Is Fast Food a Personal or Government Responsibility?

     When I had first seen this question, I had thought of the socioeconomic situations of Americans who do not have access to healthy food and were plagued with living paycheck to paycheck.  Before the debate, I had thought that obesity was a government responsibility and that it was easier to see the flaws of this being a personal responsibility. After our actual debate had occurred, I considered that the solution would have to be on both sides of the same coin. There should be a balance of government intervention along with the individual being able to take control of their own well-being.  

    I support the government intervening to the extent of improving the accessibility of resources for those who live in lower income areas.  For example, the government should give more resources in areas that have food deserts.  Nearly 39.5 million people live in low income areas and these said food deserts are where people have no access to healthy food markets.  They may provide more resources and let people know about it, but from there it is the choice of the person to resort to that healthy food. Even though this may be put into effect, it does not change the possible dependency developed from eating fast food.  In order to combat this, it could be possible to make campaigns to spread more information about the risks of constantly consuming unhealthy food.  To make it more effective, advertisers could incorporate statistics regarding children to encourage parents to be more mindful of their children's health.  Beyond that, it is the responsibility of Americans to take care of their children and themselves with the right diet that would hopefully be more accessible with government help.  

    Although I specified that I would support the government in bringing more resources to the table for people who do not have access to them, there are already some programs that help in this already.  These programs are the WIC and SNAP, and there are also a lot of local food shelters in most communities. These are opportunities provided to the American people and yet we still have the issue of obesity present today.  With everything given for Americans to change their lives, they still take on excuses to not take care of themselves and at the end of the day it's up to them to help themselves. For example, the Corona Virus is something still going on with high government intervention and Americans still refuse to get the help.  Imagine the government intervening to an extent of tampering with the products Americans desire, they would be severely outraged and possibly be even more against the government.  Those who are financially sound don't even consider healthier options and lack the motivation to even get themselves back up.  While being presented with convenient and unhealthy comfort food, they may plummet further if they are suffering from some sort of mental ailment. Ultimately, it is their choice whether or not they want to feel better because it is their body and if the government were to force more healthy food down American's throats it would be an infringement of the right of our own bodies.  


Comments

  1. Jessica's BlogOctober 4, 2021 at 4:19 PM

    Rachel,

    Your position on the debate is interesting as it it not one side nor the other, but instead a balance of both. This can often be hard to do, but I feel you did a good job at reasoning why there should only be government intervention up to a point. You were provided multiple sources though, and none were present in the argument you made. Make sure to provide quotes from sources and data outside of images to strengthen your position.

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