In the first couple chapters of fast food nation, the author provides an in depth introduction to American culture and it's relation to fast food. I thought the very beginning where the author compares a completely apocolypse proof army base as a small representation of American culture saying, "if all life ceased to exist and another life form came to this base, they would find humans, basic ammenities and fast food wrappers littered in the base."
So far the book has lived up to my expectations, a lit if what I had been looking for was a non-fiction book that talked about modern day "work and class". Without using crazy metaphors or hard to understand comparisons. The book has been very straight forward and easy to understand without being boring. It hits the "sweet spot" I was looking for.
Secondly how does it icorporate our unit theme, work and class? Well a major stereo type of Americans is lazy and fat. And this book plays up that stereo type as it shows the consumer of fast food, and the producer, typically a lower to middle class American. It is appropriately entitled Fast Food Nation representing the aforementioned stereo type, and America all in one fell swoop
Eric Scholsser talks about the meat packing industry and the whole economic, and government behind it. There used to be lots of meat suppliers in the nation, but five big companies put out most of the other suppliers out of business and dominates the whole industry. Because of that, the price of land increased, and cattle were over supplied. The government favoring big rich companies because they benefited them by paying good amount of tax, cowboys and ranchers lost their lands and jobs. Schlosser also argues about the intolerable condition of the meat process. The meat and eggs of the poultry were easily contaminated. Chickens and turkeys were packed in dirty warehouse like factories where they could barely move. Since they were so stressed, they fought by pecked on each other. To prevent the injuries, some of the poultry’s beaks were cut off. At the end of the chapter, Schlosser tell a story about a rancher, Hank, who took his own life, because of stress from his situation that occurred by the monopoly of the big companies. This one of the books that start out okay, and get better as the story goes on. I thought it was okay in the beginning but boring at the same time because the author talked about people and history which that I am not interested in. Now he finally talks about the facts that I want to know such as the problems with fast food companies and their products. This chapter’s theme goes along with what we have been learning, work and class. The Schlosser talks about the monopoly the big companies, putting other small companies and individuals out of business. He also discusses the government’s actions and the effect of them. Rich and big companies, the upper class, became richer, and small companies and individuals, the lower class, became poorer. So far, I am enjoying this book, because now it actually talks about what I am interested in. It is really hard to stop in the middle of the stories and chapters, because I cannot wait to know more facts about the dark side of fast food companies and their product. I used to hate reading, and read very slowly, but this book helps me to read as much as I can. As I said in my first blog, this deals a lot with our society and culture. This book is based on the facts that are true right now around us. However, this book does not have artistic or literary value, since it reports the history and records.
The chapter 8 discusses that meat packing industry is now the most dangerous job in the United States of America. About three times more men and women are injured or suffer from work related illnesses than a typical American factory. In the beginning of the chapter, there is a picture of a man with a part of his arm cut off. These kinds of injuries occur majorly because of the speed of the disassembly line. The workers are exposed to the fast moving dangerous machines. However, there are not many reports on the injuries and complains about the working conditions from the workers. It is because the annual bonuses of the foremen and the supervisors are often based in part on the injury rate of their workers.
The chapter 9 argues what is in the meat that we are eating. The author, Eric Scholsser, says that one of the major cause E.coli 0157:H7 is the high speed of disassembly line. E.coil is a bacterium that lives in the intestine of humans and animals. It takes about three days to show symptoms after the exposure. The symptoms are diarrhea and abdominal cramps. The stomach and the intestine of the cows, where E.coli 0157:H7 live, are still removed by hand. Since they want to speed up the process, they do not bother cleaning themselves after the process. Also, it takes about six months to be good at removing the stomach and the intestine, but with the high turnover and the high speed of the line, it is not done well. Over twenty percent of cattle can have their guts spilled onto the carcasses being processed on the line. This contaminates many other meats. Eric Scholsser also talks about the role of the government, how they do not really care about these, because the willful disregard for the consumer¹s health is all done in the name of profits.
So far, these two chapters were the most interesting chapters for me. I have been waiting to read about the disgusting part of the meat process. As I wrote on my first blog, theses chapters are the reasons why I chose this book. I love how the author talks about the dangers of meat process, and filthiness of the foremen and the supervisors.
