In Eric Schlosser's essay "Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal," he claims "Americans now spend more money on fast food than on higher education, personal computers, computer software, or new cars. They spend more on fast food than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos, and recorded music--combined" (99).
What kind of facts, real or imagined, does Schlosser use to support this claim? Is this a surpisng fact? Do you agree or disagree with Schlosser, why or why not? Using the Internet, research support for your claim, and post it in your response. Remember to check your rssources for reliablity.
40 comments:
The facts that Schlosser used is that Americans spent 6 billion dollars on fast food in 1970 compared to 110 billion dollars in 2001. This fact was not suprising to me because the American house structure has changed. Dining at home is not the norm anymore. Yes, I agree with him because everywhere I go, fast food restaurants are always packed. I also agree because now days, there are a large amount of teens having babies. As a result, these teens take their children to McDonalds, Burger king, etc. So many americans are on the go, and they use fast food as a source of nourishment that will coincide with their schedule. I also agree because of the several dollar menus that are available to consumers. You can go into any fast food place and find a variety of items on the menu that cost one dollar. Our economy is primarily of poor people. everyone goes to fast food spots. there are far more fast food places than higher education institutions, video game choices, etc.
my website adress for my fast food chain blog is www.bluehealthadvantagene.com. I forgot to save it with my blog
Schlosser uses facts like, “fast food is now served at restaurants and drive-throughs, at stadiums, airports, zoos, high schools, elementary schools, and universities, on cruise ships, trains, and airplanes, at K-Marts, Wal-Marts, gas stations, and even at hospital cafeterias.” Wow, I know that fast food is served at all of these places and more, but it is still a real eye-opener when you name them all at once. This isn’t a surprising fact to me because we see it all over the place, but it does make you think of how much we truly rely on fast food. I completely agree with Schlosser in that, before we had a lot of home cooking, but now people are eating out more and more at these fast food restaurants. It is truly a shame that we are loosing with every generation that passes the good traditions of a good home cooked meal and replacing it with high in fat and calories fast food meals.
http://www.newstarget.com/019633.html
I totally agree with what Schlosser says. I think that the convenience is the main thing that has people at the mercy of fast food. More and more I find that if I want to eat something healthy, I have to actually go out of my way to get it! A half hour lunch break will always make fast food a seemingly easy option. In the excerpt that I have for a link, Schlosser uses an example of the common working conditions that make fast food an ideal choice for it's practicality.
link
http://www.mcspotlight.org/media/press/rollingstone1.html
Eric Schlosser gave us high fast food estimations of $6 billion dollars for the year 1970, and $110 billion dollars for the year 2001. These figures are pretty frightening when you think about it realistically. He also mentioned a variety of fast food places such as: K-Marts, Wal-Marts, airports, elementary schools and universities, and how fast foods are being served at restaurants and drive-throughs. I am in total agreement with him when he said, "Fast food has inflitrated every nook and cranny of American Society" And also how we spend more money on fast food than education, computers, and cars. No wonder why so many children and teenagers are starting to become diabetics at such an early age. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/01/28/RV157071.DTL
Okay, good guys. In case I didn't mention it, tell us a little about the site insteading of just posting it? What information can we find there? Who would be interested in it? Unless you are using your cite as a works cited reference, and in many cases, even then, you must explain the significance of the cite you selected.
Fast food is food cooked I bulk and in advance and kept warm, or reheated to order. Nearly from its inception, fast food has been designed to be eaten “on the go” and often does not require traditional cutlery and it eaten as finger food. So nowadays, people will call fast food as finger food. As Schlosser says in the “Fast Food Nation”, “During a relatively brief period of time, the fast food industry has helped to transform not only the American diet, but also our landscape, economy, workforce, and popular culture. Actually, fast food or finger food has become a symbol that represents American culture both inside and outside of America. Fast food outlets include chips, sandwiches, pitas, hamburgers, fried chicken, french fires, chicken nuggets and pizza. We can categorize all those kinds of fast food are the American food. I believed the fast food is the part of culture about American food, but when Schlosser points out that “ In 1970, Americans spent about $6 billion on the fast food; in 2001, they spent more than $110 billion. Americans now spend more money on fast food than on higher education, personal computers, computer software or new cars.” We’ll see that some parts of American traditional culture are loosing days by days. I really agree with Maria that we are loosing the traditional cooking skill that pass from last generation to next generation. How sad it is, if we could only eat American food in the fast food restaurants, yet nobody know or want to cook even now or next generation.
