The Effects Of Fast Food On The Environment

Anna Lappé’s book, Diet for a Hot Planet, discusses the impact that meat consumption has on the planet and our environment. It discusses how the global food system is a major contributor to climate change, producing as much as one-third of greenhouse gas emissions. She writes about how the way we farm, what we eat, and how our food gets to our tables all

The graph presents the fact that the production of food products create the large majority of emissions. For example, gas emission released from the transportation of red meat is dwarfed by the amount used in its production. This shows that eating local is not a sufficient way to counter energy use and gas emissions as many would think it to be. McWilliam’s “On My Mind: The Locavore Myth” also provides insight into the movement’s lack of energy use. While discussing the importation of foreign food, the author states “...and you discover that factors other than shipping far outweigh the energy it takes to transport food… transportation accounts for only 11% of food’s carbon footprint” (McWilliams). This shows how insignificant eating locally is for saving energy and cutting down on emissions as transportation doesn’t account for nearly as much as other aspects. Eating locally will not have do a significant job in helping a community save energy.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma, written by Michael Pollan, gives light to the question, “What should we have for dinner?” that he thinks Americans today cannot answer simply due to the fact that there are too many food options. This book serves as an eye-opener to challenge readers to be more aware and accountable of what is consumed daily. In order to understand fully where our food comes from, we must follow it back to the very beginning. Pollan goes on to discuss three different modern food chains in which we get our food: the industrial, the organic, and the hunter-gatherer. By tracing our food back to the beginning, we can understand that most of the nutritional and health problems America is going through today can be found on the farms that make our food and the government that can decide what happens. America deals with many food related illness such as, heart disease, obesity, and type II diabetes. Majority of a human and animals diet consists of being corn-fed leading to a high cause of obesity in the United States these are just some of the many diseases that come with over processed foods and diets we are unaware of. In this study, we will highlight the environmental and health issues and impacts related with modern agriculture and how these systems can be made more sustainable.

With the seemingly unstoppable growth of the world’s population and a projected global population of nine billion by 2050, the matter of whether or not there will be enough food to support the world’s populace is brought into question (Parfitt, et al., 2010). However, amid the concern for an adequate food supply, there is an immense amount of food waste produced by the world, including the United States. In fact, “according to the Natural Resources Defense Council as much as 40 percent of all food produced in the United States never gets eaten and typically ends up in the landfills or goes unharvested in the field “(King, 2015).

While everyone may love to go out and enjoy a fine meal with friends and family, most will never stop to think the process of how the food came about, or the production thereof. John Oliver’s piece on “Food Waste” outlines all the problems of food waste and how they can impact society, animals, nature, and even the farmers who harvest the produce. America and its businesses should try to decrease the amount of food being wasted. By doing so, not only are we a contributing factor to help reduce waste, save time and money, but we are also aiding the less-fortunate in a society, while still saving natural resources and the planet as a whole.

Throughout the US there has been the big concern of where the food we eat comes from and if it is healthy. Everyone wants healthy food, yet we fail to eat the healthy food that is right in front of us, instead we eat industrial made food that causes the death of thousands of people each year. In the Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, you explore the pros and cons of our five main food chains; industrial,industrial organic, organic, sustainable, and hunter gatherer. In all ways, the sustainable food chain is the best food chain to feed the US. Animals and plants are developed naturally without any chemicals or pesticides and all of the produce is grown and sold locally and harvested by hand.

The food industry has a large impact on individuals and will affect wider communities in the future. The rush of today’s society has pushed food production to become more commercialized with prepackaged/premade based foods. For numerous reasons such as time, work and costs of living, people are wanting meals that are cheap, fast, easy and don’t require much effort. This is due to many obligations and priorities in life that are put above

Consumers have become increasingly detached from their food as America’s food system grows larger and continues to ruin the environment. The main problem is that most consumers do not know how their consumption habits affect the ecosystem around them. Nor do they know about how their food was produced. Information about how and where the food is being produced and wasted is essential, so people can shop responsibly. Short of legislation, Americans make choices at the grocery store. It is essential for all Americans to cast in a vote with their dollars to change the way that food is produced in the United States resulting in more sustainable food being more accessible in the aisles of the grocery store for all Americans.

