The Fast Food Mafia

Johnny Rockets' advertisement pictures

 This advertising poster is mostly located at the chain restaurant, johnny rockets throughout the United States and expanding.The reason why I chose this picture is because first, it tells us how a bottle of coca cola used to cost only 5 cents!!!! We all know the currency value is different than from before, but still 5 cents is a pretty chocking price. And also the fact that they are using the “summer” theme to direct to the audience, which is always helpful because people relate summer with fun, relax, laying on the beach and just having a good time. I like the tactic they used because it is like saying; “thirsty? Drink coca-cola!!” But what about water??? People can still drink water when they’re thirsty or even natural and healthy juices for summer time, not just soft drinks, in this case coca cola. Thats a good reason of why people specially kids are drinking more and more coke everytime.   

Give or go!!!

This link will lead you to watch a funny commercial about fast food. Despite the fact that the video is funny because of their love and fight scenes it is very frustrating to actually compare this type of selfish behavior to regular people. It could be true that some people, specially young adults would behave somewhat like the couple, but I personally disagree with the fact that the commercial is taking it to the extreme making people actually believe that they’re food is so good that they would even fight with their loved ones for it. A strong message like this would definitely encourage more and more people to have a taste of the advertized food probably just to experiment if the effect is really that strong on people.

Research Paper draft

The human’s health is commonly affected by new diseases that are rising every year, affecting the world’s population by large numbers. In our society, it is helpful to be aware of this disease most importantly when the majority of habitants do not know how does diabetes functions and how does it affects the internal system. It is extremely important for a citizen to have a detailed knowledge of the America’s # 1 disease.

   Everybody has at least one person they know who suffers from diabetes. It is a disease that spreads rapidly and silently among humans. Before we can discuss the prior aspect of diabetes which is its consequences, we need to understand how it appears in our systems. Diabetes is a disease based on high contents of sugar inside the blood. Insulin, a liquid located in the pancreas, its function is to control blood sugar contents in our bodies. When the pancreas is not producing enough or is resistant to insulin that is when the sugar levels rise up having as a result diabetes in the blood. Diabetes is categorized in three types; type 1, type 2, and gestational diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes is present mostly in children of 15 and younger age. This type of diabetes is more complex than the other types because it is often diagnosed when the person is older and when there is little treatment to take into action. Atkinson Mark in his Estimating the Cost of diabetes type 1 in the U.S.A., states that, “We find that each year type 1 diabetes costs this country $14.4 billion in medical costs and lost income. In terms of lost income, type 1 patients incur a disproportionate share of type 1 and type 2 costs.” In this quote we can see how the author explains that the in the United States, people who suffer from diabetes need to spend a highly amount of money in order to sustain their own health status. Unfortunately the cause of this type of diabetes is still unknown and therefore it is more complicated to look for a possible treatment or cure.

Type 2 diabetes is more common than any other type. In this stage the glucose levels, which is a type of sugar that gives energy to the body, are not kept in normal levels due to the lack of insulin produced by the pancreas. This type of diabetes can be caused by genetics inherited by the person’s ancestors, but a major factor of getting this type of diabetes in specific is the daily ways the communities are accustomed to develop, some examples are eating habits, lack of exercise and overweight.     

The Gestational diabetes is very rare and it is developed inside a woman’s blood when she is pregnant even though she did not suffer the disease before the pregnancy. The most dangerous outcome of this type is that most women always stay with the disease afterwards, having possibilities of developing other diseases that are influenced by diabetes, like high blood pressure, hypertension, obesity and many other health complications.

We can see how there is much more than just the simple word diabetes. People are underestimating the concept of diabetes, and in order to fully understand diabetes, people who are affected with the disease should know this kind of information, and that way learn how to live more comfortably under the diseases' disadvantages.    

           

Foodborne Disease

During my chapter 9 reading process I came across an issue that caught my attention, the extreme number of people getting sick by a foodborne disease. American families have meat as the prior dish on the table, but most of the time these families are unaware of the internal meat composition. According to Schlosser, page 195 “every day in the United States, roughly 200,000 people are sickened by foodborne diseases, 900 hospitalized, and fourteen die.”  These people most likely didn’t know that they were consuming infected meat, therefore continued to eat it through the days. This arises a problem because us, as meat consumers, might have just eaten a piece of meat that was infected by in this case a low percentage of foodborne, and might not have a severe negative consequence in our health, but families around the USA have to face this probability every time they wish to eat meat.

