The only thing I expected of Eric Schlosser's speech was that it was about his book. I thought he would basically just talk of the same things written on his book. It wasn't really all that. Honestly, his speech/talk was interesting and inspiring. I someday want to become an author and a glimpse on him is a glimpse on who or what an author is and does. He is a pretty cool one, for an author of a book such as Fast Food Nation. He spoke of truth and he made me think really hard about what he wrote and about writing itself in such a subtle way. What I mean is, he did not spoke of these things the way a scholarly person would -- which would be pretty boring. He was very comfortable and confident of his words.
I found the question and answer part and the second part, the one in B 214, more interesting though. For one, the students' questions were quite brilliant and well thought-out. Though some of Eric's answers did not directly answer some of the questions, it was still interesting. Some of the parts that I remember clearly were when he talked about him trying to quit smoking and when he kept mentioning that he likes eating fast food. These are things a typical person does, but hearing it from a person who wrote a book about the fast food industry's negative side made these things quite different. One thing that still makes we wonder though is what the main theme of his book is. There were various important topics discussed and what he said when a student asked him what is the real main theme of his book is, I believe he said it was about the immigrant's and meatpacker's life working in the meatpacking industry. It just does not seem to me like the real main theme.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Schloss blog
After listening to Eric Schlosser come and speak about fast food nation I have a some what different view on the book its self. When he came and spoke to us about his book in the auditorium I didn't really feel like I had gained much. I felt that his talk was geared more towards people who have not read the book because all that he spoke about was already covered in the book. However I felt that both question and answer sessions were very interesting. I liked how he said that he does not care to be a celebrity and aspires to be a writer like homer in the sense that no one knows anything about homers life we only know about his writing. This gives us the chance to be unbiased and take his work for what it is without any other distractions. I also thought it was interesting about how he said his goal is not to have people agree or disagree with him but to get them thinking. Often times people are too concerned with other people agreeing with them. Its nice to see somebody who just wants people to think for them selves and nothing more. When I first read Fast Food Nation I thought that it was an interesting book, now that I have finished the book and have had a chance to interact with Mr. Schlosser I look forward to reading some more of his work.
Monday, March 23, 2009
chrisz's questions
1. Do you think Barack Obama's administration will push legislation regulating food safety and working conditions in the fast food industry?
2. Do you think American culture will always support fast food? Or do you think its a dieing fad? Somewhere in between?
3. What authors have inspired you?
2. Do you think American culture will always support fast food? Or do you think its a dieing fad? Somewhere in between?
3. What authors have inspired you?
Questions
1. How much of the information you uncovered during your writing process surprised you?
2. What were your thoughts on fast food prior to beginning the research attributed to FFN?
3. How did you choose the subjects of the anecdotes that make up FFN?
2. What were your thoughts on fast food prior to beginning the research attributed to FFN?
3. How did you choose the subjects of the anecdotes that make up FFN?
Schlosser Questions
1. When you were doing your research for FFN, how difficult was it to get in touch with the higher level business people? Were they reluctant to give you information, or did they gladly welcome your questions?
2. When you got the personal stories, which you mixed in with research, did you become emotionally attached to any of the people and their stories?
3. During the writing process, how did you decide what thing to research next?
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Hesham's Questions
1. Honestly, do you believe that these companies should be diminished from our society?
2. Were you ever bribed to include specific facts about competing restaurants from the major fast food companies?
3. Do you think that Chick-fil-a is the same as those big fast food franchises or do you think that chick-fil-a is striving for the better in the industry.
2. Were you ever bribed to include specific facts about competing restaurants from the major fast food companies?
3. Do you think that Chick-fil-a is the same as those big fast food franchises or do you think that chick-fil-a is striving for the better in the industry.
FFN Questions
1) During the writing process for Fast Food Nation, or at times after publication, did you feel pressured or threatened by representatives of the fast food industry? Can you give an example?
2) In the years since you wrote Fast Food Nation, have you revisited any of the people or places you mentioned in the book? If so, were there any notable changes, good or bad that you feel warrant special mention?
3) Do you honestly feel like we as consumers have the ability to "turn the tanker around", or have we irreparably damaged the agricultural or service industry in America?
2) In the years since you wrote Fast Food Nation, have you revisited any of the people or places you mentioned in the book? If so, were there any notable changes, good or bad that you feel warrant special mention?
3) Do you honestly feel like we as consumers have the ability to "turn the tanker around", or have we irreparably damaged the agricultural or service industry in America?
Questions for Schlosser- Muzamil
1. During your research was there an interesting story or event that was not mentioned in your novel? What was it ?
2. Since giving up somthing you love is not an easy task, Do you think that a majority of the people who read this book will significantly change their eating habits with regard to fast food?
3. Growing up, did fast food and the uprising of this huge industry have a major effect in your life? Did your past enspire you to write this book, or was it the you wanted to educate others of the realities of fast food?
FFN Questions
1. How did you pick the people who's personal experiences you included in your book?
2. Were there any anecdotes that you decided not to include because they might have been too extreme and not marketable?
3. This book portrays the fast food industry in an incredibly negative light. Did you recieve threats from the fast food companies in any way while you were writting this book?
2. Were there any anecdotes that you decided not to include because they might have been too extreme and not marketable?
3. This book portrays the fast food industry in an incredibly negative light. Did you recieve threats from the fast food companies in any way while you were writting this book?
Joe's Questions
1. How would you reconcile an increase in the price, and quality of fast food, with a decrease in wages or positions open at franchises all across our country?
2. If Americans did stop eating at fast food restaurants, and started eating locally, do you think local business people would be able to handle the influx of new customers. What about the millions who would lose jobs in fast food to a loss in patronage?
