Globalization is one of the most popular issues that have been discussed through the
world by the sociologist for decades.(James A. D, Dick. P, Yongseok Seo 2006)
According to John Tomlinson’s (Tomlinson 2006) cognition of globalization. He
interprets that:
“Globalization is a complex process because it involves rapid social
change that is occurring simultaneously across a number of dimensions – in the world
economy, in politics, in communications, in the physical environment and in culture –
and each of these transformations interact with the others.”(p. 1)
As far as I am concerned, globalization is happening around daily life. For example,
McDonalds, they start from a small restaurant in California to one of the world’s
leading food service retailers, with more than 35000 restaurants in more than a
hundred countries.(McDonald 2014) McDonalds spread the American style fast food
worldwide. This can be seen as a globalization of food culture.
Since the societies are becoming more and more alike nowadays and leading to a
phenomenon known as globalization. Some people afraid that globalization will lead
to the loss of cultural identify while some think it can have a good impact on the
societies. Based on the book《Golden Arches East: McDonald’s in East
Asia》which indicates the advantages of the food globalization by providing the view
that it is not only spreading the food culture but also blending with the locals and the
documentary《Super Size
In the book Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser talks about the working conditions of fast food meat slaughterhouses. In the chapter “The Most Dangerous Job,” one of the workers, who despised his job, gave Schlosser an opportunity to walk through a slaughterhouse. As the author was progressed backwards through the slaughterhouse, he noticed how all the workers were sitting very close to each other with steel protective vests and knives. The workers were mainly young Latina women, who worked swiftly, accurately, while trying not to fall behind. Eric Schlosser explains how working in the slaughterhouses is the most dangerous profession – these poor working conditions and horrible treatment of employees in the plants are beyond
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 general, Americans have long-standing problems with obesity, but this issue is not just in the United States only. Even it has spread to many countries, especially Taiwan. Many young children are a bit overweight. The obesity rate is twice the proportion in Taiwan compared to Korea. I think this number is an admonishment to let us to know that eating junk food not only affects people’s health, but also influences the country’s development.
“Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among the people, companies, and governments of different nations, a process driven by international trade and investment and aided by information technology. This process has effects on the environment, on culture, on political systems, on economic development and prosperity, and on human physical well-being in societies around the world” (The State University of New York, 2014, para 1).
The majority of Americans enjoy fast food like bees enjoy their honey. Fast food is hard not to love due to families experiencing fast paced days, parents who work more than 20 hours a week, and having children with picky appetites can be rough. For most American families, it can be a challenge to not consider eating fast food more than once a week. The fast food industry has grown tremendously through the years. The one restaurant that is known all over the world for their golden arches and their big macs is McDonalds. With knowledge and personal experiences, I can say that McDonalds is by far the worst fast food restaurant in America. I believe this due to how unhealthy the food is for our bodies, the disturbing facts about the happy meals, the poor service, and the non-cleanliness of the restaurant.
Fast Food Nation examines the history of the fast food industry as the world began to consume the idea of quick and easy cuisine. This piece of investigative journalism really gives it 's readers a look at the fast food industry and its development over time. This book is divided into two sections. The first section delves into the beginnings of the industry and how it developed into the large corporational business it is today. The second section examines the business behind the scenes.
This article shows which organs and human activity systems are under the effect of fast food. It likewise portrays this effects given such definitive sources as American Heart Association, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and others.
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Print. While I was looking at the cover of the book, I noticed that it included the words “All American Meal”, and I wondered what that meant. For me when I hear those word I picture a McDonald’s, or any other fast food restaurant. Why is that? Is it because the United States comes in at 12th for the most obese country, with 35% of the population in overweight (Worldatlas). Or is it because we have made a name for ourselves, by being the country that consumes the most fast food (Economist)? In the first chapter of the book The American Way, Schlosser is disscussing various fast foods we eat such as McDonald 's, Domino 's, and describes how fast food has impacted American lives, such as obesity in all age groups due to the appeals to younger children. He talks about the McDonald brothers and Carl Karcher and how they established McDonald 's and Carl 's Jr.
