Fast food and health promotion Essay

Abstract Healthy eating is a major concern of the public and has been under-researched for decades. A successful healthy eating campaign can help to raise awareness and in the long run, prevent and minimize long-term diseases such as high blood pressure, heart disease and cancer. This can also reduce the burden on the National Health Service. For all of these reasons, this dissertation aims to determine what people eat, why they choose to eat the way they do and whether they feel the Government has done enough to promote healthy eating. Initially, this study examines the trends of contemporary food culture by sociologists and the marketing powers of promotion to increase student awareness on healthy eating. A discussion on Government policies indicates the efficacy of the Government to reach students with their healthy eating promotion in this country. This study uses qualitative research methods to determine the awareness of the students, on healthy eating and their opinions on the Government’s attempt to promote a healthy nation. Based on the data gathered in this research, an evaluation was made on whether healthy eating promotion is effective in today’s student society. In this study, student choices of food were shown to be primarily affected by price, taste and peer pressure. This is in contrast with the available literature which suggests that social class, culture, the food industries and Government campaigns are the main influences on people’s eating habits. Introduction This dissertation aims to understand how food is promoted and consumed by the public. Our choices of food are affected by many factors such as our social class, our culture, and the media and Government campaigns. Over the past thirty years a surge of interest has arisen and an increase in the consumption of fast food. However, more recently health concerns regarding fast food consumption has surfaced. Sociologists often seek explanations for human behavior and try to link this with the environment in which they live in. Similarly, sociologists such as Alan Warde have examined contemporary food culture and suggested reasons that influence people’s choice. Initially, changes in food consumption patterns and healthy eating promotions from different dimensions were examined. The  © 2006 The International Journal of Urban Labour and Leisure 1 dissertation then describes the interviews that were conducted with regards to healthy eating. Some key findings were revealed to support the sociological theories. Finally, the discussion sums up and reflects the findings in relation to these theories and see if there is any correlation between the two. This research was undertaken at a University and based on ten one-to-one interviews. It is important to examine whether we are eating healthily. Food is the basic necessity in life humans consume daily. In this dissertation I want to explore student’s knowledge on healthy eating and whether the Government is doing enough to promote a healthier nation. Sociological Promotion. Perspectives on Food Consumption and Healthy Eating Current Trends in Food Consumption Food consumption relates to the substances that are taken in to produce energy, stimulate growth and maintain life. It consists of essential body nutrients, such as carbohydrates, proteins, fats and vitamins or minerals. Healthy food is considered to be highly beneficial to health, especially a food grown organically or free of additives. Food consumption has tilted towards fast food culture over the past few decades due to its price, convenience and the shortage of eating time. In this section, general consumption trends will be studied and the change of consumer culture over time will be discussed. Sociologists like Bourdieu and Bauman have written literature and devised their own theories on the consumption of food. Many of them believe that this is a structureagency debate. In other words, how social structure shapes our actions and how we, in turn, shape the social structure (Germov, 1999:302). One of the examples given by Pierre Bourdieu is that the way we consume food reflected our social class and background (Warde, 1997:9). He argued that consumption is based upon cultural upbringing and is therefore socially embedded. Bauman, on the other hand, saw consumption as â€Å"less restricted† rather than another part of life (Warde, 1997:10). In reality, Bauman claimed that there is a small role for choices, for example, we cannot choose to be born into which family, but within consumption, we have more power to alter our choices. Bauman believed that individuals are thought to gradually detach themselves from the social regulations and create their own personal identity by making their own choices. These two theories differ in relation to social environment and habits, to freedom of choice on the consumption of food. Bourdieu’s theory is more commonly practiced in modern society as different social classes dominate our choice of food. The working class tends to eat food which has a â€Å"high amount of animal fat†, compared with the middle and upper classes (Mennell, 1992:54). Besides, people from poorer backgrounds may understand that fresh food is healthier; however, they could not afford to travel further to purchase fresh food (Whelan, 2002: 2083). Therefore they tended to purchase cheap quality food with a high fat content, from nearby shops.  © 2006 The International Journal of Urban Labour and Leisure 2 There have been rapid changes in food consumption over the past few decades. Alan Warde, in his book, Consumption, Food & Taste suggested four theses for the changes in eating habits. Firstly, people have more freedom on the choice of food, but are uncertain of what to eat. In modern society, we have a wider range of food available to us. As technology is constantly improving, we are no longer restricted by the seasons and harvests, which had affected people previously (Beardworth, 2000:33). However, Claude Fischler saw this as an â€Å"omnivore’s paradox† (Warde, 1997:30). Human beings want a variety to choose from; however, they feel anxious and unsure about trying new foodstuffs. This can be further explained by the changing concept of food poverty. In the past, food poverty was referred to as â€Å"lack of food, under- nutrition† (Adams, 2000:48). In the contemporary society, food poverty means â€Å"overabundance of processed foods, lack of balance diet† (Adams, 2000:48). Before, we experienced under nutrition, and now, we suffer from an unbalanced diet. Although we may have more food than before, we do not know what to choose. This reflects the lack of education in healthy eating. The second thesis suggested that in a mass producing society, people would consume similar products and gradually lose their identities. Individual producers tend to dominate particular industrial markets, for example big brands like McDonald’s and Coca-Cola target customers en mass. Mass food production can be explained by ‘McDonaldisation’, where customers experience the â€Å"same look, same service, same products and same taste† (Germov, 1999:12). This thesis is supported by a report by the Financial Times Exporter in 1995 (Adams, 2002:47). In the report, sixty-five percent of people in China recognized the brand name Coca Cola and nearly half of the people knew big brands like Pepsi. This concluded that large corporations ‘mould’ our taste and have great control over our choice of food. One may argue that supermarkets bring a wider selection to people. In fact, some of the varieties are created by developing alternative forms of packaging and storing methods, such as canned fish, frozen fish and fresh fish (Warde, 1997:167). Therefore, we will enjoy many versions of the same products. In a broader view of the food industry, the five largest supermarkets in the UK, dominates seventy percent of the grocery market. (Adams, 2002:47) This large market share led to the closure of many local stores. Single mothers or elderly people who live in rural areas will suffer a further limitation of food due to the restriction on mobility and financial support (Whelan, 2002:2083). Since mass production has moulded our tastes and choices, consumers start losing their personal taste and identities. To react against this passive consuming pattern, people are driven towards the post-Fordist view on consumption, which is the main focus of the third thesis. In the post-Fordist world, all commodities are expected to be more consumer-orientated. As the consumer’s expenditure increases, they expect the quality of food to be higher. People require greater differentiation of the commodities in different markets. For example, McDonalds serves a different menu across the world to accommodate differing cultures with distinct tastes. This is illustrated by McDonald franchises in Germany, whom also serve beer as refreshment. Customers hope to buy food that serves their interests and their local traditions. Businesses increase their profits and the consuming power; by produce the right products for the targeted consumers. A more suitable product for the customers, equates to more purchases which in turn equates to more income.  © 2006 The International Journal of Urban Labour and Leisure 3. The final thesis describes the persistence of social differentiation. Warde uses Bourdieu’s theory to prove that food consumption is a â€Å"means of expressing ‘distinction’† and has social meanings behind it. For example, class differences play a role in dictating eating habits. In this way, food consumption has more social meanings than a consume-to-survive model. In comparing the eating behaviour of manual workers and white collar workers, Bourdieu observed that clerical staff paid more attention to body maintenance and slimness whilst manual workers, paid limited attention to their waistline. This observation is seen in France. In Britain, Warde suggested that class distinction in relation to food has been more obvious in recent decades. Finkelstein supports this idea by saying that â€Å"dinning out is an expression of individuality, choice, spontaneity and that we select restaurants for food and price in ways which demonstrate our discrimination and what we value and desire† (Beardsworth, 1997:119). The interest of the media, increasing eating-out habits and foreign cuisines are becoming more common, food consumption has made a significant distinction between classes. There is a clear line between the richer and the poorer, and who can afford to taste different types of food. These theses have helped us to understand the reasons behind changes in food consumption. Fast food outlets are one of the popular choices for dinning out and have had a big impact on our food consumption. In the following paragraph, the significant effects that fast food has on our choices of diet will be examined. A Fast Food Nation? Fast food culture has penetrated into our lives and influenced our eating habits. The fast food industry grew fast in the 1990s. In 1991, fast food had reached nineteen percent of the global consumer catering market (Tansey, 1995: 133). From 1992 to 2003, expenditure spent on eating and drinking outside home has increased by 89. 