These chapters’ themes are related to work, class, and society; because they mention what kind of working class people work in the meat processing industry risking that high danger of infection and injuries. Also the chapters talk about the society wanting profit more than better and safer working conditions for the workers.
I like this book more and more as I read. I stared reading the chapters and I could not stop reading, so I ended up reading them without stopping in the middle. I wanted to read the last chapter but I had to save it for the last individual blog so that I have something to talk about. By reading this book, I realized how dangerous and nasty the meat processing is. Also, this book reminded me how the society always wants profit than the health of the people once again. This book does not have artistic or literary merit, but I still like this book a lot.
In chapters 5 and 6 we learn more and more about the hidden aspects of the fast food industry. A lot of the negative effects of the ballooning of the fast food industry has trickled down to farmers and other such entities. One of the intereting things in chapter 5 was the visit to a super secret "flavor production center". Where scents, and tastes are made into a product and sold. It is really fascinating how all the science goes into making tastes we have every day.
2. The book so far is exceeding my expectations again. It is so intricate and so in depth about how fast food impacts not only every part of our life, but every part of the United States. I expected it to be an OK read, but man has it gone above and beyond. Not only am I learning, but I am being entertained.
3. In chapter 6 especially, Work and class are major themes. Chapter six references a farmer, who, because of the ballooning fast food industry has to expand and grow his far but with less and less land. It show the perfect example of a working class american whose getting the shaft because of large corporations. The story tells of countless farmers and other working class americans who have been pushed out or forced into different jobs because of the fast food industry. The main victims being farmers. 4. · As I said in #2, I love this book. It's one of the best I've read in a long time. · I'm engaged in the book, because not only do I want to learn, but as I said. i am being entertained. · I said it in my first post, the book is of deep cultural value because it examines how our culture is effected by the fast food industry today. both negatively and positively.
Bobby and I discussed about the chapter 7 during the class today. The chapter 7 is mainly about the meat packing industry. The author talks about the potato fields and processing plants of Idaho, the ranchlands east of Colorado Springs, and the feedlots and slaughterhouses of the High Plains. In this chapter, you can see the effects of fast food on the nation's rural life, its environment, its workers, and its health. During the 1980s, the big companies such as Cargill, ConAgra, and IBP dominated the meat packing industry. The monopoly of a few powerful companies put many farmers and cattle ranchers out of jobs.
As we discussed about the chapter, we both agreed that this book is more exciting than our expectations. However, this chapter itself was not very interesting. Bobby and I are both looking for some fascinating facts that make us surprise, but this chapter talked about the back ground and the effects of the monopoly of a few big countries.
The chapter 7 was not more interesting than our expectations, but the theme of the chapter was related to the themes that we are learning. The author said that family farms were being replaced by gigantic corporate farms with absentee owners. Rural communities lost their middle class and became socially stratified, divided between a small, wealthy elite and large numbers of the working poor. Small towns that seemingly belong in a Norman Rockwell painting are being turned into rural ghettos. This chapter shows the dramatic changes in the working classes, and communities.
We both are really enjoying the book in general, because it is more exciting that what we expected. Bobby said that he thought that this book would be an okay read before, but now he likes the book more and more. The book is interesting because it is dealing with the current social problems of the United Sates a lot. We thought this book is very important, because it can change the way of thinking of people, and have a huge effect on the society. However, we thought this book does not have artistic or literary merit, because style of writing is reporting the facts rather than using the beautiful language. But it does not matter because the purposes of the books are all different.
Chapter 10 is the last chapter of the book. It talks about “global realization”. Eric Scholsser talks about the history of Plauen, Germany, the first city in the former East Germany to get a McDonald’s. He talks about the history of Germany during the World War, and how McDonald’s opened and franchised the restaurant. Later in the chapter, Scholsser displays the research about how fat the United Sates is. He quotes James O. Hill, a prominent nutritionist at the University of Colorado, “We’ve got the fattest, least fit generation of kids ever” (240). He blames the entire fast food restaurant the cause of this problem. Scholsser again mentions how unhealthy the fast food is at the end of the chapter.
I also looked through the epilogue, and the last parts of the book. Scholsser says to stop eating fast food until they fix the way, and become healthy. Also talks about the disease that a person could get buy eating fast food, such as mad cow disease.