A positive outcome of this problem is that it may bring distrust when it comes to buying meat from any company, but unfortunately people might realize this issue when the problem is directly related to them, friends or relatives. I make this statement because sadly people know about the existence of meat diseases and yet are still buying the products from the same company or don’t take time to research their new company of choice. Further complications may also arise from this intoxicated meats, According Schlosser on page 196, “There is a strong evidence not only that the incidence of food-related illness has risen in the past few decades, but also that the lasting health consequences of such illnesses are far more serious than was previously believed.”  This quote is very important because it shows that illnesses’ consequences do have a greater negative outcome in the future, although we might not feel it at the present time. To conclude people should be more cautions when it comes to meat consumption, keeping in mind that there are diseases out there waiting to be consumed by us.

Prospectus

In our society we see as our way of eating affects people both physically and healthfully. Adults make decisions that they believe are the best for each, but children need a role to guide you on what is right and what is wrong. That's why it is that obesity in children is an issue that we as adults must regulate and try to find a solution. But first in order to achieve this mission we must understand how it works, and how does diabetes affects children, that way we can make an attempt to regulate it. In this project I seek to directly investigate the effects of obesity in children, and what are the most dangerous the factors that make children acquire the disease. I'm also going to investigate how the fast food consumption influences the development of diabetes, and as a result of these promote other diseases. To help conduct my research I will find information using the databases provided by the school, and from there I will use articles, books and reports from health experts, I will also use a lot of medical sources that way it will be easier to explain the effects on the children's body with a more professional view of points.  

If You Are A Man.... You Have To Eat Meat???

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGLHlvb8skQ

This link will lead you to a video that basically states that; men must eat meat.

In this commercial, Burguer King is portraying groups of men singing and marching through the streets proclaiming taht meat, Burguer King, is teh real man food. We can see how in this commercial the company is associating masculinity with eating Burguer King. The message this is trying to send is that in order to be a "MAN" you must eat like one, and teh best place to do this is at...... Burguer King!!!! I actually asked my brother if he truly feels like this, if he needs to eat "strong" food in order to promote his inner status.... He said " not exactly, but us weird to see a guy eating light stuff... a true guy eats like a man." He didn't exactly answer my question but in other words he said yes, that's a man stereotype, too bad that there might be a lot of youngsters that will be carried away with this commercial, some because tehy want to improve their "manly" image.   

A Fast..... Hospital!!!

Last Wednesday, my aunt was having a kidney laser surgery, therefore, I had to go with her. To my amusement this surgery is a proccess that takes 2 hours, so it came the time when I got hungry and decided to go to the hopsital's cafeteria, and this is where i got real surprised.

Right inside the not so big cafeteria was a small stand, with big letters portraying the name of the so famous restaurant Taco Bell. I honestly couldn't believe it, and it was standing there where I stopped for a minute and started to think that this was a "hospital", a place where people treat their diseases and have health procedures in. Then, why was there a fast food restaurant right inside it.

As I looked around, I saw more than a few ladies and gentlemen wearing white ropes on top of their clothing. I was perplexed, it was harder to believe that the doctors who most likely would tell you to eat healthy were there, holding trays with chalupas, tacos and sodas right in the "hospital". So, a question arised to my mind, how are people going to stop eating fast food, if fast fod restaurants are like a temptation you found everywhere, even health facilities.      

Coca Cola's drinking policy???

Coca Cola, nown for being the leader brand in sodas worldwide, used this ad to promote the consumption of soda in babies. Stating that it will increase the chances of "fitting in" to society during the pre-teens years of the child. But, there's no such thing as drinking coke to fit in or be popular in life. If people who started drinking sodas when they were teenagers, developed sings of diabetes and obesity at an early age, imagine if parents started to give soda  instead of milk to their babies, more people will be affected by these diseases, earlier.

Companies want to make profit. They don't intent to sell us products that will benfit our bodies, it's and inevitable chain; they sell because we buy, we buy because they know how to sell, regardless the product. They are so good in selling and advertising, that even this absurd message in the poster above might have caught up cusomers attention.

Images like these, are the ones that we as citizens, specially customers, should pay a great amount of attention to. Not just reading it, but analizing it, to realize if the consumption of soda at early ages is truly "beneficial" to babies, which is not really the case.   

  

What we see, is not really what it is....

Around the world, people are daily consuming fast food. They have various motives, to please each ones necessities, but, as I went through research I realized that advertising is also a very influential factor in persuading the consumers to buy them. Different cultures, ways and techniques, but they all have the same focus, making the product, or the company, look good. This is the reason why, my theme project for the next weeks, will be analyzing fast food restaurants advertisement. I will describe how fast food commercials have change and advanced through years, sending messages to families that are beneficial to the company’s image, but are not exactly the truth.

