I argue that when Kant, Smith, and Rousseau go out to eat at McDonald’s, they would discuss the role of food monsters within the industrial food system. Food monsters are large multinational corporations that control almost all of the food production and distribution worldwide. Examples are General Mills, Pepsico, and Nestle. When the three social theorists arrive at McDonald’s, Kant would look through the menu and obsessively ask questions about what farm the chicken in the chicken nuggets came from. In the end, I think he would end up getting something with less ingredients like apples, which only have two ingredients (which he would find concerning) or maybe a salad. Smith would look at all the different options and then chose the McDouble for $1.00, which the best meal that you can get for the cheapest price. Rousseau would eat a happy meal, in the hopes of being happier.
They would sit down in a booth and Kant would be upset with his choice of apples because he would not know which orchards the apples came from. Additionally, he would be concerned that there are two ingredients in apples, apples and Calcium Ascorbate. He would then bring up the point that consumers do not know where their food is coming from and do not bother to question it. Kant would argue that the food monsters, the people who control and profit from the food industry, are acting dishonorably by controlling the information shared with consumers. He would think that people need to gain consciousness
Increasing the options of fast food restaurants in America gave society different choices of where they can choose to go eat. Some restaurants may be cheaper than others, but what society didn’t realize was the cheaper the restaurant the more calories the food contains. The consumers didn’t seem to realize or have a problem with these cheaper companies until some consumers sued the company for getting them fat. This caused children to sue Mcdonald's the company for making the consumers get fat. For this reason, according to the author David Zinczenko it is a problem that people are not informed on how many calories the food they're eating contains. He has the credibility to be trusted by his audience
The author, Paul Fiene, starts of his article with a personal experience of his own. While on a trip to Paris with his family, he encounters an angry French man who evidently despises McDonalds. After Feine summarized the whole Paris vacation, Feine then talks about how McDonalds, as a company, is viewed badly by the whole world. Right after that he hits the readers with tons of statistics and anti-McDonalds websites
McDonaldization of society- the process by which ordinary aspects of life are rationalized and efficiency comes to rule them, including such things as food preparation p. 173
Berry begins the article by pointing out the consumer’s ignorance as they do not realize the connection they have with the agricultural cycle. Many believe that eating is an agriculture act, however, they do not associate themselves with this act because they do not have direct contact with the actual food production process. Berry explains that the reason why people think this way is because “they just buy what they want - or what they have been persuaded to want” without a second thought on the qualities and the states of the products (3). He appeals to the reader’s emotions as he describes the nature of the consumers because it demonstrates the reality of how little people nowadays care what they consume into their body. Berry further enforces his appeal on the audience’s emotions by claiming that “food is pretty much an abstract idea” to most of the urban shoppers (4). Shoppers understand that food is produced on farms, but have no knowledge on the locations of the farms, the type of farms, and the techniques that are involved in farming. This statement supports Berry’s claims on the consumer’s ignorance because it points out the important role that consumers actually play
Who is the sociologist given credit for coining the concept of the McDonaldization of Society?
Section 2: Key points. The McDonald's story begins with Morgan Spurlock. Morgan is an independent filmmaker, who conducted an experiment where he consumed nothing but McDonald's for 30 days. He traveled across the United States, speaking with various community groups about the hazards of eating fast food, all while setting himself up as a human guinea pig. He submitted himself to a full medical examination and was determined to be physically fit. After 30 days of nothing but McDonald's, he gained 25 pounds, his liver rivaled that of an alcoholic and his cholesterol level had risen from 168 to 230. He documented his personal journey,
Gone were the days when industrialization was the prime origin and a new age of economic boom in our country. This was a period where factories were established, provision of jobs being vastly increased for Americans, big machines and buildings built to accommodate and the exploit the opportunity and moment at hand. Due to this sudden improvement, food manufactures being the primary industry and instrumental in their clever ways; developed a way to profit by reducing workers, encouraged unsanitary habits and unscrupulous ways which resulted as a disastrous blow to the public. This bad habit in the food industry (primarily the meat factories) in late 1800s to early 1900s aroused one of the most controversial novel (expose) “The Jungle” by Upton Sinclair, and yet thrilling insight with details as to what was going on in the meat industry. Upton Sinclair describes the frightful and dangerous working conditions of one meat packing facility in Chicago, thus far these conditions were common to all facilities which led to laws that changed the bad patterns of these manufactures.