Work cited:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_food#Fast_food_in_America
In this website, we can find the history, references and external links about fast food.
Also if you want to read the summary of the "Fast Food Nation", you can go this website:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fast_Food_Nation
Did somebody see the "Fast Food Nation" movice yet?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0460792/
Wow, I find this topic to be so over-whelmingly fascinating. For me,
Hi Everyone,
Wow, this is an over-whelmingly fascinating topic. My biggest challenge right now is to decide on which direction to go in order to respond. Yes, I do believe that Schlosser has provided substantial proof to his argument in the writing.I went to a couple of internet sites: www.jimhightower.com, www.businesswee.com./bwdaily/dnflash.
and Christopher Farrel's article. I chose the first site because Jim Hightower is mentioned in the article. Jim Hightower was voted the #1 populist in the 1990s, and from his site, I can see that he has a great deal to say about the overall condition of the world in which we live. He was born and resides in Texas, and he is a public commentator, writer, and public speaker. In the 1970s as a farm activist, he predicted that there would be "the Mcdonaldization of America." In essence, I believe what he was saying then is that the fast food industry would, or could have, the potential of maximizing on profit, and potentially cause a threat to the independent business owner, and furthermore,the enviornment on the whole.Schlosser states in the article that what Jim Hightower predicted has come true. (I agree with this viewpoint, while at the same time I acknowledge that I have contributed to the livelihood of the fast food industry in general). In addition, both Schlosser and Hightower talk about how our diet is shaped by the economy, the enviornment, and the workforce. I am frightened by the fact that Mcdonalds has grown into such a huge commodity over the last 40 years or so. We as a people are paying for it with our dollars, common sense, and health. The fact that in 2001, we spent more than $110 billion dollars is astounding and not hard to believe. I shudder to think what the amount spent on fast-food is by now in the year 2007. In 2006, Hightower wrote an article questioning what children are eating for lunch in the school enviornment and the fact that "it has been reduced to corporate-delivered sugars, fats and calories. This contributes to the growing epidemic of childhood obesity and gross ignorance of what food should be." He continues by saying: "their meals come pre-packaged from food-service corps. or are contracted out to Mcdonalds, Domino's and other fast -food chains." In essence we are teaching our children that this is what they should be eating before they have a chance to decide for themselves what they would choose to eat. By the time they are old enough or understand more about what they want to eat, their food habits in many cases have already been shaped and decided upon. As a result, we have an increasing number of our youth who are obese, and this includes the rest of the population as well. In 2003, Christopher Farrell from Businessweek said:"many evenings parents ferrying their children home from sports or band stop at a fast-food restaurant to pick up dinner. Obesity is a growing health problem in America, nearly a third of the population is classified as medically obese." He concedes with Schlosser with regard to the growing number of women in the labor force. As a result,their responsibilties have shifted from cooking at home to being forced to save time and energy by eating out at least some of the time. For example, who can blame a single mother for choosing to feed her children on the way home from a long work day at a Mcdonald's or Wendy's restaurant? She is likely tired and perhaps her income is not great, and she can feed herself and her child for approximately $10.00, and still have time left over to relax and enjoy the rest of the day with her child. I certainly would not find fault with that person any more than I blamed members in my own family who at one time or another had to make these types of choices in their lives. This is a wide ranging area with so many angles, and I would love to open this up as a larger class discussion. I know after reading all of the material mentioned above, I will think twice before I drive through Wendy's for my fries and frosty. What about you?
