America and The Overconsumption of Everything (Including Cocaine)
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March 23, 2016America and The Overconsumption of Everything (Including Cocaine)
There are no shortages of fat American jokes. Just about every reach of this great blue planet has a variation on the tale. But the truth is: the good old US of A is a population of gluttons. Overconsumption is actually a problem here. Like, we have too much shit but still want more?
Not only has average house size (and average room size within said house) risen drastically since the 1920’s, leaving many isolated in their own homes and families, but so has everything from cars, to closets, to eating. Americans’ insatiable appetite for “more and more” has never been so apparent.
You’re telling me you suffer from obesity and have food stamps because you can’t afford to eat?
A 2012 study (pictured above) published in 2012 by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime showed that the US contributed to nearly equal the amount of cocaine usage as the rest of the entire planet combined. So it got us thinking: what else do Americans overindulge in?
The Overconsumption of Turkey
Instead of firing an alarming shotgun shell at the entirety of food consumption, we decided to hone in on one random product, and after flipping an infinitely-sided die, we landed on turkey.
Per capita estimates from 2015 place Israel, once again, at the top of the list of turkey consumption, stating an average 28.66 lbs of turkey meat consumed per person each year as opposed to the US’s 16.55 lbs.
But, when calculating overall consumption, and after comparing population sizes (Israel: 8.2 million vs. US: 320 million) it is clear that 8.2 million people eating 29 lbs of turkey falls far below 320 million people eating 17 lbs of the feathery fowl.
The Overconsumption of Sugar
Linked to cancer, diabetes and even neurological disorders, the American overconsumption of sugar is, in my opinion, one of the greatest horrors visited upon our unsuspecting civilization. Here in the United States, the average person consumes more than 126 grams of sugar per day, which is slightly more than three 12-ounce cans of Coca-Cola.
That’s more than twice the average sugar intake of all 54 countries observed by market research firm Euromonitor.
The Overconsumption of Coffee
It’s no surprise that after becoming accustomed to the taste and unhealthy energy boost provided by consuming pure sugar that Americans would find the need to “perk” up their mornings through some other unhealthy habit. Specifically we mean coffee.
The United States consumes the most coffee overall, followed by Germany, Japan and France. Working extended hours to afford the cost of our overconsumption, leading to an overall lack of sleep, almost sounds too good to not be a plot by some nefarious corporation.
Quoting one of my favorite songs by underground hip hop artist B. Dolan, “Sell nicotine, caffeine, energy drinks. They’ll work till they forget to breathe, dream, or think.”
The real interesting statistic is the amount of people that have suffered adverse health problems from the consumption of caffeine.
The Overconsumption of Fossil Fuels
Not so much a surprise on this one either. Americans love their cars. Defined as encompassing the usage of coal, oil, petroleum and natural gas products, fossil fuels are a daily commodity. Wars are started, and prolonged, for this black sludge.
Although according to the graph, as of 2013 the US was well above the world average of consumption, it does show an interesting trend. Particularly towards intersection. Which is almost even more terrifying to think about. Our abundantly clear overconsumption of everything is heading towards becoming the global average.
The good news is that in our exhaustive research to find out what Americans overconsume, surprisingly, we found a ton of areas in which we don’t, like movies and television (go figure), alcohol, even wood and tree harvesting has us at a pretty low place.
But the numbers are fluid and change constantly, unlike our waistlines…
Is there something you overindulge in? Are you proud to be part of a country that created the phenomenon of “binge watching”? Let us know: comment below and share on Facebook!
