I created a poster depicting my claim of how people in their teenage years seem to eat a lot of unhealthy foods and seem to make overall bad choices to their health and for the most part do not see immediate body mass changes or fluxes, so assume that it's okay, when in all honesty it's not. These choices that people make on what and how to fuel their body with with no repercussions tends to build up what it considered "inner fats." After peoples' metabolisms slow down and become less active, these dangerous fat build-ups that may not have been obvious before, move into "outer fats" which are the better-known fat build-ups that lay on top of muscles and are more noticeable than the inner fat storages. My main take-away for this project was that people should try to be mindful of what they put into their bodies during their adolescent years since these choices have a way of catching up to people.
My personal takeaways of this project primarily consisted of the personal dilemma of Organic choices. I have grown up eating Organic and Natural foods that I no longer feel are necessarily all that they are built up to be. Natural in a sense is an un-patented word that companies have the freedom to put onto their goods, regardless of how it was produced or harvested. Organic is essentially the same process as un-organic foods, but without the use of pesticides. A lot of organic companies even use GMO's... I still believe that eating organic is a better choice as far as spraying, it just isn't the wisest choice if you are trying to be eco-friendly. These companies ship just as much as other non-organic companies do. I think that the best decision a person could make is eating locally and sustainably. My family utilizes a lot of what this city has to offer as far as produce, meat and cheese. There are a lot of people who can not afford to eat organic as it does cost a considerable amount more than the leading brand. However, I do stress that people look into eating locally and sustainably when ever it is found to be possible.
Below is my poster that I exhibited. (His decisions are catching up to him... clever, eh?)
Artist Statement:
They’re Catching Up
To Me.
As people
tend to lean towards fast food as ”comfort food,” obesity can soon become a
problem. One of the reasons that I consider fast food,
especially McDonalds, to be a comfort food franchise, is due to the fact that
the food is satisfying, cheap, accessible, and almost anywhere you go you will
be able to find a location; promoting the feeling of ease and comfort. Needless to say, fast food is not a healthy
decision for any meal, let alone eating it multiple times a week, or even
everyday day. So why do people continue
eating at these fast food chains, knowing how bad it can be for your
health? I have found that there is not a
black and white answer to this question, but that the problem seems to be
growing… literally.
America
is now recognized as the most obese country in the world with an obese
population of over 30%. This obesity
epidemic not solely due to these fast food franchises, yet it is found to be
the leading factor affecting this nation’s health. The cost of this food is so enticing that a
lot of people fall for what is conveyed greatly through media, as to what they
should eat on a daily basis. People are
faced with such conflicting ads in media that many people fail to
recognize. On one hand, people are shown
the images of “healthy”, happy, fit Americans that sometimes have an
unachievable level of body mass. One the
other hand, Americans are tempted with these cheap, satisfying, meals that can
make you extremely unhealthy and detrimentally obese. When trying to navigate around these walking
paradoxes, some Americans succumb to the temptation and divulge in these fast foods,
which essentially can deteriorate your health within a matter of times
consuming these foods.
The
aspect of the fast food nation that I am focusing on is the portion of fast
food eaters that do not see a direct or immediate health concern or change in
body mass. When inside of a fast food
restaurant, there are people with different body types ranging from the
extremely obese to the rail-skinny people.
In my
poster, I represented the most “successful” fast food franchises with iconic
figures morphed to give out more of an eerie vibe. Along with these corporations I included
basic unhealthy foods that can be malign to health such as donuts, bacon and Twinkies. The man running from these foods is
considered a “standard” weight for most men, yet he represents these people who
have made bad decisions for their health, which has now started to catch up to
him later in life.
These
people who are not obese, yet are essentially just as unhealthy as the most
obese fast food consumers, live a very risky lifestyle. If people eat unhealthy food without
repercussion, why not keep eating it? You can’t tell from the outside body
image, but these foods are killing people on the inside. These so-called “inner” fats are different from
outer fats since people get smaller build-ups of fat versus the more common
“outer fats” that lay on top of most muscles, making these build-ups much more
obvious. Later in life when peoples’
metabolisms slow down, and these foods and bad lifestyle choices catch up to them it is clear what these
foods have the potential to do to them. It’s
important for society to know what these foods are capable of doing to their
bodies and lifestyles, so my main point is: know that these unhealthy choices
can catch up to you later in life, so start making better decisions early in
life related to what you fuel your body with.
After all, as “they” say, “You are what you eat.”
Food for
thought.
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