3. In writing a book on a polarizing topic like the fast food industry, how hard was it to fairly and accurately represent everyone in the book from CEOs to blue collar workers in meat packing plants?
Bryan's Questions
1. Did you intentionally write the book so it would provoke the reader to be appalled by what the fast food industry is doing to the country and around the world? Why?
2. How can local farms and food industries succeed in this world dominated by corporate reigning with no end in sight giants with no end in sight?
3. Are organic grocery chains such as Whole Foods really that much better then regional or national chains in purchasing food from local markets, farms, etc. or are they even more of a culprit to the failure of local industry?
2. How can local farms and food industries succeed in this world dominated by corporate reigning with no end in sight giants with no end in sight?
3. Are organic grocery chains such as Whole Foods really that much better then regional or national chains in purchasing food from local markets, farms, etc. or are they even more of a culprit to the failure of local industry?
questions for schlosser
1. Do you think the presence of factory farms in small towns has any mental or emotional impact on its residents?
2. Did you plan out the different topics/chapters before writing, or simply let your research lead you in the process?
3. What makes you so passionate about this specific issue rather than another?
2. Did you plan out the different topics/chapters before writing, or simply let your research lead you in the process?
3. What makes you so passionate about this specific issue rather than another?
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Bill's Questions
1. Throughout Fast Food Nation you include the personal stories of people deeply involved with fast food, along with statistical information about the industry; was this a conscious effort on your part or did this writing come from your experiences while researching the topics?
2. Was Fast Food Nation written gradually, while collecting research for the book, or did you begin writing the book after all the research was complete?
3. Was there any information that was cut from the final copy of Fast Food Nation? If so, why did this information not make it to the published edition?
4. In Fast Food Nation you state that fast food restaurants, which have turned into multinational corporations that span the globe, should become relics of the past. You also say that, “Whatever replaces fast food should be regional, diverse, authentic, unpredictable, sustainable, profitable, and humble”. Have you ever considered founding such an institution? (This question was not really on the topics you asked us to discuss but I was interested anyway.)
2. Was Fast Food Nation written gradually, while collecting research for the book, or did you begin writing the book after all the research was complete?
3. Was there any information that was cut from the final copy of Fast Food Nation? If so, why did this information not make it to the published edition?
4. In Fast Food Nation you state that fast food restaurants, which have turned into multinational corporations that span the globe, should become relics of the past. You also say that, “Whatever replaces fast food should be regional, diverse, authentic, unpredictable, sustainable, profitable, and humble”. Have you ever considered founding such an institution? (This question was not really on the topics you asked us to discuss but I was interested anyway.)
Three Questions for Eric Schlosser
1) Content- Is there one person in the book (among the anecdotes that you included) that you were particularly fond of/interested in?
2) How did you choose what areas of the fast food industry to focus on?
3) How did you decide when to include personal anecdotes vs. when to include research?
2) How did you choose what areas of the fast food industry to focus on?
3) How did you decide when to include personal anecdotes vs. when to include research?
Friday, March 20, 2009
Questions
1. How is the rapid expansion of businesses overseas not a sign of economic strength but of underylying weakness at home?
2. How do you think the way you wrote the book - incorporating personal experiences with research - affected the way the readers embraced your book?
3. What chapter do you consider your "favorite" in such a way that it was the most interesting for you?
2. How do you think the way you wrote the book - incorporating personal experiences with research - affected the way the readers embraced your book?
3. What chapter do you consider your "favorite" in such a way that it was the most interesting for you?
Thursday, March 19, 2009
3/19 Three Questions for Schlosser
1. What were your motives for writing Fast Food Nation?
2. What do you feel that you have accomplished after writing this piece?
3. Our teacher has asked us, what impact does fast food have on our lives and I am curious to know how fast food affects your life? Did your views on fast food change before, after, or during the formation of Fast Food Nation?
2. What do you feel that you have accomplished after writing this piece?
3. Our teacher has asked us, what impact does fast food have on our lives and I am curious to know how fast food affects your life? Did your views on fast food change before, after, or during the formation of Fast Food Nation?
Monday, March 16, 2009
czink's anecdote
Pizza Hut Anecdote
When I was going through Pizza Hut’s management training program I worked in many different stores in many different areas. One store I worked at was in a lower class community and most of its employees were from that community. The manager this particular location was very tight with his labor spending. He never gave raises to his employees. He’d often ask employees to stay after their shift off the clock in exchange for a ride home. None of his employees received any benefits from the company because they all would either quit or be fired by the time they were eligible. He would work his crews ragged by short staffing almost every shift, disregarding the effects it had on his customer service and the welfare of his employees. I went back and visited that location two years after I left it and one of the employees was surprisingly still there. When I had worked with her the general manager had her managing shifts for new hire pay. I asked her if she had received a raise in the two years since I’d been there and she said no. I asked her how many hours she was working a week and she said around fifty five or sixty. She was getting paid overtime but after two years and increased responsibility she still made minimum wage. Many of the big fast food companies give bonuses to managers who run lower labor then they were budgeted for a period of time. In some cases, like the one I described, general managers will abuse their employees for the sake of extra money to line their pockets. According to investigations, this company’s labor abuse has spread throughout the world. In China a study was done showing that employees of companies like Pizza Hut, KFC and McDonald’s were being paid up to thirty percent less then their country’s minimum wage. Part time employees were being worked shifts up to thirteen hours long when their region’s laws permitted no shift longer than five. It’s a wonder that a business with such little concern for its employees can manage to be so successful.
