Essay 4: Final Draft

Mary Anne Marrero

Mr. Hayes
Eng 100 – 1:10

5/13/13 <<Extension>>

Word Count: 1447

McDangerous

        Sometimes, we just can’t get enough of fast food. Those bright-lighted logos that we pass through along the roads almost anywhere we go, the stimulating colors that welcome you once you step into the doorway, and even the irresistible smell of cheeseburgers and fries passing through the tip of your nose can make your stomach twist and turn, craving. It’s cheap, fast, convenient, but it can also be life-threatening. In the most recent years, the popularity of fast food around the world has slowly been increasing, pushing beyond the limits of its consumers and vastly expanding it to the young ones of the next generation. As a child, I was fond of collecting toys that came with a McDonalds’ Happy Meal, but now that I have grown out of it, I know that it’s just about time to raise more awareness regarding the fast food and its industry. Even though fast food has been known to be bad for our health, only knowing the fact that it is ‘bad’ won’t make an impact on what we eat. By examining the different components that lie behind its alluring and appetizing look, we can then question ourselves on whether or not we should keep eating fast food.

        As an investigative journalist and author of several published books, Eric Schlosser takes into account a repulsive outlook on the fast food industry through his book, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. He starts off with the history and the first fast food pioneers, to the production and conditions of the employees, down to its global influence. The purpose of the book is to inform the readers about the cruelty of fast food corporations and to make them realize the pitfalls that come along with the production. Schlosser argues that the continuous emergence of fast food is sought to affect the youth, the way animals are being treated, and the fact that it is slowly taking over what used to be viewed as healthy in our society. He presents his argument in the style of “convincing” as mentioned in Chapter 9 of Aims of Argument where in the audience consists of readers whose positions on a particular matter differ from the one another or those who have no position at all. To establish the structure of his case, he provides his claim, while further applying some key concepts used in Critique (Aims, chapter 4).  Fast Food Nation is a thought-provoking and very informative read that grasps the bad sides of fast food and the industry it holds, along with statements that behold its impact to the world. Although he renders out the dark side of the all-American meal, including some very relevant sources, he doesn’t acknowledge some of the good influences of fast food to the world, such as the economy. Even so, I would still recommend Fast Food Nation to readers in the higher-level, mostly because it contains bits and pieces of information that could lead them, as well as their peers, to interesting discussions by enabling them to go deeper into the subject and to be able to analyze them further.

      Fast Food Nation is divided into two parts, the American Way, which talks about the history of fast food, the restaurant pioneers, and the techniques and strategies adhered to attract more consumers. Under this part are sub-chapters discussing the life of a young Carl Karcher, founder of Carl’s Jr. Restaurant, and his contributions that help unravel the world of fast food during the post-World War Era. Along the way, Schlosser discusses brief technological innovations through the years that have influenced not only our

everyday lives, but also the development of the fast food industry. He examines the qualities starting from the earliest to the most recent facts that revolve around these convenient, yet unhealthy food. He mentions that, “As franchises and chain stores opened across the United States, driving along a retail strip became a shopping experience much like strolling down the aisle of a supermarket.” (97) Because of the intense and rapid growth in the number of fast food restaurants, it has become a standard, most especially in the American culture. I agree with Schlosser point because I have witnessed it myself that in almost every place, there is at least one franchise of a famous fast food restaurant. It may seem contrary to think that the sudden popularity of the automobile in the U.S has something to do with the continuous changes in the industry of fast food, but it sure does. The other half of the book discusses about the production of meat in slaughterhouses, as well as the lives of typical employees in fast food restaurants, approaching the end of the book with a chapter discussing the influence of fast food towards today’s generation and to other cultures outside the U.S as well. The restaurant industry doesn’t only use view children as their most targeted costumers, but even the young and lower class employees that work in fast food restaurants as well. Schlosser adds to this by mentioning words like, “sad and rootless anomie” (80) to illustrate the vicious pattern of the fast food industry. Most fast food restaurants are common workplaces for teenagers because of the fact that it pays minimum wage and it doesn’t necessarily require high-level skills in order to work. Reading this, I thought of how it’s entirely possible for fast food corporations to ruin the future of these workers.

      Though I have encountered several sources of difficulty while reading the book, interestingly enough, there were parts that intrigued me as a reader. The author often describes the mechanics of fast food by presenting it in a way that catches your imagination; especially in the part where he talks about the unsanitary conditions of the workers in the meat-packing industry and the way animals are being treated in slaughterhouses referring to this as “the most dangerous job” (179) anyone could ever have. Not only does it affect their own health, but to the health of those who consume the products as well. Many of the chapters struck so much curiosity in me that I somehow found myself searching about famous people that I have never gotten aware of. It is easy to follow along with the paragraphs, but it isn’t easy to keep up with the same level of interest. There were parts that seemed like the author was pointing out too much details about a particular subject matter, and then later on, opening up to a topic that seems unrelated to the first one. Schlosser uses a lot of technical terms, from the demographics down to the statistical data related to the fast food industry. As a group responding to one certain text, we came up with different strategies to further address these difficulties. The double-entry journals served as good sources to help us carry on with our discussions and refer to them as we moved along. In addition to that, proper annotation throughout the different chapters came to be the most effective way we can easily gain more understanding while making the words less confusing. Generally, Fast Food Nation wasn’t quite an easy read as expected, knowing that it provides a gazillion amount of information, but in the end, it seems worth it.

        In my copy of the book Fast Food Nation, I see several places where I have annotated paragraphs with quite a few words such as, “sick!” and “gross”.  The second half of the book was the most shocking to me, because it focuses on the actual food and its production, not just the presence of corruption and exploitation in the industry.  Schlosser’s book served as an eye-opener with a unique delivery through the presentation of facts, along with a touch of poignancy to it.  Unique and well-organized, the book reveals how the production of fast food molds the way people eat. “You are what you eat!” becomes an appalling echo across America after reading the book, inducing us to take a closer look and examine the things we take in everyday with extra caution. As I said, I would recommend this book to future students of the English 100 class for academic reading, since it beholds a great lesson to the most of us, and it can probably alter the way we think about fast food – in a good way.

 Works Cited:

Schlosser, Eric. “Fast Food Nation: The Dark-Side of the All-American Meal.” 2012. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2003. Print.

Crusius, Timothy W., and Carolyn E. Channell. The Aims of Argument: A Brief Guide. 7th ed. Print.