No Easy Answer: What to Eat

Jesus once said, "It is not what goes into the mouth of a man that defiles him, but what comes out of his mouth." (Matthew 15:11) Naturally I would have to take this quite out of context to argue with him. We are at an interesting time in history. Food is available for anyone patient enough to stand in front of the microwave for one minute. It's convenience base is painfully obvious in today's drive-through prominence. Giant fruits abound at the supermarket, fruit whose size would have been rare in fairly rich soil. An entree at a restaurant is really gonna cost you, but then again you are going to get at least twice as much food as you actually need.
The price paid by such wonders of modern convenience are plenty and severe. Obesity runs rampant. Heart disease is common place. There is little market for small time farmers. We don't really have any idea where our food comes from. Colon cancer is much more prominent than it used to be.
There is a lot in this topic to be provided in one essay. This is certainly a good idea for a more formal essay, because there is so much material to cover. The fact is even the "evil" side of fast food culture has its benefits in today's society. There is a heavy emphasis on schedules and jam-packed days in our culture today. While European countries, like Spain, maintain an emphasis on a large, slow prepared and slowly consumed dinner, most of the rest of the world has said goodbye to this practice. There is no time in today's culture for this. Coincidently, as of October 2007, Spain was the "poorest" 1st world country. I certainly couldn't blame this on the nation's dinner habits, but it is something to consider.
Fast food is convenient in our demanding culture. If there were no drive-through windows, most people would starve, because there is hardly any time to eat lunch, or prepare it in advance in a daily work schedule. With the high percentage of both single, working parents and families where both parents work, its easy to see why there is little time for food prep. One could spend more time cooking, but then life might become: wake, work, eat and sleep. It's a very depressing cycle to live for.
As stated above, however, its affects have been devastating. Advances in science and technology have led to excessive use of chemicals for shelf life and taste. These things are not normal for the body to ingest and some affects have been seen. Others are yet to be known.
Another thing to consider is the economic motive for todays fast foods, frozen foods and GMOs. Most companies who produce these products are rather large companies. Their motive has not necessarily been health, but profit. These foods can be produced cheaply and have a quick turnover. This equals big bucks. Their foods can be sold for much cheaper than whole foods and organic foods which are mainly produced by smaller farms and local growers. This harms the expansion of small growers and can even move them out of business.
There has been a refreshing, renewed interest in whole and organic foods. It seems bigger now than it did even five years ago and much more than it did ten years ago. This demand has, thankfully, put the pressure on big foods to produce more natural and organic products. Even so these products are cheaper than the small growers. If big food dominates the organic and natural food market then they make the rules. It seems it may become a cycle. With less small competition the big companies may bring back cheap production methods and products until demands call for a change again.
I think it is better to never find out the effects of growth hormones than to find out they are no good. There is a natural order. The earth, as we know it (naturally) has brought us some wonderful food. Sure, we as humans do what we can to improve it, but I am of the opinion that a clever combination of "Nature's choicest products," is a safer, healthier, more economically balanced method of eating than to chemically alter the food we eat.