Did you know that it would take you seven straight hours of walking to burn off all the calories gained from a super-sized coke, fries and a Big Mac? We live in a society where fast-food has become one of the most common ways of nutrition for many people. When I was in the 6th grade at the age of twelve, I weighed in at about two hundred and thirty pounds. One day I was wondering how I got myself into that predicament and it hit me: greasy, un-nutritious fast food. After a year of eating healthy, home cooked meals and exercising, I managed to lose seventy pounds and that began my quest for a healthier lifestyle. Food consumption in our society today has created an unhealthy epidemic for children, thus action by the consumer only must be taken in order to ensure a healthier future lifestyle, for the consumers are solely responsible for their health and bodies. In order for our consumers to avoid going through an obese pathway of life, they must make healthier choices, be responsible for their own bodies/health, and organize their nutrition life. Healthy eating means nourishing the body the best possible way. Yeah, sounds easy, doesn’t it?
In order for consumers to first take action, they must make the healthier choices. That being said, it’s not the fast-food companies that need to stop advertising/serving food, it’s the consumers that need to stop giving in so effortlessly. “If local, organic food is beyond the means of many citizens, are the alternatives McDonald’s and Burger King?” (Sabin 100) Organic food is expensive, but it is not the only alternative. Instead of giving in to fast food, one should replace that meal with a nutritious, enriched home cooked meal. Home cooked meals are not only fun to make, but also full of nutritional value that will give one the energy needed for the day. Fast food simply doesn’t suffice the needs for the human body because the human body demands nutrition and fast food does not have that to offer. Making healthy choices is not easy; from personal experience I struggles with it as well. “What tastes better? Fast food or being fit/healthy?” My brother always used to divulge me this when I was in my quest for a healthier lifestyle. In my opinion, I would rather be fit and healthy than to eat fast food. Making healthy choices is not an easy thing to do, but it’s a good habit to practice to ensure and start saying no to greasy burgers and deep fried cuisine.
One surely cannot censure the fast food industry for their health and the way they appearance is. The next step in saying no to fast-food is to take responsibility for your own body as it is your body and it deserves nourishing. “The fast-food industry won’t go away anytime soon. But in the mean time, it can be changed.”(Domini 106) With this quote in mind, one surely doesn’t except McDonald’s to stop serving food and offering healthier choices, right? One cannot blame a business to be in business, because its what they do. This being said, I think a more effective way to approach a healthier lifestyle is not waiting for fast-food industries to change their ways, but for the consumer to change his/hers. “That fried chicken leg may kill you; that pork rib is going to take a year of your life. But it’s worth it you say. You are willing to live on the edge.” (Sabin 101) Society wants to eat fast food, but does not want to face the consequences. People can’t always play the ‘victim’ role. By ‘victim,’ I mean, if people want to eat fast food, that’s fine. But to blame the fast-food industry is not only juvenile, but also irresponsible. Don’t get me wrong, I am in no way defending the fast-food industry; however, one cannot expect the fast-food industries to make these adjustments for the minorities, because the profit is already generating from the majorities with no adjustments. So again, we
