Is Fast Food the New Tobacco?

 Is Fast Food the New Tobacco? 

Obesity is a national epidemic in America. In recent decades the number of obese individuals has only risen, including children, adolescents, and adults. It wasn’t always this way. The fast-food industry in America includes high-calorie, fat-packed foods, and it brings the question is fast food, the new tobacco, to light. After studying different articles, documentaries, and remarks from Michelle Obama, I am prepared to answer this question.  

In the article What You Eat Is Your Business, author Radley Balko explains that the government should not be getting involved in the choices consumers make regarding their food, and that obesity is not a matter of public health but should be held to personal responsibility.  We are all aware that food choices are healthy and unhealthy. If an individual chooses to consume unhealthy foods, that is their choice and not a matter of public health. The consumer should be held responsible for their own choices instead of making it a government controlled public health matter. Balko goes on to explain, “The best way to alleviate obesity's public health crisis is to remove obesity from the realms of public health.” (Balko, 2012, p. 397).  There is nothing more personal and private than what we choose to put into our bodies. It becomes a public matter when the public is forced to pay for the consequences of those actions. Individuals will make better choices about diet, exercise, and overall personal health when someone else isn’t paying for it.  

David Zinczenko writes the article Don’t Blame the Eater and summarizes his main ideas that it is sometimes not the consumer's fault. That fast-food companies market to children a product with proven health hazards and no warning labels. “For example, one company’s Web site lists its chicken salad as containing 150 calories; the almonds and noodles that come with it (an additional 190 calories) are listed separately. Add a serving of the 280-calorie dressing, and you’ve got a healthy lunch alternative that comes in at 620 calories. But that’s not all. Read the small print on the back of the dressing packet and you’ll realize it actually contains 2.5 servings. If you pour what you’ve been served, you’re suddenly up around 1,040 calories, which is half the government’s recommended daily calorie intake.” (Zinczenko, 2012, p. 393).  There is a lack of information about what we are actually consuming. I find that nutritional information is portrayed one way, when really you need to take a closer look to get all the information to decide. Comparing the two articles, yes, it is still the consumer’s responsibility about what they put into their bodies; however, nutritional information should be more easily accessible to make those informed decisions.  

In 2010, Michelle Obama addressed the 101st NAACP Convention. Her main purpose was to change the audience’s outlook on childhood obesity, to eat better foods, and exercise more. She goes on to explain the changes in children’s lives today, compared to her own childhood experiences. Walking to and from school each day, recess twice a day and gym class in school, and playing outside. She mentions the changes in the food that was consumed then and now. How families shared meals every night that were homecooked, and fresh vegetables eaten from the garden. Now that is a rare occurrence depending on the responsibilities of the family. Michelle Obama initiates her “Let’s Move” campaign to solve childhood obesity. “Let’s Move” has four components. First, providing parents with information they need to make healthy decisions for their families. That includes working with the FDA to provide better nutritional labeling and working with doctors and pediatricians to screen children for obesity.  The second component is to get healthier foods into schools. Schools will be improving the food that is served and offered in vending machines, to result in less sugar, salt, and fat, and more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. The third component is to get kids active. If possible, get more children to walk or ride their bikes to school and introduce new sports and activities to get children interested in movement. Lastly, ensuring that families have access to fresh and affordable foods in the communities that they live in. Michelle Obama brings up so many good points in her remarks at the NAACP Convention and I agree with most of them. She admits that the government can only do so much, and by providing the opportunity for better choices is what they can do. It ultimately comes down to families making responsible choices and making changes that they can manage with their budgets, needs, and tastes.  

Viewing the documentary What the Health was a very eye-opening experience. The documentary explains how the American diet is too high in animal products (meat, eggs, cheese), and results in diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Government and non-profit health organizations were encouraging these animal products because of funding from these meat manufacturers, which is a major conflict of interest. Pharmaceutical companies profit from these chronic illnesses, and instead of educating consumers how to make healthy choices to prevent or even reverse these illnesses, they are promoting how to manage illnesses. I found a lot of what I learned from this documentary to be disturbing. Animal agriculture contributes to more greenhouse gases than any other pollutant. Aside from not being good for the environment, it is also not good for our bodies. People living near these animal factories are exposed to potential diseases. Being under the illusion that milk is a healthy source of calcium and produces strong bones, it is actually the opposite. Studies have shown that countries that consume the most dairy also have high rates of osteoporosis (weak bones). The USDA has stated that there it is illegal to label eggs as nutritious, low calorie, healthy, good for you, or safe. That is why companies use other words such as “incredible edible egg”. Fish become contaminated with all the toxins due to water pollution from animal agriculture. Agriculture-Gag laws make it illegal for anyone to publish any abuse that happens in animal factory farms because it would hurt the company's profits. The film did do a good job covering a wide subject of interrelated topics such as diet, health, social impacts of factory farms, why the government and food non-profits aren’t heavily promoting plant foods despite everyone agreeing on their healthiness, and why the pharmaceutical companies focus on making drugs to treat diseases as opposed to getting rid of diseases. 

Fast Food, I feel has become the new tobacco in American society. Just like tobacco was widely accepted and promoted at a point in time, so is fast food. Once the unhealthy findings of tobacco were linked to the use of it, we no longer see it as much. I find that this could be a sensitive topic to approach people about because it is a personal decision about what we put into our bodies. However, if we make nutritional information easily accessible and give most populations the opportunity for healthier choices, maybe they will be made. 

References 

Anderson, Kip, Director. What The Health . Netflix, 2017. 

Balko, Radley. “What You Eat Is Your Business .” "They Say/I Say" The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, 2012, pp. 395–398. 

Obama, Michelle. “Remarks By The First Lady.” NAACP Convention, 2010. Lecture.  

Zinczenko, David. “Don't Blame the Eater.” "They Say/I Say" The Moves That Matter in Academic Writing, 2012, pp. 391–393.