Reading Response Monday!

Fast Food Nation written by Eric Schlosser.

Precis

intro:

Schlosser's book begins by showing the parallels between the fast food industry and The Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station.  He describes how fast food has taken over many aspects of America's popular culture and goes on to describe how what people consume can often mirror their society. Most Americans have grown accustomed to consuming fast food on a daily basis.  Hamburgers, donuts, pizza and the other common foods produced by fast food outlets are such a normal part of life in American society that most people don't think twice about it.

The growth of the fast food industry has become an enormous part of the US economy over the past few decades.  The large corporations behind this industry - McDonald's, Burger King, Pizza Hut, etc. have become powerful and extremely wealthy.  They learned over time that by targeting children as consumers, they could gain a great deal of profit. The Mcdonald's corporation also created a strategy that many other industries have followed: using factory-styled production techniques so that labor is controlled and intimidated inside of the kitchens. Increasingly, the production of fast food is more like the production of cars and sneakers than the food food families typically cook in their kitchens.

one: 'The Founding Fathers'

Schlosser describes the early history of fast foods in telling story of one of the founders, Carl N. Karcher. Karcher grew up working on a farm in the midwest. He later moved to southern California where he thought he might be more successful. His family were firm believers in the 'American dream' and he grew up believing that 'the harder you work, the luckier you become.' His businesses started out with just one hot dog stand and he later purchased more hot dog stands that his wife helped out with. As cars began to become a lot more popular in southern California, fast food restaurants developed  Drive In's to make it even easier for a person to buy food. Schlosser describes how the different restaurant chains later adopted the 'speedee service' which was meant to quicken the service as well as increase the profits. Fast Food corporations later learned that locations were just as important as the quality of food, and therefore began to open new restaurants in areas such as high ways and strip malls.

two: 'Your trusted friends'

Schlosser also explores the history of McDonald's and the Walt Disney Company- and how the two developed and merged throughout history. Although McDonald's was founded by Richard and 'Mac' McDonald, Ray Kroc took the company over. Ray Kroc was an ambitious man who spread the idea of the Speedee Service System nationwide. Like Carl N. Karcher and many others, including Disney, Kroc also believed in the idea of the 'American Dream'. Disney started out by employing low skilled workers with a cheap pay and used the same factory style labor when it came to the drawings depicted for the Disney characters. Disney treated his workers unfairly and a union was created to address the bad working conditions. At the end of the strike, Disney agreed to the demands of the strikers but stated, 'it's the law of the universe that the strong shall survive and the weak must fall by the way, and I don't give a damn what idealistic plan is cooked up, nothing can change that.' Following Disney's lead the McDonald's Corporation saw their ideal customer as children. They realized that when they target kids as customers, the kids bring parents, and the parents bring in the money. Like Disney, they realized that to target children, they should get a mascot, and produce toys for the children in their meals. A series of mascots were toyed with until finally they came upon the clown, Ronald McDonald.  Like Disney's mascot, Mickey Mouse, Ronald McDonald became the friendly face that appealed to children.  The McDonald's corporation also began to build playlands in the restaurants storefronts to attract the families and make it seem as though McDonald's was a 'trusted friend' that makes families happier and makes lives easier.

three: 'Behind the Counter'

Schlosser describes many places that have become similar to Colorado Springs, a city where local stores once stood and now many fast food restaurants and other chains have taken their places. Simple things such as a store like 'Gap' took their model of selling clothes like chains sell their foods. Schlosser describes the life of a teenage girl who works at a McDonald's from opening to mid day shifts every single day. Many teenagers like this are often at risk of failure in school, or close to drop out. They often begin there jobs to help out at home, or to pay for other essentials. Most of the fast food chains have adopted ways of cooking in the kitchen that require no skill- for example, at Taco Bell, the description of the recipe is to 'just add hot water' for every food type. Restaurants such as McDonald's and Burger King are working on lowering the expenses of employees so that the people who work at these jobs don't need any skill at all. The conditions in the workforce of these restaurants are usually not good. Unions have been created, but defeated, and therefore people often get into a repeated cycle of quitting once they've had enough of a job. Studies have shown that robberies in fast food companies are often robbed by previous or former staff.  

Gems:

"Americans now spend more money on fast food than on high 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."

"Farmers and cattle ranchers are losing their independence, essentially becoming hired hands for the agribusiness giants or being forced off the land. family farms are now being replaced by gigantic corporate farms with absentee owners."

"The U.S. now has more prison inmates than full time farmers"

"The new division of labor meant that a worker only had to be taught how to perform one task. Skilled and expensive short order cooks were no longer necessary."

"They employed only young men, convinced that female workers would attract teenage boys to the restaurant and drive away other customers. Families soon lined up to eat at McDonald's"

"Studies conducted by Jerald Greenberg, a professor of management at the University of Ohio and an expert on workplace crime, have found that when people are treated with dignity and respect, they're less likely to steal from their employer. 'it may be common sense,' Greenberg says, 'but it's obviously not common practice.'"

Thoughts and Questions:

One thing I found really interesting was when the McDonald's restaurant employed only young men to attract families instead of teenagers. Now everybody is familiar with a McDonald's restaurant, so it doesn't matter who works there- and their typically at the bottom of the chain- teenagers, old people and immigrants.

I think that this first thought about employing only men was one of the many attributes to fast foods that helped reel in families and children and now they continue to reel some people in(ads, commercials...) but a lot of people are already hooked. I feel like this book just makes me begin to think of people as lambs, and whatever is popular and accessible is what people go to. I feel like nobody is really an individual anymore, and this makes me angry.

Another thing I started to think about was how to try and avoid shopping at places like McDonald's, the Gap, and such chain stores. I haven't eaten at a McDonald's or fast food place in a long time, but I think I really need to be a conscious consumer- because purchasing clothes from a store like H & M is probably very similar to purchasing food at a fast food restaurant. I want to do some research on clothing stores, food stores, and other places so that I could be a conscious consumer.