Media Influencing Our Consumption

      I would like to address how the media plays a large role in our food consumption. I remember being that four year old girl watching Britney Spears in a Pepsi commercial endorsing this sugary beverage. Consumers want something that looks and tastes good, but they are blinded to more healthier food choices because of the media. How many celebrities do you see endorsing organic apples? If we weren't bombarded by these advertisements there would be less pressure and angst to buy these products. Even if we like to say peer pressure doesn't effect us, it does have a strong impact on the majority.
      This is the approach I would like to see change the face of American food products and consumption. Using the media as a strong role in this process, we make unhealthy foods look just as bad as cigarettes and tobacco. We could use the same approach by first banning all ads for unhealthy foods while endorsing healthier products. Then we use celebrity spokespeople to represent healthy eating as a means of influencing the general public. Also, just as elementary schools teach that drugs and smoking are bad, we'll use the same tactic; training kids from a young age to make responsible food choices.
      Just like the saying "Rome wasn't built in a day," this will be a lengthy process but the end results should prove beneficial to the overall health of the American people. Instead of using the media as a hotbed for selling unhealthy foods it could be a hotbed for organic choices and as well as introducing home gardening as a way to save money by eating better. There is so much the media could do to help the lives of many Americans living with obesity and other health problems, but with every problem there is always a solution.