Meg Lewis Summary/Response Essay College Comp and Research February 13, 2017 Fast Food Junkies In the United States fast food restaurants have increased drastically this has caused many issues in people’s health. An issue that has gotten bigger in the United States in recent years is obesity. In the article “Junking Junk Food,” Judith Warner explains her support for eliminating unhealthy food in schools. She also discusses limiting junk food in the United States. I agree with Warner when she talks about changing people’s eating habits. Warner believes that changing the United States way of eating such as supporting healthy alternatives, serving smaller portions, and changing food cultures that the recent issue of obesity will eventually be eliminated. In this article, Warner is warning the United States about obesity in the United States, especially in children. She talks about the previous First Lady Michelle Obama and talks about how she supports Michelle’s efforts to end the intake of unhealthy food in schools and homes in the United States. Her way of eliminating the intake of junk food is essentially taking the rights away from citizens. While she is trying to do what she believes is best for this country many people say that they feel it is violating their rights. I do agree with Warner when she says that there were many products that were in style that were essentially harmful to the people who were eating it and they did not know it was harmful. She talks about what she read in a book by David Kessler, which says, “... it was a shift in cultural attitudes, not laws or regulations, that led Americans to quit smoking. In the space of generations, he says, cigarettes stopped being portrayed as ‘sexy and cool’ and started to be seen as ‘a terribly disgusting, addictive product’” (qtd. in Warner 404). Warner makes a good point when she says that this has happened with cigarettes. In my opinion, the United States government needs to discourage people from eating junk food instead of manipulating people to think it is bad to eat junk food. Another point that I agree with is when Warner says that serving smaller portions would help decrease the amount of calories consumed by Americans. Warner says, “Perhaps the most successful government effort to regulate what and how Americans consume the food rationing programs of World War II recognized this political cultural and emotional scheme” (Warner 402). I think that serving smaller portions of food will improve people’s health. I do not agree, however, that the United States should be able to take the abundance of food away from U.S. citizens. The same goes for the fact that the government cannot control what citizens eat therefore it cannot control how much citizens eat. During the World Wars it was a time when there was not much food around, therefore, people had to have smaller portions of everything because there was not enough food for everyone to eat large portions. For people with money, the idea of having the government tell them how much they can buy is ridiculous. Many people who have money will most likely continue to buy an abundance of food just because they can and want to protest. In this article I agree with Warner when she states that the people in the United States can and should change their way of life. Warner says, “You can’t change specific eating behavior without addressing the way of life without changing our culture or food” (Warner 402). Warner believes that changing the culture of the United States food would be useful and would help people realize that obesity is becoming a problem in the U.S. Warner is correct when she says it would make a difference in people’s lives. Judith Warren’s article, “Junking Junk Food” was written well with maturity supporting how she feels about junk food and she addressed the audience she wanted well. She supports healthy alternatives, serving smaller portions and addressing changing United States food culture. Warner has many good reasons behind what she believes about the United States’ diet but I do not agree with her tactics to change the United States diet. The United States is a free country and people cannot be told how much they can buy and what they have to buy. In my opinion, there has to be a line between forcing people to change their diet and encouraging people to change their diets. Citizens should be able to make a choice for themselves it they want to be in shape or be obese. When people want to be healthy it makes a difference and they actually try to change their diets. When people are forced to do something they will rebel rather no whether the act is beneficial to them or not. Although I do not agree with Warner how she thinks the United States should change its diet I do believe Warner has good thoughts and intentions to end obesity in the United States. Works Cited Warner, Judith. "Junking Junk Food" They Say I Say With Readings. By Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein. Ed. Russel Durst. 2E ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. 198-210. Print