We live surrounded by ads. In my way to school, I always look at the dollar menu posters, pasted on the buses sides, on the subway walls and inside the trains, without mentioning the countless times fast food restaurants commercials are aired on TV everyday, which in comparison with old ads, have change in many ways, but have kept the persuasive idea of “you will love this food”. That is why I found myself interested in fast food ads, they have become part of what we see, hear and live with, but, there is more behind the ads the companies present us.

In my project, I hope to inspire the readers by encouraging them to not just eat the food they are “happily” presented by ads. I would like to make my readers analyze the content of the food before they consume it, keeping in mind that commercials show the “good” and beneficial side of their products, but never the consequences of the consumption.   

Posing-Problem Method

Teenagers are trying hard to get jobs, in many cases to pay their own expenses, be involved in fashion trends or manage their own money, while other teenagers are needed to work in order to help support their family. Whichever the case might be, it doesn't affect the fact that teenagers are exposing themselves to danger in fast food restaurant jobs, and by wanting to earn money, they're neglecting their duties in school and thus dropping out.

Jane Trogdon, head of the guidance department at Harrison High School in Colorado Springs, said; "I have lots and lots of kids who are terribly depressed, I've never seen so many, so young feel this way". This quote represents the problem above, by confirming that teenagers are feeling "depresed" which in this case would likely also mean; stressed, down, tired and without energy, due to having to balance work and study at the same time.

I can relate this problem with myself. I'm a teenager, 17 years old, and I work wednesdays and during the weekends, so it's sometimes hard for me to distribute my time. I need to make sure I keep up with my classes and assignments while working as well, which can be very stressful, due to the fact that when I get out of work all I want to do is rest for the day, but I remember that I need to finish my assignment, or when I stay up late doing my homework I go to work tired the next day. It's hard but it's a sacrifice I must do, but, this is a situation that many teenagers can't bear, therefor give up.

Some solutions that have been tried but failed, are the prohibition of kids under the age of sixteen for more than three hours on a school day or later than seven o'clock at night and the usage of hazardous machinery. These regulations have failed because, even thought they are state laws, teenagers have been found breaking these regulations, for example, managers let minors operate dangerous machinery with the pretext that the they know how to, and make them work overtime without payments.

A solution I suggest to this problem is, not to raise the legal age required to work since this problems have emerged from the manager's fault by not supervising their working requirements, but, to take serious legal actions against the restaurants on which situations like these have been happening, for example, closing the location permanetly.         

Craving for Wendy's

The name of my neighbor is Robert; he’s tall and skinny, to everyone’s surprise, because he either eats greasy-take out food, or makes himself a frozen meal everyday. As soon as he saw me walking in my porch he asked me to walk with him to Wendy’s, I was tired from my one and a half hour trip from college so I was going to say no, but, he asked me again with his child-alike sweet and soft voice and I just couldn’t say no. While we were walking through the narrow streets of my block, he was very excited; I believed he hadn't eaten Wendy's in a long time. When we finally arrived, the first thing I noticed was the parking lot, on which a family was getting rapidly off their cars, the parents and 2 kids, a boy and a girl, they looked 3 and 6 respectively, I knew the kids were happy, I could see their smiles in their faces and hear their laughter, screaming; “Yayy Wendy’s thank you mom!!”. On our way in, a group of teenagers opened the door for us; they still had their backpacks with them, they probably went there when classes were over.

As soon as we entered the restaurant the greasy smell of the fries climbed up our noses as a "welcome symbol". My neighbor formed the line immediately, because as he was deciding what to order the lines were getting longer at an incredible speed. But the line did not last long, because the employees were very fast, they’re so used to this that it comes almost naturally and with years of practice; taking orders, paying, packing the pre-cooked food in their bags and giving the food to the customers, the whole process took about 10 minutes. Robert picked up his well-organize tray and we headed to the table, stopping before on the condiment stand so he could take his precious ketchup and salt for the fries, and we headed our way to the table. While he was un-wrapping his food, I was looking around, trying to examine people, which were having a natural behavior talking with their companions while eating and drinking their upsized drinks. My friend was happy saying that the "baconator" was a "delicious-incredible-meal", which he devoured in 15 minutes. We talked for a bit but it looked like it was going to rain again so we decided to head home right away. When we got home he thanked me for going with him and as I said welcome it started drizzling. And I as entered home I was wondering in my head what should I eat now?

