Controlling Food Consumption: A New Perspective

Habits form when an individual is young. This rings true for eating habits as well. It is the parent’s responsibility to instill healthy eating habits into their child’s mind so that when the child grows older and starts thinking for themselves, good habits will continue on as second nature. Considering this, it is essential to remember that not all parents are the same, and some do not think of, have time for, or whatever the case may be, for feeding their child or children healthy foods. This is where schools come into play. From having schools provide healthy lunches for their students, this provides for at least one guaranteed healthy meal per day for a child.

In continuation of using the state of Illinois as an example, in Illinois there is a program called CATCH, or Coordinated Approach To Child Health, which is embedded within 152 schools so far, to help bring healthier food options to schools. Also in Illinois, the IAPO, or Illinois Alliance to Prevent Obesity, recently established the Illinois Fresh Food Fund which provides harder to reach areas access to fresh foods by renovating or creating grocery stores to fill them with healthy foods. Both of these programs are beneficial to the state of Illinois’ fight to combat obesity.

Peaches & Greens, Detroit's healthy food truck

Illinois is not the only state acting to fight America’s obesity endemic. In Detroit, Michigan, a fresh and healthy food truck, called Peaches & Greens, has been making its’ rounds since 2009. It serves neighborhoods that have upwards of about thirty liquor stores but only one grocery store. This is why experts refer to Detroit as a food desert. However, the city has been getting better at trying to shed its’ image of being the fattest city in the country, as it was at the time of Morgan Spurlock’s documentary film, Super-Size Me (2004). In addition to the fresh and healthy food truck, Detroit has also started turning some of its’ abandoned land into farms. One farm in particular was established by the Capuchin Soup Kitchen in effort to provide healthy and fresh food for local restaurants and the soup kitchen itself. The farm is called Earthworks Urban Farm and it is funded through donations.

Earthworks Urban Farm, Detroit, MI

Although some states are making an effort to reduce obesity rates within their state, sometimes these enforcements are too loose and not enough work is being done to solve the problem before it is too late. If America wants to continue being the powerful world leader that it has the ability to maintain being, government regulation of food supply needs to be instilled nationwide. Nothing in life is easy. That being the case, in order for America to rid its’ “fat” image, citizens need to work at it, shedding lazy habits.