When I was going through Pizza Hut’s management training program I worked in many different stores in many different areas. One store I worked at was in a lower class community and most of its employees were from that community. The manager this particular location was very tight with his labor spending. He never gave raises to his employees. He’d often ask employees to stay after their shift off the clock in exchange for a ride home. None of his employees received any benefits from the company because they all would either quit or be fired by the time they were eligible. He would work his crews ragged by short staffing almost every shift, disregarding the effects it had on his customer service and the welfare of his employees. I went back and visited that location two years after I left it and one of the employees was surprisingly still there. When I had worked with her the general manager had her managing shifts for new hire pay. I asked her if she had received a raise in the two years since I’d been there and she said no. I asked her how many hours she was working a week and she said around fifty five or sixty. She was getting paid overtime but after two years and increased responsibility she still made minimum wage. Many of the big fast food companies give bonuses to managers who run lower labor then they were budgeted for a period of time. In some cases, like the one I described, general managers will abuse their employees for the sake of extra money to line their pockets. According to investigations, this company’s labor abuse has spread throughout the world. In China a study was done showing that employees of companies like Pizza Hut, KFC and McDonald’s were being paid up to thirty percent less then their country’s minimum wage. Part time employees were being worked shifts up to thirteen hours long when their region’s laws permitted no shift longer than five. It’s a wonder that a business with such little concern for its employees can manage to be so successful.
Glionna, John M. "China's Carnivorous Eating Habits Become Food for Debate." Los Angeles Times [Los Angeles] 4 July 2004, A3 sec.
In John Glionna’s article about China’s meat-eating habits the major issue is not the morality of meat-eating, or even the harmful effect on the environment, but the effect on those consuming the animal flesh. Glionna notes the peculiar and sometimes dangerous foods eaten in China, such as scorpions, silkworms, snakeheads, cats, and badgers. There have been many food scares in China, and outbreaks of illnesses that have been caused by the animals in the Chinese diet. Glionna says that the SARS outbreak in China is believed to have come from the consumption of Civet cats, a species commonly eaten in southern China. Unlike the American take on vegetarianism, Glionna points out that in poor areas of China the meatless diet is not exactly an option. He says, “In poor areas, residents have adapted their diet to whatever staples they can find, including cats, and even rats.” An issue in China that is not relevant in the U.S. is the slaughtering and consumption of rare and even endangered animals, such as turtles that are cooked in many high class restaurants. Another problem is that many of the delicacies in China are the most dangerous. A prime example is the savory treat known as “drunken shrimp”. The shrimp are dipped in alcohol and eaten alive after the head is pinched off. Shrimp carry many parasites that can be harmful if eaten raw, but this issue is made less important than the taste of the delicacy. The Chinese are promoting vegetarianism to develop a healthy food environment, not to protect the rights of animals.
I thought this article was so interesting, not only because of all the crazy foods that the Chinese consider delicious, but because not eating animals is not a moral issue to them as it is to us. Since we don’t experience a fraction of the sickness and disease that comes from animals as they do, we don’t consider much the health related reasons for a vegetarian diet. I think that even not eating certain animals is a priority in China rather than giving up meat altogether. What is interesting is that the argument against meat eating presented here is almost the opposite of Peter Singer’s argument. This argument simply considers the human needs and effects of meat, not the effects on the animals. It actually has nothing to do with the wellbeing of the animals. In China abstaining from meat is seen as something one might do to protect him or herself from disease, while in the U.S. it is immediately seen as a cry for animal rights.
Freston, Kathy. "Vegetarian is the New Prius." AlterNet. 7 Feb. 2007. 15 Mar. 2009.
In Kathy Freston’s article “Vegetarianism is the New Prius” she explains the numerous environmental reasons for altering one’s diet to exclude meat. Freston says that "The livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global.” She mentions the amount of crops we are required to grow in order to feed the animals we raise for slaughter, and the amount of transportation required to distribute the meat all over the country. According to the article, animal agriculture takes up about seventy percent of all agricultural land, and over thirty percent of the total land surface of the planet. Freston also takes into account the harmful gasses produced by factory farming such as methane and nitrous oxide. She notes that the U.S. slaughters over ten billion land animals each year. At the end of the article, Freston sort of hints at a society where there are more vegetarians than meat-eaters. She believes that this information about meat production’s harmful effects can be used as a tool to help save the environment.
I believe that Freston brings up shockingly relevant information about what our food culture is doing to the environment, but I also believe that any sort of expectation for a large quantity of people to change their diet to meatless because of this news is too high of an expectation. I think that, as of now, this information is not inaccessible, but that people are simply ignorant to the fact that their diet has any effect on the environment. The fact is that when we use today’s factory methods of raising animals for slaughter we waste a huge amount of food in the process and loose nutritional value. In many cultures a vegetarian diet would be almost impossible, so I think that many Americans might rebel against the idea if it were somehow enforced by saying that their meat eating must also be considered a necessity. It is a hope of mine that someday the majority of people will change their diet of their own accord, after realizing the effects of their meat consumption on the world
Singer, Peter. "Equality For Animals?" Practical Ethics. Cambridge UP, 1979. 1-14.
In chapter three of Peter Signer's book Practical Ethics he discusses the morality of the treatment of non-human animals and the ethics behind our food choices. His philosophical argument breaks down into two different parts: why it is wrong for animals to suffer and why it is wrong for us to kill and eat animals. He believes that we have a moral duty to extend the principle of equality to those animals that are non-human, and that if we do not, we are practicing a form of racism. He calls this type of discrimination "specieism, " and believes that we believe it is okay for us to use animals for our benefit for arbitrary reasons. In his words, "Specieists give greater weight to the interests of members of their own species when there is a clash between their interests and the interests of those of other species." Singer believes that our discrimination towards animals is no different than whites discriminating against blacks and so on. SInger believes that the only factor of important when it comes to considering a being's moral rights is that being's ability to suffer and/or experience pleasure. He describes how you cannot defend a lifestyle that causes animal suffrage by saying that they lack knowledge or skill, because there are many human beings who lack these things, but we consider it morally unacceptable to kill these humans. Singer explains how meat is not necessary for good health and therefore meat is, for most, a luxury. Therefore we are inflicting this suffering on animals in order to obtain something that we don't truly need. Singer makes it a point to recognize that there are many primitive cultures who may not be able to survive, at least in their current state, without the consumption of meat. He talks about eskimos, and tribes who hunt for their own food. He points out, however, that hunting for one's own food is a better method than today's mass production techniques that do not take the animals into consideration at all and simply treat them as objects to be sold. Singer ends the essay with a comparison of humans and animals, and notes that most of the differences between the two are differences of "degree rather than kind."
