Blog 11: "Let Them Eat Fat"

In "Let Them Eat Fat", Greg Critser explains how fast food chains have been attacking the poor people market. Critser gives us some interesting facts to support his claim, for example the high proportion oy young black men and workers who consume this kind of food. He also talks about the marketing trick supersizing, and explains that by supersizing the consumer almost doubles the calories in the meal.


After reading this article, I think people should realize that eating fast food is not good at all. The only "good" thing about this food is the price, but in the long run, when people start having health problems because of the consumption of this cheap meals, they will see that it was not worth it to trade thir health in exchange for saving a couple of dollars.


Personally, I stopped eating fast food after watching the documentary "Super Size Me", in which a man decides to eat nothing but McDonald's for a couple of months. The man gets really sick, gains weight like crazy, and starts having heart problems, by seeing what happened to this man, I realized how bad this food is and decided not to eat it again. When we eat in these junk food chains we are basically filling our bodies with fat and sugar, which can both be a serious threat specially to our heart, most young people don't realize this, but when they are older they will.


Another reason why I decided to stop eating fast food was this other article I read a while ago, where they were saying that the meat they use comes mostly from old and sick cows, and also chickens are fed with chemicals that make them develop deformations.


However, from a business point of view, i think fast food chains are not responsible for the health of this people. They are only satisfying an existing need for cheap food, they are not forcing anyone to consume their products, so it is the consumer's decission if they want to eat healthy or not. Unfortunately some people just can't afford to buy healthier food and that's the reason why this fast food chains are so successful speciallly in low-income neighborhoods.