9 per cent. (Website 1) These food shops provide roast chicken, pizza, etc. However, there is a limited choice of food and most of them have a high fat content (Millstein, 1993: 220). Excessive consumption predisposes individuals to a great deal of health problems in later life. Foods high in fats can cause high blood pressures, cancer, atherosclerosis and heart disease. In recent years, the increase in consciousness of healthy eating has forced the fast food chains to change their menu in order to survive. For example, McDonalds now offers a new menu which includes green salad, carrot sticks and a fresh fruit pack. This was done in response to public concern about the nutritional values of its food, following the film â€Å"Supersize Me†. This programme follows Morgan Spurlock who lived on nothing but McDonalds for an entire month. Spurlock risked his health the sake of this project and it resulted in numerous visits to the doctor. (Website 2) Increasingly, fast food chains have started to advertise with the concept of â€Å"light or low fat† meals. As a customer, we are often misled by these statements and believe that the â€Å"low fat† meal is a healthier option. The Times Newspaper compared the fat content and the price of a standard burger with a chicken caesar salad. (Website 3) With regards to the price, the salad costs twenty nine pence more than a Big Mac. Data shows that a chicken salad with dressing and croutons contains 21. 4g of fat, whereas a standard burger only contains 7. 7g of fat. Even adding a portion of chips to the burger will result in a smaller amount of fat (16. 7g) than the salad. (Website 3) One may think that the salad dressing causes the high fat content of the salad; however, this is not true.  © 2006 The International Journal of Urban Labour and Leisure 4 From the McDonalds website, a chicken caesar salad without a dressing still contains more fat than a burger. (Website 4) Another shocking data is the salt content of the crispy chicken ranch salad is more than half of the Government’s recommended daily allowance of 6g. (Website 4) Therefore, the salad which seems like a healthier option to the consumer is in fact more expensive and less healthy than a burger. Other than fast food chains, consumers can purchase fast food from the supermarkets. Ready meals, frozen or canned food can be categorized as fast food (Millstone, 2003: 94). With the invention of the microwave, ready meal culture has been further developed. There was a rapid increase in the sale of microwaves from five million in 1981 to seventy million in 2000 (Milldstone, 2003: 94). Microwaves enable food to be ready within minutes whereas it may take at least half an hour to cook a meal using the oven. In 1997, an Australian newspaper demonstrated how different social classes chose different fast foods (Germov, 1999: 137). Wealthier and well educated people believed that choosing takeaway foods such as Thai and Japanese are higher in nutrition (Germov, 1999: 137). On the other hand, people in the lower socioeconomic state tended to consume food with a high fat and salt content, for example, pizzas and burgers. Therefore, we could find â€Å"nutritional underclass† with distinct eating patterns (Germov, 1999: 137). Nutritional underclass refers to the difficulty of lower socioeconomic groups in making choices about food and diet. This is turn leads to a poor nutritional intake. By comparing different consumption patterns of takeaway food between people in different classes, two features have been developed. Firstly, fast food is consumed and well developed in all classes but wealthier people tend to have more choices available to them. Besides, most fast food does not provide the consumer with balanced nutritional values that we need from a meal. That is a reason why the public label fast food as unhealthy food. Our food consumption patterns are affected by different media in our society. These are a powerful way of educating the public with the knowledge of what is healthy to eat and how to eat healthy. The following paragraphs examine the effectiveness of the healthy eating promotions. Health Promotion (By Government, Media, Food Industries). Different groups have tried to promote healthy eating in their own distinct ways. Several groups take control over our choices of food and actively promote healthy eating. These include: the Government departments, the food industries and the media. The progress and the effectiveness of the healthy eating promotion campaigns within these sectors will now be examined. The Governments the dominant enforcement body has introduced many healthy eating promotion initiatives to push the nation to eat more healthily. Its aim is to enforce regulations on food production in a bid to prevent illness (Mennell, 1992:40), so as to reduce the costs and burden on National Health Service. The Government has come a long way on the healthy eating campaign. The emergence that some of  © 2006 The International Journal of Urban Labour and Leisure 5 