Social Norm and Food Diagram

As a college student, social norms impact my diet significantly. I often eat fast food, for more than one reason. Like many other college students, I do not have a lot of money saved up to eat well. Due to this I eat the cheapest foods, and walking around campus, a place like McDonalds provides the most food for 5 dollars. The monetary problem has been prominent for centuries, and it limits what people can eat. A salad at a convenient store is about $5, when at McDonalds you can buy two cheeseburgers, fries, and a drink. That kind of availability is what largely keeps people choosing junk food over healthier alternatives. Therefore it has become a social norm that people with less money are eating more fast food than anything else. This is also causing people to eat less natural based foods and more industrial synthesized foods. This in turn has also lead to an obesity problem previously mentioned in nutrition.

Obesity is one of the largest problems in America’s young society. As mentioned in the module, obesity is largely contributed to by industrialized agriculture. The consistency of fast food, especially McDonalds, has played a huge role in this societal problem. The accessibility of fast food has been a sturdy obstacle in overcoming obesity. Fast food keeps its food so cheap due to the cheap ingredients used in their food. It can afford to give away two cheeseburgers for two dollars, unlike a restaurant with real beef. I don’t think we can change the price of fast food, nor do I want to. Instead I would change the cost of healthier food. If that salad I mentioned before cost only two dollars, I would pick that over a cheeseburger most days of the week. Mostly because of the cost of healthier foods, obesity can still be a problem for younger people.

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2 thoughts on “Social Norm and Food Diagram

  1. Hi my name is David Youn and I’m a chemistry major at the main campus. Here is my link: http://sites.psu.edu/geog30/2016/03/03/david-youn-module-6/

    I could not agree with you more on this issue. As a college student it is rare for us to get a decent meal that is healthy. Often than not, even on the school end does not provide healthy food for students to eat. I think that is a bigger issue than students not choosing to eat healthier.

  2. Hi Josh, my name is Jake Segall. Here is a link to my post!

    http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/03/03/food-choice-and-social-norms-5/

    As a poor college student, I could not agree with you anymore. It is easier and cheaper for me to get a meal (sometimes even two meals!) at a fast food place than it is for me to buy stuff at the store and make a healthy meal. I think it is almost indicative of the way the government (mainly the food sector) is run when I can get a McDonald’s cheeseburger for $1 and I have to pay $6 to get a salad…

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