The Effects of Media on Food Market

The author of this article begins her analysis of the rise in eating disorders by acknowledging America’s obsession with being the ideal weight. From an extremely young age, American children are being taught that women in movies and on the covers of magazines possess the ideal figure. The author states “Children are being taught…being fat is the worst thing one can be” (Bordo 1). This is disturbing to say the least. There many attributes worse than being overweight: dishonest, cruel, and murderous to name a few. Bordo also uses an example in the first paragraph of her essay that is appalling. Alicia Silverstone, the lead role in Clueless, was completely bombarded with insults about her weight, though she had only gained a few pounds since her starring role. The advertisers did

According to Ann Marie Paulin in “Cruelty, Civility and Other Weighty Matters”, the mass media are discriminating against overweight people, which creates a society where being fat is looked down upon. Paulin argues that, “the media are notorious for getting things less than accurate” (243), therefore we shouldn’t believe how they depict fat people on tv, magazines and other media sources. The author believes that not all overweight people are like, how the media portrays them, but rather their lifestyle is influenced by the culture we live in. She claimed that, “Sugary or fatty foods are often available in grab and go packages that are so much easier to take to work or eat in the car than making a healthy snack” (245). She believe there are evidence to show that humans are naturally attracted to unhealthy foods, but society continue to manufacture them to make people eat more (243-249). I agree with Paulin about how the media need to stop fat shaming because it’s not only making people feel bad, but it is promoting obesity.

In the article, “Escape from the Western Diet” by Michael Pollan, he argues that, “people that eat the Western diet are prone to a complex of chronic diseases.” Since meat is available everywhere in the United States, everyone is able to get their hands on meat and processed meat on a daily basis. We can eat more than double our weight of meat in the entire year, that just shows us that we tend to eat a heavy meat diet on a daily basis but we are too stubborn to change that. Pollan also states that, “the flood of refined carbohydrates has pushed important micronutrients out of the modern diets.” We live in a world that wants stuff to be done as fast as possible and well that includes food. Since we mass producing meats with the use of drugs and other forms of processing it causes some of the important nutrients that we need to leave the food. In Pollan’s article, it states that, “since healthcare is an industry, it stands to make profit on new drugs and procedures to treat chronic diseases than people changing their eating habits.” Not only are we harming ourselves in not making the proper eating choices but the healthcare industry will stay idly by in order for them to release a new drug to make money. In order for us to improve our health we have to take the first move into that direction

The United States currently struggles to eradicate the self-inflicted epidemic of obesity. In this rich, sedentary society, food is diverse, plentiful, and accessible. Hunting, foraging, and farming are confined to bountifully stocked grocery store shelves, legions of restaurants, and most nefarious of all, home delivery menus. Television commercials, billboards, and the Internet bombard conditioned citizens with images of generous portions of succulent delights. Rarely is an advertisement seen for the humble carrot unless it is slathered in cheese sauce and sharing a plate with fried chicken and a mound of butter soaked mashed potatoes. For most, the word diet is a verb that must be grudgingly invoked after years of indulgent meals. Two thousand

The documentary Food Inc. revolves around the manufacturing of products for our later on consumption. The inhuman ways in which we obtain these products and the economic down fall in which we base our normal everyday lives off of. The American population undertakes a huge risk when consuming these products due to the health hazards that Ignored and not shown to the consumer by the companies. The documentary is separated into segments that are taking a specific step to take the problem by hand, whether it is the production of meat, grain or vegetables.

With the weight loss industry, media, and health professionals bullying individuals by attaching harmful stigmas to individuals of certain size and weights, numerous Americans are fed the lie they must partake in the various dieting plans and drugs provided by the money-thirsty companies in order to become accepted by society. However, the truth lies not in the media’s falsities that take far too many people ransom: instead, the truth is uncloaked when the adverse outcome of what the reality of dieting and consuming weight loss drugs is examined. Not only prevaricating their ads and commercials, the weight loss industry, media, and health professionals cause psychological and physical damage to millions when they partake in their latest drugs, products, or meal plans. For this reason, America must abolish the weight loss matrix in which it is captured. Although this will be no easy task, the falsity of the obesity epidemic, dieting drugs and programs, and acceptable standards of size and shape as presented by the media can be revamped. Parents and health care providers alike must take responsibility and have discussions with today’s youth about the misconceptions portrayed by the media and the value of what true nutrition looks like. Planning family meals together to ensure

Obesity will affect more than 1.3 billion people globally by 2030. Americans need to see how being over weight can have various health issues on ones body. However, we see obese and overweight people every day in our lives and who is to blame? Ourselves or the food industry? The choice one makes in their dietary plan affects their weight and overall well-being. Obesity among Americans remains whist although it is still on the rise. Recognizing the perception of being over weight in the United States has now become a new norm, as a result; Americans should incorporate that being overweight comes with consequences.

