The Economic Impacts Of Fast Food And Unhealthy Food Prices

In the article, Why Investing in Fast Food May Be a Good Thing, Amy Domini begins with advocating for the Slow Food movement. However, her position changes when she poses the rhetorical question, “Why then do I find myself investing in fast-food companies?”

The problem with food production in America is the mistreatment of livestock, the overproduction of corn in America, and the amount of corn feeded to the animals ; these issues affect consumers’ health because of the amount of diabetes has been increasing over years. Michael Pollan in "When a Crop Becomes King” he explains that the government pays for corn to be grown a lot more then it should be ,David Barboza in the article “If You Pitch it , They will Eat It” the way companies just want to get into kids mind by tricking them into telling their parents to buy them unhealthy food just for the toy it comes with, In “Pleasures of Eating,” Wendell Berry most of the people just rather be eating out then making food. There is uncertainty about the way food is produce because we cannot control people on what they

Nonetheless, how are we supposed to do that if everything is now being processed made. Voiland and Haupt state, “More processing means more profits, but typically makes food less healthy.” This matters for the reason that if they keep making processed food, there will be no good nutrients in our food left, food in America will become fake. The food industry is doing this due to the fact that it's the cheapest way to create food.According to Murray fast food cost less than healthier foods. Why is that and why does that stop us from buying healthy food? Many people are having huge money trouble. If you had a family to feed and you only have five dollars. Would you chose between a pound of lettuce and a pound of tomatoes for five dollars or Five burgers for five dollars to feed your family. Which would you chose? You would chose the burgers knowing it will full your family more than lettuce. Over the years money has become a big economic problem especially in America. People have started spending their money wisely. The food may not be healthy but it's the only choice they have to feed their family with satisfaction and for cheap. The food industry is the ones making these foods, they chose if it should have nutrition in it they chose the prices too our foods. Do they even care about our healthy? They say we have to do something about this epidemic of obesity so why can't they start by changing the way our food is

Having ridiculously high prices for this food type of is not only promoting obesity among children and adults, but it’s giving the rest of the population a skeptical view towards having to commit to a diet that truly satisfies the need of nutrients for your body systems to work properly. The costs of a healthy diet causes families to choose snacks that do not contain enough nutrients for the immune response, and exposes them to enormous disease risks such as diabetes and heart disease. Some people think that everybody has access to healthy food and that the rest is one’s choice. I do agree that everybody is capable of choosing a healthier lifestyle; however, let’s not forget that not everybody can afford it. A statistic by Trust for America's Health

(Parker-Pope, 2007) “If you have three dollars to feed yourself, your choices gravitate toward foods which give you the most calories per dollar.” said Dr. Drewnowski, Professor of the Department of Epidemiology and Medicine at the University of Washington. He further stated, “Not only are the empty calories cheaper, but the healthy foods are becoming more and more expensive. Vegetables and fruits are rapidly becoming luxury goods.” (Parker-Pope, 2007) Much of these cost are due to our Governments Farm Policy. Farm policy encourages the production of commodities for processed foods instead of healthy foods. Whether by intention or not, because of the low cost of commodities like corn and soybeans, sugars and fats like fructose corn syrup and hydrogenated vegetable oils, current farm policy has directed food industry investment into funding ways of using these cheap food additives in processed foods, thus causing consumers to eat more added sweeteners and oils than is healthy. Because these highly processed foods can be produced at a very low cost, they give significant profit for the food industry which creates an industry incentive to market “junk” foods instead of healthier foods. (Food without Thought:How US Farm Policy Contributes to Obesity)

How does fast food affect America’s economy? Does fast food affects Americans economy in the bad way or good way? Some people say that fast foods are ruining Americans economy. They want to reduce effects of the fast food industry in America. However, the advocates do not agree because they think that fast foods are giving a major boost to the economy. They give out a few examples about the advantage of fast food to the economy such as proving jobs or helping America’s agriculture by purchasing agriculture products. In my point of view, the fast foods are affecting American economy negatively, which can be seen through the average wages of Americans, the cost of medical care for fast food

The dollar menu section of this documentary focused on how processed foods and fast food are typically less expensive than healthier foods. The documentary shows one family having the dilemma at the grocery store: a family is aware that the father who has diabetes needs a healthier diet with more fresh, but they are forced to buy foods they can afford. As the film implies people with lower incomes are more likely to eat processed, cheaper, foods, leading to a higher rate of diabetes, obesity and other health problems. The federal government spends billions each year subsidizing commodity crops. Over time, prices of certain crops, like soybeans and corn, were lowered due to these subsidies causing overproduction which made them a lot cheaper than other crops. Since these crops were so cheap, meat and food producers started using them for a variety of purposes, such as, high-fructose corn syrup, animal feed and hydrogenated oils. The lowest-priced options at the grocery are processed foods made from subsidized ingredients that have refined grains with added fats and sugars. This cheap food has had the greatest impact on low-income families. Because are on a tight budget, the price difference between fresh healthy foods and food with subsidized