I just finished the book and it was actually more than what I first expected. I expected it to be boring because the style of the book is reporting. However, it was not boring at all. There were parts where the stories were slow, but I like this book overall.
This chapter is also related with the theme that we are learning in class. The book demonstrates work, class, and society by talking about the effect of fast food on the nation and the world.
I really enjoyed reading this book. When I first started, I could not stop reading, because I wanted to get to the part that I am interested in. When I got to the part, I was so in to the book that I could not stop reading until I fished a chapter. I would give 9 out of 10, because it was an amazing book, but there were some boring parts as well. This book also has a social value because it talks about one of the major problems in our society. However, this book does not really have artistic or literary merit, because the style of the book is reporting the facts and persuading the readers not to eat fast food.
In class we discussed how, after the completion of the book, we had learned so much about the way the fast food industry has changed, and how it affects the average American. This book even changed the way we look at the fast food restaurant. I used to go to McDonalds and order a Big Mac, but I do not think I will do that anymore, because things in the food are discussing. The chapter 9 reveals the truth of the meat packing industry and the chance of a beef getting infected by E. coli bacteria during the process is very high. We also talked about how the common theme of work and class carried throughout the story as every chapter delved into a different part of the fast food industry, and which class was affected. The chapter 8 showed how the meat packing industry is one of the most dangerous jobs in the United Sates. It says that the people working in the industry are usually lower class people, because they are willing to work in a bad condition, and risk the danger. Otherwise, they would have no money to live. During the discussion, we found that the book was very culturally relevant because it deals with issues Americans are facing today. Fast food is major cause of obesity, and many other diseases in the United States. However, we don't think it will be a classic because it references many things that only current day readers could understand. We thought it was great book, especially considering the theme of the unit "work and class." We could not stop reading in the middle of a chapter, because the facts that the author was telling was so interesting. I usually have hard time focusing on a book, because I tend to day dream. This book helped me to focus and think deeply while reading a book. I recommend it to all people who do not like to read or interested in knowing what is in the food that they are eating.
8 comments:
Bobby OBrien
In the first couple chapters of fast food nation, the author provides an in depth introduction to American culture and it's relation to fast food. I thought the very beginning where the author compares a completely apocolypse proof army base as a small representation of American culture saying, "if all life ceased to exist and another life form came to this base, they would find humans, basic ammenities and fast food wrappers littered in the base."
So far the book has lived up to my expectations, a lit if what I had been looking for was a non-fiction book that talked about modern day "work and class". Without using crazy metaphors or hard to understand comparisons. The book has been very straight forward and easy to understand without being boring. It hits the "sweet spot" I was looking for.
Secondly how does it icorporate our unit theme, work and class? Well a major stereo type of Americans is lazy and fat. And this book plays up that stereo type as it shows the consumer of fast food, and the producer, typically a lower to middle class American. It is appropriately entitled Fast Food Nation representing the aforementioned stereo type, and America all in one fell swoop
Group-
Q & Bobby
Eric Scholsser talks about the meat packing industry and the whole economic, and government behind it. There used to be lots of meat suppliers in the nation, but five big companies put out most of the other suppliers out of business and dominates the whole industry. Because of that, the price of land increased, and cattle were over supplied. The government favoring big rich companies because they benefited them by paying good amount of tax, cowboys and ranchers lost their lands and jobs. Schlosser also argues about the intolerable condition of the meat process. The meat and eggs of the poultry were easily contaminated. Chickens and turkeys were packed in dirty warehouse like factories where they could barely move. Since they were so stressed, they fought by pecked on each other. To prevent the injuries, some of the poultry’s beaks were cut off. At the end of the chapter, Schlosser tell a story about a rancher, Hank, who took his own life, because of stress from his situation that occurred by the monopoly of the big companies.
This one of the books that start out okay, and get better as the story goes on. I thought it was okay in the beginning but boring at the same time because the author talked about people and history which that I am not interested in. Now he finally talks about the facts that I want to know such as the problems with fast food companies and their products.
This chapter’s theme goes along with what we have been learning, work and class. The Schlosser talks about the monopoly the big companies, putting other small companies and individuals out of business. He also discusses the government’s actions and the effect of them. Rich and big companies, the upper class, became richer, and small companies and individuals, the lower class, became poorer.
