The Effects of Eating Fast Food Essay Example for Free

The Effects of Eating Fast Food Essay Americans have been choosing fast food as a replacement for classic homemade meals for many of years. It is fast and convenient, but the negative effects outweigh the good effects by a long shot. Eating fast food daily affects Americans’ health, diet, leaves a hole in their pocket, and even changes their everyday mood. The effects might not be seen right away, but after time they will start to add up. It has been proved that replacing a homemade meal with fast food has had a huge effect on Americans’ health. It does not take a scientist to figure out that fast food is not a good choice. Basically, fast food is high in calories, salt, sodium, and fat. This can cause weight gain and diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and that is just naming a few. A survey of how often Americans ate fast food in the last 60 days states that 25% of Americans have eaten fast food everyday and it is only rising (Ludwig). If we do not act soon about this, the numbers can only get worse. Fast food has changed America as a whole but it affects their diet the most. Fast food contains double the amount of calories as home cooked meals do. A 2007 survey from Hara Marano’s journal, â€Å"The Far Reach Of Fast Food,† found that the average fast food lunch in New York totaled 827 calories. That is almost half of an average American’s daily calorie intake. With more and more fast food commercials advertising a new burger or a new sandwich, it makes it even more tempting to make a quick stop at a fast food restaurant. Students who have open campuses at schools or colleges over Schell 5 the lunch period are pretty much obligated to go for fast food. They are short on time and need something fast and cheap. It may seem like a plus at first. Fast and cheap food, why not? Students are so short on time they tend to forget about what they are putting in their mouth. Americans are spending $110 billion annually on fast food, as stated by Marcella and Greta’s article, â€Å"Avoid The Fast Food Trap. † Money spent on fast food could go towards payments for a higher education, mortgage, computers, or new automobiles. Which is a better choice? 5. 6% of Americans’ income goes to fast food (Durand ). For a person to realize how much of their money is going to fast food, save it instead and count it after a few months. It is amazing how much money is being spent on food. After filling up after a quick meal, the feeling is often happy or satisfied. That feeling will not last for long because it also causes depression. According to Kelly Brownell’s article, â€Å"In Your Face: How the Food Industry Drives Us to Eat,†it is a proven fact that fat, greasy food can negatively change a mood. It also stated that if an average American eats it at least three times a week he or she is 50% more likely to develop depression. This is a lose-lose situation because eating a lot of fast food is proven to cause depression, but Americans who are depressed tend to turn to food. Some can completely disagree on every negative effect that was stated above. They argue that it is cheap and affordable and it makes your children happy. They must have not thought about the prices of their hospital bills once they develop diabetes, heart disease, stroke, or become obese. They argue Schell 6 that it makes your children happy, so why not give them what they want. If they get what they want while growing up they will soon become used to it and will think of fast food as an everyday meal. Not to mention, restaurants that serve fast food provide Americans with job opportunities. That is one positive effect of the rising fast food restaurants being built. Therefore, the unemployed will be able to get an easy job causing the unemployment rate to go down. However, working around food only makes it more tempting to eat a quick burger or scarf down a few fries on break. Lastly, Americans should realize that the bad factors outweigh the good when it comes to eating fast food every single day. Also that it is not worth replacing the classic, tasty homemade meals. Saving more time by going through the drive thru sounds more important at the time but it is not worth it in the end. A homemade meal takes, at the most, 60 minutes of an American’s day to make a healthier, tastier meal. Fast food affects Americans’ long term health. It changes their diet and it soon becomes hard to control. It is proven that it causes depression and it starts to take a toll on your wallet.

