Fast Food Culture Essay

Don’t even get me started on the American food industry! The american food industry is one of the only food industries in the whole wide world that favors money over the health of its citizens. The food that most Americans eat is processed crap, if you can even call it food! How many of you have eaten popcorn, chips, candy, or crackers in the last week? The amount of chemicals in the food we eat as a country on a daily basis is freaking ridiculous. Azodicarbonamide and Triacetin are just two chemicals found in our food. We should not need a doctorate degree in order to pronounce ingredients in the junk we call food. Not only is the food industry putting chemicals in our food, but the FDA is allowing these chemicals to g in our food without knowing the

Novelist, Eric Schlosser, in his novel, “Fast Food Nation”, expresses how fast food has spread. Schlosser’s purpose is to make us see how addicted we are to fast food. He adopts a shocking tone through the use of diction, Logos, and diction in order to get people to make better choices.

Most Americans in contemporary society run on an automatic default setting, not bothering to question what they attest to on an everyday basis. A monotonous routine sets in that transcends into future generations. In this current fast paced way of life it’s not difficult to fall into the trap of the unregulated food industry. The least of many concerns is to worry about a couple of unpronounceable words on the back of the cereal box one has for breakfast each morning. Many of these ingredients and their derivatives are unknown to the common shopper. Therefore, the food industry must be regulated in order to keep society aware of what they are consuming, allow for a decrease in the dependence of fast food, and to prevent and control current and future health issues tormenting the nation.

Schlosser argues America’s lives are solely based off of fast food. Throughout his writing he describes how common it is in our society in which fast food is ordered, sold, and consumed. Everywhere you go, every glimpse you take, every corner you pass, fast food is being sold everywhere. Schlosser describes throughout his text the commonality of fast food in restaurants, airports, schools, and large chained stores available nationwide, in which each compress the similarity of fast food. Not only does he include how common fast food is in an American’s life, but he describes how Americans will spend more of their money in their wallet on fast food than they would on other livelihood essentials. He includes how vastly the economy has been effected

The life pursued by the average young person in America is fast paced and scheduled to the point of breaking. As time has progressed this time stretched life style has impacted the need for food that isn’t cooked at home or even at restaurants that cook with traditional methods. This coupled with the swelling number of households with either a single parent or two working parents has increased the reliance on the fast food industry and in turn increased the overweight and obesity rates in the country. In his article “Don’t Blame the Eater,” David Zinczenko addresses this topic and places the blame not on those partaking in these delectable dinners, but in the hands of the fast food industry and their lack of understandable labeling. Zinczenko’s argument is valid and strong due to his equal use of ethos, logos and pathos.

“‘If they’ve got a pulse… we’ll take an application’” (Schlosser 162). Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the American Meal by Eric Schlosser and The Jungle by Upton Sinclair convey corporations treating the public inhumanely. The books discuss how the companies will fix their prices, the lengths they will go to avoid unionization within their establishments, highlight how their employees are struggling to survive on their low wages, and provide a look into the risks of working for these corporations.

According to recent polls, approximately 3% of Americans admit to consuming fast-food at least once per day. This number, although it may appear small, it accounts for 9.5 million citizens across the United States who are unashamed of chowing down on a quick meal. Unfortunately, due to this consumerization, obesity and other like-minded illnesses have risen in recent years. The effects are costly and capable of making people pay the ultimate price: their life. So what is causing so many Americans, of all social classes, to consume fast food regularly? And how did the steady monopolization of chain-restaurants over local diners come to be? This is the focus of a book entitled Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal in which the author hones in on foul untold secrets of corporate restaurant chains. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal parallels the distaste for American ignorance and corporate greed as seen in Upton

On January 17th, 2001, Eric Schlosser presented all sides of the all- American meal in an investigative novel that examines the local and global influences of the United States fast food industry. Read the section thoroughly. Then in a well- developed essay, analyze the rhetorical strategies Schlosser uses to convey his message.

Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser discusses how the American nation has been shaped and changed by fast food. The author takes something that is so American, fast food, and portrays to the reader the impact it has really had on American life and its culture. The author talks to multiple people who feel the negative impacts of the fast food industry and then goes more in depth about it. He relates life today to different time periods, such as the 1920s, great depression, and the industrial revolution. This book shows the read that in fact, history does repeat itself.

Ray Kroc once said, “I believe in God, family, and McDonald’s. And in the office, that order is reversed.” In 1955, the man who stated this quote opened his first restaurant in Des Plaines, Illinois which is now the largest fast food chain corporation in America known world wide as McDonald’s. In the quote the founder of Mcdonald 's underlined the stereotypical although true values of the American population and I agree with him and believe the act that exemplifies the most American action should bring together entertainment, family and good food while it has to be rooted in American culture and be possible to perform by anyone, anytime and almost anywhere. I believe that the most American thing you can do is to have a meal at the famous fast food restaurant called McDonald’s.

In this assignment I am going to talk about the sociological imagination on food and the aspects it brings with it. Before starting that large process I firstly will explain what the social imagination is and what the key points of the imagination are in able to fully understand the topic; food and its history, biography, and the relation it has in society. This is my first assignment for the module understanding contemporary society so please bear with me as I will do my best to explain it in a logic manner so everybody can understand it.

However, people’s action to sue fast food companies seems hardly sensible, because their foods are not poisoned, spoilt, or molded. Although their foods are far from healthy and their advertising tactics are extremely cunning, fast food restaurants are not the only one to blame for today’s rocketing rates of obesity-related health problems. It is entirely a person’s decision whether or not he or she chooses to eat fast foods. It is largely known that fast foods are junks for the body, yet people still buy them wanting a quick fix for their rumbling stomach. People can always avoid fast foods and make healthier options if they want to, and suing the fast food restaurants will not make them lose any weight or fat they have in their body. If

Fast food places is a way to not cook every week I feel bad for people when I go to McDonald’s and ask them, do you know what you’re eating in they say yes so I ask them, is that burger real such as real beef’ they say yes so I have to explain to them that you’re not eating real beef you’re eating a burger that has a lot of chemicals in it. They look at me crazy but they get mad because when they start to get sick and gain weight, it’s because of the fast food they`re eating. “Our government ought to be working to foster a sense of responsibility, in and ownership of our own health”. Balko (What you eat is your business, 2004).

Culture and memories are expressed through food. Everyone can identify themselves with a concrete culture and in every group there are numerous food dishes that satisfies one, or brings back peerless memories and feelings only they can relate to. Food itself has meaning attached to it, from the way it is prepared down to the ingredients used. Factors that influence food can be anything from practices and beliefs to the economy and distribution. Culinary traditions are important in helping express cultural identity. There is a big connection between food and culture and it is passed down from generation to generation to help preserve and embrace those very traditions that make every country unique through food. It symbolizes pride for their

In conclusion, it can be concluded that fast food have many effects of the body. Four effects are obesity, disease, stress, and lack of essential nutrients. I recommend that less fast foods be consume, or if consume, then consume at a small amount. Smart choices can also be made when selecting the fast food you