by Elaina Marcotte

Created on: September 19, 2008

Ignorance is bliss so they say.You can also have ignorance towards something if you are uninformed. That there, is the huge problem, being uninformed. People live by so called facts that they have heard from a co-worker or a neighbour, other people's speculations due to no one having the straight up truths about something because there is no concise information to reference. Is this a dangerous thing then, being uninformed? It sure can be, which is why it would be a wonderful thing if fast food would come with warning labels as it should.

Ok so we all know that fast food is not the best thing for us, high fat, high calories, minimal vitamins and nutrients. But just how bad is it? Not so terrible that it shows immediate contradictions, and that is why people do not hinder that little bit they do know, that it is in truth bad for you. If people do not see specifics they adopt the invincible, oh it could never happen to me way of thinking. It was years ago now that the movie Super Size Me shocked the nation with the straight up reality of what McDonalds food ingested excessively will do to you, the man was dying! Since then we have seen a lot of improvements in the fast food industry, more salads, fruit, yogurt, grilled items even different oil that the food is fried in. So that in fact proves that knowledge is powerful and creates change.
Other potentiality dangerous things that we can put into our bodies come with warnings; bottles of cleaners, paint, household chemicals, they all clearly state they are poison, do not ingest. Cigarettes, the countless things the health boards warn us of about them. Yet people continue to smoke, this is true, but those warnings have opened people's eyes so wide that most have cut down at the least or quit all together with. Those who choose to have the invincibility attitude, well if they become sick, they were at least warned. But what if you were to get sick by eating food that you did not know was as bad for you as it is? What if that illness could have been prevented and surely many people would do something about it if they knew that was the case. Providing labels on the wrappers or packages would not be the end for fast food restaurants, who are a huge part of our communities and provide jobs for many. It would merely encourage people to make other food choices and possibly force another changes in the industry, and what would be wrong with that. We need to be conscience of our health, without it we have nothing, being aware is a good thing and positive change even better.
Our society should embrace education of any sort. Being knowledgeable and informed are things that we should seek. We need to focus on wellbeing. Lets face it with all of the things going on in our busy days how do we have time to research everything that comes into our lives, we place our trust in these establishments, and they should not shy away from us knowing exactly what it is we are eating. If they do so does that not send off warning bells? If they have nothing to hide then they should not. Warning labels are a fantastic idea, I for one like to know about the products that I buy and the foods that I feed my family and myself.

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