“Welcome to McDonalds, how can I help you? Yes, I'll have two Mcdoubles, the four pieces of chicken nuggets and a small coke please. Ok, your total is $4.00, please move on to the next window. "If you only have a dollar to spend and you have two kids to feed, would you want more for less or less for more? Ten items from the dollar menu for $10.60 seems good enough, right? Or would you like ten more items from the grocery store for $12.90? The answer is clear. Would you choose $10.60 to save money and fill your kids. Why has America come to this? We've been told since day one to eat healthy, save money and be fit, but can we? Everyone has been to a fast food restaurant and ordered from the dollar menu, remember how you got a burger, a fry and a drink for three dollars and after that you'll be completely full Now you go to the market and you can only get a head of broccoli and a water to fill you up, hopefully, but it won't. Unfortunately we have skewed our food system towards bad calories, which is no accident because they are the ones that are heavily subsidized. The cost of food is at an all-time low , less and less of our money comes earmarked for food in every paycheck. Since the 1970s, government policies have encouraged farmers to produce more corn, justified by consumer demand, which in turn lowers the price of food. The US government has spent $19.2 billion subsidizing corn and soybeans, which form the vital basis of all junk food. The federal government subsidizes producers of agricultural products in order to stabilize food prices and also ensure abundant food production. With the government subsidizing corn farmers like Cargill and Monsanto by paying them to produce large quantities of corn, companies like McDon... middle of paper... and unhealthy create a perpetual cycle. On the opposite end of the spectrum, upper-middle and upper-class people can afford healthier foods, which is why obesity rates are lower in the upper classes. An individualistic explanation for rising obesity rates would focus on people's poor food choices, such as how Maria Andrea Gonzalez chooses her diet. So how can companies let this happen? We the people are doing this to ourselves, not to fast food. George William Domhoff, a research professor in psychology and sociology, says that because we as consumers have power over the company's "food system" with what we buy. So all in all, we consumers can't blame fast food for our health problems, we decided to go and eat the unhealthy food. But if that's all you can afford, you have no choice, the only choice you have is what you want from the menu.