The obesity rate in this country is out of control and unless we make a change, it will never go down. I feel as though it's due in part to our processed diet and getting away from whole foods. Look at Wisconsin for example; number one in the country as far as obesity goes and our diet consists mainly of processed meat and cheese. We may raise our own cattle but we certainly don't consumer the same cows we send to the slaughter house. Michael Pollen's phrase of "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants," really hits home with me because I feel when it comes to our eating habits this is the motto we should follow. When he says eat food, we have to understand what he means by food. He means whole, healthy food, not the processed fake stuff we get at the supermarket. And overeating is a serious flaw in the American diet. We stuff our faces until we can’t see our toes anymore. Part of this can be blamed on the portion sizes of restaurants, but for the most part we have no self control over how much we actually consume. Take my sixteen year old brother for example. Everytime we hit up the “golden arches,” he gorges with three double cheeseburgers, a twenty piece of McNuggets, and a tall strawberry shake. Here is a prime example of American overindulgence in food. My brother also completely disregards Pollen’s third suggestion of eating mostly vegetables. Today’s generation has been engrained with the idea that vegetables are healthy, but not the most delicious thing in the world. And when surrounded with things like Oreos, the Whopper, and deep fried bacon they obviously are going to leave all things green behind. If we are to make a change we need to examine our “Western Diet” and determine if want to be healthy or satisfied
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