LIM, DEREK. Essay 1 Final. Tanya Hall.

Food: A Collective Responsibility

Confusionandanxietyoverfoodhasstartedtoseearisingtrendinrecentyears,alongsidethe
advancementofthedietindustry.Inabidtoeducateusonmakingbetterfoodchoices,nutrition
sciencehasstartedtocontradictoneanother.Asweprydeeperintothefoodindustry,weseethe
apparentsurgeinprocessedfoodsbeingintroducedintoourmarket.InfilmssuchasSupersizeMe
andFood,Inc.,theyprovideaninsightonhowmuchthefoodindustrieshavemorphedtocaterto
theneedsoffastfoodindustries,withtheirultimateaimofgettingfasterandbiggeroutputswith
cheaperinputs.Asthefoodindustryundertakesunscrupulousmeanstoachievesuchresults,thefood
industryhasnegativelyaffectedourlives,thefarmersaswellastheindustrialworkers.Innocent
liveshavebeenclaimedfromtheirresponsiblebehaviorsbythefoodindustry,andwestarttoponder
thequestionofwherepersonalandcorporateresponsibilityultimatelylieinthecontributiontoour
populationshealthdecline.WiththeFoodandDrugAssociation(FDA)regulatorscomingfrom
companies that should be scrutinized, and the Cheeseburger bill (also known as the American
PersonalResponsibilityinFoodConsumptionAct)beingpassed,howcanwebestprotectourselves
andoursocietyfromthedetrimentaleffectsthattheseprocessedfoodposestoourhealth?
Aswelookdeeperintothewayshowmeatisprocessedinoursocietytoday,wecometounderstand
that large corporations can sometimes overlook the health condition of their livestock while
producingmeat,andultimatelyposeahealthrisktotheconsumers.Sinceonepieceofbeefthatwe
consumecouldcomefrommanydifferentcows,andifacowweretobeinfectedwithastrainof
lethalvirus,consumersaretantamounttoplayingendlessroundsofRussianRouletteintheirheads
astheytrytopickupasafepieceofmeatinthestores.Unsafeprocessedmeatcouldpotentiallykill
manyindividuals,especiallychildren,whodonothaveastrongimmunesystemtofightoffsuch
virusesafterconsumingthesamepieceofinfectedmeat.InthefilmFood,Inc.,achildnamed
Kevin,diedduetoE.Coliinthemeatofhisburgersinashortspanof12days.Asconsumers,we
areusuallyleftdefenselessinthepresenceoflargecorporationsthatdonotkeeptheirprocessing
methodsincheck,andhence,weneedthehelpofourgovernmenttoputinplacemorechecksfor
ourfoodprocessingcompaniesandsimilarlycreateacollectiveforefrontforconsumerstobeunited
againstunethicalcompaniesproducingunsafefood.
Morerecently,astrainofmadcowdiseasehasalsostartedtosurfaceandsuchavirushastheability
toinfecthumansevenifthemeatweretobecookedthoroughly1,whichcouldpotentiallycausea
1 Mad Cow Disease Q&A. Center for Food Safety. Accessed August 23 2015.
http://www.centerforfoodsafety.org/issues/1040/mad-cow-disease/mad-cow-disease-q-and-a