Eric Scholosser references Jim Hightower, a form activist, warning of “the McDonaldization of America” where he envisions the fast food industry swallowing the independent business and influencing the way Americans live. Jim Hightower predicted this in the early 1970’s. Another area he makes reference to is with more women working today, some for necessity and some by choice, little time is spent on the household chores such as cooking, cleaning and child care.
I am not surprised about these facts since our society lives by the clock. In other words, we tend to measure everything based on time (how long things take and time management). Therefore, convenience is high on the list which opens the doors for fast food eateries.
I fall into the working mom category like most women trying to balance a home, family, work and/or education. I found a few recipes where I can whip up a healthy meal in about 30 minutes or less (it’s called stir-fry). My son joins me in the kitchen cooking so we can learn together. Children are the primary audience which is affected by the Fast Food Nation where obesity is now a big concern. It’s frightening and sad that today children have to deal with health conditions such as diabetes and high blood pressure. Adults are usually the target of these health diseases.
http://www.whfoods.org =>This website is called World's Healthiest Foods which is a non-profit organization. It contains scientific information on food and has pages on how to cook and eat health food including what foods are good for you especially if you have a health condition.
Sorry Everyone. My bad...
The link I provided is for eating healthy and not necessarily supporting Eric Scholosser’s position.
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2005-05-12-bad-food-cover_x.htm
Here is a link (article) that mentions how much money Americans spend on fast food and how fast food companies are getting rich.
J. Verduzco – I agree with your posting on how overwhelming it is to see the list of places where fast foods are found. They are popping up everywhere sometimes twice on the same block. No wonder when you ask a child where would he/she like to eat, they request a fast food place.
Schlosser righteously presents a comprehensive analysis about the history,politics,economics and culture of fast food industry.Interestingly,through dialogue and logical study he spots out the geometrical progression of fast food since its inception in American food culture. Such meticulous research really captured my attention to reason with him. Evidently,he made his argument more concret by dicovering that Americans spent $6 billion dollars on fast food in 1970 and more than $110 billion in 2001.Such drastic increase suggests that the average American eats-out often than eating the traditional home made food.Nowadays, most families have little or no time to cook as a reslut of related job challenges and adiction to fast food.Ironically,McDonalds, Burger king,pizza huts,Taco Bell,Starbucks and dozens of roadside food vendors in kiosks sudenly become more convinent than going to the kitchen.This explains the reason every block of the street is flooded with fast food outlets as the Author pointed out.
I believe Malcolm X validates Mayfield's quote by first recognizing that he was having difficulty with writting letters. He further recognized that he could communicate with with ease on the street, but when it came to writing a letter to those with whom he would need to be more formal, he had extreme difficulties. His experiences of reading without comprehension led him to start copying, reading and learning the dictionary. When you have comprension of words, you can understand what you are reading.
My moment came last semester when I realized I was strong in my other studies and I felt extremely inadequate in my writing. I found that I did not read enough and this summer break, I started reading my English 1A book "Dreams and Inward Journey", it is opening my mind to writers and writing styles. It has given me a new courage to write at work, when before I was quite shy and nervous about my writing. How I expand my vocabulary is when I write I use my dictionary and Thesaurus when I am not sure of a word or its meaning.
I have spent a few hours scouring the internet looking for the facts referenced in Eric Schlosser's story. The only fact I was able to confirm was that McDonalds had thirty thousand restaurants. The employment figures were not readily available to me.
http://www.mcdonalds.com/corp/career.html/
I really enjoyed the article, but found it full of information that he has pulled together without citing the sources, I cannot confirm the article or the arthor as credible sources.
