“A nation’s diet can be more revealing than its art or literature (Fast Food Nation, p. 3)” emphasizes Eric Schlosser’s view of the enormous impact today’s focus on fast food has on our society. In his book he describes the fast food trend from its birth in California to its overtaking of our culture we once had. We are what we eat, and with that we have become a sad society that does not encourage the interaction a family meal. The Golden Arches, one of the most famous symbols on our planet, rivals even the Christian cross in regards to recognition and popularity (Fast Food Nation, p. 4). This should leave each one of us speechless. Although the American fast-food commercialism, as described in the book “Fast Food Nation” by Eric Schlosser, has had a revolutionary influence on our lives, we need to reduce the dramatic power these corporations have because it affects our economy, our health, and our lifestyles in general.
Eric Schlosser has a wonderful way of describing the start of the fast food era and the great minds who invented the process. Unfortunately profit started becoming the main focus of many of these business owners. Morals, ethics, and other values were neglected to increase the bottom line. Throughout the years we allowed these corporations to control a large part of our food market and food production. These corporations own the farms that produce the foods for them (Food Inc., 2008). Each year they are required to include further mechanical innovation and investment until these farming businesses find themselves in a financially hopeless situation. Encountering the amount of dept to keep up with the high demands of these firms required them to give up their voice to be able to survive. The government does not take a part in addressing this monopolized industry. Why would our nation not encourage a healthy country and why do they not put a stop to this development? We want and need to be able to trust in our political system. Besides the economical impact of this trend, our society is experiencing immediate health effects.
A value meal at McDonalds is full of fat, calories, and does not include any nutrients. But according to Eric Schlosser, it has been chemically created to be very tasteful (Fast Food Nation, p. 9). It is very sad to think that we could possibly eat a product that tastes like chicken, but actually was not even produced by a chicken, rather chemically enhanced to appear to be chicken. Many of the meat products used in the delicious burgers that a chemically enhanced to taste like burgers are produced from animals that arrived dead in the factory or meat that carried diseases. USDA, I believe it was called, controls this? Maybe we should take a close look at the fine print. Mostly the food that is available at these fast food restaurants have more calories than we need I an entire day. It increases our risk of obesity, heart diseases, and many other health problems. Today’s generation is largely obese, mostly thanks to our poor lifestyles. Children are not encouraged to exercise; instead we rather teach them to live a busy and unhealthy lifestyle. Today’s children are absorbed by electronic stimulations and unhealthy eating habits. The sad truth is that purchasing healthy foods for our loved ones is much more expensive as providing unhealthy foods that will harm our children. Unfortunately, some families do not have the luxury of having a choice. Healthy foods are not as profitable and therefore have no priority to be made available to our society.
The American culture is starting to deteriorate completely. Traditions and family are starting to be completely neglected. Our busy lifestyles do not allow the time to value a delicious meal, further we do not even take the time to slow down while we eat. At one point in our society we valued a meal as a ritual of a family sharing thoughts, experiences, and love. Today, going to a fast food restaurant is as familiar to us as giving parents a hug. Life is not enjoyed or valued anymore, it is taken for granted. Erik Schlosser describes in his book the relationship that established between McDonalds and Walt Disney (p. 35). Everything is created to reach our children. Many children do not grow up sharing a meal at the family dinner table. It affects our families in a much larger scale than most people realize. It affects our lives, the way we socialize, and our quality of life. We literally choose food that potentially is harmful to us over a family shared dinner due to time constrains. The scariest part in the book was that these multinational companies are not even stopped to reach our children in schools. We are losing every tradition prior generations have established. We as parents need to protect our children, set an example, and teach them to enjoy a healthful life.
The book has been a valuable insight into some aspects of American live that we neglected to review. Eric Schlosser wrote an incredible book, revealing the truth objectively, but yet forcing us to form a voice. I believe that the book gives each reader the tools necessary to create an individual opinion and hopefully use the voice that we are said to have to make a difference. If “Americans spend more money on fast food than on higher education, personal computers, computer software or new cars (Fast Food Nation, p. 3)”, we might want to reconsider and invest the money in our children’s education to give them the tools necessary to make a change to this society. It is always easier to point fingers, but sometimes we do have to realize that we can actually make a difference by standing our grounds and reducing the power these corporations have on our lives. It is in our hands to change and boycott this corrupt system. If we reduce the influence this trend has on our children they might understand the negative impact this fast food society has on our lives. Or we could start by setting an example, and not choose a convenient fast food solution over a time consuming dinner that would force us to spend quality time with our family.
Kenner, R. (Director). (2008). Food, Inc. [Motion Picture]. United States: Magnolia Pictures.
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001)
Filed under: Fall 2010, Food, Revision, Short Essay
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