Persuasive Essay On Food

Shifts in the “Food Marketplace” have greatly affected our food choices and habits in the last 40-50 years. As one woman stated in the film The Weight of the Nation, “It’s so hard to combat with what the tv is telling you to feed your kids”. Advertising has come to a whole new level in our generation; you can’t turn on the television without seeing an advertisement for fast food or something equally as unhealthy. As another woman put it, “you are taught that you can eat anywhere, anytime of day, and that eating is a glorious thing”. Another shift that has occurred is an economic one. If you go into a poor neighborhood corner store like they did in the film, you would see chips, sugar, sweets, etc. All of these unhealthy foods are cheap, incredibly cheaper than fresh fruits and vegetables. Obesity rates in these poor areas are much higher than in areas with a higher average income. Culturally, our country is changing to one that is always moving; we don’t have time to prepare a meal for the whole family. It’s much quicker to buy unhealthy fast food that you know your family will enjoy than to prepare a healthy meal that they will grudgingly consume. The film mentioned that our bodies were originally built for scarcity. We are wired to react to things that are sweet and contain a lot of fat because when an animal was killed we had to be able to eat as much of it as possible. The signals telling us to stop eating had to be overridden. Now, we consume so much fat and sugar not

Junk food is one of the main causes of obesity in America.It contains things that have unhealthy ingredients that could lead to illnesses in the future if a person consumes a large amount of junk food.But there are ways to eat junk food and still be healthy while enjoying your favorite junk foods . Over the years there has been a lot of history behind junk food and the effects of it. Some of these historical findings have started leading people to understand that the amount of junk food that they consume is something that is very important for the health.Usually a person who is young that consumes a large amount of junk food may see an increase in obesity cholesterol and high blood pressure. For a person who is older such as in their 30s and 40s they may then see those things as well plus other illnesses that could lead to things such as high blood pressure and heart disease .To avoid an unhealthy lifestyle in the future something that might be questioned. Is it possible to live a healthy lifestyle while still enjoying junk foods?

Throughout the articles, each one discussed the author’s perspective on food industries. Two articles argued whether the food companies should be blamed for the health epidemics or it should be a personal responsibility for consumers. While others discussed how food industries manipulate consumers into buying more of their food. Along the same lines, all the articles mentioned how the health epidemic is increasing and who must be fault for the growth. As well as finding a solution and who should help. Although the articles emphasize how obesity rate has grown, the public seems to blame food companies for manipulating consumers and others insist it is a consumer’s personal responsibility.

After reading chapters 15 and 21 in our Current Issues and Enduring Questions book and viewing Forks Over Knives, I am afraid I do not see this worrisome food issue in America improving in the near future. Obesity is a known epidemic and it is widespread throughout the entire country. According to the documentary film, Forks Over Knives, “We spend $2.2 trillion a year on healthcare: over five times more than the defense budget.” This quote reveals the issue regarding the state of health and by maintaining a healthier diet not only do people benefit, but the government does as well. The current relationship between food and health industries brings an uncertainty that should be seen as a critical concern to the eyes of the public. Too many people

Michael Pollan, a man who has written multiple books about food and eating, focuses on the western diet in his essay, Escape from the Western Diet. He simply argues that people need to stop eating a western diet because the diet leads to health complications, such as chronic diseases. Pollan himself writes, “People eating a Western diet are prone to a complex of chronic diseases that seldom strike people eating traditional diets” (Pollan 421). In this statement, Pollan compares risk of chronic disease within the Western diet to the traditional diet. He then continues by discussing how scientists will argue about the biological mechanisms behind the phenomenon of the western diet and chronic disease, yet the solution to the problem remains the

“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” Michael Pollan, one of Time magazine’s top 100 Most Influential People in 2010 and author of “Escape from the Western Diet”, proposes these three rules to live a healthier life. Pollan strongly believes that the Western diet is responsible for Western Diseases. Throughout the excerpt, he explains how the epidemic of obesity is caused by the business of food and medical industries, the degree of food that is processed, and how much time and effort is put into developing a well-balanced diet.

People in Houston were told to evacuate their homes and to leave everything behind, due to the hurricane, but they couldn’t leave everything so they compromised and only brought with them the things that were an absolute necessity. Not a lot of people are able to compromise so easily. For some people this is a hard subject to grasp. Food is a major thing to in society today that not many people can agree on. Food is such a huge part of our everyday lives, but when two people are asked what they want to eat it seems that no one can come to an agreement. Food, however, is, “something beautiful to be shared with people” (M.F.K. Fisher), not something to cause problems and arguments when a decision about the food can’t be made. More often than not it’s really hard to compromise, but when it’s for the greater good and taking in account people other than yourself, there’s a certain satisfaction earned. In order to be considered a “well-rounded person” in society, it is inevitable that one has the ability to compromise. I had to experience compromise first hand in the humid, swampy, hot, seafood loving, Louisiana. “Four regions of south Louisiana were settled by the Cajuns.” (Ducote). So it’s probably pretty safe to say that Louisiana houses some pretty good, traditional Cajun food. This experience has helped me to realize my place in our culture when in comes to being a cordial, agreeable person.