So far, I am enjoying this book, because now it actually talks about what I am interested in. It is really hard to stop in the middle of the stories and chapters, because I cannot wait to know more facts about the dark side of fast food companies and their product. I used to hate reading, and read very slowly, but this book helps me to read as much as I can. As I said in my first blog, this deals a lot with our society and culture. This book is based on the facts that are true right now around us. However, this book does not have artistic or literary value, since it reports the history and records.
The chapter 8 discusses that meat packing industry is now the most dangerous job in the United States of America. About three times more men and women are injured or suffer from work related illnesses than a typical American factory. In the beginning of the chapter, there is a picture of a man with a part of his arm cut off. These kinds of injuries occur majorly because of the speed of the disassembly line. The workers are exposed to the fast moving dangerous machines. However, there are not many reports on the injuries and complains about the working conditions from the workers. It is because the annual bonuses of the foremen and the supervisors are often based in part on the injury rate of their workers.
The chapter 9 argues what is in the meat that we are eating. The author, Eric Scholsser, says that one of the major cause E.coli 0157:H7 is the high speed of disassembly line. E.coil is a bacterium that lives in the intestine of humans and animals. It takes about three days to show symptoms after the exposure. The symptoms are diarrhea and abdominal cramps. The stomach and the intestine of the cows, where E.coli 0157:H7 live, are still removed by hand. Since they want to speed up the process, they do not bother cleaning themselves after the process. Also, it takes about six months to be good at removing the stomach and the intestine, but with the high turnover and the high speed of the line, it is not done well. Over twenty percent of cattle can have their guts spilled onto the carcasses being processed on the line. This contaminates many other meats. Eric Scholsser also talks about the role of the government, how they do not really care about these, because the willful disregard for the consumer¹s health is all done in the name of profits.
So far, these two chapters were the most interesting chapters for me. I have been waiting to read about the disgusting part of the meat process. As I wrote on my first blog, theses chapters are the reasons why I chose this book. I love how the author talks about the dangers of meat process, and filthiness of the foremen and the supervisors.
These chapters’ themes are related to work, class, and society; because they mention what kind of working class people work in the meat processing industry risking that high danger of infection and injuries. Also the chapters talk about the society wanting profit more than better and safer working conditions for the workers.
I like this book more and more as I read. I stared reading the chapters and I could not stop reading, so I ended up reading them without stopping in the middle. I wanted to read the last chapter but I had to save it for the last individual blog so that I have something to talk about. By reading this book, I realized how dangerous and nasty the meat processing is. Also, this book reminded me how the society always wants profit than the health of the people once again. This book does not have artistic or literary merit, but I still like this book a lot.
Bobby O'Brien
Individual Entry 2
In chapters 5 and 6 we learn more and more about the hidden aspects of the fast food industry. A lot of the negative effects of the ballooning of the fast food industry has trickled down to farmers and other such entities. One of the intereting things in chapter 5 was the visit to a super secret "flavor production center". Where scents, and tastes are made into a product and sold. It is really fascinating how all the science goes into making tastes we have every day.
2. The book so far is exceeding my expectations again. It is so intricate and so in depth about how fast food impacts not only every part of our life, but every part of the United States. I expected it to be an OK read, but man has it gone above and beyond. Not only am I learning, but I am being entertained.
3. In chapter 6 especially, Work and class are major themes. Chapter six references a farmer, who, because of the ballooning fast food industry has to expand and grow his far but with less and less land. It show the perfect example of a working class american whose getting the shaft because of large corporations. The story tells of countless farmers and other working class americans who have been pushed out or forced into different jobs because of the fast food industry. The main victims being farmers.
4.
· As I said in #2, I love this book. It's one of the best I've read in a long time.
· I'm engaged in the book, because not only do I want to learn, but as I said. i am being entertained.
· I said it in my first post, the book is of deep cultural value because it examines how our culture is effected by the fast food industry today. both negatively and positively.
