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Adolescent eating habits
The history of fast food in America
Fast food and the american economy
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Recommended: Adolescent eating habits
“Future historians, I hope, will consider the American fast food industry a relic of the twentieth century--a set of attitudes, systems, and beliefs that emerged from postwar southern California, that embodied its limitless faith in technology, that quickly spread across the globe, flourished briefly, and then receded, once its true costs became clear...”
-- Eric Schlosser -- Fast Food Nation Is fast food worth the trouble it may cause you? Obesity is a growing problem and it is taking a toll on kids’ health due to eating too much fast food. But who is to blame for the fattening of our country? Is it us, or the companies that allow us to pack on the pounds? Obesity itself is not only the problem. Obesity also causes many diseases such as depression, heart complications, and much more. “By eating like Americans, people all over the world are beginning to look more like Americans, at least in one respect. The United States now has the highest obesity rate of any industrialized nation in the world” (Schlosser, 240).
Nowadays, it doesn’t take a scientist to know that fast food is not good for the human body. Yes, it is a quick and cheap (from restaurants offering a dollar menu) but it lacks the essentials one’s body needs to be refueled. Rod Baird, teacher and author of the article “Fast-Food Examination,” gives an assignment to his students. First he records the reactions of the students after he asks them if they would like fast food restaurants to serve food at their cafeteria. Then he let them research the nutrition facts from items off of menus. All of the children first ...
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... Fast Food.” Education.com n.pag. Web. 28 Apr 2013.
Mindlin, Alex. “Fast Food Portions of Parents’ Dollars.” New York Times [New York] 02 June 2002, Business n. pag. Web. 28 Apr. 2013.
Ohlson, Kristen. “Break the Fast-Food Habit.”ExperienceLife.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr 2013.
Phillip, John. “Fast food diet increases risk of depression by more than fifty percent.” Natural News.com. n. page. Web. 28 Apr. 2013.
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001. Print.
Shohaimi, Shamarina. “Assessing the children’s views on foods and consumption of selected food groups: outcome from focus group approach.” PMC. (2013): n. page. Web. 28 Apr. 2013.
Smucker, Celeste. “Want to Lost Weight? Eliminate Fast Food..” Natural News.com. (2012): n. page. Web. 28 Apr. 2013.
“Unhappy Meals?.” DailyMail 26 March 2012, n. pag. Web. 28 Apr. 2013.
“Out of every $1.50 spent on a large order of fries at fast food restaurant, perhaps 2 cents goes to the farmer that grew the potatoes,” (Schlosser 117). Investigative journalist Eric Schlosser brings to light these realities in his bestselling book, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Schlosser, a Princeton and Oxford graduate, is known for his inspective pieces for Atlantic Monthly. While working on article, for Rolling Stone Magazine, about immigrant workers in a strawberry field he acquired his inspiration for the aforementioned book, Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, a work examining the country’s fast food industry (Gale).
Albeit the system seems rigged with an unfair advantage to fast food and junk food companies who dominate America’s landscape. In today’s society, if the government sets proportions, adults and children still have the freedom to choose what they consume. Companies are manufacturing to our taste in a series of experiments to find the “bliss” point in which consumers find the products more desirable (Moss 482). The logic is relatable as many businesses strive to appease their customers to return. Subsequently, in agreement with both authors, many adults are enticed by the convenience of these industries. Whether it be they are on the go or prefer not to cook after a strenuous day: the cheap prices and close proximity appeal to their fast paced
Schlosser, E. (2004). Fast Food Nation: the Dark Side of the All-American Meal (first ed., Rev.). New York, NY: Harper Collins Publishers.
In the book Fast Food Nation: The Darks Side of the All-American Meal, Eric Schlosser claims that fast food impacts more than our eating habits, it impacts “…our economy, our culture, and our values”(3) . At the heart of Schlosser’s argument is that the entrepreneurial spirit —defined by hard work, innovation, and taking extraordinary risks— has nothing to do with the rise of the fast food empire and all its subsidiaries. In reality, the success of a fast food restaurant is contingent upon obtaining taxpayer money, avoiding government restraints, and indoctrinating its target audience from as young as possible. The resulting affordable, good-tasting, nostalgic, and addictive foods make it difficult to be reasonable about food choices, specifically in a fast food industry chiefly built by greedy executives.
Kushner, Jason, ed. "Fast Food and Obesity Epidemic."Nutra Legacy. Nutralegacy.com , 12 Nov 2008. Web. 16 Jan 2014. .
In Fast Food Nation, Schlosser goes beyond the facts that left many people’s eye wide opened. Throughout the book, Schlosser discusses several different topics including food-borne disease, near global obesity, animal abuse, political corruption, worksite danger. The book explains the origin of the all issues and how they have affected the American society in a certain way. This book started out by introducing the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station beside the Colorado Springs, one of the fastest growing metropolitan economies in America. This part presents the whole book of facts on fast food industry. It talks about how Americans spend more money on fast food than any other personal consumption. To promote mass production and profits, industries like MacDonald, keep their labor and materials costs low. Average US worker get the lowest income paid by fast food restaurants, and these franchise chains produces about 90% of the nation’s new jobs. In the first chapter, he interviewed Carl N. Karcher, one of the fast food industry’s leade...
