Case Study Video by BBC Titled "The Men Who Made Us Fat" (Term Paper Sample)

International business (I Bus 3510) Term assignment
Submitted by:
Date:
Combination:
1 Case
Video by BBC; The men who made us fat
2 Current events
How sugar and fat trick the brain into wanting more food
Why our food is making us fat
Are you eating too much?
3 Concepts
Impacts of globalization
Changing nature of global economy
Strategies for international business
Entry strategy and strategic alliance
Global production
Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Introduction PAGEREF _Toc467137119 \h 1Current events PAGEREF _Toc467137120 \h 2How sugar and fat trick the brain into wanting more food PAGEREF _Toc467137121 \h 2Why our food is making us fat PAGEREF _Toc467137122 \h 3Are you eating too much? PAGEREF _Toc467137123 \h 4Political orientation PAGEREF _Toc467137124 \h 5How my chosen combination helped me gain knowledge PAGEREF _Toc467137125 \h 6Take away from the assignment PAGEREF _Toc467137126 \h 8Reference PAGEREF _Toc467137127 \h 10
Introduction
The main reason I chose the video by BBC titled “the men who made us fat” stems from my strong passion for food related initiatives. I have always recognized the importance of food in the life of human beings, and appreciated the role played by each member in the food value chain before food arrives in our kitchens. What is more, I have often wondered who has the greatest responsibility towards ensuring quality in the food value chain. Watching the video gave the feeling that most of my questions regarding quality in the food industry are common to every food industry enthusiast. While watching the video I felt that the companies in the food industry are doing very little to address consumer concerns in the industry. I also felt that the companies are more profit oriented and hardly care about matters regarding quality. Lastly, I figured that to solve the problem, I have to play my role as consumer, which is to put pressure on the industry players. This was the driver to my choice of current events. Following are the current events I chose
* How sugar and fat trick the brain into wanting more food
* Why our food is making us fat
* Are you eating too much?
The first current event depicts how sugar and fat trick the brain into wanting more food. This relates with the documentary since the documentary speaks about the hedonic property of some foods. The second case study details how food is making people fat. This relates to the video since the video addresses this issue. Moreover the video depicts how the food industry companies are doing very little to address such issues. The last article relates to the video because it tries to enlighten the consumer about controversial food issues.
Current events
How sugar and fat trick the brain into wanting more food
I found this article to be very relevant to most of the things I had leant in class. Take for instance the topic regarding the impacts of globalization. One of the impacts of globalization as learnt from the course notes is the fact that negative practices can be easily spread. In the article, Jabr (2016) demonstrates how obesity, which was once a problem experienced in developed countries, is now a global menace. A positive impact of globalization, as we learnt in class, is effective solutions are adopted on a global scale. Again, in the article, the author Jabre (2016) tells of how a radical surgery to treat obesity can be accessed by anybody in the world. Something I found interesting in the article is the fact that science has produced enough evidence to indicate that some foods, especially those with sugar are addictive (Jabre 2016). The inference from this is that it is that food addiction is an actual reality that can be supported by conclusive scientific evidence. This made me wonder why food companies globally choose to ignore such sound scientific research. Most food companies argue that there is no such thing as hedonic foods, and as such, food addictions are the faults of the consumer. My recommendation on the issue would be that food companies should acknowledge the existing research and use it to solve the obesity problem for the greater good of the community. An area of similarity between the article and the video is concerning the magnitude and the nature of the food addiction problem. The article states that the problem is more common than thought, and is involuntary. In the article, the case of a massage therapist is presented. The therapist has found it extremely hard to resist the temptation of eating foods with high sugar content such as bread and ice cream (Jabr 2016). According to the author, this appetite is a medical condition that should be treated.
Why our food is making us fat
From the class notes, I learned about strategic alliances in international businesses. These alliances are vital to champion for the issues of the major industry players. This particular article displayed this concept in detail. In the article, food companies in the early seventies formed strategic alliances and used them to champion their wishes. Consequently, this led to most of the early signs of the negative effects of some foods being downplayed. Years later, the downplayed negative effects are visible, as evidenced by social problems such as obesity and high blood pressure, which are very common nowadays. The concept of global production is also illustrated in the article. According to the article, Richard Nixon in a bid to be elected hired an agricultural expert who emphasized the need for global large-scale production of food. The strategy worked. One similarity between the article, the previous article and the video, is the consistent denial by food companies concerning some of the negative effects of the foods they produce. Specifically, the use of sugar in food has been proven to have negative health effects. Nevertheless, food companies have continuously downplayed this truth since it would affect their businesses negatively. Another similarity in the article is the depiction of the magnitude of the food problem globally. Based on the article, the problem is bigger than assumed. Additionally, it is increasing at an alarming rate (Perreti 2012). According to the article, the major food industry companies must acknowledge the food problem. What is more, the companies need to be held responsible for their actions in that front. This calls on governments and the international community, to form joint policies to put the food companies to task. An interesting point highlighted in the article that must be emphasized is the role of food companies in the heath crisis resulting from food related problems. Unlike before, this time, the companies must take an active and positive role in solving the crisis.
Are you eating too much?
This particular article provided a slightly different approach to solving the food and health problems depicted in the videos and the previous article. While watching the video, I could not help but wonder what the role of the consumer in the discussion is. Whereas it may be, true that food companies need to be held to a higher level of ethical responsibility on the issue, this should not make us forget the role of consumers and other parties in the problem. The article took the direction of the role of the consumer in the problem. Before doing that, the article acknowledged the reality that indeed hedonic hunger is a true medical condition that deserves attention. However, to solve the problem the article proposes more work on the part of the consumer. According to the article, athletes are more susceptible to hedonic hungers as compared to other individuals (Group 2016). The article provided a scientific research conducted by Italian researchers to prove this point. To tackle the problem, first athletes must acknowledge that the problem actually exists. In this respect, a basic understanding of hedonic hunger process is important. The same was provided in the article. Secondly, an athlete must asses himself to establish whether he eats more than necessary due to hedonic hunger syndrome. To this, normal eating patterns and abnormal ones must be understood. Lastly, after acknowledging the problem, and realizing its extent in one’s own life, the athlete must now solve it. To do this, the athlete could use medical tools or have a plan on avoiding hedonic hunger and consequently hedonic eating. This article presented a new dimension to the problem. The article shifted attention from food companies and brought the backdrop on the actual consumer. This in my opinion is important in identifying the role each player in the problem has to play to solve the health problems resulting from hedonic hunger patterns.
Political orientation
Indeed, there is a visible political orientation in the video “the men who made us fat.” The man being interviewed in the video; David Kessler insists that food companies are acting irresponsibly, and as such, something needs to be done to stop them. He puts forth a series of arguments to support his claims in a bid to convince people that indeed something need to be done to restrict the food companies. This represents a left wing style of thinking (Class notes 2016). Left wing politically oriented people often feel the need to regulate the economy as opposed to allowing a free market with no trade restrictions. According to them, regulation is very important to prevent market exploitation by big corporations. In the video, Mr. Kessler seems to send a message to the big companies in the food industry that their behavior is unethical and as such needs to be regulated. Another piece of evidence to prove leftwing political orientation is the fact Mr. Kessler focuses his blame only on food companies. He, therefore, absolves consumers in the food industry of any responsibility. This is typical for ...