Fast Food Essay

Thinking back on this week, what are the meals that you have eaten? Were these meals home cooked or were they from a fast food restaurant? There are around 160,000 fast food restaurants in the United States (Pew Research Center), but do these restaurants control how you think or how you feel? No, they do not. Obesity in America should not be blamed on these fast food restaurants. I believe that it is solely America’s fault for being obese. Many say advertising has a play in what people eat, but I disagree. I see car advertisements and clothing advertisements, but do I go out and buy a new car and blame the car company for my being broke? No. That is why I agree with Mary Maxfield’s: Food as Thought: Resisting the Moralization of Eating. I understand that America today is a fast paced society and sometimes people may not have time to cook a full on five star meal. The least people can do is run by their local grocery store, pick up a few ingredients and make a quick homemade recipe. Don’t spoil yourself and your family with the toxins and chemicals fast food companies put in their food. Pick up a carrot! Mary Maxwell starts off with talking about people in France and what they eat. (“How do French people eat so unhealthily-famously indulging in cheese, cream, and wine-but stay on average, healthier than Americans?”) The problem here in America is that people here do not eat in moderation. People want to eat whatever they want whenever they want and expect to stay “thin”. Well, according to David Zinczenko’s: Don’t Blame the Eater, a salad at one of theses fast food restaurants contains chicken that is 150 calories; excluding almonds and other things already in the salad. The salad’s final calorie count totals out to be 620. That sounds a like a pretty unhealthy salad. If people want to eat junk, then they should expect to look like junk. Also, people’s view of “thin” or what is considered to be healthy or look good varies. Most people go by a BMI, which is the medical world’s opinion (Resisting the Moralization of Eating). I don’t think it is wrong to eat fast food nor should people stop eating it; I just think that if you eat it and you still want to look “thin” or be “healthy”, take responsibly for your actions and exercise, or like I said earlier; eat in moderation. Fast food IS like the new tobacco here. People are addicted to this garbage and it’s saddening. It does nothing good for you. In fact, fast food can mess up your metabolism, cause gastritis, an ulcer, etc. It’s more of a health issue than it is anything else. The buns on a McDonald’ hamburger contain BHT (Cook). BHT is a neurotoxin that is toxic to the brain and to the eyes (Cook). What many people do not take into consideration, though are the healthy choices that some restaurants offer. People should take advantage of what the Internet can do and move some finger muscles and look up these fast food restaurants’ menus! McDonald’s of course does not offer any healthy alternatives being that their salad comes out to a total of 620 calories, but, Subway offers nutritious breakfast, lunch and dinner options. At subway a breakfast can contain to around twelve grams of fat, but, at McDonald’s, you could be eating thirty-five grams of fat! The information is right there and is available to everyone. If someone does not own a computer, all they have to do is walk into the restaurant and request a nutrition menu. People walk around with the mindset “ignorance is bliss”, but they don’t want to have to deal with the consequences that come along with that mindset. One of the best things that I read in these essays came out of Mary Maxfield’s essay; “In essence, we can eat as we always have-which includes eating for

emotional or social reasons-and still survive or even thrive.” I think what Mary is saying is that everyone can eat what they want, but people should eat in moderation and should not be oblivious to the facts and to what they are actually eating.
According the essay Don’t Blame the Eater, kids are suing McDonald’s for their obesity. In my opinion, that is just plain nonsense. As I stated earlier, it should not be blamed on the fast food companies and it should not be blamed on the kids either in this situation. The parents should be the ones to blame. Being a parental figure, a child is going to look up to you. What you eat, they are going to want to eat. What choices you make, will likely be their choices in the future. In the advertisement that I watched, it was a mother with a drug needle and she was going to inject her son, but the son was really eating a burger from a fast food restaurant. The ad said “You wouldn’t inject your children with junk, so why are you feeding it to them?” I agree with this ad one hundred percent. Most people know that fast food restaurants are not the healthiest choice for them and their children. So why do they keep going back to it? Why would someone want to lead his or her child into the life of obesity?
In conclusion, I strongly disagree that the fast food companies should be held responsible. Americans should be held responsible for their choices. The fast food companies are not forcing them to eat their food four to five times a week. Also, if someone chooses to eat fast food frequently, they should educate themselves on what actually goes into their food. People eat this junk of their own free will. Although I am guilty of eating the garbage that these places call “food”, I will not sit here and blame the companies for my choices.