I believe Singer makes many relevant points in the essay, but that his argument has a fundamental problem. The debate Singer is attempting is one, I think, that cannot be won by philosophy. The argument presupposes that the "principle of equality" is a universal good; that if things are equal somehow they are better. Singer says, "having accepted the principle of equality as a sound moral basis for relations with others of our own species, we are also committed to accepting it as a sound moral basis for relations with those outside our own species." I, personally, accept this principle of equality, but there are many people who have not, and so we cannot ask them to consider extending a principle which they do not accept. I think that the exceptions to his rules are too many, and could be made more numerous by the ambiguity of words like "necessity" and "luxury." Every person has a different conception of their own needs. Singer believes that most animals are capable of suffering, but that if we cannot know if they have this capability, we should give them the benefit of the doubt and still try to eliminate their suffering even if we are not sure it exists. I think that if he would give the "benefit of the doubt" to animals like ants, then considering whether any animal suffers is irrelevant. We could give the benefit of the doubt to any living thing, like a plant, and then we wouldn't be able to eat anything. I tend to lean more towards Singer's arguments against factory farming and the way in which meat is produced, because of the environmental and nutritional consequences. I also agree with him that humans should not assume that animals were simply put on the earth for their benefit, and that we have a right to kill them because they don't have the skill or intelligence that we possess. I think that it is impossible to make any philosophical argument that is one hundred percent right or true, but I also believe Singer should re-evaluate the principle of equality and it's universality.
Anecdote:
The car I drive around (my brother's) has a bumper sticker that reads, "toss my salad, i'm a vegetarian!" Usually I neglect to remember that it's back there, but occassionally I'm reminded when I get a honk or a creepy stare from a fellow driver. I was a vegetarian for a little over a year between the ages of sixteen and seventeen. My main reason: my brother was a vegetarian and I wanted to be just like him. Other reasons included being disgusted at the thought of biting into flesh and caring about animal rights. After researching the moral arguments for vegetarianism I think that now I would choose the lifestyle not because of any moral argument, but because of the environmental consequences. Now whenever someone positively responds to the bumper sticker I wonder about their reasons for choosing a meatless diet; whether they're environmentally conscious, care about animal suffrage, or simply want to have a peace-loving, earthy, hippyish image.
In John Glionna’s article about China’s meat-eating habits the major issue is not the morality of meat-eating, or even the harmful effect on the environment, but the effect on those consuming the animal flesh. Glionna notes the peculiar and sometimes dangerous foods eaten in China, such as scorpions, silkworms, snakeheads, cats, and badgers. There have been many food scares in China, and outbreaks of illnesses that have been caused by the animals in the Chinese diet. Glionna says that the SARS outbreak in China is believed to have come from the consumption of Civet cats, a species commonly eaten in southern China. Unlike the American take on vegetarianism, Glionna points out that in poor areas of China the meatless diet is not exactly an option. He says, “In poor areas, residents have adapted their diet to whatever staples they can find, including cats, and even rats.” An issue in China that is not relevant in the U.S. is the slaughtering and consumption of rare and even endangered animals, such as turtles that are cooked in many high class restaurants. Another problem is that many of the delicacies in China are the most dangerous. A prime example is the savory treat known as “drunken shrimp”. The shrimp are dipped in alcohol and eaten alive after the head is pinched off. Shrimp carry many parasites that can be harmful if eaten raw, but this issue is made less important than the taste of the delicacy. The Chinese are promoting vegetarianism to develop a healthy food environment, not to protect the rights of animals.
I thought this article was so interesting, not only because of all the crazy foods that the Chinese consider delicious, but because not eating animals is not a moral issue to them as it is to us. Since we don’t experience a fraction of the sickness and disease that comes from animals as they do, we don’t consider much the health related reasons for a vegetarian diet. I think that even not eating certain animals is a priority in China rather than giving up meat altogether. What is interesting is that the argument against meat eating presented here is almost the opposite of Peter Singer’s argument. This argument simply considers the human needs and effects of meat, not the effects on the animals. It actually has nothing to do with the wellbeing of the animals. In China abstaining from meat is seen as something one might do to protect him or herself from disease, while in the U.S. it is immediately seen as a cry for animal rights.
Freston, Kathy. "Vegetarian is the New Prius." AlterNet. 7 Feb. 2007. 15 Mar. 2009
In Kathy Freston’s article “Vegetarianism is the New Prius” she explains the numerous environmental reasons for altering one’s diet to exclude meat. Freston says that "The livestock sector emerges as one of the top two or three most significant contributors to the most serious environmental problems, at every scale from local to global.” She mentions the amount of crops we are required to grow in order to feed the animals we raise for slaughter, and the amount of transportation required to distribute the meat all over the country. According to the article, animal agriculture takes up about seventy percent of all agricultural land, and over thirty percent of the total land surface of the planet. Freston also takes into account the harmful gasses produced by factory farming such as methane and nitrous oxide. She notes that the U.S. slaughters over ten billion land animals each year. At the end of the article, Freston sort of hints at a society where there are more vegetarians than meat-eaters. She believes that this information about meat production’s harmful effects can be used as a tool to help save the environment.
