Erick Orozco Basaldua
Mrs. Carol Lane
English 1A
4 July 2015
It’s Your Choice
In the short essay, “Don’t Blame the Eater,” David Zinczenko argues that fast food companies hold responsibility for the growing problem of child obesity and Type-2 diabetes due to its low prices, numerous locations and lack of consumer information. With children lacking income, fast food is often the only thing they could afford. This lack of money with the amount of fast-food restaurants there are in this country make fast-food the most accessible type of nutrition for children. Zinczenko states “Fast-food companies are marketing to children a product with proven health hazards and no warning labels.” The author’s point is that fast-food fails to warn consumers that their product is harmful to their health. Restaurants provide nutrition information; it is not easily interpreted. The largest fast-food restaurants, McDonalds, has seen sales drop nationwide throughout certain years because of all the test and studies done to find out what is actually in their food. Well other fast-food restaurants that promote healthy living, such as Chipotle, Qdoba, and Subway, have seen sales increase over the years by as much as 14%. The US as a whole is moving towards the direction of healthy eating in recent years. As someone who is overweight, I take full responsibility for my food consummation. We make conscious decisions on what we consume whether or not an advertisements persuasive us. Fast-food restaurants or any junk food don’t force us to eat their products; we consume them willingly.
In the other hand, Radley Balko, in his article “What You Eat is Your Business,” argues that we as individuals should be responsible for what we put in our bodies. Balko states “instead of manipulating or intervening in the array of food options available to American consumers, our