degenerationinthebrainandspinalcordofhumansandleadtooureventualdeath.Unethicalmeat
producerslikethatofHallmark,werefoundtohaveusedelectricprodstoshockdownercowsand
bypassthehealthexaminationsbytheFDAin2008,subsequentlyintroducingthemintotheirbeef
productionline2.Withsuchunethicalmeansofproducingfoodbysuchcompanies,consumersare
subjectedtothemercyofunsafeproductionmethods.Itfurtherprovesourpointthatweneedto
enlist the help of the government to regulate the FDA and make their checks accountable and
transparent,alongsidegiventhespendingpowerthatconsumerslikeushave,wealsoneedtoboycott
companiesthathaveunregulatedorunsafefoodproductionlinesthatcouldposedetrimentalhealth
risks to humans. We need to reallocate our spending away from foods processed by such
unscrupulouscorporationsandtakeupacollectiveresponsibilityinprotectingourselvesaswellas
ourchildren.
Aswetrytobestaddresstheworryinghealthdeclineofourpopulation,thesurgeintype2diabetes
caseshaveimpactedskyrocketinghealthcarecosts,andallofthecluesleadustoseeacorrelation
withourhealthdeclineandthesignificantgrowthoffastfoodindustriesinrecentyears.Aswe
chompdownintoaburgeratafastfoodrestaurant,weoftenforgettothinkaboutthesocialcostthat
suchcompaniesareplacingonus.InDavidZinczenkosessay,DontBlamethe Eater, he points
out that in the past, children with diabetes were generally caused by genetic disorder and only
about 5% of childhood cases were obesity related, or Type 2, diabetes. Currently, type 2 diabetes is
responsible for approximately 30% of all new childhood cases of diabetes, and this is a rather
worrying trend for our society. Although this point is largely made based on the assumption that
writer Mary Maxfield believes is a correlation with diet, health and weight, we are unable to deny
that with a high intake of salt, fat and sugar from fast-food restaurants and even processed food
companies, it would ultimately cause obesity and pose health risks to an individual. As we try to
push the blame towards the fast-food companies on not having a corporate responsibility towards
their consumers, we need to sit back and reflect on the social cost we are placing on society whenwe
makeourfoodchoicesandactwisely.Collectiveresponsibilityfromtheconsumersaswellasthe
governmentareimportantindealingwiththesocialcoststhatsuchprocessedfoodplacesonour
society.Thegovernmentcancomeupwithgreatertaxationtoeasethesocialcostplacedonthe
societybytheseprocessedfoods,whileconsumersshouldtrytoconvincethemselvesoutofeating
thenextfastfoodmealasthelesserwesupportsuchcompaniesproducingprocessedfood,thelesser
thesocialcostswillbeplacedonoursociety.
Asoursocietymovesintoamorehealthconsciousone,peoplehavealsogrowntobeeducatedon
2 Meat Recalls to Name Retailers. Washington Post. Seltzer, Molly. July 12 2008. Accessed August 23 2015.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/11/AR2008071102818.html

theharmofconsumingfastfood,andfastfoodchainshavethusbeguntoslowlylosetheirfoothold
inthefoodandbeverageindustry.Inaconsumerdrivenclimate,DavidFredmanpointsoutinhis
articleHowJunkFoodCanEndObesitythatovertheyears,theparadigmshiftstohealthierfood
optionshaveincitedfastfoodchainslikeMacDonaldstoimprovetheirrecipesbytryingtolessen
calories,shrinkportionsizesandintroducingfruits,vegetablesandoatmealintotheirmenus.Inother
Asiancountries,MacDonaldshasalsostartedtoprovidetheoptionof AppleDippers3 insteadof
fries.Thishasfurthershownthatacollectiveeffortbytheconsumersinmakingtherightconsumer
choiceswithourfoodcanpotentiallyallowustoseeanimprovementinthetypeoffoodofferedin
themarket.
However, our choices on what to eat is often also influenced by advertisements, which is pointed out
by Fredman, that the more signs you show people for a particular food product or dish, the more
likely they are to choose it over others. In places like Oakland, California, advertisements for fastfood are aplenty and has started to see a declining health trend for its population, which was recently
reported to have approximately half of their students overweight4. Seeing such a trend, there is
certainly a need for government intervention to come into play when it comes to the regulation of
such advertisements, especially for fast-food chains with big greasy burgers expanded on billboards.
The pressure placed by the government can also lead fast-food chains to make more changes to their
menu in line with public policies of promotion of a healthier lifestyle, like that of MacDonalds in
Singapore, where they have introduced over 20 meals options with less than 500 kilocalories over
the past year5. In our race against time to address the growing problem of obesity and declining
health, the government should hence introduce a multi-pronged campaign on the promotion of a
healthy lifestyle, encourage education on active lifestyle, healthy living and making the right food
choices. If the government and consumers work hand-in-hand to tackle these large fast-food
conglomerations, we would be able to weed out the unsafe and unhealthy food and work towards a
healthier population.
As these large companies seek to further increase their total revenue at the expense of our health, it is
ultimately up to us as a society to make the right move. Consumers like us, often fail to realize that
3 Apple Dippers are fresh apple slices with low-fat caramel sauce, an alternative choice for fries.
4 Nearly half of students in Oakland and Richmond overweight, study finds. Oakland North. Adams, Theresa.
June 28 2012. Accessed August 23 2015. https://oaklandnorth.net/2012/06/28/nearly-half-of-students-in-oaklandand-richmond-overweight-study-finds/

5 McDonalds launches delightful new options in support of Health Promotion Boards Healthier Dining
Programme
McDondalds
Singapore.
14
August
2014. Accessed
on
23 August
2015
https://www.mcdonalds.com.sg/news-room/mcdonalds-launches-delightful-new-options-in-support-of-healthpromotion-boards-healthier-dining-programme/

there is power in numbers, and we are the pivotal force that drives the market for our goods. If the
government can stand united on the same frontier as consumers to make a collective effort to
regulate these unethical food production companies and ensure that fast-food chains stop causing
further health decline and even death to our population, we would be able to create a big change for a
better tomorrow, not just for ourselves, but our society.