In “What We Eat”,
Eric Schlosser argues that fast food has accumulated a strong grip on American
society and it is crucial for consumers to understand the truth behind fast
food corporations. Fast food is the fastest growing corporation in America and
it has led to many changes in American society from the way animals are raised
to mainstream culture.
Schlosser combines methods to
support his argument. He uses description when he describes walking into a fast
food restaurant. Schlosser describes, “Pull open the glass door, feel the rush
of cool air…study the backlit color photographs above the counter…and moments
later take hold of a plastic tray full of food wrapped in colored paper”
(667-668). He describes the type of door being walked through, the feeling of
the air upon entry, the collage of pictures seen while waiting on line and the colorful
packaging of your order. All these descriptions adhere to the senses and
readers can easily picture this scene in their head.
Schlosser makes use of process analysis.
An example for this is when he writes of how fast food came to be. Schlosser
states, “America’s fast food industry…was founded by iconoclasts and self-made
men, by entrepreneurs willing to defy conventional opinion. Few of the people
who built fast food empires ever attended college” (670). It is ironic how much
of a social norm fast food has become, yet it was created by rebels who were
trying to defy norms. Most people who started these fast food giants did not
even graduate college, or attend at all. These founders began this business in
order to go against societal norms, yet their enterprises have now become
widely accepted norms.
Schlosser uses definition in his
essay. For example, Schlosser explains, “The key to a successful
franchise…expressed in one word: ‘uniformity.’ Franchises and chain stores
strive to offer exactly the same product or service at numerous locations…we
will make conformists out of them” (670). Schlosser states that in order to create
a successful business, there must be uniformity. He then goes on to define what
uniformity means in this context. According to Schlosser, uniformity is a sort
of conformity, where everything is made the same for everyone.
Schlosser utilizes comparisons in
his essay. In one use of this method, Schlosser notes, “In 1968, McDonald’s
operated about one thousand restaurant. Today it has about thirty thousand
restaurants worldwide…The Golden Arches are now more widely recognized than the
Christian cross” (668-669). He compares the number of McDonald restaurants back
in 1968 and the amount in modern times. It is evident that the number of
McDonald restaurants has risen tremendously since the mid 1900s. He also
compares the familiarity of McDonald’s Golden Arches to the holy cross. The
holy cross being the symbol of Catholic Church that has been around for much
longer than McDonalds, yet the symbol for McDonalds is more well-known than the
symbol of Catholicism.
As evident, Schlosser makes use of many different
methods in his essay and by doing so, he was able to tackle different parts of
his argument in effective ways. Also, using different methods prevents the
essay from being monotonous and engages readers more.
Schlosser write well but his
organization can be improved upon. I felt his essay was very all over the
place. He would suddenly move from talking about the increase of women entering
the job force to the widespread growth of fast food restaurants, which to me,
did not logically flow. Also, Schlosser touched the surface of an important
topic on chemical factories, but did not in-depth on it. Schlosser writes,
“Much of the taste and aroma of American fast food, for example, is now
manufactured at a series of large chemicals plants off the New Jersey Turnpike”
(671). He is making a serious claim that fast food industries are not growing
their food naturally, and that the food is actually being grown in chemical
plants. He merely states this without explaining it or supporting his claim.
Other than this, his essay was well written and interesting to read.
I agree with his argument. The fast
food industry has definitely made a huge leap in society. From the first
McDonalds built to having a McDonalds at every street corner is definitely
shocking. It is important for people to realize the consequences caused by fast
food industries such as spread of obesity. However, I would have liked it if
Schlosser had said more about those chemical plants he spoke about and even go
further than that by explaining to readers what factory farms are. Factory
farms are part of agribusiness and it is used to raise large numbers of
livestock. Factory farms are typically in horrible conditions, the livestock is
given steroids in order to grow big and meaty for mass consumption. Without
realizing it, we, humans, are ingesting the steroids that were used on the
livestock. This is harmful to the human body and who knows what others
chemicals were used? Factory farming does not only harm the human who consumes the
mystery product, it also harms the livestock. Since the livestock was given
steroids, sometimes, the livestock grows too big for it to be able to support
its own weight. When this does happen, the livestock will fall and die (due to inability
to reach for water).
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