What We Eat Is Our Own Fault

David Zinczenko (Don’t Blame the Eater): When I was young, the only options I had for a daily, fulfilling meal were McDonald’s, Taco Bell, Kentucky Fried Chicken, or Pizza Hut. It caused me to gain 212 pounds.

Radley Balko (What You Eat is Your Business): Why would you do something like that? There are so many choices of food for you to eat. All of that junk has made you fat, and politicians are working to fight obesity by implementing “fat taxes”, and banning snacks and soda from school campuses and vending machines.

DZ: I was a latchkey kid; it was all I could afford. But then I turned my life around and joined the navy. Other kids don’t get this chance. If I could pinpoint one cause of these problems, it’s the fast food companies. They should put labels and warnings on foods they serve and sell, to let people know the potential risks of eating their products. There are so many blurred lines on their “fine print”, and that really needs to be fixed.

RB: I think that our government should work to improve the personal responsibility of your own health. They just take this chance to boost their public health insurers, and we’re busy paying for other people’s health issues. Instead of forcing restaurants to send every menu item to the lab, they should force people to think about their own health instead, and how the things they eat are affecting it negatively.

DZ: Money spent to treat diseases keep skyrocketing, but what other choices do teenagers have? There are so many fast food restaurants around, and they’re affordable and there is a lack of alternatives. The industry is marketing to children these products that will ruin their health, and they should protect themselves and their customers by providing them with the information they need.

RB: Congress needs to switch tactics and just reward people who make healthy choices and reprimand those who don’t.

Thesis: A person is responsible for everything they put in their own mouths, but the government isn’t entirely innocent here. Everybody should watch their own backs about what they eat, and should be controlling how much they eat and whether or not they’re making the right food choices. The government can do its part in helping influence that by reprimanding their unhealthy food choices and promoting good ones.