The deal with Junk foods

The deal with Junk foods

           "What snacks do you want later?" If I would ask you this question, what would be your answer? Most people, when asked about this question, would think of their favorite snacks. Maybe you did too. But would these really be their snacks? Perhaps for some, but actually majority of them would be buying a snack that would be light for their pocket, would suite their taste, and would be conventional for them. With this description, the very first snacks that came to my mind are junk foods.

           Junk foods, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, include foods that contain very little nutrition but give the consumer a big number of calories. This definition implies that junk foods are unhealthy snacks and so it is quite puzzling why almost all canteens, sari-sari stores, convenient store, and department stores offer a wide variety of junk foods from soft drinks, to fun snacks, to chocolates, to ice creams, to burgers, and etc. With just mentioning those names, it made me want to eat some but I realized that even though junk foods are tasty, affordable, conventional, and very accessible, these kinds of food should be last in the list of our snack choices because they are bad for the health, and definitely, our health matters a lot.

           Setting aside health matters, junk foods would be the ideal snacks for everyone because of several reasons. First, junk foods are very tasty to the point that they are already addicting. Any taste we crave for would have its junk food equivalent. Who would not be addicted by the crunchiness of fun snacks, the sweetness of chocolates, and the delight of ice creams? One illustration of this would be my classmate in high school. She feels that without a soft drink, her lunch would not be complete. I, together with other friends, told her to control herself but she did nothing with our comment until she had an ulcer which made her open her mind about the negative effect her over consumption of soft drinks had made. Second, junk foods have affordable prices compared to other snacks. The usual range of their prices is P7.00 – P25.00 but junk foods are also sold in one peso-pack enticing children to buy. I have seen a lot of sari-sari stores whose front display are all junk foods and I believe that they are displayed that way to invite children buyers. Third, I have also observed that junk foods are the easiest snacks to access and the most conventional to eat. Eating a junk food does not require any preparation since they can just be bought in almost every store. All that is needed to do is just to tear the pack to open it and there you have your snack! Almost all junk foods, if not all,are ready-to-eat, and that convention is basically the reason they are the snacks brought for trips and outings. And last, junk foods appears so good because of the awesome advertisements printed on posters and shown in television which have already prove their effectiveness in influencing people, especially children. In almost every break in a TV show in the leading channels here in the Philippines like ABS-CBN and GMA, there appears at least two junk food advertisements. In fact, I have noticed a lot of children ask their parents to buy junk foods for them all because of the influences the advertisements had imposed on them. Despite these many reasons to eat junk foods, these foods should be avoided because they cause negative effects to the health of their consumers.

           There are two major reasons that make junk foods bad for the health. The first is that junk foods contain excessive amount of sugar, salt, and/or fat and they also contain harmful ingredients like MSG(monosodium glutamate) and preservatives. These facts are even printed at the back portion of almost all junk foods, except for soft drinks. These ingredients can give rise to many health problems. The second reason is that when an individual has already consumed junk food, he/she would lose his/her appetite to eat healthy foods. I have learned that from personal experiences. One instance was when I attended a birthday celebration of a friend, that night we just ate chips, and drank soft drinks, and so when I arrived home I prepared to sleep immediately without eating supper making my head and stomach ache the next morning. I believe that most people have experienced this too, replacing one or two of their meals with junk foods. Doing this act too often can cause malnutrition or obesity. Since junk foods does not contain, or if it does very little, nutrients in it, it causes its consumer to suffer malnutrition. On the other hand, over consumption of junk foods can also lead to obesity because of the large amounts of calories and fats present in each pack. In whatever way junk foods affect a person, one thing is for sure, it is never beneficial.

           As mentioned earlier, junk foods contains ingredients that cause various disease to rise. For example, too much sugar can cause toothaches. I know majority of us have experienced this especially in our childhood days when we were still very greedy of lollipops, chocolates, and ice creams. Aside from toothaches, excessive sugar can also cause an individual to have diabetes. Some of you have probably observed your parents get rid of soft drinks, which contains a lot of sugar, because they were told by their doctor to do so due to their diabetes. Also, according to Jared Lee in his article “Harmful effects of Junk Food”, consumption of junk food can lead to lack of energy and poor concentration. He mentioned that junk food has a large amount of calories but does not contain any useful nutrients essential for the body thereby weakening the consumer. He also reasoned that junk foods make a person drowsy because a major portion in the blood goes to the intestine due to the need to process the hard-to-digest oil and fat. Another disease rooted from junk foods, still mentioned in Lee's article, is liver failure due to the presence of fat cholesterol, and salt that damages the organ. It is also stated in his article that heart diseases may arise since large amount of sodium can increase the blood pressure in the heart of an individual.