Are Dogs Getting the Attention They Deserve? Essay -- Symbols Wealth A

Are Dogs Getting the Attention They Deserve? It used to be that you could tell just about how poor a family was by how many dogs they had. If they had one, they were probably doing all right, two dogs meant that the couple were dog lovers, but if a citizen kept three, you could begin to suspect he didn’t own much else. What type of dogs these were also lead people to believe their social status in society. (Hoagland, 1995) Would this lead people to believe that this is true? In my opinion, No it does not. In Edward Hoagland’s â€Å"Dogs, and the Tug of Life†, he describes the significance of dogs in our lives, both as social symbols and as reminders of why dogs are taken for granted. He explains why having a dog is giving people the wrong impression and how people need to know the true significance. Are dogs a symbol of social status? Hoagland wholeheartedly agrees with this argument, as stated in the first paragraph, as well some people do too. I, personally, would have to agree with this term of being a social status. Dogs have always been part of many homes. But nobody stops to think that the kind of dog one owns, signifies what type of lifestyle that person lives. This bit of information is incorrect. Just because a family is wealthy, does not mean they are spending lots of money on high class dogs. Who’s to say they aren’t taking in every stray dog that mosies up to their house? Maybe richer people do more with their dog, such as spend lots of money on grooming, feeding, and showing off, but it doesn’t mean the dog is always a pure bred, one of a kind. People are beginning to take dogs for granted. They feel that it is just an animal with no feelings and don’t consider what kind of role a dog really ... ...er of dogs owned and the income of the family have nothing to do with each other. For the most part, Hoagland’s argument was very informative and significant. It is agreed that people are trying to use dogs as a sign of social status, but people who know the real meaning of having a dog, know this is incorrect and falsely justified. Dogs are being taken for granted, and people need to realize the importance of why they have dogs as pets. Dogs are more than lazy animals, dumb creatures, or ways of showing off to others. Dogs don’t help with social status, rather they help with companionship, loyalty, trust, and a bodyguard. In my opinion, dogs don’t help determine how poor or wealthy a family is. Maybe people spend lots or little money on a dog, but that just depends on what type of people they are, not what type the dog is. Nothing more, nothing less.

