Fast Food And Processed Food Companies

Fast food marketing is a dirty political game. Marketing is a tool of power, more specifically money power. Successful marketing strategies propelled fast food and beverage companies to some of the most stable corporations in the world. But how did these mom and pop shops dominate the competition? They created a commodity through marketing. Cool people drink coke not pepsi. Ronald and his friends hang out at McDonalds, and so should you, were the implications. Marketers went as far as advertising in schools. Coke or Pepsi for lunch instead of water and milk. Big Cola poured Millions of dollars into the struggling public education system. This accomplished a cradle to the grave type of marketing for beverage and fast food companies. Things changed so fast and the public made huge illogical leaps in the name of saving time. And in doing so, endangered our children.

The main argument of this film is how the easy access to the fast foods, allied to the advertisement industry, lack of government action, and the person’s option for rapid and caloric meals are responsible for the most part of the American population is overweight with the tendency to get a sickness related to the obesity.

Fast food is very popular amongst today’s society. Fast Food Nation has reasons for the explosion in popularity of fast food restaurants in the mid-1900’s. It also explains negative effects on American Culture in today’s society. The fast-food industry has multiplied across America and changed the food industry. Eric Schlosser describes in Fast Food Nation the way people think about what they eat and what people think of the fast food industry, and also its impact on society.

The All-American meal takes more out of Americans to make then at first glance. Eric Schlosser’s book Fast Food Nation delves deep into the intricate workings of the fast food industry to expose mistreatment and cruelty towards workers in the business, just as Upton Sinclair had done in the early 1900’s regarding the meat packing industry. Schlosser is able to bring light to the darkness behind the All-American meal through extensive research and personal confrontations of which he has high regards for.

Every day the average american can be seen throwing money at things. This is the relationship that can be made between america and food, as seen in “What We Eat”. Eric Schlosser talks about how food in general has made a noticeable difference on the American society. He does this by referencing how the amount of money the average american spends on food has surpassed numbers unimaginable. Schlosser says that the effect of fast food in america has made it so that “On any given day, about one quarter of the adult population visits a fast-food restaurant.”

In Eric Schlosser’s 2001 piece, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, he examines the rise of the fast food industry in the 1950’s as it was associated with the rampant consumerism of the era and shows how this led to the fast food industry becoming one of the most unethical, manipulative, and greedy industries that ever existed. Schlosser shows how fast food corporations, through mass appealing advertising, were able to manipulate consumers, especially young generations, into buying their products. Children were made the targets of advertising campaigns because these corporations knew that they were the most gullible audience. The 1950’s were filled with consumer trends in which buyers went after products that they believed to be popular and wanted to have the same things as everyone else. Corporations knew that they would have a very easy job in luring consumers because many other products and services had become trend setters in the 1950’s, so consumers would line up to buy fast food if it was presented as being “modern” and “trendy” in a sense. This paper will detail how consumerism and advertising played a large role in constructing American cultural identity during the post-war era.

In his book Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All- American Meal, Eric Schlosser, an investigative journalist, argues that “the fast food industry has helped to transform not only the American diet, but also our landscape, economy, workforce, and popular culture” (3). He supports this claim by first describing the history of the fast food industry, then explaining the current condition of the chemistry and the labor in the industry. Schlosser’s purpose is to inform the consumer and describe the state of the fast food industry in order to call to attention the impacts of the industry on the lives of Americans and on America as a country. He establishes an optimistic tone in the beginning but then develops a gloomy tone for consumers to

Eric Schlosser starts with the scenery of Colorado Springs, how in just three decades it went from vast, open nature, to having fast food restaurants placed anywhere and everywhere readily accessible. A majority of land withholding pure nature and free roaming animals was a view to others, the opportunity to place mass fast food corporations. These mass fast food corporations have not only broadened the American’s average diet, it has also affected the landscape, culture, and the overall economy of America. The culture of the average citizen’s meal included going to the grocery store to buy food staples such as vegetables or meat, that were to be prepared later for homemade meals. Nowadays, the popular culture of American citizens is to hit

The emergence of the era of fast food has been extremely apparent since the end of World War II and is arguably one of the most unhealthy periods of time for America’s people, both physically for its people and economically for those involved in the production for fast food companies. Throughout the novel many examples and real life situations are presented in order to properly give its readers a true sense of what fast food chains have caused for both producers and consumers.