I believe that Freston brings up shockingly relevant information about what our food culture is doing to the environment, but I also believe that any sort of expectation for a large quantity of people to change their diet to meatless because of this news is too high of an expectation. I think that, as of now, this information is not inaccessible, but that people are simply ignorant to the fact that their diet has any effect on the environment. The fact is that when we use today’s factory methods of raising animals for slaughter we waste a huge amount of food in the process and loose nutritional value. In many cultures a vegetarian diet would be almost impossible, so I think that many Americans might rebel against the idea if it were somehow enforced by saying that their meat eating must also be considered a necessity. It is a hope of mine that someday the majority of people will change their diet of their own accord, after realizing the effects of their meat consumption on the world
Singer, Peter. "Equality For Animals?" Practical Ethics. Cambridge UP, 1979. 1-14.
In chapter three of Peter Signer's book Practical Ethics he discusses the morality of the treatment of non-human animals and the ethics behind our food choices. His philosophical argument breaks down into two different parts: why it is wrong for animals to suffer and why it is wrong for us to kill and eat animals. He believes that we have a moral duty to extend the principle of equality to those animals that are non-human, and that if we do not, we are practicing a form of racism. He calls this type of discrimination "specieism, " and believes that we believe it is okay for us to use animals for our benefit for arbitrary reasons. In his words, "Specieists give greater weight to the interests of members of their own species when there is a clash between their interests and the interests of those of other species." Singer believes that our discrimination towards animals is no different than whites discriminating against blacks and so on. SInger believes that the only factor of important when it comes to considering a being's moral rights is that being's ability to suffer and/or experience pleasure. He describes how you cannot defend a lifestyle that causes animal suffrage by saying that they lack knowledge or skill, because there are many human beings who lack these things, but we consider it morally unacceptable to kill these humans. Singer explains how meat is not necessary for good health and therefore meat is, for most, a luxury. Therefore we are inflicting this suffering on animals in order to obtain something that we don't truly need. Singer makes it a point to recognize that there are many primitive cultures who may not be able to survive, at least in their current state, without the consumption of meat. He talks about eskimos, and tribes who hunt for their own food. He points out, however, that hunting for one's own food is a better method than today's mass production techniques that do not take the animals into consideration at all and simply treat them as objects to be sold. Singer ends the essay with a comparison of humans and animals, and notes that most of the differences between the two are differences of "degree rather than kind."
I believe Singer makes many relevant points in the essay, but that his argument has a fundamental problem. The debate Singer is attempting is one, I think, that cannot be won by philosophy. The argument presupposes that the "principle of equality" is a universal good; that if things are equal somehow they are better. Singer says, "having accepted the principle of equality as a sound moral basis for relations with others of our own species, we are also committed to accepting it as a sound moral basis for relations with those outside our own species." I, personally, accept this principle of equality, but there are many people who have not, and so we cannot ask them to consider extending a principle which they do not accept. I think that the exceptions to his rules are too many, and could be made more numerous by the ambiguity of words like "necessity" and "luxury." Every person has a different conception of their own needs. Singer believes that most animals are capable of suffering, but that if we cannot know if they have this capability, we should give them the benefit of the doubt and still try to eliminate their suffering even if we are not sure it exists. I think that if he would give the "benefit of the doubt" to animals like ants, then considering whether any animal suffers is irrelevant. We could give the benefit of the doubt to any living thing, like a plant, and then we wouldn't be able to eat anything. I tend to lean more towards Singer's arguments against factory farming and the way in which meat is produced, because of the environmental and nutritional consequences. I also agree with him that humans should not assume that animals were simply put on the earth for their benefit, and that we have a right to kill them because they don't have the skill or intelligence that we possess. I think that it is impossible to make any philosophical argument that is one hundred percent right or true, but I also believe Singer should re-evaluate the principle of equality and it's universality.
Anecdote:
The car I drive around (my brother's) has a bumper sticker that reads, "toss my salad, i'm a vegetarian!" Usually I neglect to remember that it's back there, but occassionally I'm reminded when I get a honk or a creepy stare from a fellow driver. I was a vegetarian for a little over a year between the ages of sixteen and seventeen. My main reason: my brother was a vegetarian and I wanted to be just like him. Other reasons included being disgusted at the thought of biting into flesh and caring about animal rights. After researching the moral arguments for vegetarianism I think that now I would choose the lifestyle not because of any moral argument, but because of the environmental consequences. Now whenever someone positively responds to the bumper sticker I wonder about their reasons for choosing a meatless diet; whether they're environmentally conscious, care about animal suffrage, or simply want to have a peace-loving, earthy, hippyish image.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
3 Sources by Hesham
1. CAVANAUGH, JACK. (1987, September 27). SLEEPING OFF THE JOB IN CLASS. New York Times (Late Edition (east Coast)), p. A.4. Retrieved March 15, 2009, from ProQuest National Newspapers Core database. (Document ID: 957171421).
This article is focused on a couple of schools who have noticed that part time work has been affecting the performance of student on their academic progression.
This article’s main focus was on reports from school systems in Fairfield and New Haven Counties and Hartford that high school students have been snoozing in class due to fatigue or sheer exhaustion from after-school jobs. The author of the article derives his information through interviews with some of the school’s board members. The author finds out that this increase of part time jobs with schools is usually due to children trying to help their parents or just rather trying to buy things for themselves like boom boxes and clothes. And some of the employers are offering incentives for the kids to stay. And these children are being encouraged to work these part time jobs; for example, McDonald's gives $50 to every kid working there who brings in another employee who stays at least three months. Not only are the kids being tired in school, these part time jobs diminished the number of volunteer work done by students. Also it took away time from after school extra-curricular activities, such as sports bands etc. And with the increase of opportunity for part time jobs this trend will not diminish but rather be boosted to cover a bigger population of young school kids.
