Food for Thought
One of the largest and most opinionated controversies in today’s public school systems is the topic of junk food. Should it be banned, or is taking away the children’s choice of consuming junk food unreasonable? Everyone has their own opinion, however, when it comes down to it, public schools should not eliminate the consumption of junk food because it has only caused more problems, and strips children from their own responsibilities and opinions. Let’s face it, we all crave what we can’t have. Taking away something that some children are so familiar with, and other’s maybe not so much, only causes rebellious activity and tons of curiosity. Too much power is being handed to the school system and it can only lead to unfavorable circumstances for the future. What exactly is junk food? How is one individual or even grouping of individuals able to dictate what junk food is? Most likely, everything I consider junk food probably isn’t what the next person considers it to be; and vice versa. After all, we all were raised different in one way or another. Our opinions vary from family to family, culture to culture, and so on, especially when it comes to food preference. No single being should be justified to choose and ban certain foods just because it’s junk food in their viewpoint. Think about it, if a type of food is going to be a banned upon a particular set of people, shouldn’t they have some sort of input upon it? After all, America was founded on freedom;
“Studies have shown school organic gardens,salad bars and healthy lunches improve the health and academic performance of young people.”,stated cummins in his text. Andrew P p. Morris, in his article “ Bad-food taxes will clog our economic arteries beyond repair”, states that “ it is no ones business but yours what you eat.” There might be some truth to this but it is shocking on how many people overeat junk food. When advertisements promote healthy food like vegetables and fruits instead of greasy hamburgers and flimsy fries people want to eat healthy . We have let junk food brainwash youths and even adults into thinking that it's okay to eat outside of their home
In the article of How Junk Food Can End Obesity, David Freedman, the contributor editor at the Atlantic and Inc. Magazines, lays out a “they say” that then frames his argument. He states that making processed food healthier can contribute to the battle of the obese in our society. Freedman also says that the food these companies are cooking are making people sick and how it is destructive to an individual’s health. For instance, in the reading, Freedman states a quote from Michael Pollan, a journalism professor at the University of California at Berkeley, “It is one of the reasons that we have the obesity and diabetes epidemics that we do… If you’re going to let industries decide how much salt, sugar and fat is in your food, they’re going to put in as much as they possibly can… They will push those buttons until we scream or die.” In other words, Pollan believes that we constantly let people put all of these things in our foods but no one is stopping it.
People must make a living, right? The food corporations are making their living the same as any other corporation does. All successful companies modify their products and services to fit what the consumer wants. In this case, that means that the food companies must figure out what most people like and then they modify their products to those qualifications. Other than the selling of products and services, it all depends on the consumer. The consumer should be able to limit his or herself. At a young age, it’s drilled into our heads that all things are okay in portions, hence the reason we are told to limit our kid's time on electronics. The same goes for eating the products sold by these large junk food corporations. A person must eat out of necessity, but large junk food corporations do not provide the nutrition needed to keep us healthy, which should deter us away from these types of foods. All in all, this makes the growing obesity problem the
Michael Moss a investigative reporter for New York Times also the author. The Extraordinary Science of Junk Food was first appeared in the New York Times Magazine on February 24, 2013. On April 8, 1999, C.E.O from Nestle, Kraft and Nabisco, General Mills, Procter and Gamble, Coca-Cola, and Mars gathered to talk on the obesity epidemic. The vice president of kraft named Michael Mudd. Mudd gave a presentation about obesity, he told them to cut the use of sugar, salt, and fats. Also to change the manner they advertise their products. After the presentation was over the C.E.O of General Mills rose and said that people chose freely that if they wanted a healthy product then there it was.
It is essential for the government to continue to regulate the food in our school systems. In the article, “The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food,” Michael Moss shows how the food industry is targeting children in school systems. “A potato chip that tastes great and qualifies for the Clinton-A. H. A. alliance for school...We think we have ways to do all of this on a potato chip, and imagine getting that product into schools, where children can have this product and grow up with it and feel good about eating it” (Moss 488-489). This is a prime example of how the food industry is circumventing regulations already in effect. The children of the United States of America are being zeroed in on by companies finding a loophole, instead of protecting the children, by using
To resolve the disapproval of the ban of junk food, schools should sale junk food are certain days of month. This would allow schools to earn money while allowing students to have their choices to eat junk food. In the meantime, schools should have fruits come with bags of chips or soda drinks to allow students to encourage them to eat healthy. As for the bad quality of food, schools should promote healthy eating by serving “whole fruits and vegetables everyday” instead from frozen and canned (Barr). Schools should also cook lunch meals from scratch instead of serving pre-made industry food.
One major question that is asked today is whether or not the eating habits of kids and teens be regulated by the state? This is a big problem today with young ones. No young teenager or child has ever grabbed an apple over a snickers bar for a snack. Although a snickers bar once in a while is not a bad thing, every day consumption of products like this creates a long-term problem. In the article Junk Food Nation: How Parents are Ruining Kids’ Health, there are a couple different standpoints from select individuals on why or how to solve this problem. The main issue is whether or not parents are doing a good enough job teaching their children to make health food choices.
