Controlling Food Consumption: How It Is Being Enforced

The need for government regulation of food supply is seen through increasing obesity rates, generations being significantly “fatter” than the generations before, and the horrifying effects of the American lifestyle, if continued. During the Industrial Revolution, America was thought of as a young, prospering nation making multiple breakthroughs in the world. People worked hard and the value of their work was seen through people recognizing these achievements. As America developed further, advancements were being made in nearly everything. Even advancements in food started to occur with the addition of sugar, artificial sweeteners, and in some cases genetically modifying food altogether. It is now seen, because of obesity rates, that perhaps there is a link to people eating these processed foods and then gaining weight. With all of these problems at hand that are only going to get worse if not dealt with, the problem can fortunately be solved by the hands of those in power, which is our government, which should have more control over food consumption, instead of less.

Michelle Obama and Disney want to help children get healthy

To help with childhood obesity, more children’s television networks should follow in Disney channel’s footsteps; “All programming meet the company's nutrition criteria for limiting calories and reducing saturated fat, sodium and sugar. Disney says its guidelines are aligned with federal standards.” First lady Michelle Obama is also a strong advocate for childhood obesity and strongly supports Disney’s new plan. Currently, many of the foods we eat are processed, meaning they have a lot of additives and artificial flavors and sugars within them. In order for our country to start being more healthy like it use to be, a more organic and natural approach should be taken into food factories, with more strict regulations on what exactly can be added to foods and in what amounts. This same concept should be applied to fast food. Food chemists add MSG’s trans-fats, artificial flavoring, and sometimes even “chemicals that are generally recognized as safe.” These additives have an effect on people, leaving them still hungry for more after eating.

Banning the sale of large drinks is needed

On May 31^st, 2012 news broke that “New York City’s Mayor Michael Bloomberg wants to ban the sale of sugary drinks larger than 16 ounces.” If this ban comes to be voted on and gets approved, hopefully other cities with take on this ban and soon it will become nationwide, then; maybe America will start seeing some positive results from it such as decreased obesity and type II diabetes rates.

These are just some of the possible solutions the government can and has started taking to regulate food consumption. What is needed now is for these solutions to expand nationwide for what will hopefully be positive results weighing in.