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2001. Print.
The American life has been transformed by the fast food industry not just changing the American diet but also the culture, workplace, economy, and the landscape. “Today about half of the money used to buy food is spent at restaurants-mainly fast food restaurants.” (Schlosser) This could be due to the fact that about two-thirds of working women are mothers. The impact of fast food on the American culture is transparent when just looking at McDonald’s. McDonald’s has become the world’s most famous brand; the golden arches are more known than the Christian cross. “A survey of American schoolchildren found that 96 percent could identify Ronald McDonald.” (Schlosser) McDonald’s is responsible for 90 percent of new jobs in The United States. The landscape has changed due to the fast food ...
However, when creating fast food restaurants, the industries were not thinking about the negative effects such as obesity. Other than obesity, other harmful effects exist as well. Fast food restaurants serve unhealthy products such as greasy foods and artificial meat that lead to dietary health issues in many adults and children. A recent study showed that “Young children who are fed processed, nutrient-poor foods are likely to become unhealthy teenagers, and eventually unhealthy adults. Now twenty-three percent of teens in the U.S. are pre-diabetic or diabetic, 22% have high or borderline high LDL cholesterol levels, and 14% have hypertension or prehypertension”
Obesity has become an epidemic in today’s society. Today around 50% of America is now considered to be over weight. Fast-food consumption has been a major contributor to the debate of the twenty-first century. Chapter thirteen, titled “Is Fast-Food the New Tobacco,” in the They Say I Say book, consists of authors discussing the debate of fast-food’s link to obesity. Authors debate the government’s effects on the fast-food industry, along with whether or not the fast-food industry is to blame for the rise in obesity throughout America. While some people blame the fast food industry for the rise in obesity, others believe it is a matter of personal responsibility to watch what someone eats and make sure they get the proper exercise.
Ruskin, Gary. “The Fast Food Trap: How Commercialism Creates Overweight Children.” Commercialalert.org. Commercial Alert, 31 Oct. 2003. Web. 8 May 2011.
Section 1: Typically, we need a well-balanced meal to give us the energy to do day-to-day tasks and sometimes we aren’t able to get home cooked meals that are healthy and nutritious on a daily basis, due to the reasons of perhaps low income or your mom not being able to have the time to cook. People rely on fast food, because it’s quicker and always very convenient for full-time workers or anyone in general who just want a quick meal. Eric Schlosser, author of Fast Food Nation argues that Americans should change their nutritional behaviors. In his book, Schlosser inspects the social and economic penalties of the processes of one specific section of the American food system: the fast food industry. Schlosser details the stages of the fast food production process, like the farms, the slaughterhouse and processing plant, and the fast food franchise itself. Schlosser uses his skill as a journalist to bring together appropriate historical developments and trends, illustrative statistics, and telling stories about the lives of industry participants. Schlosser is troubled by our nation’s fast-food habit and the reasons Schlosser sees fast food as a national plague have more to do with the pure presence of the stuff — the way it has penetrated almost every feature of our culture, altering “not only the American food, but also our landscape, economy, staff, and popular culture. This book is about fast food, the values it represents, and the world it has made," writes Eric Schlosser in the introduction of his book. His argument against fast food is based on the evidence that "the real price never appears on the menu." The "real price," according to Schlosser, varieties from destroying small business, scattering pathogenic germs, abusing wor...
Works Cited Schlosser, Eric. A. Fast Food Nation. N. p. : Harper Perennial, 2001. Print.
In the conclusion I would like to say that Schlosser managed in the reportorial voice to tell the history, economic and day to day dealings, and negative implications of the fast food industry through delivery impressive examples of information. Fast food in United States seems to be truly American and considered to be as harmless as an apple pie. However, through his book Schlosser proved that the industry drive for consolidation and speed has radically changed the American diet, economy and workforce in the destructive way.
Subway has just become the biggest fast food franchise in the United States. They advertise a healthy menu full of all natural ingredients. However a recent experiment by the Journal of Adolescent Health found people consume almost the same amount of calories at Subway as McDonalds (Lesser). Subway is not the only fast food advertising healthy options however. Despite the unhealthiness of fast food, these chains do offer some benefits. Natalie Stein,a writer for the live strong foundation, who focuses on weight loss and sports nutrition points out some crucial benefits of fast food. Stein acknowledges the convince of fast food in her article “What Are the Benefits of Fast Food?” She believes that having fast food restaurants on almost every corner is a good thing. This might be a good thing to some people, but what is too much? The conveyance of fast food chains has driven out grocery stores and ruined a chance at a healthy diet. With obesity growing in the United States maybe it’s time to rethink the actual conveyance of fast