Why is it that we as human beings feel the need to blame someone for every negative situation, which occurs? If we really look at the situation with any great depth, we may discover that an almost endless amount of things may be 'blamed' for the tragedy. Blaming an individual is pointless - only fate can really be blamed.…
Have you ever wondered why people these days are obese? Could it be the consumer’s fault or maybe it could be the difficulties each individual faces? The article “Don’t Blame The Eater” by David Zinczenko focuses in pointing out the difficulties the eater faces. Today many Americans face economical problems.…
In 2003, the motion picture, Kill Bill Volume 1, debuted in theaters. Set to a backdrop of bloodshed and violence, the film offers 112 minutes of savagery, as the main character attempts to get back at every person who has wronged her in the past four years. Kill Bill is only one of the many films in which violence is the number one attraction. “Kill or be killed,” seems to be the overarching motto, as millions of moviegoers flock into theaters each weekend to watch as characters fight to the death. In contrast, violence portrayed on the silver screen is no longer acceptable outside of the theater. Groups such as “Black Lives Matter” protest the violence enacted against minorities at…
Obesity is perhaps one of the biggest problems society faces today, people are asking the question: Who is to blame? Fast food, while a major contributor, but it is not the only cause of the obesity epidemic in America. In particular, food producers that supply the high calorie, minimally nutritious, and highly processed foods that dominate our market must be examined. Although the external factors are important, it is more important for American citizens to educate themselves to make more informed individual decisions.…
David Zinczenko is the editor-in-chief of Men’s Health magazine and the author of numerous best-selling books. Zinczenko is a man known for his work; his work and credibility shines bright because he has contributed op-ed essays to the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, and USA Today. He has also appeared on Oprah, Ellen, 20/20, and Good Morning America. The fact that he is so accomplished in the area of eating healthy shows just how credible he is when it comes to discussing fast food vs. the eater. Zinczenko believes that the fast food industry is partly at fault for the growing rate of obesity. Although Zinczenko’s background and accomplishments gives us the evidence we need to know in order to trust his judgments, his emotional way of getting his points across make a difference as well. In the beginning of the essay, Zinczenko tells us about himself and how he grew up with troubled parents who weren’t together, and with very little options of what to eat for lunch and dinner every day. He explains that his options were mainly fast food, which caused him to be an overweight teenager. In other words, he uses his story of himself as a teenager growing up with family problems to draw people in and get them to sympathize with the overweight teenagers and get them to see that it is not all their fault and that it is, in fact, partly the fast food industry’s fault. One of his final arguments is that without warning labels on fast food industry products, we will see more sick, obese children and more angry parents.…
Americans have become hypnotized by the trend of lawsuits. If an individual can find anyway to sue then a lawsuit will occur. David Zinczenko introduces this concept in his article, "Don't Blame the Eater." He states that many frequent eaters of fast food are beginning to sue the corporations because they are now considered obese due to the food served to them at the fast food restaurant. I am of two minds about David Zincenzko’s claim that fast food corporations are to blame for obesity in America. On the one hand, I agree that the combination of affordability and availability vs. healthy alternatives and the lack of nutritional information and have been considered a major cause of obesity in America. On the other hand, I’m not sure if the…
When it comes to the topic of America’s social problems, most of us will readily agree that the obesity epidemic is one of the major problems in America’s society now. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of who is responsible for this problem. Whereas some are convinced “Don’t Blame the Eater”, that the fast-food industry is responsible, other maintains that is a personal responsibility and what you eat is your business. My feeling on the issue are mixed. I do support Radley Balko’s position that it is a personal responsibility “What you eat is you business”. However I find that Radley Balko has over looked some issue on the corporation’s side and I also agree with David Zinczenko’s argument that it is corporate responsibility.…
Obesity in America is an ever-growing problem. Despite years of trying to eradicate obesity, it continues to grow. From governmental intervention to simple magazine articles, every step of action has been taken. Amidst the plethora of passages about this touchy subject there are two that stick out. The first is, “Don’t Blame the Eater,” an article written by David Zinczenko. The picture that Zinczenko paints is one that puts the fault of obesity on the fast food industry. Because he was once an overweight child, he sympathizes with the eater. In the second writing on this subject, “What You Eat is Your Business,” Radley Balko, takes a different standpoint on the matter. Balko believes that it is nobody’s business but your own when it comes to what you eat. He absolutely focuses on the problem of obesity, but he puts the blame on the government and the eater. Zinczenko and Balko both acknowledge the growing problem of obesity as a whole. Although they both have very valid points, Balko has a more serious, truthful tone to his writing.…