           With the consequences mentioned, I believe each one of us should think twice or thrice before buying junk foods, even if they are our favorites. No rational person would want to risk his/her health. Eating junk foods even with the knowledge about its harmful effects on the body is such an unwise act. So instead of consuming a junk food for your snacks, replace them with healthy alternative snacks. One example would be fresh fruits. If there are fruits in the house, then why not bring hem to be your snack? Fresh fruits like bananas, mangoes, pineapples, and oranges are also sold in some canteens. If you can not avail fresh fruits then go for a sandwich or a bread. Ask your mother to prepare one for you or perhaps you can prepare it your own, that would be more fulfilling.

           Another issue that revolve around this junk food matter is awareness. As I have asked several children ages 4-12 years old, I have known that a lot of them don't know that their consumption of junk foods can lead to undesirable consequences. They are more concern of the delightful tastes that junk foods have. “Lami man gud(because they are tasty)”, a six-year old girl replied to me when I asked her why she bought a lot of lollipos. In this case, adults should be concern enough to educate the youngsters about these matters.

           It could be concluded that junk is no good so it makes me wonder why they are one of the favorites products for business. I realized the answer is simple—because the consumers are calling for them. I interviewed a sari-sari store owner and asked her why almost all of her products are junk foods, she readily replied “Mao may halinon(they are the most salable)”. It is just funny to think that when you ask a buyer why he/she buys a junk food, he/she would answer “because it is the food available” yet the vendor would say that she/he sells them because it is want the consumers look for. For me, it is a matter of discipline. Never eating a junk food again perhaps is very hard thing to do but at least reducing it to the least amount possible would be a very beneficial act. Eating once in a while would not be so bad. You can eat enough amount of chocolates to relieve your sadness or you can treat yourself an ice cream for passing a hard math exam but you just need to bear in mind the limits. After all, it would be us who should be held responsible for any of our acts.

Sources Cited

Lee, Jared. Harmful Effects of Junk food. Online, internet. Available URL: http://ezinearticles.com/?Harmful-Effects-Of-Junk-Food&id=927106

Photo taken from Tamayo, Alicia. Junk Food Tax: Is it time to pay up for your guilty indulgences?. Online, internet. Availble URL: http: //pcmlifestyle.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/junk-food.jpg

comm 1 exercise

1. Mark Twain, who has lived in Hartford for several years and whose real name was Samuel L. Clemens, is the author of Huckleberry Finn, a classic American novel.
   

2. Mark Twain's very elaborate and elegant house, located on Farmington Avenue in an area called Noon Farm, was situated near the house of Harriet Beecher Stowe, the author of 'Uncle Tom's Cabin'.
   
3. Mark Twain's home has a large side porch overlooked by windows and a balcony, which, nowadays, remind people of a steamboat that Twain piloted in the Mississippi in his youth.
   
4. Even though Mark Twain was one of the first three people in Hartford to own a telephone, a device first used commercially in New Haven, he never really liked this newfangled gadget since there was practically no one to talk to.
   
5. Mark Twain loved industrial inventions but he lost a fortune investing in them; one of these inventions was the elaborate Paige typesetter, a machine developed at the same time as the Linotype, which, unfortunately for him, much simpler and less expensive.
   
6. After his beloved daughter, Susy, died of spinal meningitis, Mark Twain never felt the same about the house again and so left his Hartford home; he has returned only once to attend the funeral of his friend, Charles Dudley Warner.
   

Figures of Orality

1. How does food become the center of power between master and slaves?

           Food has become the center of power between master ans slaves. Even though the slaves are the ones who are in charge in the labor works related to the production of food, they are still dependent on the little food their masters allow them to have. And also, in the reading's case, the slaves are considered "fertile and consumable". They are forcefully tasked to nurture the young of their mistress living her own baby in hunger. In addition, the slave bodies are considered "consumable"  because they are used to satisfy their master's sexual appetite.

2. How is food associated with a mother?

          Food has always been associated with mothers. From the start, they were the ones who nurture us with their milk. And even until now, they usually are the ones who provide us with food by means of preparing and cooking. In the reading article, the mother also provides food for the master's baby through her milk.

Assignment (Do nations express themselves in their foods?)

1.) What is the main idea of the author in the essay "Do nations express themselves in their foods?"?


                  The main idea of the author is that foods in a certain place tells something about its history, the people residing in that place and a part of the their culture.


State the points that support the main idea.
         a.)  Spain, which was an Arab land for about 800 years, caters and enjoys a lot of Arab dishes.
         b.) Toronto served foods in different varieties because the people residing in there are multi-nationals.
         c.) In Europe and North America, a lot of foods are ready-to-eat. This shows how people there live('fast-moving with hardly any time to spare').