Craving for Wendy's

I was accompanying my neighbor to buy Wendy's this afternoon. While we were walking through the narrow streets of my block, he was very excited because he hadn't eaten Wendy's in a long time. When we finally arrived, the first thing I noticed was the parking lot, on which families were getting off their cars, kids happy, jumping with a smile in their faces screaming; "yayy..... Wendy's". On their way out, a group of teenagers opened the door for us, letting the greasy smell of the fries climb up our noses as a "welcome symbol". My neighbor formed the line immediately, because it looked like a rush was coming in, but the line did not last long, because the employees are very fast, taking orders, paying, packing the "pre-cooked" food in their bags and giving the food to the customers, it took about 10 minutes. We sat at the table and while he was unwrapping his food, I was looking around, trying to examine people, which were having a normal behavior, just talking with their companions while eating and drinking their upsized drinks. At the end, my friend was were happy saying that the "baconator" was a "delicious-incredible-meal", he thank me for going with him, and we went home after that.

Would you like to upsize?

Hey everybody!!!

Who has gone to a fast food restaurant and been asked if you want to upsize your drink or meal for a small amount of money? I'm pretty sure that everybody has had that experience. Well, I work in a movie theather so it's part of my job to ask and explain every guest that they could have the large drink for an extra 50 cents, yes only 50 cents, plus you get to refill it for free. So, yeah of course, "make it a large" is what most people answer, but now that I got the chance to read Fast Food Nation, (which I mentioned in a previous blog) I'm starting to feel conscious of what 50 cents can do to your health. Everytime I go to 7 eleven and see this huge cups, I think it's insane and wonder if people are really aware of the amount of harmful liquids they're consuming.

Now, everytime a customers approches me, and I have to ask them, I wish (in my mind) they'll hopefully say no, but again I get in trouble in I don't ask, so it has to be part of the costumer's decision, let's just pray taht the customers begin making wise decisions before its too late.     

Hygene in Restaurants

 My little sister literally lovessss chinese food, I think that if she would have to live only by eating that, it'll be fine for her. Today, my job called me to work, and since she doesn't  know how to cook, and I couldn't do it for her, guess what she was going to have for lunch??? exactly... chinese food. But, she didn't, when I asked her why, she told me that she ordered it but while she was waiting, she saw this huge rat running from the back of the kitchen towards under the stove.... she left and didn't wait for it. I told her that she should't be surprised, because fast food restaurants aren't the cleanest, she reply by saying that it's true, but that it's not the same when you hear something than when you actually live it. And honestly, if we had a chance to actually be in the kitchen of the restaurants when they're cooking my food, I personally wouldn't eat it, but its like the saying, off sight off mind.    

Annotated Bibliography

"The New York Times Log In". The New York Times - Breaking News, World News & Multimedia. Web. 20 Sept. 2010.

In this article, the author is explaining how bottled water that contains BPA, a component of plastic, can have negative effects on human health. Therefore various movements have been conducted for the goverment to pass a law that will prohibit the content of this chemical in plastic bottles. Some companies have already taken step, such as, ceasing to use the chemical, but another ones still have maintained the use of this, leading naturalists to take the case to court, wich leads to legal conflicts.

This article informs the readers about a problem that many do not think they can find in a single bottled water and the problems it brings, this clearly spells out the various legal disputes between health defensors and companies's owners, which thanks to this article we now know that even the water that we drink may even give us health problems and is involved in legal disagreetment. Through this information we realize how a small detail wich seems could be solved easily, takes so long to resolve.

 

The Fast Food Nation.... it's our Nation

Hello my friends;
Today my english 101 Proffesor gave the class a New York Times Bestseller book called the Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. Im really looking forward to reading this book, because I know it contains information about what I usually eat, that not even in one hundred years I would have found out by myself..... As it says on the cover it shows: "The Dark Side of the All-American Meal." I just hope this doesn't change my mind and end up being vegetarian by the end of the book.

Welcome!!!!

Hey! friends... my name is Jatnna Medina, I am a current student in LaGuardia Community College and  this blog is for my english 101 class, and it is dedicated to food ethics. I've been raised in the United States but Im dominican, so I am familiar with diverse food.

Thanks to my mom i know how to cook from rice and beans to mangu and salami, thankfully there's a spanish supermarket near my house that has most of the spanish products which makes it easy for me to cook. But, that doesn't mean I only eat spanish food, I love Italian food, even more than Dominican I'll have to say, pasta and zeppole are my favorites. I also like to try food from others cultures, so far, I've had japanese, indian, korean, and south american food, delicious. Honestly, I sometimes refuse to try specific plates because I really have no idea what it could be made of and I rather not taste it until I know, which I think its a normal reaction.

But, do we really know where does our daily food comes from? I mean, Have you ever ask yourself if what you been eating is really good for you? not really... this is because who can resist  a delicious-good looking bacon, egg and cheese sandwich?... Tempting right? But there's more than just the flavor, we need to keep in mind that we are what we eat, and what we eat, is not always the healthiest choice.