The Negative Effects of Fast Food - Essay Example

In this assignment, I argue against the consumption of fast foods. The consumption of fast food should be visualized against their negative impacts on consumers. However, fast food restaurant operators are only interested in reaping profits from consumers although in-depth research has indicated negative health risks associated with fast foods. Nonetheless, finding from the various literature on dangers of excessive consumption of fast food have not prevented restaurant owners from operating a fast food business. Moreover, consumers have increased the frequency of visiting fast food outlets since there is a surge in number of fast food consumers nationwide across all ages.

Consumers and fast food operation owners disagree. They hold opinions that fast food has been in the limelight for decades and do not have grievous impacts on human health. Consequently, they argue fast foods have saved on time to ever increasing busy society and have solved the problems of fixing lunch or supper for the busy majority. Additionally, fast foods providers have ensured that there is readily available food on demand.

Critics believe that fast food consumption should be weighed against their negative impacts on human, animals, and environment. Their argument is based on the premise that frequent consumption of fast food is coupled with grievous negative health risks to human, animal cruelty, workers exploitation and cultural degradation claims resulting from people shifting their eating pattern away from the traditional foods. Moreover, concerns of millennial consumers having an ambivalent relationship with fast food have sired slow food and local food movements seeking to promote consumption of local cuisines. The proponents of the movements have launched education policy on the consideration of the environment, nutrition and benefits of local foods. Health havoc associated with fast food include cholesterol, uric acid, obesity, cardiovascular complications among others. CITATION Hou12 \l 1033 (Harcourt). Obesity accounts for 300,000 deaths in U.S. research into junks food restaurants have indicated a close relationship between some fast food restaurants located within the local area and obesity rates. According to the survey, by the food technology survey, 75% of Americans eating their foods at home. Nearly half of the meals being fast foods obtained from the restaurants, these foods have little enzyme producing vitamins and mineral but contains a high level of calories and cholesterol and contain food additives which result in obesity and cardiac complications CITATION Ash121 \l 1033 (Ashakiran & Deepthi R).

Supporters reject the idea. They claim that their main intervention is not necessary to enhance healthier foods but to address the consumers choice. For instance, the McDonald and Dunkin initiated inclusion of fruits although the studies reveal that there is no evidence supporting the calorie labeling. Consumers, however, regards full-service restaurants to be providing healthier, higher quality food which contains much more calories than the traditionally prepared foods. Moreover, the government is encouraging the business by providing support to the fast food businesses so that they can boost their operation and supply. They, however, argue that fast food industry is the largest employer of the minimum wage workers in the country the convenience of fast food to consumers who do not necessarily want to prepare meals at home. Consequently, restaurants are licenses to have calories counts where consumers can access the calories count save the family-owned restaurants. Finally, various fast food restaurants offer convenient choices fit for the customers with the low cost of fast food meals helping consumer stay within their budgets.

References BIBLIOGRAPHY \l 1033

Al-Saad, Eman. "Causes and Effects of Fast Food." International Journal of Scientific & Technology Research Volume 5, (April 26, 2016): 1-6.

Ashakiran & Deepthi R. "Fast Food and their Impact on Health." Journal of Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences University, Vol.1, No. 2, (July-Dec 2012): 8-9.

Ashakiran & Deepthi R. "Fast Foods and their Impacts on health: Department of Biochemistry, Department of Community Medicine, Sri Devaraj Urs Medicine. Kolar-563101 (Karnataka) India ." Journal of Krishna Institute of Medical sciences university, Vol 1 No.2 (July 2, 2012): 7-9.

Harcourt, Houghton Mifflin. Ast food nation: The dark side of the all-American meal. Retrieved from https://books.google.com.pk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=dU13X_AM_N8C&oi=fnd&pg=PP2&dq=fast+food&ots=DnPkOK3oKl&sig=_XtoQIQbakFGInAVJF1I7CYuYYk#v=onepage&q=fast%20food&f=false (2012.): 1-48.

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