In the past decade there has been a rise of obesity in children. I believe along with many credible sources that a lot of the reoccurring obesity problems we face with children have to do with fast food. You could almost say that fast food is kind of like a drug for kids. It is always fun to go out to eat as well as take in food that is high in calories and saturated fat. Although fast food may be a large factor in childhood obesity, it is also safe to say that it’s not the only factor. Are we placing too much blame on the fast food industry for making our kids obese, or is it our fault as parents and caregivers?…
“How much obesity has to be created in a single decade for people to realize that diet has to be responsible for it?” (Atkins). In the essays “Don’t Blame the Eater” by David Zinczenko and “What You Eat Is Your Business” by Radley Balko there are numerous suggestions being shown about the things people take in their bodies when eating fast foods. Zinczenko argues that many children who gain weight because of fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s should not be blamed for their problems. He also provide information stating that they should be able to sue the fast food companies for making them obese (892-894). In Balko’s essay, he suggests that people should be responsible for the foods they consume. Balko argues that people are being less…
Over the last few generations, obesity has become more common than it has ever been. Spurlock states in Girth of a Nation that “[t]he obesity epidemic is truly nationwide, cutting across class, race, ethnicity and gender” (25). In the past the only group who was obese was the wealthy, due to the fact that the lower classes did not have enough money to buy food enough to make them obese. Nowadays, a lot of food items have been made cheap for everyone, but this food is not necessarily nutritious. Spurlock points out that the rise in obesity appears to coincide with the rise of fast food (31). Fast food gives everyone a chance to get a plethora of non-nutritious food “fast, cheap, and easy.” In addition to getting the food cheap, one can choose to “super-size” the meal making it twice as harmful to the body.…
Obesity is often discussed as a growing concern in America and risen from an area of concern to an epidemic in a short period of time. As obesity rates continue to climb, so does advice for how to manage it. Today I will bring to light some of that advice offered from two articles that provide wisdom towards handling obesity: Don’t Blame the Eater by David Zinczenko and What You Eat Is Your Business by Radley Balko. While both articles discuss logical view points, I will point out Balko’s rationale for making his point more effective than Zinczenko’s.…
Shoving bad food into your mouth at a fast food restaurant isn’t your fault, it’s the industry that is to blame. Now that doesn’t sound right, does it? In today’s society, Americans tend to think that something isn’t our fault, that someone else is to blame, this is called the blame game. Carl Pickhardt claims, “Blame never resolves conflict; it only protracts conflict by inflaming whatever grievance is involved.” Prolonging the confilct by blaming is what Americans continue to do, and Carl Pickhardt continues to state, “So why blame? As stated at the outset, blame is an act of charging some offense against another person or oneself. Because it is an act of judgment about being wronged or being in the wrong it is often propelled by anger.” People have became angered by their weight problems and they are not realizing that it is themselves in the wrong, not the fast food restaurant they are eating at.…
In his article “Don’t Blame the Eater,” David Zinczenko argues that today’s fast food chains fill the nutritional void in children’s lives left by their overtaxed working parents. With many parents working long hours and unable to supervise what their children eat, Zinczenko claims, children today regularly turn to low-cost, calorie-laden foods that the fast food chains are too eager to supply. When Zinczenko himself was a young boy, for example, and his single mother was away at work, he ate at Taco Bell, McDonald’s, and other chains on a regular basis, and ended up overweight. Zinzenko’s hope is that with the new spate of lawsuits against the food industry, other children with working parents will have healthier choices available to them, and that they will not, like him, become obese.…
When it comes to keeping the human body, nutrition is the most essential part of everyone’s life. If people do not have full control, it will affect the way they will be in the future. Any change to someone's diet will change their body in the long run, whether it be positive or negative. It is quite apparent, especially in America, that the common person’s nutrition has gone down hill. Since the 1980s, the rate of obesity has inflated double the amount for adults and triple for children (“Obesity” p. 1). Shockingly, America spends more on fast food than on college education, computers, software and cars combined. In fact, in 2005, Americans spent one hundred thirty four billion dollars on fast food alone. In the ‘70s, America only spent six billion (Schlosser p. 10). I am not one to blame McDonalds for the drastic rise of poor nutrition. There are obviously other reasons why. I mainly blame the misinformation and myths that the general public has been told. The reason why that people are more unhealthy now than in the past is…