Pollan believes that the Industrial Food Chain is poisoning for us, and our environment. First of all, “GMOs are a reckless experiment with the natural order of things” (25). Explaining that GMOs are being used as an experient for a way to get more money for business that sell it. Also, that it is going to mess up the process of how things naturally work. Secondly, “The waste from CAFOs is a huge source of very toxic pollution” (49). CAFOs are producing toxins that are harming our earth. The cattle's waste is used as manure, and because of the “only-corn” diet, the cows manure isn’t healthy leading us to it giving off pollutants. Third, “Some of it turns into nitrous oxide, a gas that increases global warming… Some of it evaporates into
I agree with the general stance of the author, and that is that I am extremely suspicious of McDonaldization and whether it is really a harm to society rather than a blessing. I disagree with three of the five key elements of McDonaldization, those being predictability, calculability, and control by non-human technologies. Firstly, by making the daily interactions of life more and more predictable, life loses some of its meaning. People are meant to confront all different types of situations and interactions to get a feel for the possibilities of life. For example, in the case of home-cooked meals, if people were not to occasionally receive a meal which was bad tasting, how would they be able to appreciate a really delicious meal. The whole idea of predictability goes against our ‘human-ness’, because we were all created to perform differently. Secondly, calculability leads to a belief that quantity is more important than quality. According to Ritzer, “In terms of processes, the emphasis is on speed(usually high), whereas for end results the focus is on the number of products served(usually large).”(pg. 59) In my opinion, the reason the majority of Americans are overweight is because of this “bigger is better” theory. The quality of other things is also affected in this way, such as of education, healthcare, and general productivity in a business. Thirdly, I think the increasing use
Food Inc. opens in an American supermarket and draws attention to the unnatural nature of year-round tomatoes and boneless meat. It pulls aside the curtain that is concealing the truth about food from the consumer. After the brief intro, the movie shifts its focus to the topic of fast food and its impact on the meat industries. Fast food virtually started with McDonald’s. When they decided to simplify their menu and hire employees that repeated one task over and over for minimum wage, the result was the fast food phenomenon that swept the United States, and then the world. Today, McDonald’s is the largest purchaser of beef and potatoes in the United States, and is one of the largest purchasers of pork, chicken, tomatoes, and apples. Though
Too many people pick up food products off of the shelves and put it into their shopping cart without knowing what exactly it is or what the product has been through. After watching an absolutely disturbing documentary called "Food Inc." I started to feel strongly about the problems of the Food Industry. The problem is that our food is no longer being produced in an all American farm, but in dirty abusive factories. Not only is the food unhealthy for us after all of the processing, but the workers and animals are being abused. I know that I single handily cannot change all of the problems with the twisted food industry, but I know that I can do my part by making others aware so that they can make sure that they can make fully informed decisions about what they are putting into their carts at the grocery store and eventually into their bodies.
George Ritzer 's book The McDonaldization of Society opened and exposed one of what can be considered societies major flaws: McDonaldization. Ritzer suggests that in the late 20th century the socially structured form of the fast-food restaurant has become the organizational force representing and pushing rationalization further into everyday lives and individual identity. Henry Ford was the first McDonaldization pioneer with his vision of an assembly line for improving the production of automobiles. His revolutionary idea dramatically changed how many automobiles could be produced and was very efficient.
. Through his research which states that by simply neglecting the variety and diversity of consumer practices in different regions and parts of the world and the various uses to which consumers can put McDonaldization, using its products and procedures to serve their own needs. There are many ways Mcdonaldization can be resisted in: social institution, education, the economy, family, as well as religion and military that our society can reverse the effects on the way we live.
While examining the association between McDonaldization and communal change in the American society, Ritzer points out four components of the shifting society that greatly influenced the future of McDonaldization.
Today’s society and culture is becoming more and more McDonaldized. This paper will illustrate what the process of McDonaldization is. In addition, this paper will show how today’s society has adapted to this process along with using the theories from Max Weber.