2. David Sterrett. "McDonald's opposes Obama on unions | Crain's Chicago Business." Chicago business news, analysis, rankings, and more | Crain's Chicago Business. 08 Dec. 2008. 16 Mar. 2009
McDonald’s USA President Don Thompson urged 2,400 franchisees to "contact your U.S. senators and representatives to oppose" the Employee Free Choice Act. This act will greatly help workers to form unions, which will threaten the McDonald’s Corporation labor strategies.
This EFCA, or "card-check" bill, would enable unions to organize a workplace by obtaining the signatures of a majority of workers on authorization cards. It would also establish a bargaining process that could lead to binding arbitration for labor contracts. If this act is passed then the 600,000 employees of McDonalds corp. could unionize and demand higher pay and stricter work rules in McDonald's kitchens. Unions have been almost nonexistent in fast food in the past 25 years. Removing the secret ballot requirement would have a particularly strong effect on the fast-food industry because of its high turnover rate and large percentage of young workers who may be more easily pressured by co-workers to sign union cards. Now thinking on the other side of this if the employees get better wages the higher the prices will become for fast food. This will completely diminish the aspect of “cheap” fast food. This really will destroy the franchise money making strategy. But on the other hand it will help out with the wages for the people dependent on a fast food job.
3. Selliott. "When teens have jobs, schoolwork suffers | Get on the Bus |Observations on schools, kids, teachers, teaching and education by Scott Elliott, Dayton Daily News." Dayton Daily News | Dayton, Ohio, News and Information. 285 Apr. 2006. 16 Mar. 2009.
This article is describing the author’s finding about the effects on part time jobs on teens derived from an argument from a study done by a Cleveland State University professor.
In this article the author told us that after school jobs are bad for kids by lowering their grades, affecting their behavior and in some cases even forcing teachers to lower their expectations. The author lists some statistics that he has found from the professor’s study. One of the statistics was that most adolescent part-time work is in the fast-food sector with few skills to acquire or transfer to other jobs; these jobs are filled by adolescents only to meet the demands of the sector through minimal wages. Another statistic would be how teachers lower their expectations if they have a large number of students working long hours, therefore having a spill-over effect on the overall teaching-learning environment, including those who do not work. And finally how only in the U.S. is part-time work widespread among high school students; while it is rare in other industrialized countries, where students are only expected to continue their education. This article is a great complimentary article with the “SLEEPING OFF THE JOB IN CLASS” because they both combine to give a bigger picture to the youth part time work.
Anecdote
I was constantly being pressured by people all around me to get a job. One of these people would be I, who desired many things for me but with financial issues due to the $5 a week allowance. Yes I only got $5 a week. My parents though that all I ever needed in life was to have roof on top of me and a lunch box. I would have to save up for so long to be able to buy anything for myself. So I finally took the initiative and applied for a job. My first job was at a Chick-Fil-A fast food restaurant. It was what was expected as the fast food industry is highest employer for teens between the ages of 14-17. I started out with a pay rate of $6.00 an hour; also expected from the industries usual minimum wage pay rate. Even though I was able to achieve what I wanted; I have drastically increased the responsibilities in my life. I would go to work 4 times a week; shifts starting directly afterschool to about 9 pm or sometimes later. This left me with a measly one and a half hours to do my homework, which I never did. Even in the days I was off I was too lazy and tired from the week’s work to do anything productive. I was simply too tired. This is a problem for me till this day; it is extremely hard for me to manage school, work, and personal life all equally and in a timely manner. This is why I am writing this at 2 am in the morning.
This article is focused on a couple of schools who have noticed that part time work has been affecting the performance of student on their academic progression.
This article’s main focus was on reports from school systems in Fairfield and New Haven Counties and Hartford that high school students have been snoozing in class due to fatigue or sheer exhaustion from after-school jobs. The author of the article derives his information through interviews with some of the school’s board members. The author finds out that this increase of part time jobs with schools is usually due to children trying to help their parents or just rather trying to buy things for themselves like boom boxes and clothes. And some of the employers are offering incentives for the kids to stay. And these children are being encouraged to work these part time jobs; for example, McDonald's gives $50 to every kid working there who brings in another employee who stays at least three months. Not only are the kids being tired in school, these part time jobs diminished the number of volunteer work done by students. Also it took away time from after school extra-curricular activities, such as sports bands etc. And with the increase of opportunity for part time jobs this trend will not diminish but rather be boosted to cover a bigger population of young school kids.
2. David Sterrett. "McDonald's opposes Obama on unions | Crain's Chicago Business." Chicago business news, analysis, rankings, and more | Crain's Chicago Business. 08 Dec. 2008. 16 Mar. 2009
McDonald’s USA President Don Thompson urged 2,400 franchisees to "contact your U.S. senators and representatives to oppose" the Employee Free Choice Act. This act will greatly help workers to form unions, which will threaten the McDonald’s Corporation labor strategies.
This EFCA, or "card-check" bill, would enable unions to organize a workplace by obtaining the signatures of a majority of workers on authorization cards. It would also establish a bargaining process that could lead to binding arbitration for labor contracts. If this act is passed then the 600,000 employees of McDonalds corp. could unionize and demand higher pay and stricter work rules in McDonald's kitchens. Unions have been almost nonexistent in fast food in the past 25 years. Removing the secret ballot requirement would have a particularly strong effect on the fast-food industry because of its high turnover rate and large percentage of young workers who may be more easily pressured by co-workers to sign union cards. Now thinking on the other side of this if the employees get better wages the higher the prices will become for fast food. This will completely diminish the aspect of “cheap” fast food. This really will destroy the franchise money making strategy. But on the other hand it will help out with the wages for the people dependent on a fast food job.