In other words, processed foods don't even have probably 1/10 the original nutrients that were in the food in the native state” (Cross). Giving up fast food can be a challenge, especially when it’s much cheaper than eating healthy. But when you compare the costs of healthy groceries to the medical bills that come from a heart attack or other preventable health conditions, it’s incomparable. In the documentary, Forks Over Knives, it is explained that every year, America spends around $2,200,000,000.00 on healthcare and that the most widely prescribed medication across the world is Lipitor which is used for treating high cholesterol (Fulkerson). So many of these metabolic diseases are preventable, yet Americans are putting their health at risk

The majority of Americans enjoy fast food like bees enjoy their honey. Fast food is hard not to love due to families experiencing fast paced days, parents who work more than 20 hours a week, and having children with picky appetites can be rough. For most American families, it can be a challenge to not consider eating fast food more than once a week. The fast food industry has grown tremendously through the years. The one restaurant that is known all over the world for their golden arches and their big macs is McDonalds. With knowledge and personal experiences, I can say that McDonalds is by far the worst fast food restaurant in America. I believe this due to how unhealthy the food is for our bodies, the disturbing facts about the happy meals, the poor service, and the non-cleanliness of the restaurant.

The government can make money by taxing unhealthy fast food and use it for education and less expensive gym memberships. If there was money invested in more education about healthy eating, young adults would have a better understanding of what is healthy. The teachers could teach the class on how to eat healthy and what kinds of healthy foods there are. The extra money could be used for a nutritionist or a chef that specializes in healthy foods. The less expensive gym memberships would mean that more people would afford to join. The nutritionist expert believes that putting in more money into school programs would increase the healthy food intake. Mark Bittman, author of Bad Food? Tax It, and Subsidize Vegetables states, “Rather than subsidizing the production of unhealthful foods, we should turn the tables and tax things like soda, French fries, doughnuts and hyperprocessed snacks” (35). Most would believe that unhealthy food should be taxed rather than healthy food. If the the government wants the people to eat healthy, then start taxing the unhealthy food, so the healthy food is cheaper. A hamburger cost $1 and a salad costs about $5. Which one would the people want to buy? The hamburger because it is cheaper and delicious. The salad may be healthier, but the hamburger is way cheaper. A study has shown that a penny-per-ounce tax on unhealthy food would generate about billions of dollars in income and it

The nation has developed a cheap food model. The kind of food Americans eat is the kind that is most profitable, commercial. This source of nutrition has caused over eighteen percent of children in the nation to become obese or overweight. If the obesity epidemic is not taken seriously the nation will have to pay the price. Not only adults but future generations are at a higher risk of developing severe heart conditions earlier than past generations. If improvements are not made, our children will die younger than us.

The government is trying to do its best to regulate what is healthy and unhealthy for

Prices really need to be changed for healthy food because fast food is the only thing some families can afford now of days. According to the film Food Inc. low

Fast food, the highly addictive food that many people can not go a day without eating. In our society today fast food has become the “norm” when we are looking for something to eat, causing our society to accept it as something to be eaten ALL the time. Fast food can affect our bodies more than most people comprehend. According to the United States Healthful Food Council, they say 8 out of 10 people eat fast food monthly and half say they even eat it weekly. By ingesting these large amounts of fatty, salty, and sweet foods, children and adults are becoming increasingly obese. Fast food causes long term negative health effects and is a direct contributor to America 's increasing obesity problems.

Wouldn’t it be reasonable to consider that people just might eat healthier if they simply had the money to do so? It would be interesting to consider that the people who usually have bad eating habits, are the ones who actually can’t afford to eat healthy. America has the highest obesity rate in the world, but who knows where we could be if the healthy food was more affordable and the junk food wasn’t reasonably cheap. Illnesses and diseases have become common too in people, many that come from just unhealthy eating that has taken a negative toll on the body. Not to mention, people living in low-income areas where in those areas, the main thing around them are fast food restaurants. The promotion of healthier eating and a healthier lifestyle, though, isn’t completely hidden from the public, though more ads about tasty junk food are on televisions, billboards, and so on, more than food that will benefit your body and general health. These things are all played into the fact that people already have a terrible diet, and the prices of foods that can make someone’s diet healthier are too high for most to even include them in their diet regularly. Healthier foods should cost less because it can help lower the high obesity rate in America, it will promote a healthier lifestyle to people to do things like exercise more, and it can help prevent life-threatening illnesses caused by unhealthy eating.