Essay
Welcome to the Fat Food Culture
Fast food is a big part of American culture. If people don’t have the time or money to eat a good meal they buy fast food. We eat so much that now “McDonald’s feeds more than 50 million Americans daily” (Fast Food Statistics). When 50 million people eat McDonald’s each day and 35percent of Americans are overweight or obese, you have to realize a simple fact, there is something seriously wrong with the way we eat in modern America. Is the reason that people eat so badly because they don’t have the money to eat healthier, or do they not have the time or desire to cook better meals at home? The meals at Mc Donald’s are cheaper and much more affordable for lower class people. You may not think this matter’s but read on. Maybe you’re on the way to being overweight yourself. Today in American society, lower class citizens are seriously affected by the fast food culture which leads them into food addiction and obesity. Welcome to the fat food culture.
Why don’t people cook their own meals instead of eating something like Mc Donald’s? For the family of Maria Andrea Gonzalez it’s because they don’t have the time to cook good food. “We have no time to cook. We leave the house at six and don’t get home till nine or ten at night” (Food Inc.) Her family leaves early and returns late at night. They are a low income family. Her husband drives taxis for a living. They have to commute a good distance to get to where they work and go to school. Unless they have a place to go where they can cook, it’s much easier on a low income budget to just go to a fast food drive through. They only have to spend a couple dollars on a full meal instead of spending that money at the supermarket or at a more expensive restaurant. Like many Americans the Gonzalez’s eat fast food because they don’t have the time to cook good meals. Even though time to cook is an important factor for the Gonzalez family, price also plays a major role. They can’t afford to buy organic or buy vegetables. “When you have only a dollar to spend and you have two kids to feed either you go to the market and try to find something that’s cheap or go to a drive through”(Gonzalez). The Gonzalez family has to manage their money wisely and they find it hard to afford going to the supermarket and getting vegetables and other healthy foods. But they can buy a meal for the whole family for less than ten dollars. A head of broccoli is four dollars, has low calories, and doesn’t feed her whole family. A McDonald’s hamburger will fill them up with only one hamburger for half the price of the broccoli. The price of good food might not be the only reason the Gonzalez’s have to buy fast food. The cost of living is very high for them. They have to pay for a lot of other things besides food. If people in America have too low of an income to pay for good food, they just have to settle for second best. There is also an upside to fast food. Fast food feeds millions of people each year. If fast food wasn’t cheap there might be people who couldn’t afford to eat at all.
The fast food companies make it easy to access and eat fast food when you’re on a budget and you’re short on time. There are 12,804 McDonalds in the United States alone (Nation Master). No matter where you go you can find them. They make all the food at minimal cost so that they can sell it at a minimal cost. In Mississippi, the poorest state in America, the median household income is $36,919 (daily finance). McDonalds really caters to people in Mississippi by making fast food inexpensive. It’s also easy to grab and go when there are 149 McDonalds in the state. Not only is the food inexpensive for people in Mississippi who are on a low income but because McDonalds is located everywhere, they eat it more often. There are roughly 19,915 people to a McDonalds in Mississippi. McDonalds are so accessible now that Mississippi has become the most obese state in America (U.S.news). They make inexpensive meals that aren’t very nutritious and they spread it all around the country pricing it so low that lower class people will buy it. If people have a higher income they don’t have to buy fast food. Connecticut has a median house hold income of $65,753(daily finance). Connecticut is also the 8th fit state in the U.S. (mindbodygreen) and they have 25,760 people per McDonalds. The higher someone’s income, the better they can eat and the lower the obesity rate. Citizens of Mississippi would rather buy a Big Mac for $3.50 instead of a more nutritious $10 cheeseburger. They get the same amount of calories for a lower price. This contrasts with Connecticut where they don’t eat as much fast food because of their higher income. As long as it fills them up, low income people find it much easier to buy inexpensive food. The more inexpensive the food, the more people are inclined to buy it and they will consume more of it.
