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However, as bad as the conditions may be working inside the restaurants, conditions in the meat-processing plants that provide the animal products used by the industry are far worse. Workers safety laws are ignored, and disease is prevalent. Schlosser reports a heart-rending tale of a young boy who died from E.coli bacteria after eating a tainted Jack-in-the-Box burger. It is difficult to track the source of an infection because "a single fast-food hamburger now contains meat from dozens or even hundreds of different cattle" (Schlosser 2004). . Despite the fact that cows are herbivores, they are fed scraps of animals to inexpensively fatten them up for slaughter. Cattle, chickens, and pigs themselves suffer under terrible, confining and unsanitary conditions to sate the insatiable appetite for beef, chicken, and pork of the major American fast food companies
Schlosser's book is dark, even depressing at times, but his anecdotal style gives it a great deal of humor, as he demonstrates how the companies...
Schlosser pays a visit to a 'flavor factory' where he finds himself able to taste all of the flavors of burgers, fries, and other foods simply by smelling chemicals. This highlights how poor-quality beef and other byproducts are turned into cheap food to suit the palate.
Without explicitly calling for populist action, Schlosser's book urges the reader to become a more mindful consumer of fast food and commercialized agriculture in general. Even if the reader cannot make sweeping changes by him or herself, voting with one's dollars and not buying fast food is a first step to enacting change. Schlosser finds hope in the afterward to his book that smaller, regional chains with higher-quality food are eclipsing the dominance of McDonald's, and hopes that consumer pressure will cause all of the industry to adopt more sustainable practices.
Work Cited
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation. New York: Harper Perennial, 2002.
Work Cited
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation. New York: Harper Perennial, 2002.
Fast Food Nation -- Chapter 2 America without McDonald's, Burger King, Wendy's and other fast food restaurants is difficult to imagine these days, but before Ray Kroc bought the franchise rights to McDonald's in the mid-twentieth century, fast food was not an entrenched part of our culture. In Fast Food Nation,' Eric Schlosser spends the second chapter of his book describing how Ray Kroc paralleled the work of Walt Disney and
Therefore from the results of this study alone it would be quite easy to conclude that access to fast food is responsible for increased obesity. Other evidence may however dispute this conclusion though. A very recent study by Morland & Evenson found examined the relationship between the presence of different types of food establishments and a number of different diet-related health outcomes, including obesity, in the southern region of the
"While a handful of workers manage to rise up the corporate ladder, the vast majority lack full-time employment, receive no benefits, learn few skills" (Schlosser 6). The companies actually receive tax credits for hiring low-income workers although "in 1996 an investigation by the U.S. Department of Labor concluded that 92% of these workers would have been hired by the companies anyway" (Schlosser 72). "While the real value of the wages
This is the construction Schlosser follows in this chapter. Schlosser's style and progression in this chapter both builds and strengthens his argument in several ways. The picture plays on typical views of families while also detailing a specific instance of the problems that occur in the slaughterhouse and meat packing world. The passage that follows does the same thing, at first noting that nothing seems especially amiss, but then notes
Trusted Friends Fast Food Nation: Chapter 2 review "Your trusted friends" (31-59) One of the most striking aspects of McDonald's is the way in which it markets itself as a 'friendly' organization committed to family values, even while it sells food that is blatantly unhealthy and damaging to consumers' health. The Happy Meals it promotes to children have an innocent quality, even while the food is carefully engineered so that it
Fast Food Nation" Chapter 3 "Behind the Counter" Process essay: The process of coaching children in youth sports In his chapter, "Behind the Counter," of his expose Fast Food Nation, the author Eric Schlosser highlights the darker side of working at a fast food restaurant. The labor is frequently young, often exploited, and regarded as a disposable commodity by the managers. In fact, it works to the company's advantage if there