Answer:
Junk food has become a global culture because it is convenient and you can basically eat it anywhere.
Explanation:
In this modern day and age, people are always busy, no matter what your job/work is. Because of this work environment, maintaining health is not a priority. Just thinking about eating and munching down food is enough for an average person without looking out for the health components of the food. At the end of the day, we want something sweet, something we crave. Health is not a huge motivator in that time frame. Junk food has also been very convenient when it comes to emotional fulfillment. You can just much on it while wallowing in all of your problems and quite frankly, it can be a great companion. Not for your bodily systems though.
It is significant to the story because California is the setting and all the events in the text takes place there.
Manipulate has a similar meaning to Control. Synonyms are word that are similar, antonyms are word that are almost opposite. So your answer is manipulate and control are Synonyms.