In the recent past, there has been a debate over who is actually to blame for the steady rise and increase in the number of obese people in the society. There is a school of thought that articulates the reasoning that healthy eating habits and obesity squarely lies on the shoulders of the individual human being. This line of thought and reasoning postulates that one has the choice to decide on whether he or she will eat healthy or junk food from the restaurants and the corporations at large. On the other hand, there is a school of thought that reasons that the fast food joints and corporations have the entire blame for selling and feeding the society as a whole with fast foods. Conversely, this paper will discuss in details and principles the reasons as to why the corporations in this aspect and line of thought are to blame as far as obesity is concerned. Specifically, the fast food joints are convenient in terms of proximity. Their presence is loud in the media and they offer cheap food to people who cannot eat healthy at their homes, relative to the current economic situation.
Logic and common knowledge point to the direction that if the corporations or the restaurants reduced the amount junk food that they sold to the markets then there would be no fast food altogether. A simple analogy to this line of thought and reasoning is that to a nuclear weapon producer, who makes and sells highly dangerous weapons of mass destruction. In the unlikely event that the users of the nuclear weapons engage in fight and use the deadly weapons. Then the manufacturer cannot feign innocence and claim that he or she is not to blame for the effects of such a war (Sallis 126). It goes without saying that if there is no country or person who ever manufactures nuclear weapons. Then there is virtually no way in which people can engage in nuclear fights, thus nations or people use other forms of weaponry. Similarly, if the corporations reduced their selling and production of junk, then the society would re-adjust its eating patterns and eventually the number of obese causes, and scenarios would increase and be on the rise. In principle, if the nuclear weapon manufacturer and seller cannot exonerate his or her company from blame in the eventuality that his or her weapons are used to cause destruction. Then the fast food corporations cannot escape similar responsibility.
On a similar point and line of logic, the fast food corporations are only concerned with raising money and making enough profit they would enable their continued presence in the market. They do this by heavy advertisement, whose money obviously comes from the sales of the fast food. The primary concern of the fast food corporations is to get the their unhealthy food to as many people as possible, without considering the welfare or the health implications of their foodstuffs to the society. Subsequently, this argument puts forth the line of reasoning that the eater cannot be entirely blames while the cook and seller in this case the corporation is treated as innocent (Powell, Slater, Mirtcheva, Bao, and Chaloupka 189). This is also aided by the fact that they over-advertise their foods in the media and webs so as to lure the minds of the public into buying their fast foods regardless of the health hazards that would accrue from such a situation.
At this stage and level, it is important and worth to note and record that the fast food corporations rarely expose or show to the public the nutritional facts. It would be prudent that when the fast food corporations sell their highly unhealthy food stuffs, then they would inform the public and the buyers in general of the effects of the fast foods in their life. This stems from the fact that corporations that sell things such as alcohol or cigarettes, have been forced to put on their labels signs that show how dangerous the alcohol or the cigarettes is harmful to the life of the user (Larson, 61). Thus, it becomes very excusable in any event that the user contracts lung cancer or liver cirrhosis, because it would be from an informed point of view. On a similar breadth and lie of thought. It would be wrong for the corporations to avoid putting the labels on their products detailing the possible health situations and conditions that would accrue from the overeating of such foods.
Summarily, it is important to point out the fact that the fast food corporations in the society put into the food stuff that sell to the public a lot of calories and fat. Which have little nutritional value to the life of the human being. Some proponents have argued that an individual usually bears the greatest responsibility to decide on whether he or she ought to take the junk or fast food or not. In the light of the above arguments, this essay has squarely laid the blame on the corporations for giving unhealthy food to the public. In the case where the corporations sell the unhealthy to the children, the restaurant goes further to lure the kids with toys after eating out in their joints. This means that the children are bribed into eating unhealthy food that would obviously have negative effects on their weight and health. It is also safe to assert that these corporations rake to the government a lot of income revenue. Thus the government would have little reason to front for their closure.
Works cited
Larson N, Story M. A review of environmental influences on food choices. Ann Behav Med. 2009; 38:S56–73.
Powell LM, Slater S, Mirtcheva D, Bao Y and Chaloupka FJ. Food store availability and neighborhood characteristics in the United States.Prev Med. 2007; 44:189–95.
Swinburn B, Egger G and Raza F. Dissecting obesogenic environments: the development and application of a framework for identifying and prioritizing environmental interventions for obesity. Prev Med. 1999; 29:563–70
Sallis JF, Glanz K. Physical activity and food environments: solutions to the obesity epidemic. Milbank Q. 2009; 87:123–54
