ABSTRACT
Super Size Me, the controversial film by Morgan Spurlock, made a simple claim: that America has grown obese because of McDonald’s. It was also somewhat simplistic. This chain of so-called restaurants provides an obvious scapegoat for anyone looking to pin the blame. All the same, nutritionists have long emphasized the important contribution of the food industry to the flood of calories that has engulfed consumers over the last few decades. To what extent is the industry truly responsible for the world’s obesity epidemic? We have seen its economic value to countries like the US or France. We have traced its development as it became highly concentrated, then globalized, then reorganized around large-scale distribution. Is it scientifically possible to disentangle the various responsibilities of these huge industrial and financial companies? Can the obesity epidemic be regarded as the inexorable consequence of our production and distribution system?