Brought up in the southern of China, I often heard about that people from there “eat anything with four limbs except tables, anything that flies except aero planes, and anything that swims except ships”. Nevertheless, I eat more fruit, vegetables, nuts, and whole grains but less meat to make careful choices for environmental protection. Similarly, Kathy Freston argues that animal agriculture is one of the top contributors to global warming. In her Huffington Post selection “Vegetarian Is the New Prius,” Freston lists how many emissions of greenhouse gases people make when they eat meat and illustrates the consumption of tree in animal agriculture. She effectively convinces her audiences that the livestock results in the most serious environmental problems and encourages people to lead a greener diet to protect our environment. However, ardent craving, poor health, and perpetual hassle and cost prevent all Americans from being vegetarian.

Today’s society is becoming increasingly more health conscious. Consumers are aware of calories, obesity, sodium content and fatty food intake issues. Many restaurants have responded to the healthy eating trend by expanding the number of healthy food choices on their menus. A study found that American fast-food chains increased their healthy menu items by 65% during the second quarter of 2009 to the second quarter of 2010 (Midday, 2010). Another important social factor is the desire to be socially responsible. More restaurants are going green by choosing local ingredients, meats, and vegetables over those shipped from thousands of miles away. A study reports that around 80% of Americans consider themselves to be environmentally conscious. The same study found that over 60% of Americans prefer to eat at eco-friendly or green restaurants (Hubpages, 2010).

Nations are judged and measured by their production and selling of goods and services. Not only has increased consumerism resulted in ecological imbalance, it is also depleting earth’s natural resources, which in turn is creating an environmental crisis. One of the biggest products being consumed is food. Rapidly growing world’s population requires increased food production. Author Anna Lappe does an excellent job expounding on the impact that food production and distribution has on the environment. Lappe (2015) argues that modern practices of food production directly contribute to air pollution and increases carbon dioxide emissions (par. 11). Crop production uses an absurd amount of land, artificial fertilizer, and harmful pesticides that seriously pollutes the environment and threatens young children and wildlife species. Author Sandra Steingraber (2015) also argues that increased consumerism has led to a high usage of harmful chemicals to produce products for consumers (par.

Global influences of the fast food industry are shown in the health problems in society today. The cheap production of meat and grains for the fast food industry cause harm to the environment, humans, and animals. The fast food that is consumed is not only bad for the health of people but also for the environment. As food provides more than just sustenance; it increasingly has come to shape and mediate our understanding of ourselves and our culture.

These are two extremes, but people who live in the developed world on average still eat twice as much meat compared to people living in developing countries. And while people in developing countries might consume less meat and dairy now, growing populations and wealth will strongly increase their consumption. This will have negative impacts on the environment - and on ourselves. More than 25% of climate gases that contribute to climate change are associated with our food. This is also expected to increase over the next decades. But our diets are not only unsustainable, they are also unhealthy leading to malnourishment and obesity.

“The UN along with other agencies reported that not only did livestock play a major role in global warming, it is also the leading cause of resource consumption and environmental degradation destroying the planet today.” (Andersen & Kuhn, 2014). It is important, then, to consider the effects of animal agriculture on the environment. This essay will argue that animal agriculture is harmful to the environment in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, water- and land use, and that policies in the form of subsidizing plant foods, altering the Canada Food Guide, and creating plant based nutrition coaching and support groups should be enacted to solve these problems. The first section of this paper will outline scholarly literature on the effects of animal agriculture on the environment. This paper will then discuss why a plant based diet is also suitable for optimal health. Finally, this essay will conclude with an overview of the various social policies that must be executed to solve these environmental issues.

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.