Why do Americans blame everything on fast food?

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Last night I was on YouTube and watched a top-ten video of countries with the highest life expectancy (for the average person, of course). My home country Canada was no. 9, but the US didn't even make the list. Someone (American) made a comment to the video that if it wasn't for fast food they'd live a lot longer. Why is it so easy for Americans to blame fast food places for all their problems? I really, REALLY hate to admit it, but Canada has a real problem obesity as well, and there is a street in my city nicknamed "Burger Alley" because it has a McDonald's, a Burger King, a Wendy's and a Dairy Queen all within walking distance to each other! It really bother's me that they have no problem whatsoever with alcohol, drugs, tobacco, or the places and people that sell that garbage. They don't go on and on about how horribly stressed and sleep-deprived most Americans are and that most of it comes from work. And don't get me started on health care, poverty, the economy, crime, pollution and so on. But no, it's just so much easier to blame fast food places. Ever heard of a thing called moderation? Not everyone goes to a burger place every day and eats ten Big Macs all at once. If they don't want to serve it to fat people, then bars should not serve booze to alcoholics. I'm a teetotaler and I don't smoke. But I guess when I die they'll have to write on my gravestone "Here lies ------, she ate a cheeseburger."

As you might have noticed, some Americans are bad at taking responsibility for their own actions.

Me personally? I'm bad at taking responsibility for the actions of others when I have nothing to do with them. Specifically, I refuse responsibility for them.

When people eat more fast food, they are eating processed food that is less nutritionally balanced, and that ultimately leads them to eating less fresh foods, which are nutritionally superior. Processed food is not optimal for brain function, and fresh food is superior to processed food for the brain and nervous system. So many people are kind of handicapped in two ways.

I think the only time fast food can be beneficial is eating it before a workout, or if you have a job that is physically demanding. You will certainly feel better afterwards than eating broccoli beforehand.

Fast food is part of the American lifestyle. It's both very cheap and very quick, and suits the time-strapped and cash-strapped (or both) equally alike. Fast food thrives because of America's unique socioeconomic conditions.

What I find interesting in the U.S. is that there's a cultural divide in eating habits. The jurisdiction with the longest life expectancy in the U.S, Fairfax County, VA, has rates comparable to Japan's. It's also the wealthiest or second wealthiest by median income, rivaled only by next-door Loudon County. One can strongly correlate a county's life expectancy and its wealth.

This is the clearest evidence to me of an eating divide. The rich can afford fresher foods, and know more about their uses. One parent may be at home (which certainly isn't true in low income families), but more likely they get healthier take-out or hire a private chef a few nights a week. Those better-off also have more time to exercise, and certainly know more about its benefits. The cycle continues.

I agree. Fast food is not the only problem, and yes, a lot of people blame it for everything... but fast food aint good. But worst than fast food is the BIG portions of food people eat. I hardly find a restauraunt where I can eat a single portion and do not end up eating too much. The funny part is people usually say they eat junk food because it is faster, but that is not true. You usually find large lines in fast food restaurants. I have the phone number of my favorite Greek restaurant and we phone and order and they have the food ready to eat when we arrive. Beat that! I also love cooking, and usually I prefer eating at home because it is faster (and certainly cheaper) than eating out.

Blaming a scapegoat saves people from the unbearable pain of THINKING ABOUT STUFF

Don't other countries have fast-food as well?

I heard that in some countries, people know who Colonel Sanders and Ronald McDonald are, but they can't name their country's head of state.

I think that it's a pretty uncritical response to simply blame "fast food." I think the issues run somewhat deeper.

About 40 years ago, Americans had their most recent food crisis and the Nixon Administration adopted a "cheap food" policy. That was the start of the infiltration of corn into the North American diet. Corn lies at the bedrock of cheap and plentiful food, not merely as a food crop in its own right, but also as feed for food animals as well as egg and dairy producers, and as a source of a wide range of food additives including (but certainly not limited to HFCS).

This is coupled with an ever increasing supply of "instant", "quick," and "ready to eat" preparations--each of which is suffused with a range of food additives to extend shelf life, texture and flavour. When we no longer know how to prepare our food from raw ingrdients, we are truly in danger of losing our way, nutritionally.

they should be blaming everything on teh chemtrailz!

my relatives from Sweden love to visit the US every now and then. they tell me that whenever they are there and they go to a restaurant, they only ever order starters because they can't manage the regular portions. mind you - these are foodie types who can eat a lot when they love the food that's served, and they choose their restaurants carefully. maybe the fast food culture isn't your worst problem when it comes to the culinary.

Does some of this also start at the Farm with what we feed these animals? Haven't we brought unnatural changes to what these animals naturally eat versus Feed Stock?

Then down the line humans consume these animals with distorted diets.

I'd be curious how different farm raised meats are today from 50 or 100 years ago.