In the documentary “Fed Up” presented by Katie Couric and Laurie David they focus on the fabrications presented by the food industry in regards of creating healthier choices for the public. According to the documentary 2 out of 3 Americans are either overweight or obese, and it is surpassing cancer rates (Fed Up, 2014). In order to address the problem health professionals recommend their patients that in order to lose weight they must exercise and eat less. It is a simple solution to a condition that is greatly stigmatized by society. This documentary argues that eating less and exercise will not guarantee weight loss in individuals.

Throughout the years the food industry has dramatically changed in American culture. We rely on our favorite brands to feed on, but know very little of how were getting it along with the process the animal goes through before being plated. There for, thousands of farms, slaughter houses, and processing plants that have had various owners have been fractioned down to very few. This cut, forces producers to be quick to make a dollar and having less care for the value of the food. These uncontrolled environments keep consumers in the dark and more susceptible to disease and or contamination.

The world population is increasing at an exponential rate. Along with it is an increase of mouths to feed and more food to be created to feed them. Many options come about when feeding the population, organic food, regular healthy food, fast food, fattening food etc. Many times, parents and American society as whole choose to go the unhealthier, cheaper and tastier route when

A child is looking in the mirror. Ugly, worthless, disgusting, are the words that cross their mind, as they look at their reflection. They wonder what they are doing wrong, while they long to look like the healthy, thin kids at school, or the professional athletes and models they see on television. They stand they, depressed, as they struggle to go on with their saddening appearance. For many of America’s overweight citizens, this is the sad, but true reality. Although unhealthy lifestyles are often looked upon as a user error, it is the fault of the food companies trusted to provide for all people, which instead deceive human values, and help create the unhealthy, overweight nation.

The reality is that food (nutrition) is the primary factor in disease prevention and treatment, but America as a whole has forgotten that. We view food as a pleasure center, not a life giving substance. We value taste and presentation over content. We laugh at true free range pastured eggs being healthier than factory produced soy and corn fed egg products. Our recipes are full of psuedo foods that have been taken apart and recombined to please the pallet instead of feed the body.

Along with body dissatisfaction, dieting crazes have been a new phenomenon that have spawned from media’s ideal body image. The dieting and weight-loss industry makes approximately sixty billion dollars annually (Williams). That is twenty million dollars more than it made just twenty years ago (Iggers). This is because sixty-seven percent of women are trying to lose weight. The sad part is that fifty-three of these women are a healthy body weight (“Survey”). This increase in the past twenty years has everything to do with the plethora of media influences in everyday lives. It has created dieting crazes that are extremely lacking in nutrients and almost inhumane. Juicing has become the newest fad since stars like Nicole Richie and Gwyneth Paltrow

Lindsay, very good post you mentioned that most people are unaware of the negative health consequences related to highly processed foods but did you know they are those same people who are educated and is unaware that there is an eating disorder called “Orthorexia Nervosa” which is an eating disorder or obsession with “healthy foods” or “pure foods”. Now, this so-called disorder has not been recognized clinically but it is making its way around the nutritional sector, my friend suffers from this food obsession psychologically and it is taking a toll on her natural life and body. As a child her mother kept telling her about “bad and good foods” and she lived her whole life eating what she consider healthy foods and it is tearing her body apart,

People around the world are constantly trying to have the perfect body image. They’re trying to lose weight and sometimes in unhealthy ways. Junk food and big portion sizes has became a problem in the United States. The United States obese population has increased when the junk foods and fast food restaurants and big portion sizes has became more common. We are seeing people do these things daily. Since then, there has been an increased population of people who have been trying to achieve their desired body image and weight.