our diets are responsible for certain diseases such as cancer, new food policies were created to improve and promote healthy eating (Baggott 2000,168). From the early 1970s onwards, the Government became more aware of the public’s diet and set up several organizations such as the Committee on the Medical Aspects of Food and Policy (COMA), the National Advisory Committee on Nutrition Education (NACNE) and the Joint Advisory Committee on Nutrition Education. (Baggott, 2000:136) Their mission was to provide nutritional advice to the public and promote healthy eating. (Beardsworth, 2000:136) However, the Government departments’ interference with the work of these organisations resulted in little success being achieved (Baggott 2000:170). With the increasing public interest in health and food safety in the 1990s, the Labour Government introduced tougher policies on food and health when they came to power in 1997 (Baggott, 2000:175). The Food Standards Agency (FSA) has been authorized a new set of powers to give nutrition guidelines and labelling advice. The FSA recommended six grams of salt per day and wanted to introduce the â€Å"colourcoded system† on ready-made foods, so customers could identify the fat, salt and sugar content of the food by the labels. The FSA believes that specific seasoning contained within the food, will determine whether it is healthy or not. Food with a low salt, fat and sugar content is considered to be healthy by the FSA. (Website 5) The colour-coded system will show consistency for all food packaging; therefore, it is easier for everyone, including children, to recognize the foods which are considered to be healthy and also reduces any confusion. In February 2004, the National Health Service (NHS) published a free booklet called â€Å"Five a Day Made Easy† to promote a healthier lifestyle. (Website 1) It believes that eating five portions of fruit or vegetable per day, is eating healthily. Therefore, the Government considers fruit and vegetables as the key element of healthy food. In November 2004, the FSA put forward the ‘traffic light labels’ to the Public Health White Paper. (Website 7) However, there are a lot of pressures around this recommendation. The food and farming industries were worried that full labelling indicating the fat, sugar and salt content will increase their cost and cause restriction on their marketing strategies. (Baggott 2000:171) Moreover, the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) who is the largest representative of the food and drink manufacturing companies pointed out that the ‘traffic light labels’ are too â€Å"simplistic, subjective and potentially misleading†. (Website 8) Rather than help consumers fit the labelled food into a balanced diet, it is likely that they will simply view the food as good or dismiss it as bad. There are pressures that prohibit the Government from implying more regulation on food labels. Since the closure of food industries do not simply lead to less food choices, but also a great deal of job losses and plunging of the economy, the Government is required to think carefully about the implications of new regulations and whether the new comprehensive food label would working on not. The media also plays an important role in promoting healthy eating concepts. The term media refers to television, radio, poster advertisements, and newspaper and magazine articles. With the media’s wide spread of power, the issues they brought up helped to give information on diets quickly. However, it is debatable whether all the media are impartial and helpful in improving our diets. Since most of the media  © 2006 The International Journal of Urban Labour and Leisure 6 relied on the advertising revenues to survive, concerns are made to the effect of their advertisers (Tansey, 1995:183). In the advertising aspect, American children watch 20,000 commercials a year where at least 10,000 of them are food products. (Millstein 1993:219) In Britain, food industries have spent forty billion every year on advertising (Millstone, 2003: 98). Food advertisements are wide spread on television, magazines, radio, internet and posters on the street. Most of the advertised products are branded and processed. More importantly, compared with the perishable food, they are high in sugars, refined starches, fats and added salt (Millstone, 2003:98). These advertisements persuade consumers to buy more. Food products such as chocolates and crisps are promoted to the teenage market (Conner, 2002:120). Children consume the confectionaries between meal times which lead them to miss out their meals, consequently, not acquiring enough nutrition (Dobson, 1994:19). The effects of advertisements are powerful, but not always helping to promote healthy eating ideas. Media can be a direct tool to help the public understand the scientific reports and learn about food safety and what is healthy to eat. However, sometimes the headlines of the news reports are misleading and exaggerated. One of examples is the headline from New York Times â€Å"Low fat diet does not cut health risks†, where that heading is referring to a study of women aged fifty to seventy-nine years old with respect to breast cancer research (Newsweek, March 2006). People who do not read the details will presume that low fat diet is useless in maintaining health, whereas if you read the whole article one will find out that low fat diet does not