...The Changing of the Food Industry “In many respects, the fast food industry embodies the best and worst of American capitalism at the start of the twenty-first century – its constant stream of new products and innovations, its widening gulf between gulf between rich and poor” (Schlosser 6). In 2001 Eric Schlosser published “Fast Food Nation.” Eric Schlosser’s early 21st century muckraking text, “Fast Food Nation,” attempts to shed light on the consequences of the fast food industry on American society. The rise and growth of the fast food industry, like the meatpacking industry, illuminates the evolution of the American dream in post-World War II America. “Fast Food Nation” is a book about fast food, the values it embodies, and the world it has made. Fast food has proven to be a revolutionary force in American life; I am interested in it both as a commodity and as a metaphor. What people eat (or don’t eat) has always been determined by a complex interplay of social, economic, and technological forces (Schlosser 3). The fast food industry has been the largest industry to affect American society. It began as an industry with a few food stands here and there to an industry that has spread to every corner of America and wherever there are paying customers. The fast food industry has no limits. One can find fast food nearly anywhere nowadays in America. A person can find fast food at restaurants, zoos, stadiums, airports, malls, universities, trains, airplanes, Wal-Mart’s, gas...
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...Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal is the well-written, New York Times best selling book by Eric Schlosser. Schlosser takes the readers on a journey as he digs up the contemptible secrets that hide behind the walls of the fast food industry. From exposing the rats and cockroaches found near the food, to the fake chemical flavorings added, to the torturing of cattle and chickens, Schlosser is able to successfully convince the reader to re-evaluate the option of going to a fast food restaurant. The use of real world examples along with relatable topics culminate into a book that is compelling and eye-opening. Schlosser goes into depth about revealing the downside of the fast food industry by using traumatic real-life stories...
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...the excerpt “Why the Fries Taste So Good” by Eric Schlosser, Schlosser deeply examines the process of one individual farmer and his process, not to mention takes it as far as going to the International Fragrance and Flavor facilities to see what truly does make the fries taste so good. He does a good job of hitting each individual appeal as a writer in order for us as readers to accept the information he’s handing out. Even in Ian Brailsford’s review of Schlosser’s excerpt, he finds little if any opposition whatsoever. At one point he even says, “By focusing on Ray Kroc’s empire McDonald’s – America’s biggest employer and real estate owner – Schlosser is covering well-travelled academic terrain” (Brailsford 118.) By giving a logical, pathetic, and ethical appeal within the excerpt, we as readers can verify his work as credible and learn from what he has taught us. All throughout the third page of Schlosser’s excerpt, he provides us with information that adheres to the logical and reasoning portion of the reading. He even adds a little bit of ethical appeal within the paragraphs. By telling us that he personally examined the facilities of the IFF and saw first hand the ingredients and recipes that went in through the manufacturing process from pilot kitchens and laboratories of numerous name brand products that we as readers would be able to familiarize ourselves with. Also, researching the importance of not just the taste of the food but the aroma around it and how 90% of it is...
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...Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, obvious by its title is a book about the fast food industry. The book begins with the start of fast food, which was post World War 2. Much detail is provided in regards to the chemical flavoring of the food, cattle and chicken farms, the working conditions, the dangers of eating the meat and the rapidly growing fast food industry. As the book opens, it discusses how the veterans of the fast food industry came to be in so-cal. Some of those discussed were the brothers of McDonalds and Carl Karcher. At the time of the rise in the fast food industry is a time when one of Disney’s most prominent figures Ray Kroc was having complicated relationships with the McDonalds brothers as they were all rising to fame. Schlosser goes into detail about the methods of a marketing and advertising to children. The authors’ main focus of study while conducting his observations was Colorado Springs, CO. Eric observes the employees of the fast food industry, turnover rates. He believes through his study that the fast food industry employs the largest rate of minimum wage workers. In the second portion of the book, it begins to go into detail on the chemical substances contained in the food arguing that this is what makes the food taste so good. As he explains the meatpacking industry he speaks of it more derogatively then any other issue. Schlosser makes it clear in his book that meatpacking is one of the most dangerous jobs in the United States. The way cattle...
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...5/12/2013 Fast Food Nation The investigative journalist, Eric Schlosser, has written a book to illuminate an epidemic that started in America and is now becoming one of the world’s largest problems. In Fast Food Nation, Schlosser frames today’s Fast Food giants in history,American entrepreneurialism, and over consumption in respect to consumer and employee wellbeing. The power of all modern Fast Food giants combined have eclipsed the power of any one government. Marketing has become a key component to luring consumers to fast food. Schlosser makes the argument that a once AllAmerican ideal, fast food has grown too big to control. Schlosser highlights the freedom right philosophy of make your own luck through the story of Carl’s Jr. founder, Carl Karcher. Karcher did not grow up in the restaurant business, rather a string of opportunities and risk created a perfect storm for Karcher. At a young age Carl went to work for family in California. After 3 years he delivered fresh bread for a bakery. He was now married and took out a loan to buy a hot dog stand. 4 years later he opened his first restaurant Carl’s DriveIn BBQ. This was all happening at the same time McDonald’s was becoming big in Southern California. In 30 years Carl’s Jr had over 300 restaurants. By managing risk and a good business model, Carl Karcher thrived using freedom right philosophy. He also happened to be a political conservative. Order left philosophy is brought to life in Fast Food Nation in the horrific plight of Kenny...
