PROSE & CONS: OBESITY

     The title of this post is slightly misleading; as there are obviously NO pros whatsoever to being obese. What this title actually refers to are the opposing perspectives given by one of four obesity-related texts that my class has been instructed to choose between. In my case, this is whether the blame for America's obesity pandemic falls on the massive "fast food"/"junk food" industrial machine, their customers, or both. While this topic is stemmed from CBSNEWS's article "The Blame Game And Obesity In America", four other sources will also be referenced in this essay in order to provide additional information/evidence on the matter. The URLs for all of these sources will be posted at the end.
    
     If asked, most people would identify the "food" industry as the driving force behind our major obesity issue. It's not difficult to understand why. The United States is notorious worldwide for the pathetic excuse of "food" that we pump out in enormous quantities. In fact, "enormous quantities" is an understatement. According to StatisticBrain.com, 50+ million Americans are served "fast food" EVERY DAY, grossing an annual revenue of over 100 billion dollars. It was also listed that 64% of Americans eat "fast food" 1-2 times per week, and 20% of Americans eat "fast food" 3-7 times a week. This is "fast food" alone, factoring in all other types of unhealthy food (i.e. "junk food") would result in a truly stupefying statistic. How is it that these companies are able to sell such overwhelming amounts of their products? There are a few key factors that generate this frightening result, the first obviously being the "food" itself. Regardless of how repulsive it actually is; it tastes good. It has been designed/engineered to. The danger of this is fully realized when paired with another factor; "fast food" is very inexpensive, highly convenient, and often comes in huge portions. Most people will seldom choose to pay for real ingredients and prepare their own food when they have the option to spend a few seconds at a drive-through getting their favorite meals handed to them for much less money. While this mentality is beyond flawed, it is no mystery why many Americans take that plunge, especially with the guileful advertisements that are worked into every aspect of their environment helping them along. That brings us to the third factor; companies pay good money to make sure that no one ever goes ANYWHERE or do ANYTHING without being constantly reminded of what they should go eat afterwards. Collectively, the "food" industry spends billions and billions of dollars every year to assure that their adds are every bit as compelling as they are abundant. From McDonald's clowns and free toys to Carl's Jr.'s risqué commercials featuring near-nude lingerie models posing seductively with humungous hamburgers in their hands, they do a damn good job at manipulating their target audience.

     While these big businesses seem clearly at fault, there are two sides to every argument. "Food" industry executives assert that, regardless of what measures they take to peddle their filth, it all comes down to personal choice on the consumer's end. As much as I hate those greedy scumbags, they are right and there is no denying it. Unless you're in Guantanamo Bay and there's a tube depositing the stuff into your stomach, you don't HAVE to eat it. As devious and manipulative as these companies can be, it is ultimately YOUR choice to stop by In-N-Out for a double-double with fries and a chocolate shake (my personal favorite) instead of waiting until you get home and having a piece of fish and a salad. While searching for sources to reach my quota, I stumbled across a post that sums this argument up perfectly. This is what economics professor Ninos Malek had to say on the subject in 2003: "The ridiculous claim that corporations are responsible for people’s health problems is nothing new. Remember the lawsuits against the tobacco companies? If you smoke let me ask you this: did an employee from one of the tobacco companies put a gun to your head and make you smoke a cigarette? I didn’t think so. People who are dying because of smoking-related illnesses have nobody to blame but themselves. And it’s the same for people who eat poorly. I have never seen Ronald McDonald with an M-16 forcing people to buy Big Macs. A person has to drive to McDonald’s, order a Big Mac, and eat it on his own."

     In my opinion, the blame is shared equally between the two parties. Despite the fact that it comes down to personal choice, the "food" companies are absolutely NOT exempt from all blame. I consider what they are doing to be nothing short of war profiteering. This may sound extreme, but it is quite realistic. Instead of getting rich from helping people kill each other, they are getting even richer by helping people slowly kill themselves. They set the stage for a battle of willpower, and then harvest money from the casualties. External conflict or internal, it doesn't change what they are doing. Not to mention that what they call "food" is nothing more than an appalling mix of scrap/waste meat, chemicals, and filler substances. If you really want the details and you are prepared never to eat fast food again, then there will be a link below that goes more in depth. I would paraphrase the whole thing but, due to the beauty of the Internet, I can just let you all read it for yourselves.

Original article:
http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-204_162-1423314.html?pageNum=1

Sources/evidence for stats and advertisement information:
http://www.statisticbrain.com/fast-food-statistics/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_food_advertising

Sources for personal responsibility (Malek's excellent thread [link 1] and an article that will quickly make you more personally responsible when it comes to fast food LOL [link 2]):
http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/fast-food-and-personal-responsibility#axzz2d3L1csSy
http://www.expressionoftruth.com/2013/05/why-you-should-avoid-fast-food-at-all.html