Sociology: The Effects Of Unhealthy Eating Epidemics Essay

Abigail Coleman
Dr. Huffer
ENC 1101
24 November 2014
Eating Epidemics: The Effects of Unhealthy Eating Habits on our Culture and how they are Sold to the American Eye Growing up in Asheville, North Carolina, I learned a lot about eating healthily and making wise decisions about food. My parents radically emphasized local and natural options over packaged products. I learned quickly how to read labels and recognize the hidden ingredients that are toxic to my body, and my mom and dad were always making sure that they knew exactly what was in the things that they were feeding us. We kept a small garden and at one point even raised our own meat. Because I have been made painfully aware of the state of the western diet, I have strived to adhere
to my parents habits for myself and make others aware of the problems that such a diet presents. Eating foods with hormones, GMO’s, MSG, and other very harmful toxins has a huge effect on the health of our society, and these habits slip their way into the average American’s everyday life with little to no consciousness on their part. Marketing strategists have done nothing short of lending their hand to our unhealthy habits. Food labels often state in very discreet language what you are actually consuming. Marketing today is very aggressive in nature; before a consumer has time to ask questions, they have already been assured that what they are eating is natural, organic, local, or unprocessed. These words have become catch phrases with twisted definitions and many barely uphold the actual meaning. Alan Pell writes in his article, “What Does Natural Mean?”, “Marketing experts know that, for many consumers, natural equals healthful, and that healthful sells. In fact, the word "natural" on a food package may mean next to nothing because--unlike ‘organic’—‘natural’ has no meaning in law or regulation” (Pell, 69). How have the marketers of these products used the illusion of healthy choices to sell? Pathos appeal is undoubtedly the strongest element in this form of advertising. The idea behind this campaign is to make food look quick, simple, healthy, and delicious. Beautiful pictures of green acres, words that promise health and chemical-free foods, and a label with cover-up terms for the ingredients make the consumer feel at ease with their purchases. Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation and investigative journalist says in an interview on a documentary by Robert Kenner called Food, Inc., “These companies fight, tooth and nail, against labeling. The fast food industry fought against giving you the calorie information. They fought against telling you if there is trans-fat in your food. The meat packing industry for years prevented country-of-origin labeling. They fought not to label genetically modified foods; and now 70% of processed food in the supermarket has some genetically modified ingredient.”
And, indeed; they do fight. Farmers today are using ammonia, hormones, and different freezing methods to stop the growth of produce as early as possible so that they can be ripened chemically at alarmingly quick rates. Upon watching the aforementioned documentary, Food, Inc., I learned that most meat animals are injected with some sort of growth steroid to quicken development; so much so that they can be slaughtered after only half of the normal amount of time, and the animal’s limbs cannot keep up with its own growth; often times they cannot even stand or walk. Facts like these, of course, are hidden as far away from the public eye as possible and covered up with million-dollar graphics and a false sense of being informed.
Another way that pathos is used in the food industry is by marketing to children in order to influence their parents’ decisions.
By linking entertainment with cuisine, marketers have effectively reached the imaginations of children by making the packaging of unhealthy food choices fun and exciting; their favorite superhero or fairytale princess, after all, endorses it. Faith McLellan writes in her article published in the prestigious general medical journal The Lancet, “Although marketing to children has been seen as acceptable only in the past decade or so, corporations have seized the advantage quickly: in 1999 they spent approximately US$12 billion on such efforts. Part of the philosophy now, according to Bob Ahuja, a professor of marketing at Xavier University (Cincinnati, OH), is not to appeal directly to parents, but to teach kids to influence their parents ' purchases” (McLellan, 1001). Marketing experts know the effects of selling their products to children; the budget for it speaks for itself.
Finally, a major aspect of this marketing scheme is found in the perceived ethical and economical promoting of these foods. Food is no longer seen as just a commodity, but a social justice movement; you can make a difference just by purchasing your foods locally. In a social experiment exploring the words that consumers most relate to conducted by Patricia Allen of the University of California and Phillip H. Howard of Michigan State University, the pair
writes:
Local was the most popular choice, although humane also received a high level of support.
Multilevel logistic regression indicated that local was preferred by rural residents, and that humane was preferred by frequent organic consumers and high-income households. Survey respondents also chose product labels more frequently than other potential sources of information about their food. Preferences for local and humane ecolabel criteria should be placed in perspective, as consumers expressed much higher levels of interest in the more individualized concerns of safety and nutrition. The results suggest, however, that consumers are interested in a food system that addresses broader political and ethical values, which has implications for production, marketing, and movement building for sustainable food systems (Howard and Allen, 244). ‘Local’ and ‘humane’ have taken on health-conscious connotations, which may not always be the case. An interest in locality and ethical food choices is encouraging, yet more often than not local farmers are bullied by the corporations that they sell to, being forced to farm regulations that may not be healthy for the soil, produce, or livestock, and many times leave the farmers with unfair wages and outrageous production
expenses. Kevin Patterson, an internist-intensivist who spent extensive time overseas operating on Afghan soldiers makes some interesting observations about the American diet in his article “Diseases of Affluence”, published in Maisonneuve magazine: “We wander in and out of our family doctors’ offices and, if some blood work is done, we are reassured that our glucose levels are normal, that we don’t have diabetes. Mostly, they are and mostly, we don’t. But our bodies are not normal. The Afghans’ bodies are normal. We are so commonly ill we take it to be normal” (Patterson). The Middle Easterners die of diseases like measles and polio; diseases that are completely avoidable in a wealthy culture. Patterson drives home this point by stating that westerners suffer from diseases that are caused by poor choices, not usually because of a lack of medical research or resources (Patterson). By debunking the false information that we are sold on a daily basis which leads to these eating habits, many of the health issues that plague the Western world could be dissolved and we could live much more beneficial lifestyles with healthier bodies.
Works Cited

Food, Inc. Director Kenner, Robert. 2008. Film.
Howard, Philip H., and Patricia Allen. "Beyond Organic And Fair Trade? An Analysis Of Ecolabel Preferences In The United States." Rural Sociology 75.2 (2010): 244-269. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Apr. 2013.
McLellan, Faith. "Marketing And Advertising: Harmful To Children 's Health." Lancet 360.9338 (2002): 1001. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Apr. 2013.
Patterson, Kevin. “Diseases of Affluence.” Maisonneuve magazine, issue 35. 15 Nov 2010: Web. 27 April 2013
Pell, Alan. "What Does 'Natural ' Mean?." Vegetarian Times 324 (2004): 69-73. Academic Search Complete. Web. 27 Apr. 2013