More important that the issue of spending is the real problem of childhood obesity and diabetes associated with this type of diet.
http://speakout.com/activism/issue_briefs/1333b-1.html
The facts of fast food are today about half of the money used to buy food is spent at resturants-- mainly at fast food resturants. Fast Food and its consequences have become inescapable, regardless of whether you eat it twice a day, try to avoid it, or have never taken a single bite. I totally agree with Schlosser in last two sentences. once you let the fast food attractive in your life or you want to cook some good home healthy meal and safe some money in your chooses. The other fact is the fast food resturant industry is now America's largest private employer, and it pays some of the lowest wages. They are also receive no benefits, learn few skills.
http://www.thefastfooddiet.com/menupicks/ Even though our article is about dark side of the fast food, however this website telling you about each food have how many calories and tell you how easy to gulp down more calories than your body can process. Choose your favorite fast food resturant and foods in the web site then it will show how to fit fast-food into a healthy weight-loss diet
Once again the website is
http://www.thefastfooddiet.com/menupicks/
Maria G. Ambriz
I totally agree with you when you said "It is truly a shame that we are loosing with every generation that passes the good traditions of a good home cooked meal and replacing it with high in fat and calories fast food meals" Because it makes me think when we go to school or go to work, why don't we just bring some good healthy food from home, and we will save our money, save our time to buy food and save our good tradition to make food at home, and give this concept to our next generation
Yes I agree with Schlosser because he uses a variety facts to support his claim such as "The fast food industry has helped to transform not only the the American diet, but also our landscape, economy, workforce, and popular culture"(100). I agree with this quote because our landscape has went from buliding schools, parks, and homes to building more fast food chains on every street cornor. Everyday as I driveback and forward from work and school I see nothing but fast food chains for example Jack in the Box, Churches Chicken, KFC, In and Out, Wendys, the most common is McDonalds. Also the economy is growing rapidly in our fast culture and the fast food chains are making all the dollars because we as Americans love our fast culture and life style especially when it comes to food its quick fast and convient and that all we as Americans look for when comes down to buying anything from food to a house. Moreover, these cahins are gaining many new employeees daily to thier work force just for a few dollars and cents to be exact minimum wage is $7.50 it will be $8.00 in 2008.Popular culture has changed tramindiously because of the fast food exposer you are considered weired if you do not eat at these fast food chains your not cool.
Yes some of this information was supprising to me because I never knew about all the things about the McDonalds's Corporation.
Another reason I support Schlosser is because we as consumers of this fast food we really don't know whats in the products we eat yes they display the nutristion facts buy as crtical thinkers we must examine thid more closely. I have heard many times from friends who have worked in the fast food industy say that their are many artifacl ingridents in food and its not always 100% beef there are fillers and also the same with chicken. This fast food obsession is very unhealth for everyone but expecially the children and youth in this society are now at risk for diabetes and suffer from obesity.
As evidence,"The obesity epidemic is reaching down to the playpen: More than 10% of U.S. children ages 2 to 5 are overweight, the American Heart Association reported Thursday".
source: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-12-30-obesity-pre_x.htm
Alex V. I agree with you about finding health food when u have only an half hour lunch the only thing that is available is fast food and if u find something that the fast food chain is claiming to be health its probly not its filled with artifical flavors and ingridents. I had that same problem until I started bring my own luch to work and maybe you can try it sometimes.
The methodology of corporations that have through extensive research figured out a way to keep individuals compelled to continuously consume and most ironically, to consume the most unbeneficial substances continues to awe me. I am a part of a system that reminds me how difficult and stressful it is to cook my own food, how the drive thru is a more productive way of having all my three square meals, while the disproportionate calories store excessive fat deposits around my body. As a nation we have moved further and further away from the days when home cooked meals were cherished way of life and almost everyone of us has subscribe to the idea of eating out, at the expense of our health and the necessity of a balanced diet. Fats food nation makes a call to rejuvenate the long-standing culture of eating less junk and watching what goes through our mouth, especially when the health effects are often detrimental.
Eric Schlosser presents a good argument in his novel Fast Food Nation. Schlosser used outlandish numbers and ridiculous statistics to show the rapid increase in fast food consumption. Whether it be a through the use of numbers to show the increasing trend in the popularity of hamburgers and fries, or Schlosser stating the obvious that "the fries taste good",Schlosser points to the fact that french fries taste best when deep fried, not baked or cooked. His argument is very valid and easily supported. I support Schlosser claim, the United States has one of the highest childhood obesity rates. The child obesity rate has more than doubled in the last thirty years. I tend to believe that as the popularity of fast food becomes ever so increasingly popular, the rate of childhood obesity will also increase.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/05/health/main591325.shtml
I agree with what Phillip is saying, I do believe as the popularity of fast food increases so will the rate of childhood obesity. I noticed when I go to Mcdonalds, there are more parents buying early morning happy meals for their children, rather than just giving them a traditional home cooked meal. Now there are more ad's promoting eating fast food. Thanks to these ad's people are more inclined to stop by and pick up a burger, then go home and cook a meal.
