The Effects Of Food On Our Environment, The Economy, And Our Overall Health

Consumption of food has been recognised as a key sustainability issue, due to both food wastage and overconsumption of food. This can be clearly observed in the United Nations, where the Food and Agriculture Organisation is calling for change in the food and agriculture sector to adapt a more sustainable approach. Consumers, businesses, and governments all have significant roles to play in moving forward to address sustainability issues, in relation to food. It is an imperative for consumers to first take note of their own impact towards food sustainability and to address whether there are steps they can take in their own lives to diminish both food wastage and overconsumption. Issues such as overconsumption are in large, due to the excess demand for food by consumers and can thus, be addressed by consumers individually if the will is there. Businesses have an imperative to set sustainability goals and to ensure that sustainability is a key issue that is addressed within all corporations.

Obesity is a continuing problem in the American society. Obesity, occurs when, the amount of energy taken is more than the energy released (Abraham 237). The growing obesity rates could be slightly declined by the availability of more affordable, healthier foods and the decline of these temporary quick fit diets, many Americans put themselves on as a means to get fit. The opposing viewpoint may suggest that obesity can be fixed simply by shopping for better, healthier food choices in grocery stores and learning how to count calories to maintain a healthy weight; but that simple solution may not be an achievable solution for every American. Furthermore, the difference of cost between healthy compared to unhealthy foods is completely outrageous. Numberless people strive to go into a grocery store and select all of the healthy food options of their liking; however, healthy food options cost more and are seemingly unaffordable compared to junk food. The government should regulate the prices of junk and healthy food as a means to combat obesity in America, so that all persons can achieve good health.

In conclusion people over consume more than they need and more than they want. People relate to the more money, goods, better education or higher paying career they

North America in the last 15 years has become engulfed in the fast food trend creating enormous individuals. The billion dollar sales of the MacDonald’s burgers have invaded society and now are seen as a daily activity. Not only has the sale of fast food affected people weights the sheer size of each meal also contributes as well. This new concept of “bigger is better” has swept across North America forcing people to buy more fast food that is needed at each visited. I believe that something need to be done to stop this “growing” epidemic.

The choices American’s make about their eating habits has drastically changed over time. Today America is an obese nation, because food is everywhere: at the grocery store, on billboard signs, or even at the hardware store. There are statistics that prove America is an obese nation, the public just has to go search for those. Many diets and experts have tips to give to help American’s and others lose weight. This is the point that Susan Brink and Elizabeth Querna are trying to get across in their article, “Eat this Now.” Within the article, the two go in to detail about how Americans eat all the time. Brink and Querna’s article really bring to light the problems that American’s have by showing how American’s eat to

Foremost of all, like I had mentioned before, the rate of obesity, heart diseases and diabetes is growing than it ever had. There are over 29 million cases of diabetes last year, more than 700 thousands people died each year because of heart attacks, and about 3 million cases of obesity per year in the U.S. The causes of those problems are really simple yet complex, it's each person's taste, conditions and their way of thinking for themselves. Example, you go to McDonald, ordered a Big Mac, Coke and some French fries like a habit, because those are your favorite but not realize how bad the choices of food you just made, and just let’s them all slowly destroy your body afterwards. It's normal for Americans to eat fast foods, refined and processed food, sweets and high fat or carbohydrate foods since they're too popular and common in our culture, but these are food that needs to be limited instead of to be overeating.

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 people in this country always tend to “bite off more than they can chew”, literally. Countless people every day throw out food either because it has gone bad because they bought too much of what they did not need. They never end up eating it in the first place leaving it to go bad. “But all food goes bad no matter where it’s from” you might say, well yes but more goes bad if over half sits there uneaten only purchased because of a sale or huge discount. To top it all off the country as a whole consumes in excess. Over half of the nation is obese and eats more than they should regularly. The over-eating concept comes into full view with the almost infamous concept of eating contests. People compete to see who could eat more literally gorging themselves while people are starving and making it by on what they can scrape up. People eat more than they need and all that they want when given the chance. Sometimes people eat when they are not even hungry, but simply as a means of distraction from something else. All-you-can-eat

We love food in America. On 72nd and dodge street in Nebraska, Omaha; there is an approximate amount of a 100 restaurants. Imagine how much restaurants are in a major street of New York City. The moment the television is on, there is constant burst of different food commercial to the audience. If the television was on for 15mins at least two commercial will pop up. One probably advertising food. However, this paper is not based on the food that is consumed. No, this paper will focus on the amount of food wasted constantly in America.

Americans are expecting more from everything, whether it be materialistic items or more consumable items. With this demand, we are seeing the average dinner plate has increased in size from a ten-inch dinner plate to a twelve-inch dinner plate. Americans are filling their plates in addition to having been raised with the basic fallacy that they need to clear their plates and finish even when they are feeling full. When in reality what they need to do is, choose to eat a balanced meal and not indulge in too many calories. The current trend in America for food is that it be quick as well as simple when these items are high in calories as well as low in nutritionally sufficient ingredients. Obesity is not only an individual issue this is

According to American Consumerism and the Global Environment, they found information stating, “On average, Americans eat 815 billion calories of food each day - roughly 200 billion more than needed and enough to feed 80 million people in other parts of the world” (American Consumerism). They also said that “Americans throw out 200,000 tons of edible food daily”(American Consumerism). I was thinking about obesity, and how it correlates to the health crisis we have going on. People are consuming sugary, processed, and antibiotic injected foods at an alarming rate. I then thought about why, it can’t just be because it tastes good. It has everything to do with the cost, and how outrageous the prices are to pay for premium grass-fed cow, or organic pesticide free fruits and vegetables. I am a nursing student, that works full time at a hospital and barely make enough to cover my daycare. I can’t just simply go out and buy the best organic foods, or give my kids the most nutritious meals, not because I don’t want them to be healthy but because I simply can’t afford

overconsumption are negatively effecting the world in way that we never imagined. We are truly

Wasting food is a bad habit that affects all of society and we continue to implicate ourselves in the problem. Of the total of food loss that is going on about 40 percent is in the household. Overall a typical household of four loses about 600 dollars in food a year. (Jones 11)

Over the last 25 years, populations have come to take more of their calories from burgers, fries, pizza, and sweets than they have from home cooked meals; they are forsaking fresh meals and spending more on fast foods rather than they do on higher education, computers, or new cars combined. A generation ago, more than three-quarters of the money spent on food was spent on ingredients to cook at home. Today more than half of money spent on food is spent on food eaten outside the home. As fast food restaurants and processed foods took control of the diets, current global obesity epidemic happened. As an example; by 1975, about the time McDonald’s introduced the drive-through window, the obesity rate in America had climbed to 15%; since then the overweight population has

In America, we are constantly surrounded by abundance. Food is a prevalent waste item in the United States. Most people do not think about the resources it took to produce, transport, and prepare the food they throw away. Our food waste is not actually just trash; it is the key to human survival. Ordinary consumers can change the future with one small action: to stop wasting food. Actions at the individual level can decrease food waste and feed those in need. Twenty five percent of purchased food is thrown away. (TED) Often this is because food has spoiled, but it can be for other reasons such as oversupply, misread labels, or individual consumer shopping and eating habits. http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3347e/i3347e.pdf