Most
Americans are very food oriented; it’s just the way that our society is. Food
is always around us or available whenever we want to eat. The food industry
produces food for our society that has hardly any nutritional value and is full
of sugars and preservatives. This unhealthy food that is being put on our supermarket
shelves and being sold in our restaurants is hurting our country’s health. The
food industry is to blame for obesity in America because they have created
unhealthy food that can be addictive.
A Bloomberg article says that, “Sugars and fats,
of course, have always been present in the human diet and our bodies are
programmed to crave them. What has changed is modern processing that creates
food with concentrated levels of sugars, unhealthy fats and refined flour,
without redeeming levels of fiber or nutrients, obesity experts said.
(Langreth, 2011)” The food industry filling our foods with fats and sugars and
because of this, our society’s health is being affected. The result of eating
lots of foods with fats and sugars will eventually lead to obesity either at a
young age or old age, depending on the individual.
According
to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, our country’s obesity rates
per state range from twenty-five percent to less than thirty-five percent. In
2011, twelve U.S. states had thirty to thirty-five percent of their populations
were obese individuals (CDC, 2012). Anyone who is obese is at risk for
diabetes, cancer, stroke, and multiple other health problems. Obesity is
killing our nation, and the food industry is to blame for this epidemic. The
food industry is to blame because they are feeding our society food that is A
Washington post article states that, “The
problem is the food industry, which provides us with the calories we consume
but washes its hands of responsibility for causing the worldwide obesity
epidemic. (Cohen, 2007)”
The food industry is expanding their
wallets while our waistlines are expanding and our health is plummeting. The
food industry is using fonts and colors on their packaging that will lure
consumers into buying their products. In her Washington Post article Deborah
Cohen says that, “Food marketers test whether the color, the font size of words
and the images used to market food will grab our attention by studies of eye
movement. They conduct focus groups to come up with catchy names and symbols
that recall positive memories and thoughts to condition a response that may
lead us to purchase their products. And food marketers work to increase the
frequency with which we see their products and their presence in stores,
wanting to make their products always available. (Cohen, 2007)”
The food industry is also flooding
televisions with their commercials that are made to attract buyers. These food
advertisements are very well strategized and some of the ways that companies
can make these ads is by using delicious pictures of their food, advertising a good
deal such as a dollar menu, by using a funny scenario that makes their product
seem desired, or by using a celebrity who talks about how much they love the
restaurant or company.
Not only is the food industry luring
buyers with commercials, and appealing photos and fonts on their packages. The
food industry is manipulating consumers with their prices as well. Instead of
buying fresh fruits and vegetables, a lot of people will buy fast food or
processed foods because they’re cheaper. A double cheeseburger, a large sweet
tea, and an ice cream cone can be bought at McDonalds for a dollar each while
apples at a local grocery store are two dollars and forty-nine cents a pound. Although
the apples are more expensive, buying foods that are going to give someone the
needed vitamins and antioxidants that are essential to a healthy life should be
more important than money. Instead of buying three candy bars, a pound of
apples can be bought for the same amount of money and those apples will
contribute to good health.
The food industry has also changed the
serving sizes that are sold in restaurants. The industry has dramatically
increased Americans serving sizes. An article by May Clinic compares food sized
then and now saying, “Then: The average burger sandwich was 3.9
ounces. Now: A burger sandwich is 12 ounces. (I'm not even going to comment on
the toppings and sauces.) Then: The size for fries was 2.4 ounces. Now: The
size is 6.7 ounces. Then: Soda came in a 7-ounce cup. Now: The average soda is
42 ounces. (If this is a sugar-sweetened cola, calories have gone from about 90
to 530!). (Nelson & Zeratsky, 2012)”
America is consuming so much processed
foods because Americans are addicted to this food. In his Bloomberg article
about food addiction, Robert Langreth says “The idea that food may be
addictive was barely on scientists’ radar a decade ago. Now the field is
heating up. Lab studies have found sugary drinks and fatty foods can produce
addictive behavior in animals. Brain scans of obese people and compulsive
eaters, meanwhile, reveal disturbances in brain reward circuits similar to
those experienced by drug abusers. (Langreth, 2011)” These fatty and sugary
foods are foods that people crave and because these foods are all around the
U.S. society, people are regularly consuming them and becoming addicted. According
to Livestrong.com, Addictive ingredients in food are sugar, fat, salt, casein,
and MSG (Tyson, 2011). Since Americans have become addicted to processed foods,
the food industry needs to fix this problem and change the way that they make
food and what they put into food.
“Processed,
packaged foods have almost completely taken over the diet of Americans.
(Reader’s Digest, Web)” What the food
industry is doing to Americans is immoral. The industry is making a profit off
of food addicted, unhealthy Americans and is still trying to find more ways to
get Americans to buy their products. The food industry needs to instead rid
itself of and America of the fat and sugar based foods that are filling our
grocery stores and restaurants. Americans need to have healthier options in
front of them if their health is going to change and their food addiction is
going to break. The food industry needs to try and improve the health of
America.
"4 Most
Harmful Ingredients in Packaged Foods." Reader's Digest. Reader's Digest,
n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2012.
Cohen,
Deborah. "A Desired Epidemic: Obesity and the Food Industry." The
Washington Post. The Washington Post, 20 Feb. 2007. Web. 15 Nov. 2012.
Langreth,
Robert. "Fatty Foods Addictive as Cocaine in Growing Body of
Science." Bloomberg. Bloomberg, 2 Nov. 2011. Web. 9 Nov. 2011.
Nelson,
Jennifer, and Katherine Zeratsky. "The New (Ab)Normal - Are Bigger
Portions the Norm?" Mayo Cliinic. Mayo Clinic, 30 May 2012. Web. 7 Nov.
2012.
"Overweight
and Obesity." Centers For Disease Control And Prevention. Centers For
Disease Control And Prevention, 13 Aug. 2012. Web. 6 Dec. 2012.
Tyson, Ashley.
"Addictive Ingredients in Fast Food." Livestrong. Livestrong, 30 Jan.
2011. Web. 3 Dec. 2012.
