okay, maybe i was too extremist…

I railed a while back about the lawsuits brought against McDonalds by several obese people, who claimed that it was McDonalds’ fault that they were fat. I was (and still am) of the opinion that YOU are ultimately responsible for what you put into your mouth. It is your responsibility to figure out if french fries are worse for you than green beans, and adjust your behaviour accordingly.

However, Arushi saw the lawsuits as a good thing, claiming that someone has to take the fast food industry to task for the high-fat, high-calorie, nutritionally devoid shit that they sell to us. I agree with her on that point… but I still believe that if you eat the shit that they sell, that is your own responsibility, and if it makes you obese and ill because you eat it daily, that is your own fault.

I read something today that softens my viewpoint a little. Michael Stephens wrote, in an article titled “The Politics of Fat,” about the power of the media to essentially brainwash people into being good little spend-happy American consumers who buy whatever the people who give the media the most advertising money want you to buy. If you think that the word “brainwash” is a little harsh, then think again, because when you are a member of a culture where the media is omnipresent, 24/7, in every nook and cranny of our lives, and constantly bombarding you with images of what they want you to want, they most certainly have the power to change the way you think, to change your perceived needs, and to direct your desires.

Here is part of what Michael Stephens wrote, as printed on Alternet:

“The opponents of lawsuits against the fast food industry argue that ‘everyone knows’ that McDonalds and Burger King sell high-fat foods and that those who eat these foods do so by their own free choice. Yet, knowledge alone is not enough to combat the power of life-long exposure to the media and to the omnipresence of fast food franchises and convenience foods. Partially hydrogenated oils have been used in American food manufacture since the 1920s – time for several generations of Americans to incorporate trans fats into their everyday diet and to normalize the consumption of hundreds of foods containing trans fats. Precisely because food preferences are formed over time and are deeply ingrained in our lifestyle, it is difficult for people to change their dietary habits, even when it is revealed that some ingredients in these foods are unhealthy or dangerous.”

“What is really at stake in the politics of fat is the extent to which government should restrict corporate and media influences on the American diet. There is no choice for consumers when every street corner and highway is crowded with fast food franchises and no healthy alternatives are available. There is no possibility of informed consumer decisions, when saturation advertising entirely overwhelms the cautionary messages of doctors and health professionals.”

He certainly got it right about the lack of choice — there’s no Veggie King on every corner; you can’t substitute out the fries at McDonald’s for a pack of carrots or an apple. Yes, we can choose not to patronize those places, and instead buy healthy food at the grocery, or eat from our own gardens, or spend a little more time and money to go to a place where you can get healthier food — but in reality, humans do what is easiest and most convenient, and THAT is the Burger King on one corner, the McDonald’s on the opposite, and the Kentucky Fried Chicken a block down.