There is a point at which you can consume too much. You can become addicted to fast food and become obese as a result. When you eat fast food there are two things in it, fat and sugar. These two things can add a lot to your body weight; as well as make you crave more fast food. In the present day, “More than one-third of U.S. adults (35.7%) and approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2—19 years are obese” (Center for disease control and prevention). Having a high percentage of our population obese is not good. But can we help it? As humans we crave these two things but they are not healthy for us. Fat and sugar makes us want more and more of these high calorie foods that make us more and more obese. This gets so bad that we eventually, in a sense, become addicted to fast food. In an interview with John Gibson of Fox News, Ann Kelly, professor at the University of Wisconsin, talks about her study where she found “The combination of fat with sugar or fat with salt seems to have a very particular neurochemical effect in the brain. And what that does is to release certain chemicals that are similar to drugs, like heroin and morphine” (Kelly).When something in our brain releases a chemical when eat a hamburger that is similar to heroin, it really seems like no surprise that America is becoming more and more obese. We eat fast food more and more because these chemicals are released. They price it low and make it accessible so we can feed this habit. Then when we eat too much fast food we become obese. Obesity has become so bad that if it is “left unabated obesity will surpass smoking as the leading cause of preventable death in America” (Supersize Me). Fast food has become so addicting to Americans and is so unhealthy that it is now killing us. Why don’t people try to keep their weight down while eating fast food? Is it because we don’t have time to work out? Is it because we don’t have time to cook good food? Is it because we don’t have the money to buy the gym membership, or the equipment? Or is it simply a lack of motivation.
So to finish off, it’s time to draw some conclusions. People in America eat fast food because they don’t have the money or don’t have the time to cook full meals. Whatever the reason people eat fast food, when they eat it, chemicals are released by their brains, making them want more of it. When they eat more of it they become overweight then obese. Fast food is one of the root causes of obesity. Every McDonalds sells inexpensive and unhealthy food to people by the thousands. But maybe if healthier food became cheaper and people had more time to cook, obesity wouldn’t be as big of a problem. These are all things to consider. We have a culture of obese people who are ignorant about food. It’s important to know more about the food one eats so that one can make healthier choices.
Bibliography http://www.vivavegie.org/101book/text/nolink/social/supersizeme.htm bout obesity in the u.s.
___________________________________________________________________
"Fast Food Facts from the Super-Size Me Web Site." Fast Food Facts from the Super-Size Me Web Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2013.
Food Inc. Perf. Maria Andrea Gonzalez
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/foo_mcd_res-food-mcdonalds-restaurants
McDonald's. "McDonalds Restaurants Statistics - Countries Compared." NationMaster.com. Nation Master, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2013.
http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/facts.html
"Facts." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 27 Apr. 2012. Web. 28 Apr. 2013.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,91972,00.html
"Are Americans Addicted to Fast Food? | Fox News." Fox News. FOX News Network, 15 July 2003. Web. 28 Apr. 2013.
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-5816/10-Fattest-And-Fittest-States-in-America.html
"10 Fattest (And Fittest) States in America." MindBodyGreen. N.P., n.d. Web. 07 May 2013.
http://www.statisticbrain.com/fast-food-statistics/
"Fast Food Statistics." Statistic Brain RSS. N.P., n.d. Web. 07 May 2013.
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/09/24/the-5-richest-and-5-poorest-states-in-america/#slide=5309691
"The 5 Richest and 5 Poorest States in A
Fast food is a big part of American culture. If people don’t have the time or money to eat a good meal they buy fast food. We eat so much that now “McDonald’s feeds more than 50 million Americans daily” (Fast Food Statistics). When 50 million people eat McDonald’s each day and 35percent of Americans are overweight or obese, you have to realize a simple fact, there is something seriously wrong with the way we eat in modern America. Is the reason that people eat so badly because they don’t have the money to eat healthier, or do they not have the time or desire to cook better meals at home? The meals at Mc Donald’s are cheaper and much more affordable for lower class people. You may not think this matter’s but read on. Maybe you’re on the way to being overweight yourself. Today in American society, lower class citizens are seriously affected by the fast food culture which leads them into food addiction and obesity. Welcome to the fat food culture.