Eric Schloser uses narration methods to get his point across about the fast food corporation in American.He uses dates, and percentages to drive his points home and support his claim."The McDonald Corporation has become the powerful symbol of Americans's servive economy, which is now responsible for 90 percent of the country new jobs.In 1968,McDonald's operation about one thousand restaurants worldwide, and opens almost two thousand new ones each year.An estimated one out every eight worker in the United States at some point been employed by McDoanld's. The company annually hires about one million people, more than any other American oragization,public or private.McDoald is the nation largest purchaser of beef,pork and potates-and the second largest purchser chicken..pg100 Mary Mayfield "
No, I'm not surpise about the information,Schloser present in his essay about McDonald Corporation.If you live in my neighborhood; you see that there are five McDonald in a one mile ratios of each other.Also, if you were to go www.mcdonald.com:All you have to do is plug in your zip code into McDonald website to find out how many McDonalds are in your area. Which only proves that Schloser is right about the McDonald Corpoaration being a very power corpation world wide. I agree with him on his view point about McDonald's being a very powerful Corporation and having their own agenda.
The facts that Eric uses to support his claim is that fast food is served in almost every imaginable location like schools, airports, stadiums, gas stations, Walmart's and K-Mart's. This fact doesn't suprise me. I truly agree with Eric's facts that we spend more money on fast food that anything else. Fast food restaurants like Mcdonalds are convinient and located everywhere. You can purchase your food either inside or drive thru without ever leaving your car. The prices are cheap and most of these fast food chains are open twenty four hours. These hours cater to the early birds, the person in a hurry to grab a lunch bite, and the late night cravers. Movies, books, magazines, videos, and cds aren't purchased everyday whereas food is.
A good website to look at is
http://www.rotten.com/library/crime/corporate/
click on Mcdonalds.
This is a very good informative site that explains the start of Mcdonalds and some of the events that have occured at various locations like a killing spree in 1984
http://www.supersizeme.com/home.aspx?page=bythelb
This is another good site with very interesting facts about Mcdonald's like "The average child sees 10,000 tv advertisements each year"
The is very true for me because as a child I can remember seeing the Mcdonald characters on TV all the time, and I wanted those dolls and burgers just like they had. To this day I still have those Ronald, Hamburglar, Mayor McCheese, and Big Mac dolls. The marketing on TV still reaches out to young kids. My daughter is only two and a half and she can already recognize Ronald McDonald's face and the golden arches whenever we drive by McDonald's. They truly know how to market themselves with an image or saying that appeals to all ages.
The last website is
http://www.mcdonalds.com/app_controller.nutrition.index1.html
This lists calories on all of McDonald's items. Even now, the newest thing that these fast food chains are doing is including the calories per serving on their items. Some now even serve healthy items on their food menu but that still doesn't change the fact that many are still contributing to keeping these fast food chains growing. Little by little these food chains are monopolizing our world.
Alestri
I agree with your post. I too sometimes feed my kids fast food when I only have under twenty dollars in my pocket. And I can see the dangers of the obecity in the kids. My nephew is only six years old and he weighs almost a hundred pounds with most of this contributed by fast food. Its very sad because his parents aren't really doing much to stop it.