Kids have a right to eat nutritious food that is healthy and fresh. For example, due to the lack of fresh and flavorful food many students choose to buy cheap junk food. The lack of freshness in foods result to kid’s health deteriorating. For instance, twenty-two children became ill Thursday after having lunch at a San Diego elementary school cafeteria, officials confirmed (Garske, Powell). Now, what is this? Kids getting sick from school food? We can’t have kids’ health being endangered just because schools can’t afford fresh food. The school is who takes care of kids and they are
The organization of Debatewise stated that controlling the foods that students consume is important in combating obesity, as the dieting habits that most people form originate from when they were young. This is why it’s so crucial for schools to introduce healthier options in schools. If these unhealthy habits are developed, the students are “at higher risk for having other chronic health conditions and diseases that impact physical health..”, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These conditions can affect them emotionally and physically, including depression and obesity, which are important health issues both linked with the consumption of junk foods. The selling of junk food in schools is not a small problem either, as it concludes from a study by the Institute of Medicine in 2003 that elementary schools earn approximately $442 million annually from junk food sales. The importance of changing the school lunch programs to implement healthier options is high when there is so much money being spent by the students. Although obesity is a real problem due to the selling of junk food, it can lead to other problems that leading a healthier way of living could fix. For instance, the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension states junk foods, due to processing that removes vitamins, minerals, and fiber from the product, are empty calories that are ultimately worthless to the body. This alone contributes to unneeded weight gain and provides no additional sustenances that help the body grow. The Harvard Health Publications describes this to be a serious problem, and acknowledge not only this to be a complication, but mentions the unnecessarily high amounts of sodium levels in the foods, stating that “...the average
Schools have started to ban all sorts of fast food products such as sodas, chips and processed food, but in addition they should teach students the danger in consuming certain food. They should warn students of the effects those foods will have on their bodies in the long run. In “Don’t Blame the Eater” fitness expert David Zinczenko mentions that “fast food companies are marketing to children a product with proven health hazards and no warning labels” (464). This false advertisement is often full of color, with images of happiness and delicious looking burgers to convince children to want their products. Fast food industries are smart to target children, because most of the time they know nothing about responsibility or what is good or bad for them. Zinczenko argues in his essay that without warnings or information“we’ll see more sick, obese children and more angry, litigious parents” (464). In contrast, if kids were warned and informed about the dangers in consuming unhealthy food, the number of obese children, diseases and angry parents would
Being the petty teenager I am, I decided to research the weaknesses revolving around America's current public school lunch program after getting into an argument regarding the healthfulness of school meals. I was called a picky eater for virtually refraining school meals from entering my diet for the past few years, whereas I concluded that a majority of my peers would agree that our school lunch program is far from desirable. To support my claim, I began to research school lunches and its correlation to child obesity. I also went into detail on the impact of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act and how governmental mandates have shaped our system. However, I also discussed the unhealthy and wasteful mindset about food our children obtain and carry from their experiences as a student. Finally, I critiqued the school meal programs of other modern countries to help point out possible approaches to fixing the system.
Today one in five school-aged children (ages 6-19) have obesity and people debate over how to decrease this number and prevent it from being more of an issue in the future. School lunches are often brought up in this discussion, some say that by getting rid of all junk food in schools would help decrease the number of obese students and prevent them in future by providing only healthy food options. On the other hand, they say that it's not that simple, the problems are at home and that getting rid of these items could decrease revenues for school activities from those products. Many people believe that junk food should be banned from schools across the nation.
Americans today eat junk food constantly, knowing it diminishes their health. The American standard diet consists of unhealthy factors that lead to diabetes, heart attacks, and high cholesterol. School lunches consist of those diseases. Schools should mandate control and enforce regulations that would reduce the wide availability of unhealthy foods and processed snacks. Furthermore, junk foods should be taxed on a national scale and promote natural ingredients. Too many of our schools offer little or almost no
Should changes be made to the regulations for the foods that are served in public schools? This can be a very controversial question to most people; children with obesity, parents who do not care and for who does care about the health of the children and teachers who only wants what is best for the benefit of the children. This paper will attempt to explain and convince the unknown of why it is very important for our public schools to have a healthy eating curriculum for the children that attends there. If society can find a way to come together for the children of the community to fight to have healthier foods in the community, come together and provide counsel to the children of what healthy eating is all about. This paper will
Restrictions should be made against junk food in school to prevent children’s emotions and accomplishment correlated with food.“Using food as a reward or a treat, could be unintentionally teaching their children to rely on food to deal with their emotions”(rewarding kids). Children are being taught to rely on food for a confort and a emotional cope mecanism.“After a hard day of work, many adults run to food to deal with stress, reliving their childhood experience with food and comfort. The more parents use food as a reward for their children, the more likely the child will grow into an adult who eats for comfort”(rewarding kids). Kids being emotionaly attached to food may affect them when they get older and eventually into thier adult life.“The child learns to comfort themselves with that food. This leads to an unhealthy emotional connection between eating certain foods and feeling good “(rewarding kids). Children eating thier favorite foods make them feel happy so when they are upset they