Sisneros1

Glenn Sisneros
Camey Schaeffer
English 1010
December 7, 2015
Conventional and Processed Food a Call to Action

Coca-Cola, Apple pie and burgers, all thought of as the American diet and considered
wholesome, but what if all that was false what if it was all just a marketing to make money while
selling the least quality product for the most profit. Big food companies want to profit and they
have found ways to profit off of the publics demand for fast, cheap and easy food. Yet they have
absolutely no regard for the health and well-being of the consumer. Companies modify and
manipulate their food to yield little nutrition and large amounts in order to make their food more
appealing. In the long run companies saving and making money at the consumers expense hurts
our economy, the more unhealthy people there are the more we spend on health care. The
attitudes of the food industry doesnt seem to be anytime soon either. The only logical approach
is to force them to change through regulations on fast foods and snack foods manufacturers.
Its no secret that obesity is becoming an epidemic, according to Michael Moss recent
figures presented at a meeting between big food CEOs around one quarter of American adults are
obese. (Moss 473) One quarter is absolutely ridiculous, especially considering that food
companies are aware that their food is making people fat. If my product was increasing peoples
chances of and other obesity related illnesses I would change my recipe even if it meant a loss of

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profit, but big businesses refuse to do so. Uncle Sam has lost his fit physique and developed
some fat rolls and with each can of soda and piece of candy his waist line will continue to
expand. If we are to salvage Americas health and image something must be done and it must
happen soon.
The food industry will never sacrifice profit for the publics health. This attitude is presented
perfectly when Moss quotes James Behnkes summary of General Mills CEO Stephen Sangers
words for his fellow businessmen Look, were not going to screw aro0und with the company
jewels here and change the formulations because a bunch of guys in white coats are worried
about obesity (Moss 476) Though not a direct quote of Sanger himself the lack of change in
General Mills Yoplait yogurt is evidence enough of the attitude presented. If the businesses are
going to make any changes it wont be their choice. Big business will always try to find a
scapegoat to blame the harm they themselves create so that they can continue on as they are and
keep making profits. The only logical solution is pass actual legislation restricting the types and
amounts of fats in an individual item. Though someone might say the FDA has no right
restricting what a company puts in their product, I would point out that the FDA commonly
restricts the use of toxic chemicals in food and that fat is known to be the cause of obesity, which
causes a plethora of other problems which leads me to believe that fat is dangerous.
Next up on the strategies of food companies is their use of vanishing caloric density
(Moss 487) which Moss used Steven Witherlys analysis of the Cheeto to explain. If something
melts down quickly, your brain thinks that theres no calories in it you can just keep eating it
forever.(Moss487) It is no coincidence that Frito-Lay and other snack companies continue to
produce foods that break down quickly, the more people eat of it the more theyll buy and theyll

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buy it more often. As people buy and eat more junk food and line the corporations pockets the
bigger their waist lines will become and they will develop life threatening diseases.
Food companies also put dangerous chemicals into their food to make it more appealing,
namely dyes. Though it has shown that most of these chemicals dont have harmful effects in
small doses alone, it shown that these can be much more harmful combined with other
chemicals, this is known as the cocktail effect.(Shaw 2149-2157) Now just looking at any
ingredients in junk food you will multiple dyes.
Now I have been pretty hard on corporations, but they are not the only to blame. The
consumer is just as much to blame, after all who continues to buy junk food in large quantities
and encourage the food industry to continue their campaign for cash. The consumer must
practice self-control, no ones stuffing those Big Macs down your throat. I propose that we all
take some of Michael Pollans advice and Stop eating a Western diet.(Pollan 421) Only then
will send the message that we no longer want to intake poison. As soon as companies start losing
profits they will either change or will waste away and be left behind.
This obesity epidemic doesnt only affect us physically, it also has detrimental effects on
our economy. According to David Zinczenko in 1969 the total cost for health care treating was
2.6 billion and now it has rocketed up to100 billion,(Zinczenko463) thats a little less than forty
times more. That kind of number should be a slap in the face and wake up call to Americans, yet
we still do nothing. This money could be spent building infrastructure, repairing roads and
increasing the quality of our schools, but instead its spent to treat diseases caused by gross
negligence of corporations and the glutton of the consumer. To these parties profit and
hamburgers are more important than our own future.

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Not only should we restrict what goes in, but we should also mark foods with high
amounts of sodium or fat. This idea has already been shown to work for Finland who used to
have large amounts of their population suffering from high blood press and heart disease, but
then marked foods containing large amounts of sodium and saw a large decrease in deaths caused
by heart disease and strokes. (Moss 483) So why not employ an already tried and truth approach
in America and mark fatty foods with giant stickers that say high fat and list the health effects of
fat.
We must do something to solve this obesity crisis and until we can mentally and
physically get past our addiction to fat and other harmful chemicals, we must make it harder to
obtain these substances. This cannot be left to lawmakers and companies we as the people must
force their hand by standing up and rejecting their poison. This our only chance to undo this
Western Diet (Pollan 3420-427) and provide a brighter future for the next generations.

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Works Cited
Pollan, Michael. Escape from the Western Diet They Say, I Say with Reading eds. Gerald
Graff, Cathy Birkenstein and Russel Durst New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2014 420-427
Print
Zinczenko, David. Dont Blame the Eater They Say, I Say with Reading eds. Gerald Graff,
Cathy Birkenstein and Russel Durst New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2014 462-465 Print
Moss, Michael. The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food They Say, I Say with
Readings eds. Gerald Graff, Cathy Birkenstein and Russel Durst New York: W.W. Norton &
Company, 2014 471-495 Print
Shaw, Ian C. Chemical residues, food additives and natural toxicants in food the cocktail
effect International Journal of Food Science and Technology. New Zealand: Food Safety Centre,
University of Canterbury 2149-2157 Electronic