8. Midterm Revision: A Parent's Responsibilities

     It is the parent's responsibility to control what their children eat. Advertisements for fast food has been specifically targeted for children and have proved to be very successful. We live in a day and age where we have very little control of what is being advertised to us. When it comes to the fast food industry targeting our children, however, it is the parents responsibility to guide their child to make better choices. There are so many options from promoting healthy eating at home to educating everyone in the household about what they are actually putting in their mouth. The main goal for fast food restaurants is to sell and have consumers come back for more. Parents  should be able to recognize the "mental attack" towards their children and stand in the way of corporate manipulation. Parents are responsible for their children's safety as well as what they put in their system.
     "Synergy" is a marketing strategy pioneered by non other than Walt Disney himself. He aimed for children as his audience to attract them to his theme parks and products. Since the 1930's when synergy began, it has come a long way from advertising Mickey Mouse commercials to being adapted by Mcdonalds, shoe companies, and clothing lines. To make children be a loyal customer at a young age and carry that loyalty through adulthood is the concept that synergy was based on. The parents have the responsibility to recognize this manipulation and say no to their children if necessary. Ultimately, it is the parents who will end up buying products for their children if they cave in. That's what these companies are hoping for.
      Parents need to monitor their children's television viewing time and what they watch. Our world revolves around television and the majority of advertisements are being displayed right there in everyone's living room. What better way for advertisers to take advantage than at the comfort of your own home? On page 46, Eric Schlosser states, "The typical American child spends twenty-one hours a week watching television." What a great window of opportunity to target children! Children cannot see the difference between being exploited and entertained. The parents can! It's their responsibility to either turn off the advertisements being forced into their child's brain or at least limit their time on watching television.
     There are so many responsibilities to take on as a parent and promoting a healthy environment is one of them. Children learn from those around them but mostly from their parents. With the convenience of fast food restaurants, it's much easier to go out and get fed by unknown hands than it is to bother with groceries, cooking, and cleaning. That takes away time from being spent with family members. That's teaching our children that eating out is better than being with the ones you love. By promoting healthy eating and cooking at home, we can teach our children to cook for themselves. Anyone can go out and buy the same products over and over again, but nobody can cook the way a parent can for their family. As a parent caring for what their children eat, you are taking responsibility and care for our child's needs.
     The fast food industry and major corporations invest billions of dollars to targeting children all around the world to buy their products. It has happened to you, me, and will not stop anytime soon. You see products advertised on the subway, sides of MTA busses, almost everywhere you go as soon as you step outside your house. Realize that children all over the world see the same thing. The purpose is to target you and children all over the world so they can make money for generations to come. That's all the more work parents have to know about what's being sold to them and their families. Teaching them that the food being advertised to them is just frozen packaged food made at a New Jersey turnpike. A parent should let their children know that the food that looks delicious on television might cause them all kinds of health complications in the future. Saying no when you know it is not right for them to watch extreme amounts of television is never bad. That's being a responsible parent and it is the parents who are responsible for their children's well being.

7. Meatrix Issue: Organic

      I find myself wandering the aisles of the supermarket almost everyday. A lot of factors go in my head but the biggest factor is affordability. I usually end up buying something just because it was on sale as I know most Americans do. Organic grown meats, vegetables, and dairy have always been too expensive for me as I see them and constantly walk away after seeing the prices. After seeing the Meatrix, I wonder, what am I really sacrificing? Cheaper food over my health? In the long run, being in the hospital is going to cost me more than saving a couple dollars here and there on mass produced groceries. It's time to look at Oganic food under a microscope and really see why the value of it outweighs the consequence.
     According to Sustainable Table "Organic Agriculture", Organic food has a high standard to be labeled organic. They don't use antibiotics for their animals for human consumption and actually let their animals breathe fresh air instead of being locked up in stalls and containers for their whole lives. What we usually get in the supermarket for cheaper is usually the animals that are trapped in their own feces for their whole lives while being surrounded by bacteria that could potentially kill you. That right there affects everyone in any community. Also the more money we give to these major corporations, the less likely these Organic farms will stay in business. The more these corporations are in demand, the more they demand from our community and land by polluting it with major waste products into our water and greenhouse gasses that destroy our environment.
      Eventually this affects every single person on earth one way or another. I know we all can't afford to buy Organic food every day (millionaires not included) but we can make wiser choices into investing in our hard working local farmers here and there. Every little bit helps keep them in business, keep us healthier, and balance out a little of the negative of what these major corporations do on a regular basis. By investing in Organic farms, we do less damage to our own health by not taking in antibiotics and artificial hormones. If everyone pitches in, we can save an Organic farm from being bought out by these major corporations from turning into just another factory for the masses.