3. Selliott. "When teens have jobs, schoolwork suffers | Get on the Bus |Observations on schools, kids, teachers, teaching and education by Scott Elliott, Dayton Daily News." Dayton Daily News | Dayton, Ohio, News and Information. 285 Apr. 2006. 16 Mar. 2009
This article is describing the author’s finding about the effects on part time jobs on teens derived from an argument from a study done by a Cleveland State University professor.
In this article the author told us that after school jobs are bad for kids by lowering their grades, affecting their behavior and in some cases even forcing teachers to lower their expectations. The author lists some statistics that he has found from the professor’s study. One of the statistics was that most adolescent part-time work is in the fast-food sector with few skills to acquire or transfer to other jobs; these jobs are filled by adolescents only to meet the demands of the sector through minimal wages. Another statistic would be how teachers lower their expectations if they have a large number of students working long hours, therefore having a spill-over effect on the overall teaching-learning environment, including those who do not work. And finally how only in the U.S. is part-time work widespread among high school students; while it is rare in other industrialized countries, where students are only expected to continue their education. This article is a great complimentary article with the “SLEEPING OFF THE JOB IN CLASS” because they both combine to give a bigger picture to the youth part time work.
Anecdote
I was constantly being pressured by people all around me to get a job. One of these people would be I, who desired many things for me but with financial issues due to the $5 a week allowance. Yes I only got $5 a week. My parents though that all I ever needed in life was to have roof on top of me and a lunch box. I would have to save up for so long to be able to buy anything for myself. So I finally took the initiative and applied for a job. My first job was at a Chick-Fil-A fast food restaurant. It was what was expected as the fast food industry is highest employer for teens between the ages of 14-17. I started out with a pay rate of $6.00 an hour; also expected from the industries usual minimum wage pay rate. Even though I was able to achieve what I wanted; I have drastically increased the responsibilities in my life. I would go to work 4 times a week; shifts starting directly afterschool to about 9 pm or sometimes later. This left me with a measly one and a half hours to do my homework, which I never did. Even in the days I was off I was too lazy and tired from the week’s work to do anything productive. I was simply too tired. This is a problem for me till this day; it is extremely hard for me to manage school, work, and personal life all equally and in a timely manner. This is why I am writing this at 2 am in the morning.
Anecdote
As a kid, I remember sitting in the cool basement family room when it was too hot to do anything outside. I would turn on Cartoon Network, or Nickelodeon. I wouldn't have thought that this many years later I would remember the commercials more than the shows. It's not that I remember the commercials specifically. But I remember, Fruit by The Foot, Dunkaroos, and Pop-Tarts. But food lends it self to advertising. Over 80% of food in America is branded. I always new about foods that sounded good and looked good on tv, so it was up to my parents to wage war against the television and still try to have me eat healthy. This can be very difficult. It was estimated that during that time, around 1999, 7.3 billion dollars was spent on food advertising in America. Compared to 300 million dollars on nutrition education. I wonder how much advertising has effected my life even to this day. Would I be any different without it?
Bibliography and Anecdote
Vikki Sloviter. . "So That's Why My Kid is Overweight. " Pediatrics for Parents 1 Jul 2008: 5. Health Module. ProQuest. Community College of Baltimore County, Essex. 15 Mar. 2009
This is an article that was found on Proquest; it is about advertising toward children and fast food. I found that this was a perfect fit for my topic and saw that it contained a lot of good information. The text it about how advertising is divided into two different age groups and that a majority of advertising seen by children is about food and restaurants.
This article is more geared toward advertising food to children in general rather than just fast food. In this article it is explained the facts from a study done at the Institute for Health Research and Policy at University of Illinois, Chicago. In the study, kids are broken into two different age groups since advertising is age specific: Children (age 2-11) and adolescents (age 12-17). There are some very good facts given in this article with regard to advertising toward children. For example: it was found that 36.4% of the products advertised to children were food related (30% for food products, 2% for non-fast food restaurants, and 4.4% for fast food). The article also gave similar numbers for adolescents: 26.3% of advertisement was food related; 18.3% for food products, 1.5% for non-fast food restaurants and 6.0% for fast food restaurants. I found in this article that it was not useful for me that there were two different categories. I felt that the “children” category was a lot more useful to this project and the topic that I chose for this project. One fact that was astonishing was that “all the food products advertised to 2-11 year olds, 97.8% were high in fat, sugar or sodium.”I think that this a key concept to talk about in advertising to children and that healthy choices are not being advertised enough. Finally I found that It was necessary and important that the article touch upon the point that these children are easily influenced by what they see and that they have the power to influence their parents’ spending habits. Overall, I think that this is a useful article and presents a lot of good useful information that can be used in this particular project.
Karen Collins. . "Is Fast Food the Problem? " Au - Authm Action News [Scottsdale, Ariz.] 1 Jan. 2008,27. Ethnic NewsWatch (ENW). ProQuest Community College of Baltimore County, Essex.15 Mar. 2009
This article was also found on proquest and the particular article is taken from a newspaper. This article talks about fast food and the choices that are present on the menu. The author argues that the choices on the menu have very high concentration of calories and that the serving size is also quite large.
