#7

Fast Food Nation By: Eric Scholoseer

 Introduction: 

 The Cheynne Mountain Air Force Station if ever discovered by archeologist the remains of our food will be fast food packaging. What we eat has changed over the last 3 decades and this is because of American modernization causing food to be sold in franchise with the importance being uniformity. Fast food is now being exported all around the world and is a symbol of American's service economy and the horrible food quality causing deadly pathogens!

 Chapter 1: The Founding Fathers

The American Way Carl N. Karcher was one of the fast-food pioneers he began the Carl jr. Fast Food Chain. It is the story of how he began as a struggling businessman and followed what was making money in California, which was the speedee service; making food in an assembly line. Their are multiple stories of business men who implied the Mc Donald brother speedee food system and began chains such as KFC, Burger King, and Wendy's spreading fast food around the USA. Also expressed is the industrialization of things around this period, including highways, other fast-food corporations, subdivisions, and strip malls.

 Chapter 2: Your Trusted Friends

 McDonalds headquarters has a shrine (disguised as museum) showing all their achievements in mass-producing. Ray Kroc is the man who made the speedee service a chain and turned fast food into an advertising business. Like his fellow Red Cross worker Walt Disney, they created propaganda to sell their products using synergy. Setting Mc Donald’s as a trusting friend, whom makes the kids happy, and makes your life easier. Most Mass-corporation advertisement is aimed at 'kid kustomers' to create a loyal brand costumer. This has lead to marketing in schools where products such as coke are being sold and having a ' coke day' in school to promote the brand and receive funding for education.

  

Gems & Questions & Responses:

Customers are drawn to familiar brands by an instinct to avoid the unknown. A brand offers a feeling of reassurance when its products are always and everywhere the same. "We have found out...that we cannot trust some people who are nonconformists," declared Ray Kroc.." This shows that Americans have been brain washed to think everything similar is good,creating a culture where only your own is good and people become close minded And only stay in their comfort zone. "that was where I learned you could influence people with a smile and enthusiasm," This shows that Mc donalds infulences all their costumers with kindness to have them believe that they are their 'trusted friends'. "This is a rat eat rat, dog eat dog. Ill kill' em and i'm going to kill'em before they kill me. You're talking about the American way of survival of the fittest." This I foind the most disturbing because this oppitomizes mass-production belief that quality is not what matters is making the most money and doing whatever to get there. I wonder why It is legal to Advertise to children who cannot even deffend themself, I think that advertisment all together should be illegal.

Chapter 3: Behind the counter

Colorado springs was once a varied town with local stores. Has now expanded into the new L.A with replica homes, and hundreds of fast food restaurants, with a huge influx of white middle class, Republican Evangelical Christians. The number of fast food restaurants has increased fivefold in the last 30 years. Elisa Zamot is a teen that works a horrible, minimum wage no -union, un-skilled, and dangerous fast-food job. All food arrives frozen or in syrups and then is placed in machines at the chain, taco bell the recipe is simply "add hot water”. The chains have created standardized products and procedures so they can spend minimum on employees. At a 1999 conference Burger King, Mc Donald’s, and TriconGlobal meet and agreed on how to make employee expenses a minimum, including having temporary employees to receive tax reductions by the government of $2,400 for "training employees" who have no skills. Managers create schedules so workers never work more than 30hours if possible so they never get an overtime salary. Valued the most in staff members is obedience, their is NO SKILL INVOLVED. There is no Union for such staff members, they have tried but have been stopped by the corporations. Fast food relies on mostly teenage staff that is ok with minimum wage and many students give up their schoolwork. There is a protecting Youth at work regulations but is not followed by fast food. Every year 200,000 workers are injured because of minimal training; Fast food companies are also the most robbed companies by their own staff!! Causing many staff murders. And the big dogs of these companies couldn't care, simply care that slowly things are obscuring their sick work.

Gems:

• "A lot of kids at Harrison don't save any of the money earned at their fast food jobs. They buy beepers, cellular phones, stereos, and designer clothes." 
• "The turmoil of an earlier era has been replaced by a sad and rootless anomie. "I have lots and lots of kids who are terribly depressed," Trogdon says, "I've never seen so many, so young, feel this way."
• " "I see the possibility of unions," he warned. The thought "chilled" him. He asked everyone in the audience to give more money to the industry's key lobbying groups. "And [senator] Kenndy's pushing hard on a $7.25 minimum wage," he continued. "That'll be fun, wont it? I love the idea of that. I sure do - strike me dead!" As the crowd laughed and roared and applauded Brinker's call to arms against unions and the government, the talk about teamwork fell into the proper perspective."

Reflections:

• It makes me upset that kids work at these horrrible jobs, for these terrible companies and then simply return their salary right back to such companies such as nike, motorola, and so on. These are all companies who rely on cheap labor, cheap quality, and "fashion trend" and ever changing technology to make their profits. 
• Something is terribly wrong with the world we live in if so many teenagers are depressed, I thought teens were supoose to have the mind state "im unvincable" and be most determined. This leads me to the thought that so many young people find things wrong with our society but sit back and let it happen, no revolts or protest are ever happening.. I guess I should get off my ass.