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...used to buy food in the United States was spent to prepare meals at home. Today about half of the money used to buy food is spent at restaurants-- mainly at fast food restaurants (Eric Schlosser)." Fast food restaurants are spreading so rapidly that they are continually hiring more and more teenagers and foreigners to treat exceedingly awful, while also luring millions of people all around the world to indulge in their fake and artificial meals. Those meals that people are so addicted to, keep seducing them to go back to the fast food restaurants so they are forced to wallow in their obesity and make it worse. The novel Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser demonstrates how detrimental fast food is,...
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...Overview I first did my project over Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. The thesis is Schlosser speculates that the fast food corporations around the nation have a direct correlation with Americans being consumed by fast food and overall having poor health. Schlosser also talks about the impact fast food has on Americans as a society by pointing out some interesting facts, such as Americans spend more money on fast food than higher education which I personally find very alarming. The book is split into two sections: First, “The American Way” goes in depth about the beginnings of the fast food industry and how the major fast food restaurants came about and evolved. Second, “ Meat and Potatoes “describes the chemical flavoring of the food,...
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...Final In-Class Essay: Fast Food Nation Choose one of the topics below, and brainstorm, plan and write an argumentative, thesis-driven essay of at least 600 words. You may use your copy of FFN; you will have two hours. Your essay, as always, should: ✓ Provide a short, separate introduction that presents the issue and then segues into an explicit thesis with several concrete reasons to back it up. ✓ Develop each reason in a body paragraph that offers textual evidence (quotes and/or paraphrases) and your own analysis of the issue. ✓ Provide a conclusion summarizing your main points and leaving a closing thought. □ Don’t forget to proofread for grammar errors, as they can bring your grade down. Good luck! Topic A: Fast Food and Worker Safety In the Fast Food Nation chapter “The Most Dangerous Job,” Eric Schlosser describes the gruelling, exploitive, injury-laden, low-paying jobs of meat-packing workers who handle the cattle that eventually become hamburgers. Schlosser explains how—for different reasons—the OSHA has been unable to enforce effective safety regulations needed to protect workers. Based on this chapter, discuss why the OSHA must have stricter regulations for the meatpacking industry. How has the OSHA been disempowered? To what extent has this federal agency’s enforcement abilities been reduced, and with what consequences? How will giving OSHA more power benefit the employees and the general public? What particular industries and jobs especially need...
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...Fast Food Nation and Supersize Me: a Comparison Do you like fast food? Do you know how many people have faced the obesity in American? Actually, fast food brings a new condition, which it has designed to taste good. And it’s also inexpensive and convenient. But it reflects American’s culture of obesity and the history behind. Eric Schlosser, in his book Fast Food Nation, takes a hard look at what’s behind the look-like chain eateries that dot the American landscape. A McDonald’s is not just a restaurant serving hamburgers to hungry patrons; it’s the end of along ripple of event that produces the food that millions eats every day. Meanwhile, with the first documentary, Super Size Me, Morgan Spurlock used his own body to examine American culture of obesity. This film documents that lifestyle’s drastic effects on Spurlock’s physical and psychological well-being, and explores the fast food industry’s corporate influence. Comparing between Fast Food Nation and Supersize Me, I found the different emphasis in the contents, but they both show the fast food has influenced people deeply and we must find the right way to build the right opinion about the fast food and health. In the Fast Food Nation, we find the Eric Schlosser’s book promises to tell the dark side of all-American meal. It’s covers much of fast food culture and he also discusses how it developed, how taste of food can now be manipulate, federal regulations , health issues, and the spread of fast food abroad. In...
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...Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle and Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation expose working conditions and animal slaughter in the food industry. Even though these texts were published years apart, they both share similar details and goals. Sinclair is a muckraker who exposed political and social problems during the Progressive Era, and Eric Schlosser is a journalist. Both of these excerpts express the problems that workers faced, mostly immigrants, and the gruesome details of animal slaughter in the food industry. Both publications share similarities and differences in their goals, details to prove their points, and effects of their publication when dealing with the hidden aspects of the food industry. Both excerpts’ goals are to produce outrage...