Knowing what is in your fast food might make you think twice the next time you devour it. As the rise of the fast food nation in America has increased to an all-time high, so has the weight and waists of Americans all around the country. Not only has the United States grown to love the acquired taste of greasy golden fries and juicy burgers, it has also grown ignorant to the way their food is prepared. In the novel, “Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal”(2002), by Eric Schlosser, he makes compelling points in his position against the fast food industry.
One of the most shocking books of the generation is Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation. The novel includes two sections, "The American Way" and "Meat and Potatoes,” that aid him in describing the history and people who have helped shape up the basics of the “McWorld.” Fast Food Nation jumps into action at the beginning of the novel with a discussion of Carl N. Karcher and the McDonald’s brothers. He explores their roles as “Gods” of the fast-food industry. Schlosser then visits Colorado Springs and investigates the life and working conditions of the typical fast-food industry employee. Starting out the second section, Schlosser travels to the western side of Colorado to examine the effects presented to the agriculture world in the new
In the book Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser discusses uniformity and the many effects it has on the fast food industry. According to Schlosser, uniformity is used in chain restaurants and franchises in order to provide consumers with the same service and products in different sites. Uniformity is beneficial when it comes to consumers and businesses because the prices of products are lower when businesses use mass production and the more companies produce, the greater the profit. However, the mass production of products also increases the likelihood of the contamination of food because it becomes more difficult to inspect all of the food. Not only can uniformity cause food contamination,
Carl N. Karcher was one of fast foods innovators. Carl was born in Ohio in the year 1917. After the eighth grade, he quit school in order to help his father with their farm. At the age of twenty, Carl's uncle offered him a job in his business named "Feed and Seed" store located in Anaheim, California. After thinking about it, Carl decided and then proceeded to move to California where he met his wife Margaret and then continued to start his own family. Carl and Margaret bought a hotdog cart; while Carl worked at a bakery, Margaret worked at the cart across from a factory. At this time, California's population was expanding more rapidly, as was industries such as automobile industries. Eventually, Carl opened a Drive-In BBQ restaurant. The economy post World War 2 provided him with an abundance of customers.
People today believe that the government is supposed to eliminate any possible danger from the food they consume, but that is not the case. In the book Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of The All-American Meal written by Eric Schlosser, he discusses numerous problems with food production. Some of these issues are discussed in the “Epilogue”, “What’s In Meat”, and “Most Dangerous Job” chapters where Schlosser elaborates on the government’s role and how workers are mistreated. In the article, “U.S. Meatpacking Under Fire: Human Rights Group Calls for Line Speed Reduction, ERGO Standards,” it explains how the working conditions in the meat packaging industry are hazardous and are violations of basic human rights. Although workers are affected by the government’s role in the food industry, consumers are affected as well. The consequences of the lack of governmental oversight, like food contamination and others, are discussed in the film Food Inc. “Escaping the Regulatory Net: Why Regulatory Reform Can Fail Consumers”, an academic journal written by Henry Rothstein, explains how “putting consumers first” is difficult for the Food Standards Agency (FSA) to accomplish because with consumer’s interests that means regulatory reforms are most likely going to fail.
When someone hears the word “McDonald’s,” they may automatically associate it with various descriptions and words such as American food, hamburgers, french fries, and chicken nuggets. Others may assume that McDonald’s is only famous in the United States, but what they do not know is that McDonald’s expanded their success outside of its origin to over 100 countries around the world. In the novel, Golden Arches East, the author, James L. Watson, focused on the company’s expansion in East Asia and studied how the American culture and traditions of McDonald’s influenced the Asian countries and their people.
The success of Subway started in 1965, when Fred Deluca took an advice from family friend Peter Buck, to open a sandwich shop to earn more money and to pay for his education. The first Subway branch opened in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Their target was to open 32 restaurants in ten years,