Don’t Blame the Eater

In “Don’t Blame the Eater,” David Zinczenko argues that the fast-food companies and the food industry are to blame for America’s obesity epidemic. He illustrates in his essay how fast-food in America is too easily accessed for the people of America. In Radley Balko’s essay, “What you eat is your own Business’, he argues that to solve the national epidemic of obesity, people need to be more in control of their own health. He argues that if people had more personal incentives to live a healthy lifestyle, they would be more inclined to care about their own health. If those living an unhealthy lifestyle were forced to pay their own health bills. They share a unique perspective on the taste for some fast food and how it can affect one’s look and health. This is clearly demonstrated through their arguments on government, obesity, and spacing their schedule as much as possible. I agree that it’s our fault for becoming obese and having no time to work with our schedule. But I disagree with Zinczenko argument in how it’s the government’s responsibility for our health issues.

As both Zinczenko and Balko talk about heath care and how much the premium is raising due to the fact of the irresponsible individuals that make poor choices. It’s not the government’s fault that society is unable to take responsibility to be more aware of what they consume on a daily basis. The government shouldn’t have to be making simple choices in how to eat for society. As Glenn Beck advises “you’re incapable of making decisions…Left to your own devices, you’re going to eat too much, and you’re going to be a big fat fatty.” (401) the government shouldn’t determine what you should be able to consume, and you should be able to acknowledge how often you can consume fast food so you don’t become obese.

In today's society reality seems that fast food consumers should be vigilant about finding alternatives for fast food. Though it may seem hard finding more healthy food, it is a challenge people obese and trim must take. Zinczenko himself writes, “I guarantee you’ll see one of our country's more than 13,000 McDonald's restaurants. Now drive up the block and try to find someplace to buy a grapefruit.” (392) even now fast food places seems to be heavily populating our cities. Zinczenko makes an extremely useful point. Even Though you might see “one” of “13,000” fast food places, if being healthy matters enough you can “try” to find alternatives. The first obvious solution is a balanced home cooked meal. Though it is more time consuming and difficult for some people it will pay off later on throughout life.

By having the government raising the premium on health care for