Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers blog

“Why should you care about what food you put in your mouth?”
– Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation.

Food and health are hotly debated topics in the Answers community. Fanning the flames further this Friday is the UK cinema release of Fast Food Nation, a dramatization of the book of the same name by Eric Schlosser. The film is an exposé of the fast food industry.

Fast Food Nation isn’t the first attempt to raise people’s awareness about the convenience foods we eat. You may remember Morgan Spurlock, whose film Supersize Me demonstrated the physical effects of eating too much junk food. Also Jamie Oliver’s recent campaign Jamie’s School Dinners caused much contention but, more importantly, inspired parents, school kids and politicians to take an interest in their diets and health.

Answerers are generally a health-conscious lot, as can be seen from taking a glance at the vibrant Food & Drink and Diet & Fitness categories. Members like Naeve, who contrasts healthy food vs junk yet already knows she should be eating healthier foods. “I’m quite health conscious but find that healthy food is more expensive and bland in comparison to junk food,” she claims. Shannon offers her some sensible advice, “I think you just need to get used to healthy food. Junk food is full of additives like sugar and salt which alter how food is really supposed to taste.”

Many Answerers are wary of the potential risks of eating fast food. “Junk food is doing bad things to your body even if you’re fit” says Essmi d. “Eventually it will catch up with you because the food is leaving deposits in your bloodstream and organs. Even thin people have heart attacks, high blood pressure, and many other health problems due to poor diets.”

Although nowadays people are more aware of what goes into their food, do they really know why they should be concerned? “If more people have a healthy diet, less people will need to use the NHS and less money will be made by fast food companies who only care about profit,” suggests Danger Mouse.

It’s a popularly held notion that the fast food industry is to blame for society’s ballooning waistlines and ill health. But isn’t the point of television programmes and films like Fast Food Nation to make us think for ourselves? Nick c thinks that instead of blaming others, we, as individuals and especially as parents, should be taking responsibility for what we eat, asking “what happened to parental responsibility and exercise to fight obesity?”

Definitively answering questions such as Sarah H’s, “will films like ‘Fast Food Nation’ have any impact on the food industry?” may be difficult, but it is clear that what goes into our food and the way it affects our health has become an important issue for us all.

– Yahoo! UK & Ireland Answers team