Speech

Fast-forward to the year 2030. Where do you see yourself? Are you excelling in your career of choice? Do you have a spouse, maybe a couple of kids? But here’s the real question: Are you obese? According to a report done by NPR, by the year 2030, 50% of America’s population will be obese. As it stands right now, over 60% of America is either overweight or obese. If you’d like a specific number, there are over 72 million Americans that are classified as obese. That’s a downright ridiculous number of people. The blame for this atrocity falls onto none other than the fast food industry. Fast food has been the deciding factor for all of these statistics, and going by the numbers, it doesn’t look like that is going to change in a hurry. The fast food industry is ultimately the cause for the rise in the nation’s obesity rates because of the manipulation of society’s perception of fast food, the pure and utter laziness of Americans, and the endless availability of fast food.

The fast food industry’s manipulation of our perception of fast food begins with their heavily televised commercials. When we see fast food commercials, it’s almost as if the food is coming from another dimension. When was the last time you saw a fast food commercial with a fat person in it? Exactly. The use of skinnier people along with celebrities and professional athletes dominates the televised commercials. Take the Wendy’s “Where’s the beef?” guy for instance. If he really wanted to know where the beef was so badly, he would have been a lot bigger. But instead, Americans sitting on their couches see LeBron James and Wayne Gretzky endorsing McDonald’s and think “If pro athletes can eat all that, so can I!” But wait; the manipulation does not end there. The real target of many fast food commercials is children. Kids see a commercial advertising the special toys that come with Happy Meals and all of a sudden they just have to collect them all. Or might they see a commercial for a larger McDonald’s with an indoor play facility, will they also be propelled through the greasy doors to the counter. But who takes them to McDonald’s? Their parents get to the counter to order their child a Happy Meal, and think ‘Oh, what the heck, I’m already here. I might as well get something for me to eat, too.’ Basically, if you can get the kids, you’ll get their parents too. It’s a sad yet effective scheme.

There is plenty more sadness surrounding the fast food and obesity situation, though. The laziness of society is outrageous. Unfortunately, the mindset of some Americans is ‘Why spend time cooking dinner when fast food is so, well…fast?’ The plague of this ideology has spread, and the growth of the fast food industry can attest to this. People would rather receive their dinner in a bag, ready to chomp down on within minutes, instead of spending a good chunk of time cooking a good, wholesome dinner. What they don’t realize is that the long-term health factor outweighs the matter of time and effort greatly. The fast food industry’s presence in our lives is so prominent that even though we might know that the food is bad for us, we don’t apply ourselves to the situation enough. The laziness of American society has led us to this roadblock. Without an effort, obesity rates will continue to rise. Without an effort, there is no achievement.

Lastly, the endless availability of fast food in America has made it difficult for us to apply ourselves to the obesity situation. To put it into perspective, there are over 200,000 fast food restaurants in the United States. Throw in the almost-equally-as-unhealthy casual dining restaurants, and that number is raised by about 100,000. When the ease of access for fast food is so significant, it’s hard to believe that people would not take advantage of that. Even still, the only true way to combat this issue is for people to start caring more for their own sake. The fast food industry has been able to put up more restaurants because of how little people care. Thousands of new fast food joints are still going up every year because the industry knows that all they can do at this point is profit. And that is the sad truth. The growth of the fast food industry is outdoing the growth of the number of people who actively recognize the issue of obesity in this country.

Obesity is a monstrous issue that needs to be acted on. The millions of people in this nation waddling around like penguins may not have acted on it, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t. The fast food industry can manipulate our perception of fast food, but they can’t touch those who actively recognize the issue. The endless availability of fast food may tempt the weak and lazy, but just keep in mind the reality behind fast food and its negative effects on society. I urge you to combat the cruel yellow arches, the temptations, the greasy food, and the industry as a whole. Obesity rates have been on the rise because of the tendency of Americans to disregard our health and keep taking bites out of that luscious Big Mac. There are only so many bites for every burger, and there are only so many burgers before it’s too late.

Bibliography:

Spurlock, Morgan, Prod. Super Size Me. Dir. Morgan Spurlock." Samuel Goldwyn Films: 2004, Film.

"Obesity In America, By The Numbers." NPR. n. page. Web. 11 Dec. 2011. .

Schlosser, Eric. PR Watch Interview. 17 Nov 2006. Center for Media and Democracy. Web. 8 Aug 2011.