Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Vegetarians Are Taking Over

Last night when I was researching possible topics for my Junior Theme, I came across some interesting information proving that more and more people are becoming vegetarians. My first thought was that there must be some sort of religious shift that requires more people to refrain from eating meat. There is a possibility that this may be true, but in my opinion there hasn't been a large enough change in religion that would cause this. In fact, I think more and more people are choosing to not practice religion strictly. But that's a whole other topic.
After some thinking, I decided that the fast food industry has had the most affect on people's diets. Although some people choose to eat less healthy options now that McDonald's, Burger King, and other greasy fast food restaurants have become more popular, these horribly unhealthy restaurants (to me they're more like toxic waste warehouses) have, in my opinion, actually raised awareness about health.
I'm sure many people at New Trier have seen the movie "Food Inc.". This movie revealed to the public for the first time the disgusting things that go on behind the scenes at McDonald's and the like. Its viewers got a whole new perspective on food, and personally, I decided to become a vegan (though it only lasted for a few days). After "Food Inc." became more frequently watched in health classes, pictures like this>

went viral. This is a before and after picture of McDonald's chicken nuggets. If this doesn't disgust you, then I don't know what will.
I think that after the public was exposed to what they're really eating at fast food restaurants, people have become more conscious of what they're putting in their bodies. Many think that the easiest way to prevent eating chicken-nugget-type foods is to not eat meat at all, assuming that it is most likely processed in the same fashion.

1 comment:

  1. I agree with your points on these fast food places serve really gross food, but I also think it is a very interesting point that you made about the health awareness that such places have created. Deliberate or not, the publicity that these restaurants have received for their unhealthy foods has really opened up a world to many. For example the exposure of these restaurants in the news has made people more health conscious. Now regardless if consumers choose to still consume the food or not, it is almost hard for them to not recognize the fact that this food is unhealthy due to the over-publicity of the issue.

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