reduce your risk of breast cancer. The media penetrates every household and although it might not always guide the public on healthy foods, they are definitely helping to shape the future food consumption patterns. Food industries and the retailers produce and sell the food. Food industries promote their products in a healthy manner only because of the market’s need. The major concern of a food business is to make profit. There is a limit on how much a person can eat and consume, therefore the overall demand for food will not increase much. However, the food industries can further expand their market and make more profit by adding value to fresh food and turning them into commodity goods such as canned food, frozen food etc (Warde, 1997:191). Food processors have a set of ingredients to ‘add-value’, they are sugar, starch, fat and flavourings (Tansey, 1995:111). Consequently, processed food is not as healthy as raw food. In order to fulfil the customers’ health desires, supermarkets use healthy eating as one of their promotional strategies. Tesco has improved their company image by initiating healthy eating and has launched food labels on its retail products (Murcott, 1998:119). Although its original aim was to increase profit, it did arouse people’s attentions to eat healthier. On one hand, the supermarkets are promoting healthy eating; on the other hand, they develop all sort of processed food such as chilled and ready meals at the same time to exploit another market. Most supermarkets have developed their own branded products. This is to enlarge their market share rather than providing customers with a wider choice. One of the examples is chilled ready-meals where this kind of product was completely new in 1980s (Murcott, 1998:119). Marks and Spencer, as a pioneer, developed this market. By the 1990s, this market was worth over three hundred million pounds per annum  © 2006 The International Journal of Urban Labour and Leisure 7 (Murcott, 1998:119). These ready-meals are one of the processed foods with added salt and sugar. With confusing food labels on the packaging, consumers can hardly calculate how much salt they consume. Since the central aim of food manufacturers and retailers are to make profit, their intention to promote healthy eating is not convincing enough. There is still a baffling question of what to eat is value for money and good for health (Jenkins, 1991: 54). Do We Have a Choice to Eat Healthy? Although we are responsible for looking after our own health, the public, private and voluntary sectors have directed our choice of food. Our choices of food are affected by social, cultural and political factors rather than individuals’ preference. Social factors included class, age, family backgrounds considerations. The direct social-economical restriction of our choice of food is the amount of money we have available to spend on food. Jenkins supports this idea by noting that â€Å"knowledge is a source of consumer power, but only when you have got money to spend† (Jenkins, 1991:72). Our choices of food are based on the amount of wealth. He pointed out that poorer people tended to pay more for food. This is not only due to the limitation of transport, but due to the amount of product they could afford to buy (Jenkins, 1991: 74). Small purchases are more expensive compare with bulk sales. Poor people suffer from the consequences of supermarket sale strategy. For example, the price for two packs of chicken thighs is 148 pence per pound, whilst the price for eight packs of chicken thighs is 135 pence per pound (Jenkins, 1991:73). Customers will get a better deal if they buy products in bulk. This illustrates that poor people know how to eat healthily, but they cannot afford to do so. Other than getting food that is not value for money, poor people suffer the fact that they know what is good for them but cannot afford to purchase it. For poor people, food expenditure is elastic and paying for other bills to maintain the living is more important (Murcott, 1998:177). Cutting the food budget is the most direct way to save money. Therefore, even though parents know that fresh juice is more nutritional than squash, they can do nothing about it. At the end of the day, even if the government has successfully promoted the healthy eating concept to the public, certain people still do not eat healthily due to the financial constraints. Different age groups have various food consumption patterns. The elderly prefer to stick with the traditional food for instance roast meat, whereas young people adopt new things such as rice or curries easily (Murcott, 1998:175). There is a rapid development of convenience food, but it does not necessarily mean that people in all age groups enjoy more choices to eat healthy. The elderly is an example that demonstrates a negative perception on fast food and ready-meals and they believe that home-cooked food is healthier. Therefore, a larger range of processed products do not mean a greater choice of food for everyone. Our eating habits are also constructed by the environment in which we grow up. Therefore, our families have a direct effect on our diet. A research was carried out in the early 1980s, on all major aspects of family food provision and consumption (Rodmell, 1986:73). This study found that the role of the housewife did not  © 2006 The International Journal of Urban Labour and Leisure 8 automatically give