Group Blog
Bobby and I discussed about the chapter 7 during the class today. The chapter 7 is mainly about the meat packing industry. The author talks about the potato fields and processing plants of Idaho, the ranchlands east of Colorado Springs, and the feedlots and slaughterhouses of the High Plains. In this chapter, you can see the effects of fast food on the nation's rural life, its environment, its workers, and its health. During the 1980s, the big companies such as Cargill, ConAgra, and IBP dominated the meat packing industry. The monopoly of a few powerful companies put many farmers and cattle ranchers out of jobs.
As we discussed about the chapter, we both agreed that this book is more exciting than our expectations. However, this chapter itself was not very interesting. Bobby and I are both looking for some fascinating facts that make us surprise, but this chapter talked about the back ground and the effects of the monopoly of a few big countries.
The chapter 7 was not more interesting than our expectations, but the theme of the chapter was related to the themes that we are learning. The author said that family farms were being replaced by gigantic corporate farms with absentee owners. Rural communities lost their middle class and became socially stratified, divided between a small, wealthy elite and large numbers of the working poor. Small towns that seemingly belong in a Norman Rockwell painting are being turned into rural ghettos. This chapter shows the dramatic changes in the working classes, and communities.
We both are really enjoying the book in general, because it is more exciting that what we expected. Bobby said that he thought that this book would be an okay read before, but now he likes the book more and more. The book is interesting because it is dealing with the current social problems of the United Sates a lot. We thought this book is very important, because it can change the way of thinking of people, and have a huge effect on the society. However, we thought this book does not have artistic or literary merit, because style of writing is reporting the facts rather than using the beautiful language. But it does not matter because the purposes of the books are all different.
Individual 4
Chapter 10 is the last chapter of the book. It talks about “global realization”. Eric Scholsser talks about the history of Plauen, Germany, the first city in the former East Germany to get a McDonald’s. He talks about the history of Germany during the World War, and how McDonald’s opened and franchised the restaurant. Later in the chapter, Scholsser displays the research about how fat the United Sates is. He quotes James O. Hill, a prominent nutritionist at the University of Colorado, “We’ve got the fattest, least fit generation of kids ever” (240). He blames the entire fast food restaurant the cause of this problem. Scholsser again mentions how unhealthy the fast food is at the end of the chapter.
I also looked through the epilogue, and the last parts of the book. Scholsser says to stop eating fast food until they fix the way, and become healthy. Also talks about the disease that a person could get buy eating fast food, such as mad cow disease.
I just finished the book and it was actually more than what I first expected. I expected it to be boring because the style of the book is reporting. However, it was not boring at all. There were parts where the stories were slow, but I like this book overall.
This chapter is also related with the theme that we are learning in class. The book demonstrates work, class, and society by talking about the effect of fast food on the nation and the world.
I really enjoyed reading this book. When I first started, I could not stop reading, because I wanted to get to the part that I am interested in. When I got to the part, I was so in to the book that I could not stop reading until I fished a chapter. I would give 9 out of 10, because it was an amazing book, but there were some boring parts as well. This book also has a social value because it talks about one of the major problems in our society. However, this book does not really have artistic or literary merit, because the style of the book is reporting the facts and persuading the readers not to eat fast food.
In class we discussed how, after the completion of the book, we had learned so much about the way the fast food industry has changed, and how it affects the average American. This book even changed the way we look at the fast food restaurant. I used to go to McDonalds and order a Big Mac, but I do not think I will do that anymore, because things in the food are discussing. The chapter 9 reveals the truth of the meat packing industry and the chance of a beef getting infected by E. coli bacteria during the process is very high. We also talked about how the common theme of work and class carried throughout the story as every chapter delved into a different part of the fast food industry, and which class was affected. The chapter 8 showed how the meat packing industry is one of the most dangerous jobs in the United Sates. It says that the people working in the industry are usually lower class people, because they are willing to work in a bad condition, and risk the danger. Otherwise, they would have no money to live. During the discussion, we found that the book was very culturally relevant because it deals with issues Americans are facing today. Fast food is major cause of obesity, and many other diseases in the United States. However, we don't think it will be a classic because it references many things that only current day readers could understand. We thought it was great book, especially considering the theme of the unit "work and class." We could not stop reading in the middle of a chapter, because the facts that the author was telling was so interesting. I usually have hard time focusing on a book, because I tend to day dream. This book helped me to focus and think deeply while reading a book. I recommend it to all people who do not like to read or interested in knowing what is in the food that they are eating.
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