Don T Blame The Eater Summary

It is not a secret that USA is becoming fatter. Zinczenko, in his article “Don’t Blame the Eater”, believe that fast food restaurants and corporations are the ones to blame for the increasing weight gain in America today. Zincenko argues that the lack of healthy options in the United States today is a key concern. “But where, exactly, are consumers-particularly teenagers- supposed to find alternatives. Drive down any thoroughfare in America, and I guarantee you’ll see one of our country’s more than 13,000 McDonald’s restaurants. Now, drive back up the block and try to find someplace to buy grapefruit” (Zinczenko, 154). For me, this quote is absurd because how can you blame the business for a person’s personal decision to eat there? It is the

consumers fault for caving into the temptation of fast food and making the choice to dine there. There are plenty of healthier options around America today as well that by far exceeds the nutritional value of any fast food. In addition to this point, Zinczenko argues without warning the consumers of the nutritional information, “we’ll see more sick, obese children and angrier, litigious parents” (Zinczenko, 155). Even though I do agree that restaurants and large corporations should put out more nutritional labels and health facts about their products, this would not alter the eating habits of most Americans. If people want a quick burger, they’ll buy one regardless if they know if it is unhealthy or not.
One article that discusses this controversy of how to deal with the obesity issue in America is “What You Eat Is Your Business” by Radley Balko.

In his article, Balko agrees with the opinion that people need to take more responsibility for their own personal health and well-being. “Instead of manipulating or intervening in the array of food options available to American consumers, our government ought to be working to foster a sense of responsibility in and ownership of our health and well-being. But we’re doing just the opposite” (158). Balko suggests that the government is babying the American population by putting the blame of obesity in corporations and business’s hands rather than the people of whom are buying the health hazardous products. In addition, one of Balko’s other arguments is that sense the American health care system has become collective enough to a point in which society has stopped worrying about its health in general because individuals know that if they do end up with some sort of health issue, the money will be there to support them. This money he says comes from everyday people in America that pay taxes. If this type of system continues in the United States, the country will continue to get fatter and fatter. However, Balko says that if the government tightens up its grip by integrating in effective changes to some health care policies and putting responsibility back into the people’s hands, then America will gradually slim

down.
Yves Engler’s article, “Obesity: Much of the Responsibility Lies with Corporations” relays a similar but more drastic idea regarding Zinczenko’s article.

“To combat the obesity epidemic we need tighter limits on fast-food marketing. Junk food companies should be kicked out of schools. Perhaps governments should subsidize fruits and vegetables as well as other healthy products” (Engler, 180). These ideas are farfetched and unrealistic. Though taking out junk food in schools and limiting corporations marketing schemes would probably help out the country’s overall health, we cannot take away the freedoms of the people and the business. America stands for freedom and being able to have unalienable rights, and deciding whatever you want to eat is one of them. You cannot just take junk food out of schools filled with kids and put a hold on extreme marketing in which every business has a right to take forth on. It is almost contradicting the morals and values the United States stands for and represents every

day.
Thousands and thousands of arguments, thoughts, and opinions can be made about the ongoing and growing obesity phenomena occurring in the United States. Authors, politicians, and everyday citizens believe they have the solution to the problem but really they don’t. Obesity is a problem no governing body or any other organization can fix by themselves. It all has to deal with Americans taking back responsibility for their own personal actions, choices, and well-being. We have to as a society stop relying on other people, buying into mass marketing schemes by large fast food corporations, and quite simply just making healthier choices that will have less negative effects on our bodies. If the American people do not have the discipline and determination to accomplish this however, then the country will continue to get fatter and fatter each passing year and become one of the unhealthiest countries in the world, like it already has become.