You probably know that fast food is cheap, and that people with less money to spend will eat more fast food than others because it is cheaper. Well, that isn’t entirely true. An article from time.com seems to suggest that people making around $75,000 eat more fast food than basically every other income-groups, and that people making under $25,000 is one of the income-groups that consume the least fast foods. But did you know that fast food restaurants are specifically targeting their products to poor neighbourhoods? According to an article by thewashingtonpost.com, they do this by putting up more restaurants and advertising more in urban, black neighbourhoods.
They even specifically advertise to children in said neighbourhoods. The article even claims that fast food companies are 60% more likely to advertise in poor black neighbourhoods. A study by the CDC also claims that, on average, children get 12.4% of their daily calories from fast food. When I tell you this, you are likely thinking about McDonalds, or maybe KFC. However, McDonalds has claimed that 100% of their advertisements targeted towards children has included a message about living healthy, and more actively, since January 2013. While McDonalds may be steering away from these practises, other fast food establishments like Papa John’s and Popeye’s are still using these methods.
Mass produced food often have different things added to them that wouldn’t normally be in organic food. They are added for different reasons. Some are to make it easier to produce. Others to make it more desirable for the customer these have different health effects and risks.
Additives - Additives such as sugar or salt make the food taste better. However, contributes to diseases such as obesity, cancer, heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes.
Antibiotics - They protect the body from bacteria causing illness and have very little negative health effects. The biggest concern with antibiotics is that bacteria can become immune to them because of overuse.
GMOs – Genetically modified food, while controverted, must go through heavy testing and follow many protocols to be able to be put on the market. for GMOs to be sold they must be ensured that they are safe and most studies have shown that they don’t come with health risks. However, there are still more things to learn about GMOs as they a new technology. GMOs are really good for places where agriculture is challenging because of innutritious soil.
Hormones - They are added while the animal grows to change the meat, milk or eggs of the animal. USDA and FDA say they are safe. However, there are still some things that are unclear, and many are still concerned.
Pesticides – Pesticides are added to plants to keep them safe from critters. However, studies have shown that pesticides contribute to cancer and other harmful diseases.