Why don’t people cook their own meals instead of eating something like Mc Donald’s? For the family of Maria Andrea Gonzalez it’s because they don’t have the time to cook good food. “We have no time to cook. We leave the house at six and don’t get home till nine or ten at night” (Food Inc.) Her family leaves early and returns late at night. They are a low income family. Her husband drives taxis for a living. They have to commute a good distance to get to where they work and go to school. Unless they have a place to go where they can cook, it’s much easier on a low income budget to just go to a fast food drive through. They only have to spend a couple dollars on a full meal instead of spending that money at the supermarket or at a more expensive restaurant. Like many Americans the Gonzalez’s eat fast food because they don’t have the time to cook good meals. Even though time to cook is an important factor for the Gonzalez family, price also plays a major role. They can’t afford to buy organic or buy vegetables. “When you have only a dollar to spend and you have two kids to feed either you go to the market and try to find something that’s cheap or go to a drive through”(Gonzalez). The Gonzalez family has to manage their money wisely and they find it hard to afford going to the supermarket and getting vegetables and other healthy foods. But they can buy a meal for the whole family for less than ten dollars. A head of broccoli is four dollars, has low calories, and doesn’t feed her whole family. A McDonald’s hamburger will fill them up with only one hamburger for half the price of the broccoli. The price of good food might not be the only reason the Gonzalez’s have to buy fast food. The cost of living is very high for them. They have to pay for a lot of other things besides food. If people in America have too low of an income to pay for good food, they just have to settle for second best. There is also an upside to fast food. Fast food feeds millions of people each year. If fast food wasn’t cheap there might be people who couldn’t afford to eat at all.
The fast food companies make it easy to access and eat fast food when you’re on a budget and you’re short on time. There are 12,804 McDonalds in the United States alone (Nation Master). No matter where you go you can find them. They make all the food at minimal cost so that they can sell it at a minimal cost. In Mississippi, the poorest state in America, the median household income is $36,919 (daily finance). McDonalds really caters to people in Mississippi by making fast food inexpensive. It’s also easy to grab and go when there are 149 McDonalds in the state. Not only is the food inexpensive for people in Mississippi who are on a low income but because McDonalds is located everywhere, they eat it more often. There are roughly 19,915 people to a McDonalds in Mississippi. McDonalds are so accessible now that Mississippi has become the most obese state in America (U.S.news). They make inexpensive meals that aren’t very nutritious and they spread it all around the country pricing it so low that lower class people will buy it. If people have a higher income they don’t have to buy fast food. Connecticut has a median house hold income of $65,753(daily finance). Connecticut is also the 8th fit state in the U.S. (mindbodygreen) and they have 25,760 people per McDonalds. The higher someone’s income, the better they can eat and the lower the obesity rate. Citizens of Mississippi would rather buy a Big Mac for $3.50 instead of a more nutritious $10 cheeseburger. They get the same amount of calories for a lower price. This contrasts with Connecticut where they don’t eat as much fast food because of their higher income. As long as it fills them up, low income people find it much easier to buy inexpensive food. The more inexpensive the food, the more people are inclined to buy it and they will consume more of it.
There is a point at which you can consume too much. You can become addicted to fast food and become obese as a result. When you eat fast food there are two things in it, fat and sugar. These two things can add a lot to your body weight; as well as make you crave more fast food. In the present day, “More than one-third of U.S. adults (35.7%) and approximately 17% (or 12.5 million) of children and adolescents aged 2—19 years are obese” (Center for disease control and prevention). Having a high percentage of our population obese is not good. But can we help it? As humans we crave these two things but they are not healthy for us. Fat and sugar makes us want more and more of these high calorie foods that make us more and more obese. This gets so bad that we eventually, in a sense, become addicted to fast food. In an interview with John Gibson of Fox News, Ann Kelly, professor at the University of Wisconsin, talks about her study where she found “The combination of fat with sugar or fat with salt seems to have a very particular neurochemical effect in the brain. And what that does is to release certain chemicals that are similar to drugs, like heroin and morphine” (Kelly).When something in our brain releases a chemical when eat a hamburger that is similar to heroin, it really seems like no surprise that America is becoming more and more obese. We eat fast food more and more because these chemicals are released. They price it low and make it accessible so we can feed this habit. Then when we eat too much fast food we become obese. Obesity has become so bad that if it is “left unabated obesity will surpass smoking as the leading cause of preventable death in America” (Supersize Me). Fast food has become so addicting to Americans and is so unhealthy that it is now killing us. Why don’t people try to keep their weight down while eating fast food? Is it because we don’t have time to work out? Is it because we don’t have time to cook good food? Is it because we don’t have the money to buy the gym membership, or the equipment? Or is it simply a lack of motivation.