Eric Schlosser uses very valid facts and points to support his claim that people are spending more and more money on fast foods now than ever before. More and more people are spending money on fast foods because they are cheaper and some may have an easier access to then, rather than having home cooked healthier meals. When fast food is eaten, most people are not aware of where the food is coming from, how it is made, or how it is affecting society today. I agree with what Eric Schlosser is saying because fast foods are everywhere and they are convenient for most people. There are more fast food places is low-income areas than most areas, and people are not seeing what it is doing to them. It's easy to just grab fries and a burger for $3.00, but it may cost about $5.00 or more for a healthier meal.
http://www.ijbnpa.org/content/3/1/2
The website I have included in my response talks about how there are usually more fast food restaurants in low income areas, which causes more of them to be obese and also have other health related problems. I think if they reduce the number of fast food restaurants in the lower income areas and also make healthy foods cheaper for them, the obesity rate would decrease.
I agree with what Ifeyinwa is saying because people have an easier access to fast foods than healthier ones, so they tend to just buy fast foods without considering the nutrition facts. More people and always on the go, so they often go through the drive-thru which doesn't take time, unlike going home to make something to eat. I think that the fact that we have fast food places all over is the main reason for people being obese, so the only way to stop that problem would be to decrease the number of fast foods and also make it more convenient for people to eat healthier. It's just sad seeing people taking their kids to fast food places when they have healthier foods at home, which would probably be more filling for the kids. So like Ifeyinwa said, I think if healthier foods were cheaper and people had an easier access to them, more people would eat healthier rather than eating fast foods.
I agree with what Hip Bong Lee said. I think it's definitely a choice that people have to make when dealing with fast food. You have to choose to put in the extra effort to avoid fast food. It's just a lifestyle choice that comes in many different levels: you have the casual user, the habitual junk eater and the somewhere in between.
When I read the exerpt from Schlosser's Fast Food Nation I was not at all surprised by most of his claims. The family structure has changed dramatically over the years. Mothers now have to work due to less Fathers present in the house holds. This places alot of responsibility on the children who are left to feed themselves. McDonalds, Burger King and many others are quick and coveniently located and children can get an entire meal for as little as $3.50. If a hospital has a McDonalds or a Burger King in the cafeteria it can't be that bad right? Especially if I choose the "healthy" items the menu has to offer. This is the thinking of lots of Americans. The convenience of the the fast food franchise is a welcomed relief for single mothers who have worked all day and need something quick and cheap for their kids. There are approximately thirty-five Burger Kings in Oakland, San Leandro, and San Lorenzo. This informaiton is readily available on their website http://www.burgerking.com/bkglobal. It even offers maps and driving directions to make your journey as easy as possible. I used Burger King as an example but ALL of the fast food chains boast of a location near you. They also make sure to list all the wonderful promotions they have for you and your family, often targeting families with smaller incomes who can't afford a more expensive meal. They give your children free toys, games and coupons for future visits to insure your loyalty. I think Schlosser was a bit exagerated with his comparison of how much more money is spent on fast food than on a number of electronics because there is little or no information on the actual amount of money spent on the products he listed. It was good attention getting tool to use by putting in perspective all the other things being bought in large quantities by Americans. But upon further reasearch I did not find any reasearch done that was not biased recording the actual amount of money spent on cmputers, cars, education etc... combined. However that does not change the fact that, Schlossers claim is very real and very relivant. We as Americans should take the time to slow down in a world pushed to move even faster with each passing day. If we stop enough to investigate and assume our own conclusions we will be less apt to mass brainwashing. Knowledge really is power.
Two major characteristics about American including myself are busy are lazy. I agree with Schlosser that fast food are cheap and more importantly: they are very convenient. No matter where you are, the close restaurant to get food is always a fast food restaurant. As we can see in the following website: http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/foo_mcd_res-food-mcdonalds-restaurants
The US has more fast food restaurant than any other countries. When I immigrated to the US, the first job I found easily was a job in a fast food restaurant called Ben’s burger. Therefore, I was not surprised when Schlosser said that McDonald is responsible for 90 percent of the country’s new jobs. However, there are many problems with the fast food. Nutrition is one of them. Lots of fat and heavy sodium are not good for our health, but those are what we eat when eating fast food. Here is the whole guide about the nutrition of most fast food restaurant in their menu: http://www.bddiabetes.com/us/download/13a_fastfoodguide.pdf
One very interesting thing in the following website http://www.youngwomenshealth.org/fast_food.html
It says that if we can balance what we eat, eating fast food is not a problem. However, it also says that if you eat fast food more than once a week for a long time, though, it can lead to health problems like high blood pressure, heart disease, and obesity.
