The Dark Side of Fast Food: Why Does It Make You Sick / Fat / Tired / Taste So Good (2001)
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Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal (2001) is a book by investigative journalist Eric Schlosser that examines the local and global influence of the United States fast food industry. More on the book: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0547750331/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0547750331&linkCode=as2&tag=tra0c7-20&linkId=8d544eef16a896ed5dfe43d51ba8cf73 First serialized by Rolling Stone in 1999, the book has drawn comparisons to Upton Sinclair's classic muckraking novel The Jungle. The book was adapted into a film of the same name, directed by Richard Linklater. The book is divided into two sections, "The American Way," which interrogates the beginnings of the Fast Food Nation within the context of post-World War II America; and "Meat and Potatoes," which examines the specific mechanizations of the fast-food industry, including the chemical flavoring of the food, the production of cattle and chickens, the working conditions of beef industry, the dangers of eating meat, and the global context of fast food as an American cultural export. Fast Food Nation opens with discussion of Carl N. Karcher and the McDonalds brothers, examining their roles as pioneers of the fast-food industry in southern California. This discussion is followed by an examination of Ray Kroc and Walt Disney's complicated relationship as well as each man's rise to fame. This chapter also considers the intricate, profitable methods of advertising to children. Next, Schlosser visits Colorado Springs, CO and investigates the life and working conditions of the typical fast-food industry employee: fast-food restaurants employ the highest rate of low-wage workers, have among the highest turnover rates, and pay minimum wage to a higher proportion of its employees than any other American industry. The second section of the text begins with a discussion of the chemical components that make the food taste so good. Schlosser follows this with a discussion of the life of a typical rancher, considering the difficulties presented to the agriculture world in a new economy. Schlosser is perhaps most provocative when he critiques the meatpacking industry, which he tags as the most dangerous job in America. Moreover, the meat produced by slaughterhouses has become exponentially more hazardous since the centralization of the industry: the way cattle are raised, slaughtered, and processed provides an ideal setting for E coli to spread. Additionally, working conditions continue to grow worse. In the final chapter, Schlosser considers how fast food has matured as an American cultural export following the Cold War: the collapse of Soviet Communism has allowed the mass spread of American goods and services, especially fast food. As a result, the rest of the world is catching up with America's rising obesity rates. The book continues with an account of the evolution of fast food and how it has coincided with the advent of the automobile. Schlosser explains the transformation from countless independent restaurants to a few uniform franchises. "The extraordinary growth of the fast food industry has been driven by fundamental changes in American society... During that period, women entered the workforce in record numbers, often motivated less by a feminist perspective than by a need to pay the bills. In 1975, about one-third of American mothers with young children worked outside the home; today almost two-thirds of such mothers are employed. As the sociologists Cameron Lynne Macdonald and Carmen Sirianni have noted, the entry of so many women into the workforce has greatly increased demand for the types of services that housewives traditionally perform: cooking, cleaning, and child care. A generation ago, three-quarters of the money 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." Regarding the topic of child-targeted marketing, Schlosser explains how the McDonald's Corporation modeled its marketing tactics on The Walt Disney Company, which inspired the creation of advertising icons such as Ronald McDonald and his sidekicks. Marketing executives intended that this marketing shift would result not only in attracting children, but their parents and grandparents as well. More importantly, the tactic would instill brand loyalty that would persist through adulthood through nostalgic associations to McDonald's. Schlosser also discusses the tactic's ills: the exploitation of children's naïveté and trusting nature. In marketing to children, Schlosser suggests, corporations have infiltrated schools through sponsorship and quid pro quo. He sees that reductions in corporate taxation have come at the expense of school funding, thereby presenting many corporations with the opportunity for sponsorship with those same schools. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_food_nation
Comments
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wow that was very interesting especially almost the end.
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we go to a local meat market. they close at 5 pm. at 3 pm they take all the steaks and roasts and make the next days ground beef with then. they will trek us exactly which cuts of really good beef went into each package of ground beef. we are lucky to live in a semi rural area. this store has been in business for over 50 years.
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If you tasted its true taste nobody would eat this shit.
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This guy has a really peculiar way of speaking.
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If fast food is EVERYWHERE , y can't they do the same with salads and fruit shops and healthy cooked food shops? In my country, there are cut fruit shops EVERYWHERE. Easy, every fruit cut up for u, u just buy a pack of mixed fruits for a dollar or cut fruits on a stick or fruit juice. And what we call food courts. It's where healthy cooked foods are sold. Once a while u see a McDonald's. But here in the US, wow, starbucks, Carl's jr, mcdonalds, Wendy's,in n out, Taco Bell, del taco, jack in the box EVERYWHERE. Oh yeah and donut shops. It's like junk food domination. Just WAY too many fast food outlets here. If u make healthy foods as EASILY accessible to ppl, believe me ppl will buy it over junk food. No one wants to eat junk food all the time, they know it's unhealthy,, but they have no choice, it's easily available. It's just sad that healthy food is not as easily n widely available as junk food.
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one thing that has changed is Migrant workers now make more money per hour than fast food workers. Here in California Migrant field hr pay is 15$, while fast food workers are still minimum wage which is 10$ in California.
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at ~1:00:06 the vid goes into 'fast-forward'... wth? Getting gamed? Just me?
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Genetically modified animals will be on your plate in no time-read the article by Wired mag, yo.
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Ha Ha, there was a McDonalds commercial before this video started. LOL
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part of this started when WOMEN WENT TO WORK mid to late 70s through the 80s.. and was too tired to cook when she got home....although younger women do know how to cook, but not many really do
kids used to eat at the KITCHEN TABLE.. and it took time to cook......... until 1973 or so... -
I'm a Rich Yuppie Doctor. Except for an occasional pizza, Moe's Burrito, or Jersey Mike Sub, I SHUN Fast Food. It exploits the employees, and Kills those who partake.
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I read Fast Food Nation many years ago and it absolutely freaked me out! an amazing read
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j
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The introduction took almost half the video!
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believe it
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Wake up people!!!! WAKE UP
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You're good at seeing the surface, but not the reasons behind it. Not at all is it McDonald's fault for using what we in our country allow. You should see the symptoms like you're doing, but it it's self is not the place to cure it.
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3:21 " My favorite meal is a Cheeseburger, Fries and a shake " and everyone laughed....why ? It's so annoying how people laugh at things that are not funny.
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I once heard someone say that fast food is selling convenience not quality. I guess the same can be said about any food you buy that isn't in its whole natural state.The system is set up to produce as much product at as low a cost as possible, resulting in poor quality foods and excess food going to waste. Unfortunately I don't see that changing any time soon. Too much profit to be had.
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321 dislikes. 321 un informed ppl.
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