Fast Food in the modern world. How does it affect us?

In North America as I assume is the case in many parts of the worlds fast food restauration has been on an upward trend for many years. In an of itself that is neither a good or a bad thing. But, it becomes one in the way it tries to present itself to the population especially children. I was recently rewatching “Super Size me” an older documentary from 2004 about the fast food industry, in this case McDonalds.

It explored the effects of fast food on the body and how obesity in America has been on a constant rise. Correlation does not necessarily equal causation so when people in America started to point out the fast food industry as responsible for this situation, even going as far as to bring them in court, the industry fought back and denied responsibility for the abnormal obesity rate in America.

The director of the documentary Morgan Spurlock then self-conducted an experiment on himself for one month. He would eat three meals at McDonalds every single day and see the effects it would have on his health. By the end of the documentary Spurlock had gained 11.1 kg and experienced liver problems.  It took him 14 months to get back to his original weight.

While the documentary is quite interesting and is definitely worth a watch if you have never seen it, what I think is the most important information we get is how the fast food industry manages to keep its hold on its customers and advertises to children. Indeed, adults should know that fast food is not a healthy source of food and has adverse effect on your body. But, children do not know any better and are a continual target for advertising. Many countries have laws to protect advertisement on children but, especially in America, those are lax and the fast food industry benefits from this.

Indeed, it is advantageous for the fast food industry to get children addicted to their product early on so that they can become clients for life. Short advertisement targeting kids can be especially effective in creating a superfluous need in the kid’s minds because children are susceptible and more easily influenced than adults.  

I personally think the way the fast food industry rejects responsibility on obesity and health problems is a parallel to how the tobacco industry used to deny responsibility in lung cancer. It is evident that it is first and foremost an immense business that views people in terms of cost. They will try and get as much revenue as possible with a total disregard for consequences and the effects on the community as long as it doesn’t hurt their business. These industries are at the apex of the capitalist societies we live in and are a consequence of the economic model we as a society adopted. That is why they mass produce cheap junk food while paying their employees as little as possible in order to get as much profit as possible.

Therefore, I believe it is our continual responsibility as a community to remind everyone of the negative aspect of the fast food industry and of its effect on health. Fast food can be psychologically addictive and can create lifelong unhealthy habits. The industry promotes poor nutrition for its own profits.

Upon finishing the documentary and looking around me it seems that the fight against theses giants’ industries is an uphill battle. Billions of dollars are spent each year on advertising and in our daily lives we are exposed to them whether we like it or not. Children are of course vulnerable to the increasing advertisement aimed at them from all the giants of the industry and are ill equipped to resist it. Even adults are susceptible to this quantity of advertisement that subtly changes the way we view the world and its products.

Hence against healthy eating habits stands the interests of giant corporations and lobbies aiming to strengthen their grip on our minds and expand their business. But, I keep faith that money, even the absurd amount the food industry possess, cannot completely manipulate what we think and what we choose to do. My fear is the shameless targeting of children who are not yet mature enough to realise the subtle manipulation they are exposed to and then tries to shape who they become for profit. But, as long as we remain wary of it and strive to have healthier eating habits we can improve our quality of life.