Essay on The Fast Food Culture is Detroying America

Fast food has turned into a genuine fundamental of our everyday life and made a religion of establishments that reaches out to the millions of Americans across the country. The Fast Food industry in a few eyes has been one of the sharpest developments this world has seen. It has been driven by our stomachs and our wallets for 40 to 50 years it's as yet developing to this date. The man who make-believe it can be known as the best representative, this nation has ever observed. The Fast Food Industry is big to the point that it has influenced our wellbeing, changed our way of life, and misshaped our territory as far back as the very first moment.

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.

America is one of the largest countries in the world, and the population is one of the largest also; but not in numbers, unless those numbers are on a scale and coincide with the amount of excess fat that is on the average American. In asking why Americans are so overweight, the fast food industry is not to blame entirely. Although Americans consume more fast food than any other nation and the mass of the population reflects this fact, no one is forcing anyone to eat fast food. Americans eat so much fast food because they are lazy, hurried, addicted, and financially downtrodden. Because of these lifestyles and misfortune, America has become overweight-- an epidemic for which there does not seem to be a cure.

Freedom, independence, and opportunities; all these words come to mind when thinking about growing up, but there is no escaping a first job. Nowadays most of teens can be seen behind the counters of fast food places, but why has this become so popular? Through an appeal to ethos and pathos, Schlosser illustrates how the fast food industry utilizes the inexperience and emotions of America’s youth for personal gain and control.

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.

“Our purpose goes beyond what we sell. We’re using our reach to be a positive force. For our customers. Our people. Our communities. Our world.” This is what Mc Donalds has in place for their mission statement, or as they call it their “ambition”. Although on the surface it seems genuine and wholehearted, one must look beyond the words being stated and towards the actions that follow. According to Eric Schlosser, the author of Fast Food Nation, Mc Donalds does not follow said mission statement. He argues how there is a danger with fast food, yet many people are blinded by the golden arches and unaware of its harmful effects. I for one agree with Eric Schlosser, based on the findings I discovered regarding their food, employees,

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

From a study completed by Chicago-based Research International USA completed a study called “Fast Food Nation 2008. The panel consisted of 1,000 respondents of ages 16-65 who provided their inputs with an online survey which was conducted between March 13 through 2008. Which was based on results on fast food restaurants like McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s are gaining popularity even through the economic hardship and recession. Marketing strategy has become more of influence on kids and young American’s. As population grows and the demand increases of fast food restaurants are expanding their stores to capturing more consumers. Fast food chains are also willing to change their menus to continue to gain and retain repeating 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.

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.

Fast food, the highly addictive food that many people can not go a day without eating. In our society today fast food has become the “norm” when we are looking for something to eat, causing our society to accept it as something to be eaten ALL the time. Fast food can affect our bodies more than most people comprehend. According to the United States Healthful Food Council, they say 8 out of 10 people eat fast food monthly and half say they even eat it weekly. By ingesting these large amounts of fatty, salty, and sweet foods, children and adults are becoming increasingly obese. Fast food causes long term negative health effects and is a direct contributor to America 's increasing obesity problems.

The population of America is becoming more aware of the importance of good nutrition. Ironically the people are becoming increasingly less healthy. In the 1960's the nation ate healthier but knew less about nutrition. The foods that the teenagers consume today contributes to the increasing weight and decreasing health of the nation. Many outside factors determine the eating habits of teenagers today.

“Grab and Go!” shimmer windows of many fast food restaurants in the new XXI century. “It is really comfortable and it saves time”, my old neighbor whispers to me as a secret. “Today is my birthday! Let’s go to McDonalds and order cheese hamburgers and fries!” – My niece is screaming with delight in her face. Finally, really big hamburger appears in TV screen during commercial and looking juicy with fresh green salads forcing every one of us to feel hungry. However, fast food restaurants serve not only food lacking of vitamins and nonnutritive value, but also are responsible for endangered species, biodiversity reduction, worsening human’s health, and risk to run out of natural food and medicine sources that can lead to human’s extinction.