The Effects of Media on Food Market

Dieting, in the past few decades, has become a significant part of American culture today. This includes fad dieting, regular utilization of diet products such as Slimfast, and even metabolism altering pills. Ironically, in addition to this aspect of popular American culture today, there is also an obesity epidemic. In reaction to these problems presented, unfortunately, there is also a tremendously skewed ideal body image for those influenced by societal standards. Dieting products (“diet” labeled) only encourage a skewed body image. How does mass production and marketing of diet products influence healthy eating in the United States today? The answer lies within the media codes we accept as reality within marketing and advertisements.

Mass-produced diet meals were first introduced to the United States around the 1980’s. They became much more popular in the late1990’s and early 2000’s. These foods were produced to be a healthier alternative to mass-produced pre-made meals. The basis of the dieting problem in the United States probably derives from this process of altering, rather than changing, consumers’ ideas of what healthy is. The Cultivation Theory, which was addressed towards violence in class, can also be applied to this phenomenon of healthy eating. This theory addresses how media and marketing, in this context, prepare the ground (consumers) to be a condition in which things (dieting products) will grow. The popularization and acceptance of the “diet meal” as opposed to going back to the basics, rather all natural, created a fertile environment for companies to create more diet products and market them as such. The problem, however, is that through this process the terms: diet, lean, low-calorie, sugar-f...

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...es it all the more important for consumers to read and analyze the nutritional labels provided before making a purchase.

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