and "all portions should be moderate, with `seconds' a rare treat." Lastly, Crister states that "eating too much food is a bad thing" and that stigmatizing overeating can only help our obese country.
In David Zinczenko’s article “Don’t Blame the Eater” he focuses on the fast food industry and their role in the increasing health and obesity issues of our nation’s children, as well as these issues potentially becoming a serious problem that we will all have to deal with if we collectively don’t do something about it now. When it comes to the topic of fast food, most of us can agree that it is not the best source of nutrition. It is unhealthy and can be the cause of many serious health issues with our children such as obesity related Type 2 diabetes, stomach ulcers and even heart disease, high cholesterol, sleep apnea or even cancer. We can even agree that fast-food diets are a major contributing factor to
Ask any person on the street what is the one issue that consumes more than half of the nation and the answers will vary from cancer to the outcome of the 2016 presidential election. Most Americans are blind to the modern day plague that consumes even the nation's youth. What is this black death that promises health complications in the future, obesity affects more than two-thirds of American adults and one-third of American children. The term obesity is defined as the condition of being grossly fat or overweight. The “American diet” of processed foods is the root of the problem. The nation's health conditions have declined since the 1970’s and reached an all time low in the early 2000’s. The solution lies within the 18-27 year olds of the country
Like many of the documentaries that are present today, the film Forks over Knives came to be because of the rapidly increasing health concerns. For example, the average American carries 23 extra, unnecessary pounds. American adults aren’t the only ones suffering, obesity and diseases such as hypertension and diabetes type two are now commonly seen in children. One reason for this being the fast paced life of Americans, developed after WWII, produced convenience food, rich with processed sugars and fried meat. What was supposed to make life simpler soon complicated it with unimaginable side effects. The sicker the U.S becomes the more pills are prescribed. Unfortunately, none of these treatments are quite as effective as hoped to be. However, there is one solution that may be able to reduce health diseases; and that is diet. There are many cures to be found outside of modern medicine as many world renowned researchers in nutrition, such as Colin Campbell and Caldwell Esselstyne discovered.
In the ted talk “Teach every child about food”, speaker Jamie Oliver, talks about the unhealthy eating habits of children all across America. He comes straight out by telling us the present generation of kids are implemented with 10 years of less life expectancy than their parents. The main focus of the talk is directed towards bad health and how it leads to the state of obesity, which is considered a global issue. Oliver gives a solid statement regarding his talk, “ Obesity costs you Americans 10 percent of your health-care bills, 150 billion dollars a year.” Furthermore, he visualizes his proof with a chart stating heart disease to be the number one cause of deaths in America, which is nearly 30 percent. To wrap up his presentation, Oliver makes a final statement that he envisions a food revolt, in his own words “ to educate every child about food and to inspire families to cook at home again.
It is an eye opening experience… Everything we’ve been told for the past few years has been pure and utter lies, and it’s time to put a stop to this all. This is the film the food industry will be ashamed of. The one and only “Fed up”directed by Stephanie Soechtig. Truths will be told, and lies will be unleashed. Is it true that we need to exercise more? Or is it just hereditary? There is a worldwide epidemic of obesity all caused by one and only one substance, sugar. The enduring presence of obesity in the world is horrendous, and even still obesity is not being taken as seriously as it should be. The food industry is trying to maintain innocence, and even though we are given all the facts, we are consistently ignoring all the signs, and being
Food Politics is a great book for anyone who wants to understand why the richest nation on earth has such poor dietary habits. In the book, Marion Nestle examines the political, scientific and socioeconomic influences on food choice, food safety, and obesity. She goes into considerable detail to explain how, over the past century, the food industry 's political control over nutrition standards, the alliance between big companies and academic research, and the allowance of deceptive advertising has greatly influenced American diets and health.
Obesity is perceived as a health hazard we are constantly urging to reform our eating habits. Magazines and fashion pile on the pressure. In the video they speak of a girl named Cristiana who died weighing 48 stones, her mother was taken to trial for child abuse on obesity. Her mother speaks about how Cristiana was bullied in the school bus and how people used to ask her “why are you so fat?”. Obesity is one of the major causes of bullying. Fatness in America is a moral issue and parents are being blamed for their children’s obesity because it is seen as a moral failure. One o the females in the video says that people that are
Food, food, food, everyone loves it but not many are aware of its life threatening consequences. It seems as if times have changed drastically from the 1970’s, where meals were home cooked and packed with nutrients compared to today, where indulging in highly processed foods has become too normalized. American’s have taken the love for food to extreme measures which is apparent in the expansion of their laden waistbands. With excessive eating and little to no exercise, America has dug itself into an indisputable dark place full of high blood pressure, cancer, and Type Two Diabetes. Over the years, the obesity rate along with obesity related diseases has skyrocketed to an astounding 30% which is morally wrong. Most fast food eaters are unaware of the origins of their food or what it even contains. But who is really to blame for America’s crazy food obsessions and irresponsible eating? Fast food restaurants leur in the customer with supersized meals at an unbeatable cost, making it foolish to pass up. To end this national obesity epidemic along with obesity related diseases, processed food companies have to take responsibility for its negative effects that are occurring too frequently, and millennials need to be educated about the health hazards that are included within these foods in order to save future generations.
Every year the average American’s health declines. This is a major problem for the sake of the future of our country and future generations. Due to the great range and ease of purchasing inexpensive and delicious fast and junk foods, the health of Americans declines and issues of obesity and many other poor health related-diseases to our health such as diabetes rises. Analyzing data from a survey conducted at Rosemead High School along with the following articles “Bad Food? Tax it, and Subsidize Vegetables” by Mark Bittman, “Attacking the Obesity Epidemic by First Figuring Out Its Cause” by Jane E. Brody, “No Lunch Left Behind” by Alice Waters & Katrina Heron, and “The Pleasures of Eating” by Wendell Berry. All four articles make it clear that as a country, we must put a great effort to spread awareness about the dangers of what fast and junk foods do to our health. Although not every American’s health is at stake, the majority are at risk, so I believe it should be a priority for all Americans to eat healthier; therefore, our government, school administration, teachers, parents, and children should improve their eating habits by avoiding fast and junk foods.
It was a simpler time for people in the 1970’s, going home to a home cooked meal after a long day at work or at school, to spend quality family time at dinner, bonding and enjoying a healthy meal that was cooked by mom, but that's not the case anymore in the 2000’s. The generation today has forgotten about healthy home cooked meals and turned to fast food restaurants for a cheap and greasy meal. With fast food restaurants becoming popular now people don’t bother to check how many calories and fat are in the food being consumed there. People expect that a healthy meal at home is the same as a fast food meal, but the difference is how much calories, sodium and fat there is in the food. Continuing to eat the unhealthy foods at fast food restaurants can lead to an obesity epidemic and obesity related diseases. Fast food restaurants are continuing to be in a high demand and soon hospitals will be too, because of all the obesity related diseases. If obesity does not stop soon it will affect the future generations too. The solution to preventing obesity and obesity related diseases from happening to future generation is for the generation of 18-26 year olds to become educated about what goes into their body and how it affects it and the media for all the entertainment people watch on the couch instead of going outside to walk the calories off.