Fast Food Nation is an attempt to link the American eating style and food-production patterns. Fast Food Nation is written by Eric Schlosser, he presents a perspective on the development of societies adapting to the way that food is produced. The quickly growing demand for hot, ready food was rising at substantial rates shortly after World War two. Schlosser states, “The McDonald brothers’ Speedee Service System revolutionized the restaurant business.” The McDonald brothers wanted to perfect the drive-in restaurant business and started their very own walk-up restaurant. They sold burgers, fries, and soft drinks that were available almost before the customer ordered. By increasing the demand for fast food, supplies began to be

Schlosser?s myth-shattering survey takes students to the California subdivisions where the business was born to the industrial corridor along the New Jersey Turnpike where many of fast food?s flavors are concocted. Schlosser suggests that in search of a better, more efficient way to serve customers, fast food has infused its way into the American culture. The evil lies not in the concept of speedy service and a homogenous food experience, it's the byproducts of such an industry that erases the concept of the individual. While he admits that fast food is not the sole source of grief for postmodern America, mentioning the shopping mall and suburban sprawl, Schlosser accurately points out that the actual cost of a Happy Meal is in how it manipulates the average person.

The story of the fast food industry and its effect on the world is well told in the book Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser. Schlosser makes the claim that, what started out as a special treat for the kids eventually ended up defining a way of life. During a brief period of time, the fast food industry has helped transform not only the American diet, but also our countryside, economy, workforce, and popular culture. The book thoroughly describes how important the two factors of money and power are in today's society. The book clearly establishes the broader thesis that as consumers, we should know what we eat even if it makes us uncomfortable by the knowledge.

We live in a world that is in a continuous process of transformation, considering that progress manages to control all the aspects of individual's life. Being part of a society which is always changing makes it essential for people have to adapt to all these aspects. One of the biggest problems for the American society is that it has no time to eat, since it is always on the run. Fast food came as the greatest solution for this problem. Since the process of modernization of the American society is accelerated day by day, the fast food industry has gained its place on the market. Even if individuals are well aware of the problems they can and will encounter if they eat fast food, they are forced by the circumstances to fall back on it.

Along with these factors the food industry is spreading the sell of high-sugar and high-fat foods, increasing their portion sizes and uncontrollably boosting these products. In the article, “Fast-food Culture Serves Up Super-Size Americans”,  author Bridget Murray discusses “toxic signs” such as Nutritious foods reign, serving sizes keep increasing, and the food Industry has run amok. The food industry has prospered into being in common places such gas stations, vending machines, convenience stores,  serving high-fat, high-sugar food, and restaurants increasing their serving size and promoting bargains for low cost products.  Murray has noted, “ High-fat, High-sugar foods are widely available, taste good and cost less than healthier food”; an example of this would be vending machines. Vending machines contain many fatty foods at low prices as they are convenient to a typical person. The most common source of increasing serving sizes, is McDonald’s use of Super-Size it, which they had made into a verb. The food industry has run amok by serving appealing processed foods, through colorful packaging in addition to using advertisements on television, computers and social media. Children spend most of their day watching T.V., where they view multiple advertisements. In recent articles, “...research has found that children who watch more than three hours of television a day are 50 per cent more likely to be obese than children who watch fewer

Since fast food first emerged in the United States it has become a large and successful industry, netting billions of dollars every year. This rapid expansion of fast food has put a fast food establishment within reach of almost every American. In Adam Chandler’s “What if Consumers Just Want to Buy Junk Food” he claims that although a majority of Americans believe they eat healthier today than in the 1970’s, but in fact studies show the very opposite. Chandler associates this to the consumers preference of unhealthy foods, but there is strong evidence that this rise in unhealthy consumption in American society can be attributed to the marketing and business tactics of fast food corporations, the availability and ease of access to fast food, and their socioeconomic status.