Its one of the cruelties of life that more often than not the thing we want is no good for us. In terms of food rarely do people ever crave carrots, or asparagus or lentils; most of the time we want unhealthy, high fat foods to fill the void such as biscuits, ice cream or French fries. Eric Schlosser author of Fast Food Nation is right when he argues that people have stopped paying attention to what they put in their bodies and are more focused on eating what taster good even if they know it will affect their health in the future. In his introduction, Scholsser says; ‘Fast food is now so commonplace that it has acquires an air of inevitability as though it were somehow unavoidable, a fact of modern life.’ This is no better seen through the dominance of fast food chains such as McDonalds who are the biggest buyer of beef, potatoes and pork in the country. America is now the most obese nation in the developed world. One of the main reasons for the explosion of obesity in American adults and teens is the acceptance of fast, unhealthy food as part of American culture. More people eat out that ever and rely on the fast food industry to feed them rather than cook at home-it has become acceptable to eat out 3, 4 times a week. Schlosser discusses in his introduction how fast food is making its way into every part of our lives including into the school system. It doesn’t take a genius to work out that advertising burger King and subway and the like with school buildings will only worsen the problem of obesity among teenagers. Another less thought about consequence of the expanding fast food empires is the effect it has on farmers and rural life as a whole. As Schlosser says ‘Farmers and cattle ranchers are losing their independence, essentially becoming hired hands for the agricultural giants or being forced off the land.’ To make a better living farmers often have to turn to these conglomerate for employment contracts at which point they forfeit control of their farming and have to compromise how they work in order to meet company standards such as keeping chickens in tiny houses with no light and force feeding them People rarely think of the consequence of their actions persuading themselves that one burger or pizza wont hurt them not realizing that it all adds up and can lead to long term health issues. One of the major ramifications of the growing reliance on fast food and resulting obesity crisis is of course the increasing spending on healthcare issues stemming from obesity such as diabetes, liver scarring and cardiac disease. Recently the cost of obesity in the U.S was estimated to be $270 billion a year. And there does not seem to be an end in sight. Children are being feed fast food from an earlier and earlier age and childhood obesity and Type 2 diabetes are at almost frightening levels. First Lady Michelle Obama since her husbands election has championed this issue encouraging parents and schools to think more carefully about what they feed young people, while encouraging home made cooking and the use of home grown organic fruits and vegetables. However it is not as simple as this. Many parents do not feed their child fast food out of choice but rather are constrained economically and fast food such as McDonalds Dollar Saver menu is the cheapest way to feed their family. It is a mark of the depth of the problem when it is easier and cheaper to go to a fast food restaurant and pick up a burger and fries than to go to the supermarket and get fruit and vegetables.

http://www.theatlanticwire.com/opinions/view/opinion/US-Now-Most-Obese-Nation-in-Developed-World-516

http://www.businessweek.com/lifestyle/content/healthday/648708.html

Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: the Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Print.