Response to, "One Thing to Do About Food"

    For the millions of Americans who are always on the go, fast-food is typically the easiest way for them to catch a bite to eat. While this food may be convenient and easy on the wallet, it is rarely very healthy. In one of the responses from the essay, “One Thing to Do About Food”, which can be found in The Prentice Hall Guide for College Writers, the author, Eric Schlosser, discusses the hidden dangers of the fast-food, as well as processed foods. He stresses the idea that looks may indeed be deceiving, especially when it comes to the food that we eat. He claims that numerous nameable fast-food and also processed food chains use advertising that truly is not realistic. Skinny and attractive people who seem to be having fun have been known to sell these cheaply made and nutritionally disturbing items. He also explains that Americans tend to buy things without really doing their research on the products. In 2005, the United States House passed The National Uniformity for Food Act of 2005. This act seemed to be a prime example of how food companies prefer to keep their consumers in the dark about what they are really selling. The author explained that if the Senate followed up on passing this act into a law, states would be prevented from having food safety or labeling requirements stricter than those of the federal government. State created laws that help keep people informed about what exactly is included in their favorite foods would all be virtually unheard of. Obviously this is all very troubling information. The author urges people to do more research about the foods that they buy before they buy them.
    I found this essay to be rather interesting. Truthfully I rarely do my own research about what is really in the food products that I eat. I guess you could say that I have always thought that our government would create restrictions on food companies so that they wouldn’t be able to sell their products without a warning. Obviously I am just too trusting and would prefer to have someone else do all the research about such things, rather than having to do it all myself. Besides the fact that I don’t have the time to research every food item that I decide to eat, even if I did research the ingredients that are included, I probably wouldn’t know what to do with the information. How am I going to distinguish whether an ingredient that is included is harmful or harmless without doing even more research. There comes a point where it just seems like a never ending cycle and this should not be the case. Bottom line is that our government should be looking out for the welfare of the citizens of our country and we should expect nothing less than the absolute best in information about these types of issues.