Ok, another funny thing is that while some Americans consider fast food like McDonald as junk food, but in China, McDonald or pizza Hut are expensive restaurants that not everyone can go everyday.
L.Sayson
J. Verduzco
I agree with you. Whenever I ask my little cousins where to eat, they will always respond “McDonald”. Since it is a place where they can get their toys and have fun with other kid.
Hi Kalid,
I appreciate what you said with regard to how as consumers we are repeatedly "compelled" to go out and buy, buy, buy. In addition, your comments about the value of quality time spent preparing and eating meals together. Myself, I intellecutally think about how each time I go out of my house, I feel almost an urge to make some type of purchase. For example, many times I go to the grocery in need of one particular item, and interestingly enough I wander the aisles grabbing for things I really do not need. As a result, I come away from the grocery store having spent much more money than I inially intended, and I have a variety of foods that I truly did not need. Also, I definitely want to spend nurturing time in my home enviornment by sharing a well- cooked meal on a regular basis, and what I find is that at least several nights in the week, we hurry ourselves through the process from start to finish. Both the excerpt we read and your comments give me pause to consider these issues with closer examination. Thanks.
Schlosser uses many facts to support his claim. One inteesting one was that "The basic thinking behind fast food has become the operating system of today's retail economy,wiping out small businesses,obliterating regional differences, and spreading identical stores throughout the country like a self-replicating code". I'm not surprised that he thinks this way because everywhere we look we see one or more fast food chains. I disagree with this statement because in my research I found that trends favor more growth in full service restraurants to be greater than growth in fast food. The web site I am speaking of is http://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/aer829/aer829researchbrief.pdf
Eric Schlosser does a great job in presenting his facts in his persuasive book on fast food. I agree with Eric in many things about our societies changes over time that have affected us negatively. It is very true that families would eat good home cooked meals instead of the horrible fast food. However, like he mentioned, more mothers are now in the work force than before. Therefore, it is a lot harder to have enough time to make home cooked meals and spend time with their families everynight. "What people eat (or don't eat) has always been determined by a complex interplay of social,economic, and technological forces"(Mayfield pg.100) In other words, we do not have time and money to buy our families healthier meals. I clearly understand that side of things because I was raised by my mother who worked two to three jobs at a time. I was lucky enough that my mother worked overtime and made food for us to last us for a few days at a time. http://abc.go.com/primetime/shaqsbigchallenge/index?pn=index
I just read my blog. Please excuse my spelling and grammatical errors.
Eric Schlosser did not use any facts in his essay "Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal," to back his claim that "Americans now spend more money on fast food than on higher education, personal computers, computer software, or new cars. They spend more on fast food than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos, and recorded music--combined." (99). The only thing that Mr. Schlosser proves in his argument is the power of fast restaurants on our society. He claims that in 1970 we spent only six- billion dollars on fast food. More than thirty years later he claims that we are spending over one- hundred and ten billion dollars on fast food. Mr. Schlosser also tells us a lot about how McDonald’s is a major force in our society. The McDonald’s brand is more famous than Coca Cola and McDonald’s he says is responsible for more than ninety percent of all new jobs in this country. This is a surprising fact if all of this is true. I do not believe Mr. Schlosser. He never proves his claim. I couldn’t find any resources to refute his claim on the Internet. Every time I tried to find consumer-spending reports I could not fin what I was looking for.
I think schlosser's work meets the basic criteria required to certisfy scientific research method.So, I disagree with Satrcher Bio who disproved the Author's claims.All the claims in Schlosser's work are valid, which implies that they can be varified.In this case,his claim is no more considered as hypothesis rather,it's a theory.I certainly belief that there is no Argument or doubt about the credibility of his work.
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