It is undeniable that Americans eat unhealthy. The amount of fast food consumed by individuals on a regular basis is absolutely disgusting. In "Is Junk Food Really Cheaper?", Mark Bittman questions the reasoning behind why Americans choose unhealthy fast food over healthier options. Americans claim that fast food is cheaper and additionally, that fast food allows for cheaper calories.
Mark Bittman argued that those are excuses and actually invalid. It has been calculated that a family of four can each eat an average meal size at McDonald's for $28. But, if the family were to cook a roasted chicken with vegetables at home it would only cost $14. It seems crazy that a family would consistently choose to go the unhealthy route despite the fact that the price is double and the nutrition is worse.
It all revolves around the fact that Americans love convenience, and that is a major problem in our society. When we're driving, there are constant food exits that only consist of greasy fast food. When full-time employees get home from work, they don't want to take the twenty minute drive to the grocery store followed by another twenty minutes of cooking. This issue of convenience relates to much that we talk about in class. We have pollution and wasted energy because we put our convenience before the health of ourselves and our society. We are too lazy to walk places instead of drive, throw away trash instead of walk to a garbage, take the stairs instead of the elevator, turn the lights off when we leave our house, etc. The negative decisions we make, based on convenience, are not only hurting our society but are also hurting our personal health.
Elizabeth Nolan Brown, in "Why Do We Coddle Fast Food Consumption?" argued that Mark Bittman fails to acknowledge the fact that Americans, just like in many other cases, are not aware of the damage they are doing by making decisions based on convenience. Supersize Me, a documentary of a man who consumed large amounts of McDonald's, really opened the eyes of Americans by showing how incredibly unhealthy he became. We need more realistic documentaries such as this to understand the seriousness of our lazy decisions, and maybe that will spark in positive change in Americans.
Here is a 7 minute link to Supersize Me:
Brown, Elizabeth N. "Why Do We Coddle Fast Food Consumption? | Blisstree." Blisstree, 26 Sept. 2011. Web. 26 Sept. 2011. <http://blisstree.com/eat/why-do-we-coddle-fast-food-consumption-462/>.
Bittman, Mark. "Is Junk Food Really Cheaper?" The New York Times, 24 Sept. 2011. Web. 25 Sept. 2011. <http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/25/opinion/sunday/is-junk-food-really-cheaper.html?_r=1>.
Wonderful post, Dayna! Check out Paige's--you two could have a good conversation, indeed! I am thrilled to see you found Bittman's work--I plan on showing the slide show to class when we do food systems--or maybe tomorrow to show the integration and normalization of fast food joints into our landscape! Also, so pleased that you shared Super Size me--and even call it realistic. I hope folks watch it--I used to show this documentary in this class but some students said it was unrealistic. I actually don't agree with them but we have other food systems films to watch soon!
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ReplyDeleteI saw the film "Supersize Me" and I found it quite disgusting at what we allow into our bodies. For instance, in the film they observed and researched how long in actually took for McDonald's meat and french fries to break down. Shockingly, it took that stuff forever, which shows what it does in our bodies. It takes that stuff a long time to break down into our bodies and even when it does finish we do not get the nutrition we need nor do we increase our health. We actual hinder our bodies with every fast food meal we consume; therefore we must make a change. Maybe the fast food companies can consider using some of that money and resources they have on creating healthier menus, a healthier meal selection, and opportunities for people to learn more about their bodies and how to keep healthy.
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