PoP Culture Trend and Media Essay

When I was a child, all I wanted was to be a doctor. I obeyed my parents, studied hard, and played around every once in a while. I had my simple ambitions and simple outlooks. I lived a simple life. Today, however, you can ask any child about his ambition and he would most likely tell you that he would be a Dennis Rodman someday, or a Britney Spears if it was a she you’ve happened to ask. Another possible scenario could be that the child you’d like to ask wouldn’t even talk to you because he/she is too busy with his/her cellular phone, Gameboy Advance, i-pod nanno, or personal computer. Looking at this everyday situation, my father had always been asking me what is happening to this generation. This picture had also been a popular topic for homeroom or sociology classes, and online debates. Each of these discussions, however, boils down to a common phrase: pop culture. Pop Culture, or Popular Culture, is the set of customs, beliefs, values, arts, and entertainment common to massive sectors of the society.  (http://www.cobb.k12.ga.us/~smitha/PopIndex.htm).   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Oftentimes, it results from the everyday interactions, needs and desires, and cultural ‘moments’ of the mainstream. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_media). It is important that we examine the prevailing Pop Culture as it can shape people’s beliefs, values system, and attitudes since trendy music, movies, television programs, and fads often mirror the outlooks and behavior of the masses. James E. Combs recognized even in 1984 that â€Å"Popular Culture is so much a part of our lives that we cannot deny its developmental powers.   Like formal education or family rearing, popular culture is part of our ‘learning environment.’   Though our pop culture education is informal-we usually do not attend to pop culture for its ‘educational value.’ It nevertheless provides us with information and images upon which we develop our opinions and attitudes.   We would not be what we are, nor would our society be quite the same, without the impact of popular culture.† (Combs 1984). Nowadays however, an additional factor to the power of popular culture and to the importance of evaluating its effects is technological advancement. Specifically, electronic media has become a tool to further elevate the influence of pop culture, in an ever faster and unstoppable way, to all corners of the world. â€Å"Electronic media are those communications mediums which are based on electronic or electromechanical means of production and most often distinguished from print media. The primary electronic media sources familiar to the general public worldwide include radio, sound recordings, television, video recording, and streaming internet content†. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic media). Personally, I have been most fond of surfing the internet, watching television programs and movies, listening to contemporary and pop music through radio, cd player, and i-pod, playing computer games, and messaging through cellular phones, either for educational or entertainment purposes. I am now aware that most of my viewpoints have been influenced by the things that I watch, read, and listen to that’s why I have been trying to balance out my views by patronizing different sources of information. My most poignant realization was that pop culture has affected my viewpoint on what is beautiful. Seeing models and actors who are almost perfect and worshipped everyday and everywhere has blinded me into considering beauty as skinny, 36-24-36 for females, and hunky, tall, and handsome for males. Everything else that did not replicate what pop culture has embedded on me seemed merely normal, or worse, ugly. I very much think that this has also been the case for majority of the people in this generation, what with the number of anorexics and bulimics, and steroid users rising up to an alarming level internationally. Social responsibility and morality had also been largely affected by today’s pop culture. The case of pornography that has been very widespread, moreover in the advent of the internet and camera phones, is just an example. The concept of privacy has also been oftentimes mutilated either consciously or unconsciously through electronic means propagated by pop culture. Relationships have also been builded and shattered in the blink of an eye as a result of the prevailing culture and technology. Gossips and defamation had also been most common and aggravated these days, usually spreading worldwide in a split-second. These, however, can either be conscious or unconscious. It can be conscious in the part of the companies who perpetrate these kinds of trend to gain profits in the employment of their technology. It can also be unconscious or subconscious in both sides especially now that these trends have already been inculcated in the society’s culture. It must be noted though that pop culture, aside from its commonly criticized negative influences, also has contributed positive effects to the society. In the negative matters, social responsibility and civility must draw the line. This can only be done by a more conscious meditation and evaluation of the popular culture that is being imposed upon us. As human beings, we were given the capability to analyze the things that are going on around us. And we should. As for the trend in pop culture that had greatly influenced me, I have already mentioned that it is the way that I viewed beauty. Upon analysis, I have come to a conclusion that it had been a result of both my personal desires as a consumer, and the media’s making. Popular culture, in general, does not only result from the corporation’s commercial pursuits. I believe that it is a mixture of the continuous interaction of the consumers and suppliers in every society. References: Combs, James E. Polpop:Politics and Popular Culture In America. University of Wisconsin Pr. 1984 http://www.cobb.k12.ga.us/~smitha/PopIndex.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_media http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic media