So to finish off, it’s time to draw some conclusions. People in America eat fast food because they don’t have the money or don’t have the time to cook full meals. Whatever the reason people eat fast food, when they eat it, chemicals are released by their brains, making them want more of it. When they eat more of it they become overweight then obese. Fast food is one of the root causes of obesity. Every McDonalds sells inexpensive and unhealthy food to people by the thousands. But maybe if healthier food became cheaper and people had more time to cook, obesity wouldn’t be as big of a problem. These are all things to consider. We have a culture of obese people who are ignorant about food. It’s important to know more about the food one eats so that one can make healthier choices.
Bibliography http://www.vivavegie.org/101book/text/nolink/social/supersizeme.htm bout obesity in the u.s.
___________________________________________________________________
"Fast Food Facts from the Super-Size Me Web Site." Fast Food Facts from the Super-Size Me Web Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2013.
Food Inc. Perf. Maria Andrea Gonzalez
http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/foo_mcd_res-food-mcdonalds-restaurants
McDonald's. "McDonalds Restaurants Statistics - Countries Compared." NationMaster.com. Nation Master, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2013.
http://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/facts.html
"Facts." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 27 Apr. 2012. Web. 28 Apr. 2013.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,91972,00.html
"Are Americans Addicted to Fast Food? | Fox News." Fox News. FOX News Network, 15 July 2003. Web. 28 Apr. 2013.
http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-5816/10-Fattest-And-Fittest-States-in-America.html
"10 Fattest (And Fittest) States in America." MindBodyGreen. N.P., n.d. Web. 07 May 2013.
http://www.statisticbrain.com/fast-food-statistics/
"Fast Food Statistics." Statistic Brain RSS. N.P., n.d. Web. 07 May 2013.
http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/09/24/the-5-richest-and-5-poorest-states-in-america/#slide=5309691
"The 5 Richest and 5 Poorest States in A
Food Project Reflection
The food project was about trying to educate us about what goes into our food and how we eat it. We started out by reading the book the omnivore’s dilemma as well as watching the movie food Inc. This taught us about what goes in it, how it is processed and the conditions in which it is made. Then we watched the movie super size me which showed how American’s eat and what the effect of that can be. Finally we learned how our food growing habits affect the world around us. Once we were done with all of this we chose a specific topic that we liked and did further research about it and then wrote an in depth research paper about it all.
The biggest way I believe I connected to this project was through my love of food. I eat a lot of food and am always trying new foods, but I didn’t know what was in my food or how it affected me. I always thought that whatever I put into my body worked and it was good for more and then I learned that some of my favorite foods. For this reason I have had to rethink the way I eat. Now I am trying to eat a healthier diet than I was something with more organic vegetables and fruits, instead of almost all processed foods.
This project was hard for me because my paper was about “food addiction” and there are not that many sources talking about people’s addiction to food. When I came to a dead end with food addiction I had to rethink my research and expand my research parameters so that I could have enough subject matter. But once I got a first draft I had a hard time revising my paper the way Jessica left my feedback confused me for a while but I eventually overcame that and finished my paper.
My writing process has greatly improved over this project I have learned how to construct a piece of writing much better than I have. I now know how to make a TEA paragraph and focus my essay so it makes sense. If I had to do all of this over again I would not make a rough draft draft that was so unorganized I would start by organizing it as I went and then do just a little fine tuning later instead of a major reset later on in the project.
Looking back on this project I would answer the essential question by saying people should navigate their dilemma how they choose. People like different foods and if they don’t care what they eat then they eat everything. Some people educate themselves and make very conscious decisions about what they want to eat. Ultimately how you eat is up to you and your decisions and what you believe is good for you or not.
Photoshop Project