Should Fast-Food Providers be Held Responsible for Obesity?
Ian Smith
Dr Watkins
College Comp and Research
February 12, 2016
Does the consumer have a right to sue fast-food restaurants? In the article “Don’t Blame the Eater” by David Zinczenko he discusses that question. He writes his views on whether or not the fast-food restaurants are at fault or not. I agree with Zinczenko when he states that people should take responsibility for what they eat, but I disagree with his statement that it is hard to find alternatives to eating fast-food and that restaurants do not have warning labels about their food.
Zinczenko talks about how people should take responsibility for their actions. He writes, “Kids taking on McDonald’s this week, suing the company for making them fat. Isn’t that like middle-aged men suing Porsche for making them get speeding tickets? Whatever happened to personal responsibility?” (391). He believes that the kids have no right to be suing the people that are selling them fast-food because it was the kids own choice to eat the food. Zinczenko sympathizes with people that eat fast-food several times a week because it is hard to find any alternatives that are fast and easy. One thing Zinczenko says to strengthen his claim is, “Drive down any thoroughfare in America, and I guarantee you’ll see on of our country’s more than 13,000 McDonald’s restaurants” (392). He believes that for the everyday consumer eating fast-food is a quick and easy alternative to any of the other choices such as cooking dinner at home. One of his final main points was that fast-food providers do not have any sort of warning labels or calorie amounts present for the consumer. Zinczenko thinks that there should be a warning label on the food commercial such as tobacco ones do.
One of Zinczenko's main points is that people should take responsibility for the food that they eat, instead of blaming the fast-food providers. His response to finding out that kids were suing McDonald’s was, “Whatever happened to personal responsibility?” (391). What Zinczenko is saying here is that instead of suing the people who make the food, the consumer should decide not to eat it or not accuse the provider of making them overweight. I agree with his statement on this topic. The people that are providing the fast-food are not forcing people to eat their food, they are offering it as an option. They have commercials to advertise their product, but what is wrong with that? There are several other products out there that If you took away their ability to advertise the public would not be informed about new and upcoming products. People need to learn to take responsibility for their own actions instead of blaming the first person that comes to mind.
On the other hand, Zinczenko believes that it is hard to find alternatives to eating fast-food. He supports his argument by sayin, “Drive down a thoroughfare in America and you’ll see McDonald's restaurants. Now, drive back up the block and try to find someplace to buy a grapefruit” (392). I disagree with this point he makes about not easily finding alternatives. Ultimately, then, my goal is to demonstrate that there are several different options than just eating fast-food all of the time. It would not be hard to instead of traveling to McDonalds, drive to the supermarket to get food to prepare food at home. This would allow the consumer to get foods that may be much healthier than what is being served at fast-food restaurants. Not only could the consumer just cook at home, they could find a restaurant that serves healthy food. Not all restaurants serve greasy hamburgers and fries.
One of Zinczenko’s final main points was that the consumer may not be aware that what they are eating is not good for them. He claims, “Food advertisements don’t carry warning labels the way tobacco ads do” (Zinczenko 393). I do not agree with this claim. Whenever you go to a fast-food restaurant, they have started to put the calorie amount for each product right on the menu. If the nutrition facts are not clearly stated, ask management or google the facts. In sum, then, the only thing that is making people decide what to eat and become obese is themselves.
Zinczenko writes in his article “Don’t Blame the Eater” that there needs to be changes made by not only the fast-food providers, but also the consumers. He makes a good point when he says that people need to stop blaming the provider and take responsibility, but in my opinion, he is wrong in saying that it is too hard to find anything other than fast food and also that fast-food restaurants do not warn the consumer on the health risks of eating their product.