Should Marijuana Be Legalized Essay - 1223 Words

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects that the marijuana industry has had on the economies of the states which have legalized recreational marijuana use for consumers over the age of 21. Many predictions were made referring to the outcome of marijuana legalization, however, most predictions made did not foretell the actual outcome. The act of legalization in the state of Colorado has yielded many advantages in the field of marketing. With these advantages, however, come many disadvantages. This study will identify how marijuana legalization can affect the US market economy. This study will also identify the advantages and disadvantages of marijuana legalization on the state and federal levels. Marijuana Marketing: How Marijuana Legalization Can Affect a Market Economy A market economy is an economy in which decisions regarding investment, production, and distribution are based on market determined supply and demand. With marijuana, the supply is limitless because it grows from the Earth with only a little bit of sunlight and some water. So, in retrospect, if marijuana legalization has a high demand then it can be very beneficial to a market economy because marijuana has a limitless supply. There are countless other reasons why legalization positively affects our economies. â€Å"Marijuana is still illegal on the federal level which has led to conflicting state laws, restricting regulations, and endless problems for cash-only marijuana business owners andShow MoreRelatedShould Marijuana Be Legalized?849 Words   |  4 Pageswhether marijuana should be legalized. Around 23 states have legalized marijuana for medical and recreational use. In the state of Illinois, medicinal use of marijuana has been passed on April 17, 2013. Since January 2014, patients are able to obtain marijuana with a doctor s recommendation. The new debate is whether marijuana should be legalized for the general public as a recreational drug. Although some believe that marijuana is harmless, and that it has beneficial medicinal uses, marijuana shouldRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?1715 Words   |  7 PagesMarijuana in Society Cannabis, formally known as marijuana is a drug obtained from the tops, stems and leaves of the hemp plant cannabis. The drug is one of the most commonly used drugs in the world. Only substances like caffeine, nicotine and alcohol are used more (â€Å"Marijuana† 1). In the U. S. where some use it to feel â€Å"high† or get an escape from reality. The drug is referred to in many ways; weed, grass, pot, and or reefer are some common names used to describe the drug (â€Å"Marijuana† 1). Like mostRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?1489 Words   |  6 Pagescannabis plant or marijuana is intended for use of a psychoactive drug or medicine. It is used for recreational or medical uses. In some religions, marijuana is predominantly used for spiritual purposes. Cannabis is indigenous to central and south Asia. Cannabis has been scientifically proven that you can not die from smoking marijuana. Marijuana should be legalized to help people with medical benefits, econo mic benefits, and criminal benefits. In eight states, marijuana was legalized for recreationalRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?1245 Words   |  5 PagesMarijuana is a highly debatable topic that is rapidly gaining attention in society today.   Legalizing marijuana can benefit the economy of this nation through the creation of jobs, increased tax revenue, and a decrease in taxpayer money spent on law enforcement.   Ã‚  Many people would outlaw alcohol, cigarettes, fast food, gambling, and tanning beds because of the harmful effects they have on members of a society, but this is the United States of America; the land of the free and we should give peopleRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?1010 Words   |  5 PagesThe legalization of marijuana became a heated political subject in the last few years. Twenty-one states in America have legalized medical marijuana. Colorado and Washington are the only states where marijuana can be purchased recreationally. Marijuana is the high THC level part of the cannabis plant, which gives users the â€Å"high† feeling. There is ample evidence that supports the argument that marijuana is beneficial. The government should legalize marijuana recreationally for three main reasonsRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?1350 Words   |  6 Pagespolitics in the past decade would have to be the legalization of marijuana. The sale and production of marijuana have been legalized for medicinal uses in over twenty states and has been legalized for recreational uses in seven states. Despite the ongoing support for marijuana, it has yet to be fully legalized in the federal level due to cultural bias against â€Å"pot† smoking and the focus over its negative effects. However, legalizing marijuana has been proven to decrease the rate of incrimination in AmericaRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?1231 Words   |  5 Pagesshows the positive benefits of marijuana, it remains illegal under federal law. In recent years, numerous states have defied federal law and legalized marijuana for both recreational and medicinal use. Arizona has legalized marijuana for medical use, but it still remains illegal to use recreationally. This is absurd, as the evidence gathered over the last few decades strongly supports the notion that it is safer than alcohol, a widely available substance. Marijuana being listed as a Schedule I drugRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized? Essay1457 Words   |  6 PagesSHOULD MARIJUANA BE LEGALIZED? Marijuana is a drug that has sparked much controversy over the past decade as to whether or not it should be legalized. People once thought of marijuana as a bad, mind-altering drug which changes a person’s personality which can lead to crime and violence through selling and buying it. In the past, the majority of citizens believed that marijuana is a harmful drug that should be kept off the market and out of the hands of the public. However, a recent study conductedRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?1596 Words   |  7 Pages But what needs to be known before a user can safely and completely make the decision if trying Marijuana is a good idea? Many do not want the drug to be legalized because they claim that Cannabis is a â€Å"gateway drug†, meaning it will cause people to try harder drugs once their body builds up a resistance to Marijuana, because a stronger drug will be needed to reach a high state. This argument is often falsely related to the medical si de of the debate over legalization. It is claimed that this wouldRead MoreShould Marijuana Be Legalized?985 Words   |  4 PagesLegalize Marijuana Despite what people believe about marijuana, it hasn’t once proved to be the cause of any real issue. It makes you wonder what the reason as to why there is a war on drugs. Why is marijuana the main concern? Since the time that alcohol and tobacco became legal, people wonder why marijuana isn’t legal yet. The fact that marijuana is illegal is mainly caused by the amount of money, jobs, and pride invested in the drug war. Once the government starts anything, they stick to it. At