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...Eric Schlosser’s novel, Fast Food Nation, has shed light on how food manufacturing standards and American consumption have transformed since World War II. Schlosser illustrates this revolution by following numerous groups in association with the fast food industry: various fast food employees and lucrative executives at fast food corporations; major farming and ranching businesses; employees at meat-packing factories; potato farmers and ranchers in Colorado and its contiguous areas; and food scientists who are entrusted with developing innovative “natural” flavors for fast food products. Through the various investigative accounts that Schlosser exemplifies, Fast Food Nation brings attention to the varying unethical principles that the fast...
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...Emily Andes Mr. Hardy AP English 3 Period 2 Literary Analysis Essay The Jungle and Fast Food Nation have become two worldwide known books for exposing the meat industry, and both were able to change the viewpoints of many people on what they eat. With the meat sales sky rocketing since 1961, our society can thank the inspections and production side of the meat industry. The Jungle, written by Upton Sinclair, was one of the first books to uncover the gruesome side of the meat packing factories. With this book the world was introduced to the exposed side of the meat factories in unsanitary conditions. Of course, Sinclair’s intention was not to write The Jungle in an effort to unveil the dirty side to the meat packing factories, but it was intended to be a love story between a young couple immigrating from Lithuania to the United States. Along with The Jungle is Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. The statistical side of this book was also intended to expose the meat industry but by humiliating fast food restaurants and where their meat products were coming from. People were appalled by the facts this book gave, and they began having new perspectives on fast food. Overall, Fast Food Nation appeals to readers’ senses of ethos pathos and logos then The Jungle does. First of all, Schlosser does a much better job of convincing people to change their views on fast food products and all meat products in general. His diction choices are pedantic and factual, his details become emotional...
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...English 106 Baldwin 11/20/08 Fast Food Nation When we say fast food, our imagination brings us bright and colorful images of MacDonald’s restaurant with a smiling doll of Ronald MacDonald sitting on the bench by the entrance. When we drive and see fast food places on our way, we experience a desire to stop and buy that juicy and extremely tasteful burger with golden color French fries we had in a place with the same name last time. Our emotions about burger places are always positive because those places have fast and excellent costumer service, toys for kids that make them happy, and the food always satisfies our expectations. Fast food and our daily lives are connected tightly, like mornings and a cup of coffee; it is hard to imagine America and the rest of the world without their favorite fast meals. As a part of modern society, I consume this type of food too. So when we had to choose one among four non fiction books in my English class, without thinking twice, I chose “Fast Food Nation: The dark side of the All American Meal” by Eric Schlosser, because it directly related to my eating habits. After I read the book, I was not disappointed with the way the author presented the information. Even though we were given a relatively long period of time in order to read the book, I finished it in one week, because I found its content interesting and appealing to my attention. In my point of view Mr. Schlosser did a great job by making the content of the...
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...targeting children as their main customers and consumers. Eric Schlosser described them as “kid kustomers”, meaning companies are targeting children in their advertisements and getting them to want their products instead of the parents. On the business side of this, it makes sense. If children want the product due to advertising in a commercial they will be more likely to purchase that product when they become older. Schlosser, the Journal of Adolescent Health Care, and Health Economics give examples of the effects that are caused from child advertising. Personally, I believe it is smart for the companies and business to target children in their ads but it should be for the companies and businesses that are for children. Many companies have been targeting children in their commercials with their cartoons and mascots for a while. Personally when I was younger I thought that the Camels cigarette cartoon camel with the sunglasses smoking a cigarette was cool, and I wanted to look cool. This technique has been used for many different companies after they realized that it worked. One example Schlosser gave was how children are susceptible to liking animals or toys and they can be drawn to that product; The fast food industry has forged promotional links with the nation’s leading toy manufacturers… The major toy crazes of recent years, including Pokémon cards, Cabbage Patch Kids, and Tamogotchis, have been abetted by fast food promotions. A successful promotion easily doubles or triples...
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...Negative Impacts of Fast Food America is one the countries that have the most oversize population in the world and every day one of four Americans visits fast food restaurants. Fast food is usually packed with fat, sugar and salt which make it so unhealthy. There are many different reasons people go to fast food restaurants rather than eating at home. People eat at fast food restaurant because it is convenient, cheap, tasty and quick. We no longer live in the good old days when women would stay home to cook, clean, and take care of the kids. Women have invaded the work industry by taking over jobs that in the past only men would have, and now share those jobs with men. Nowadays, most of the women are really busy to go for grocery shopping, come back home, unpack the food, and then cook it; so they prefer to go to fast food restaurant like McDonald’s. Many families are choosing fast food restaurants instead of fancy restaurants in this bad economy situation, because fancy restaurants charge much more money than fast food and people would rather eat at those places with family only on special occasions. However parents know that the fast food doesn’t have good nutrition balance for their children. In addition, some people who don’t have families and they live by themselves visit fast food because of their busy schedule. They are too busy to cook. In conservation with one of the poll on mid March, she says that she works full time and she goes to school part time, so she doesn’t...
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