Michael Pollan’s Omnivore’s Dilemma and a recent documentary Food, Inc. reveal how the modern day food system actually works. We then come to realize that obesity isn’t caused by laziness; it is caused by the modernization of our country (How Michael Pollan Made Me Want to Eat Cheetos). In Food, Inc., a farmer states “If we put glass walls on all the mega food systems, we would have a different food system.” In other words, consumers have really no idea how their food is produced or even what goes in their everyday meals. This transformation has altered how we produce and distribute food, which has affected the fundamental health of both people and the planet we live on. Stereotypically, obesity is affected to those who exercise less and eat more. However, it is a struggle to define obesity because it is more than that. Obesity is a “disease which is caused by the modernization of the food industry (How Michael Pollan Made Me Want to Eat Cheetos). In the new food industry, cooking is not required. Today, frozen and canned foods make it easy to have a quick dinner. However, many people forget that these canned and frozen foods have an extremely high amount of preservatives, fats, sugars, and sodium (How Michael Pollan Made Me Want to Eat Cheetos). The modernization also allows for longer periods of “TV watching, longer drives to and from work, supermarket product placement… and even clothing designers

The obesity levels in America increase year after year. Even adults are becoming more and more overweight. People do not understand that eating whatever they want, whenever they want it is very unhealthy. Louisiana has the highest adult obesity rate at 36.2 percent and Colorado has the lowest at 20.2 percent. Mississippi has the highest rate of diabetes at 14.7 percent. Ten of the twelve states with the highest type 2 diabetes rates are in the South. The CDC projects that one-in-three adults could have diabetes by 2050 (Ogden). Is unhealthy food really worth diabetes? Even the farmers are starting to noticing the increase in food intake. One of the main problems in America is over eating. People just eat all they want and do not think of the consequences. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that the average American ate almost twenty percent more calories in the year 2000 than they did in 1983, thanks, in part, to a boom in meat consumption. Today, each American puts away an average of 195 pounds of meat every year, compared to just 138 pounds in the 1950’s. Consumption of added fats also shot up by around two thirds over the same period, and grain consumption rose forty five percent since 1970 ("Why Are Americans Obese?”). People use food as comfort, and they eat more and more each year. Sometimes, it can be the types of foods people consume rather than how much. From this study it is obvious that not only are Americans eating too much,

If one continually eats unhealthy foods, they can quickly become overweight. Moreover, this has become such a recurring problem in America that according to the National Institutes of Health, compulsive eating has led to obesity for approximately 35.7% of Americans. This number represents over one-third of the entire U.S population and will continue to grow unless it is addressed. In addition, it is critical that Americans learn to moderate their junk food intake to prevent the contraction of serious health issues. Sweenie states that, “Food high in salt, sugar, fat or calories and low nutrient content...provide suboptimal nutrition with excessive fat, sugar, or sodium per kcal. Such poor diets can slow growth, promote obesity; sow the seeds of diseases like diabetes, hypertension, cardiac problems, and osteoporosis.” These are exceptionally serious diseases that can often result in a severely hindered lifestyle or even death. In order to avoid these exceptionally undesirable outcomes, one must always remain aware of their daily junk food consumption. In Kirkey’s article, Paul Kenny, an associate professor at the Scripps Research Institute in Florida, states that, "It's incumbent upon people to make sure that they're more respectful and aware of what they're eating. Just be aware that there are dangers and risks associated. Enjoy (high-fat) food, but make sure it's occasionally and

Healthy food should be accessible to everyone. If healthy food isn’t available for everyone all it’s going to do is cause more and more health problems. If we made healthy organic food the same price as cheap unhealthy food there would be a big difference in the health of our country. It’s completely unfair to make healthy food too expensive for other people to buy, which causes them to buy cheap unhealthy food, like off a dollar menu at a fast food restaurant. This issue needs to be put to an end.

Obesity is a problem and we need to take action now. The rate of obesity in children and adults have doubled since the past decade. The fast food industry is to blame for this dilemma. "The U.S. food industry aggressively markets high-fat, high-sugar, super-sized foods."(Greenblatt) Fast food is causing people to live unhealthy and there are consequences to it. "Moreover, two-thirds of the adults are either overweight or obese, and at least 300,000 Americans die each year from obesity-related diseases."(Greenblatt) The statistics are there and if the people don’t take action now to change the way they eat then health will decline. The people do not know what's in the food their eating and decide to say its genetics to the reason why their obese. However, there is a reason they don't know.

Over the past 50 years, the way we eat has changed more than it had in the previous 10,000. Now, 60% of Americans over the age of 20 are overweight. The fast-food industry is highly responsible for today’s health epidemic. Some people choose to blame the government for not balancing individual rights, and the common good. However, the government is not forcing you to eat. You put yourself at risk of diet related health problems.

When something is detrimental to our health, we strive to avoid it whenever possible to extend our lives. We know that exposure to known cancer causing agents such as asbestos and lead paint is harmful; therefore, we do not expose ourselves to the risk and we certainly do not eat it. This seems simple; however, what do we do when that harmful vice is food? We cannot stop eating; instead, we must closely examine what we are putting into our bodies. When faced with the choice of a burger or grilled vegetables, most would choose the burger. These choices have lead us down a path littered with food related diseases, illnesses and rising healthcare costs. The state of Americans health is declining due to increasing obesity, diabetes and

The media has stories everyday regarding the obesity epidemic in this country. Development of diabetes, heart disease and cancer will shock most people into rethinking what they are eating everyday. Obviously the diets of many people in this country are not based on sound nutrition, are not balanced, are not nutrient rich, are chosen to promote health. The most advertised food choices are based on convenience; taste and promoting highly processed factory foods full of fat and sugar.