Fast Food Nation

The cartoon exhibits America’s confusion and often denial when it comes to their diet. Some people are often ignorant to the consequences of consuming high calorie and high fat meals and what that looks like. Marketing has lead consumers to believe that they need to eat meals high in animal products, meat and dairy, in order to make sure they get enough protein in their diets and they turn to the easiest and quickest way to get it – fast food. Americans have become obsessed with singling out one of the three macronutrients, protein, thinking that will magically grow lean muscle mass in their body. This is furthest from the truth as extra protein simply turns to fat in the body after it has ruined the kidneys along the way (Barnard, 1998; Clark, 2012). Furthermore, the increase of animal products in pursuit of the beloved protein adds considerable amounts of artery clogging saturated fat and cholesterol.

It is important to note that the historical cause and effect of feast or famine between rich and poor is no longer the case in America (Molnar & Molnar, 2000).  It used to be that the poor suffered from starvation but in current day, the less fortunate are feasting on highly subsidized fast food and processed foods which are high in saturated and trans fats, cholesterol, and refined carbohydrates.  Our fast food nation is way over fed but way undernourished from the lack of quality whole foods such as vegetables, fruit, nuts, legumes, and whole grains.  It is a common occurrence for poor communities to seek out cheap subsidized foods such as ground beef and pork products (hamburgers, hotdogs, and lunch meats), cheese, butter, milk, cookies, candy, cakes, and soda, causing the obesity and chronic diseases to rise (WPF, n.d.). When it comes to food, the current perception of wealth is skewed due to government subsidies (EWG, n.d.). This is where politics and economic factors play a powerful role in how diet and disease are interrelated.

Best,

Kimberly Garrett

References:

Barnard, N. (1998). Foods that Fight Pain. New York: Three Rivers Press

Clark, M., Lucett, S., & Sutton, B. (2012). 4th Ed. Essentials of Personal Fitness Training. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. ISBN-13:978-1608312818

Environmental Working Group (EWG) - Farm Subsidies. The United States summary information. Retrieved on January 18, 2013 from http://farm.ewg.org/region.php?fips=00000

Molnar, S. & Molnar, I. (2000). Environmental Change and Human Survival: Some Dimensions of Human Ecology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall

​World Preservation Foundation (WPF) (n.d.) Plant-Based Diets: A solution to our public health crisis. Retrieved from http://www.worldpreservationfoundation.org/Downloads/Plant-Based%20Diets%20-%20A%20solution%20to%20our%20public%20health%20crisis.pdf