Should access to healthy food be a right for everyone?

Lauren Woolner

Period 4

11-19-12

Should Everyone Be Have Access To Healthy Food

 Each year more and more Americans are diagnosed with type two diabetes. People not having access to the foods their bodies need to survive causes this life threatening disease. Diabetes and obesity are becoming more common with children born after the year 2000. Making healthy food accessible to all Americans no matter their position in society can solve this problem. Being able to provide families with healthy food is a pressing issue in our generation. Healthy food should be accessible by all Americans because it can help prevent type two diabetes and childhood obesity.

    American’s right to a healthy diet has become more of a controversial topic in this generation due to the limited accessibility of nutritional foods. Leading experts at Food Inc. said children born after the year 2000 are at an all time risk for diabetes. Type 2 diabetes used to be common in adults, but since the increase in the fast food industry children are consuming more of the fats and starch (white potatoes) than ever. Parents that cannot afford healthy food or do not have time to get healthy produce, should not have to choose between giving their children healthy food or enough food.
   America announced obesity as a medical condition in 2004. Obesity used to be a measurement on a medial scale now it is a disability. Since 73.9 million Americans make a minimum wage they cannot afford to buy fresh produce at farmers markets they are forced to by cheap unhealthy foods. Obesity leads to heart disease due to plaque buildup in the arteries, which is caused by hydrogenated oils and saturated fats in high sugar diets. About 17% of adolescents are obese in the United States alone. This percent increases with the amount of fast food chains that are created.
   Even though Americans should have access to healthy foods because it leads to cholesterol, heart, and blood sugar problems, others might think that eating these foods are a good thing because its a cheap quick easy way to feed their families. For example, if your on a road trip and cannot stop to eat, having a quick and easy drive through can make your trip go a lot quicker. However, these foods are causing Americans to have type two diabetes and become morbidly obese. For these reasons, having access to a healthy diet should be a right for all Americans.
    All in all, since middle class people cannot afford healthy diets and are forced to buy cheap fast foods it should be made available to them. Fast food restaurants trying to provide healthier choices to their menu could easily do this.