you the power to make a decision of what to prepare for meals. Surprisingly, most housewives claimed that they would cook whatever their husbands liked, in order to please them. Some wives claimed that even though they did not like the unhealthy diets, they would still cook it for their husbands to reward them for a long working day. As a child, there was less choice; they had to eat what was given to them. As a result, our tastes of food are customized by the working men. Recently, with the increasing number of single parent households, where many of them are either unemployed or earn a small amount of money, the choice of food remains to the individuals who purchase food for the rest of the family. Cultural differences affect our choices of food and whether we know how to eat healthily with our ethnicity backgrounds and traditions. There is a diversity of health implications and how people define healthy choices among different cultures. People have their own traditions in choosing and cooking food. ‘One size fits all’ health education programmes do not fit all the ethnics. One of the examples is that in Chinese traditions, food is divided in to ‘yang’ (hot) and ‘yin’ (cold), where eating yang food when our body is in yin’s condition and vice versa (Germov, 1999:150). Therefore, the health professionals have to study the background of minority groups and teach them to eat healthily without spoiling their culture. To familiarise the ethnic minority groups with the nutrient value, specialists about particular cultures are required to educate the minority group with healthy eating knowledge. There have been a few changes in food labelling policy, but these regulations have never requested manufacturers to provide a comprehensive nutrition label. As a customer, we have the right to know what kind of ingredients are in the processed food that we are consuming. However, food industries remain powerful and can keep the customers in ignorance. The Health Education Authority performed a survey with regards to food labels in the early 1990s (Hea, 1996:19). In this survey, twenty five percent of the informants have never read the nutritional information on food packages. This shows that the food label is important in directing food choices, as three quarters of those questioned follow guidance from the nutritional advice. Therefore, providing a comprehensive label on food packaging is essential. In recent years, a great deal of new products has had dishonest slogans on them, such as â€Å"low fat†, â€Å"freshly squeezed†, and â€Å"no artificial additives† (Jenkins, 1991:43). For example, olestra is a type of oil used to produce ‘low fat’ products. However, it brings significant side effects such as abdominal cramps when we consume it in large amounts (Germov, 1999:303). As a customer, reading the food label is not sufficient to conclude whether a particular product is healthy or not, we have to under the meaning behind these â€Å"low fat† products. In a food market where food labels are not universal and some of the packaging is misleading, there is no way to ensure that the product we choose is healthy. Knowing what is healthy is not good enough for the contemporary food market, consumers also have to learn and understanding the meanings behind the food labels. Therefore, understanding how to eat healthily is important, but regulations on food labels are also essential.  © 2006 The International Journal of Urban Labour and Leisure 9 Methodology. Research Aim There are a few aims for this research. This study aims to explore perceptions on the healthy eating concept and review the reasons behind people’s choice of food. Furthermore, it seeks to examine awareness of Government policies on healthy eating promotion. It is also important to examine the reliability of food labels and the popularity of fast food culture. Semi-structured Interviews. It is important to see if there is a correlation between the literatures in chapter one and the research I do, therefore, selecting an appropriate way to carry out this research is essential. Semi-structured interviews were held on a one-to-one basis where interviewees were given a few topics to discuss. This interview consisted of three main parts. Part A is concerned about the interviewees’ healthy eating concepts and their view of contemporary eating culture. By understanding how they defined a healthy diet, participants were asked to review their food consumption habits, restrictions on food shopping and their opinion on fast food culture. In the final of the interview, I enquired about their knowledge on Government policies and supermarket promotions on healthy eating. This research aimed to understand people’s view and opinion rather than to test their knowledge and numerical data. Therefore, it is more suitable to use a qualitative approach. Qualitative research helps to develop interviewees’ personal opinions and experiences for this research. The research is based on one-to-one semi structured interviews, which allows me to have more freedom in developing the interview and pursue further questions in response to the replies received (Bryman, 2004:543). Each interview lasted approximately an hour in order to allow interviewees to express themselves fully. In order not to interfere with the interview, I did not express my opinions on the topics. I guided the discussions with the same topic questions for everyone.