College Research

Steen Anthony

English 102

Response

February 12th, 2016

Accountability

Judith Warner, the author of “Junking Junk Food,” has sided mostly to the fact that a change of culture in food among presenting healthy eating in a completely new expression might work in preventing and subsiding obesity in America. Much like cigarette smoking, the problem will not disappear and be solved from our lives but could it improve significantly?  That is up for debate as many believe it is all up to the individual's way of living and the choices one makes to be healthy or eat freely regardless of the consequences.  Others will side with blaming Fast Food Industries for our obesity epidemic.  

In Warner’s article, she talks about  important figures, such as Michelle Obama, Sarah Palin, and Glenn Beck, describing how changing people’s eating habits even with lectures and great effort could become a very difficult task at hand.  Warner states, “You can’t change specific eating behavior without addressing that way of life - without changing our culture of food. You need to present healthful eating as a new, desirable, freely chosen expression of the American way.” (402) The author also lays out the historical changes in American’s attitudes towards cigarette smoking.  

Teaching Americans that eating healthier and in moderation should help our children grow up knowing that choices regarding their well-being must be made through daily healthy eating habits. Ultimately, what is at stake here is the lives of future generations.  To let our children have a healthy life we must start now on making healthy choices a norm. Warner states, “You need to present healthful eating as new, desirable, freely chosen expression of the American Way” (402). Having the majority of American adults overweight or obese has created a hard accomplishment for many. Many individuals believe that fast food restaurants should have some kind of responsible for this epidemic of obesity in America. They make money by hurting citizen’s health.  While this may be true to an extent, we are accountable for our actions and knowing the nutritional facts of the food we eat.  Years ago, we may have had more reason to believe they might be more responsible for our weight gain and health issues, but fast food restaurants have taken the necessary precautions by providing the public with nutritional information. This information is usually available on their websites and sometimes included in the food containers as well.

Fast food restaurants offer a service that is not a need, but a want. Nobody is actually forced to eat at them, but they are available almost anywhere you look: “Eating too much, indiscriminately, anywhere, at any time, in response to any and all stimuli, is a central to our freewheeling, mavericky way of bing as car cup holders and drive-throughs” (402) Also, we have a free enterprise economy, meaning businesses have the right to produce what they want, sell it for what they want (with some limits of course), and advertise it in any way that seems fit to them. I do not believe they should be held responsible for the obesity in America because they are not forced to eat the greasy foods. It might be debatable that children are not completely aware and may not be able to make the best choices, but their parents know the danger involved with the fast food and know it is not healthy for them. These conclusion, which Warner discusses in her article, add weight to the argument that it is safe to say that the majority of Americans know the risk they are taking today by continuously consuming unhealthy fast food.  

Access, technology and mindless eating are such strong influences to our overeating that they have become a regular in our lives. It is a matter of breaking habit as Warner argues, “Largely, it’s a question, Kessler says, of breaking old cycles of association: melt-in-the-mouth baked goods with home-safe happiness, for example, or fries with fulfillment — and replacing them with a new circuitry in which, somehow, eating healthfully is self-reinforcing” (405). Access feeds consumption, but we can turn this influence to our advantage by making healthier foods more visible in our common environments. As consumers, we face so many social cues that are hard, if not impossible to resist. Greater awareness regarding what in the culture may be facilitating our eating habits goes a long way towards trying to alter them. We can’t change the larger culture, but we can change how we react to it and try to restore a sense of awareness to what we are putting in our bodies. With the inevitable advancements in technology growing constantly in our culture, we can’t help but let it affect our daily lives. We have become more sedentary because of technology.  Our mindless eating is what really gets us without us even noticing as we are so used to eating on the go as busy Americans. We are busy which is a good thing, but we do not think as much as to what we are feeding ourselves.

In conclusion, fast food companies make enormous profits by harming American citizens. This is stated in Judith Warner’s article “Junking Junk Food.”Although people are to some extent responsible for their own health, fast food restaurants make it difficult for many people to eat healthily. In fast food restaurants and corner stores, it is nearly impossible to find healthy food. In fast food restaurants such as McDonald's and Wendy’s, even items such as salads have an incredibly large amount of fat and sodium. The main reason for obesity is the food we eat, although it may be because of heredity or hormonal disorders to a certain degree. Fast food items are rich in fat, glucose, and calories. This high intake of extra calories and glucose are not needed for the body's normal functioning and the extra is stored as fat. This leads to obesity. Knowing the facts helps, but choosing to change your way of eating is a very seemingly difficult choice for many Americans. Ultimately, it is our choice to change our eating habits and worry about our health or to not worry and eat freely maybe thinking that it is what makes us happy.

Works Cited

Warner, Judith. “Junking Junk Food.” They Say I Say With Readings. By Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein. Ed. Russel Durst. 2E ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. 179-189. Print