“Research links frequent eating at fast food restaurants to greater weight gain and an increased tendency to be overweight.” This is the main point that this article argues; fast food is usually high in calories and makes people unhealthy and gain weight. This article touches upon the fact that people who eat fast food regularly have a extremely high BMI and intake more calories then those who don’t eat fast food often. The article also states that fast food chains classify large servings as “medium”, and this adds to the impact of calories and diet onto our weight. In this article, there are a few facts given on different experiments that were done in the past, and shows the correlation between fast food consumption and weight gain. At the end, this article gives a few alternatives to fast food and suggests how you can keep away from this negative impact of fast food. Overall, I think that this article presents only a few good points that can be used in this project. The main point was repeated plenty of times which I thought was a down side to this article. Another negative about this article was that it did not have many statistics, rather a lot of broad statements and conclusion to different experiments.
Rouse, James "Fast Food Advertising to Children." Fast Food Advertising to Children. 6 Nov. 2008. EzineArticles.com. 15 Mar 2009
I found this article on-line and I thought it was a good article because it relates fast food and advertising to children. This article starts out by giving a few facts in the introduction and then explain the tricks that are used to market to children. One part that I fond interesting was that it mentions how internet is now used for fast food advertisement.
In this article, it first explains that there is over 10 million spent on fast food advertisement to children annually. Most of these commercials are for high fat and high sugar food that are unhealthy for children. It explains how certain times and shows are used to target children of certain age groups for products that best fulfill their wants. After this, the article speaks about “sneaky tactics” and how advertisers use different kinds of ads to make children scream and beg to their parents to get what they want. “This is all about providing for their children and the guilt that comes with not being available enough for their kids.” Then there was also a paragraph that I though was interesting as it was about advertisement on the internet. Here, it states that advertising on the internet is more cost efficient than television. It also states that marketers know how kids use the internet and love how they like to click on links (such as “click here” or “win this”) Another point made about the internet is that marketers now use email addresses to advertise their products. Overall, I think that this is a very good article and presents some interesting points. Though this article doesn’t have many specific facts and statistics, it gives a good ides on how advertising is used. I especially like the part on internet advertising and I believe that this is sometimes overlooked by many people. Things like email and flashing link is a good way to capture the attention of kids and convince them to do or buy something.
Personal Anectode:
As a young child in North America, I didn’t exactly know what advertising was but I knew what I wanted and I knew that my parents were the people who could get that to me. My first experience with fast food was when I saw a McDonalds play place and decided that I HAD to go there. Bright colors and a tall swirly structure was what first caught my eye. When we went inside, I saw that there were numerous colors and characters that made the place seem like paradise for a kid. Now, as a young adult I realize how I was manipulated by these chains, and that these mechanisms are used by many companies to influence children. When I see my little sister watching television I now notice why I was so stuck on going to McDonalds as a child. There are many advertisements targeted toward child; “on average children view over 40,000 commercials a year most of which are for candies, cereals, toys, and fast food restaurants.” It is no surprise then that so many Americans are obese and overweight. When a company is able to hook a consumer as early as childhood, they can be sure that they have obtained a “regular customer”. Children today have more purchasing power because they are able to use different tactics to get what they want. From kicking and screaming to guilt; it seems like children influence the economy more that we think. “Fast food businesses will claim that this is to provide a more pleasant visit to their store for the parents but in reality it is baiting children to desire fast food.”
Porter - Annotated Bib and Anecdote
Works Cited
Cross, Gary S. Encyclopedia of Recreation & Leisure in America Edition 1. (Scribner American Civilization). 2nd ed. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2004. History Resource Center. 13 Mar. 2009. Globalization of the fast food industry has largely been driven by America, exporting enormous numbers of McDonald’s, Pizza Hut’s, KFC’s, and Starbucks, but an interesting trend is growing-- in the hypercompetitive fast food market, oversaturation of familiar brands has caused American corporations like McDonald’s to diversify, from adding locally oriented dishes like cold pasta in their Italian restaurants, beer in their German shops, and teriyaki burgers throughout Asia, to more interestingly, the importation of various brands, like Pret a Manger and Aroma Café. So while the continued growth of these large multinational companies continues, we as consumers are unaware that the money spent at a local Au Bon Pain is helping to fuel the continued homogenization of the food industry in all corners of the world.
Ordonez, Franco. "Mexico Now the 2nd Fattest Country, After U.S." McClatchy Newspapers 24 Mar. 2008. SIRS Researcher. SIRS Knowledge Source. 13 Mar. 2009. More than 71 percent of Mexican women and 66 percent of men are overweight, according to recent surveys. This contrasts with a similar sampling done in 1989, in which fewer than 10 percent of Mexican citizens were overweight. This drastic change, occurring in so short a period of time is nothing short of amazing, and has brought with it sobering changes in the health and life expectancy of Mexico’s people. Trade agreements like NAFTA have had a profound effect on almost every aspect of society in Mexico, from the significant shift to textile and service industries from agriculture, to the average wages of it’s people, to the products and food that are consumed. Clearly, some of the negative effects of globalization, specifically as it relates to the fast food industry, can be seen in the faces of the obese and diabetic children that suffer from poor nutrition and inadequate education vis-á-vis healthy lifestyle choices.
Rosenthal, Elizabeth. "Fast Food Hits Mediterranean; a Diet Succumbs." New York Times 24 Sept. 2008, A1+ sec.: A1+. In Kasteli, Greece, the traditional and widely celebrated Mediterranean diet is disappearing, and with it, the good health of the people who live there. Fast food, once seen as a wholly American fascination has for the last few decades been spreading, now reaching a new and global level of ubiquity and has had unintended side effects. Dr. Stagourakis suggests that the growing popularity of fast foods (also referred to as “convenience foods”) is directly related to the rising statistics of overweight and obese children and adults in Kasteli. Dr. Stagourakis is not alone in his suppositions. Dr. Trichopolou, professor of epidemiology at the University of Athens, and statistics generated and supported by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization also validate his argument. It is hard to argue against the notion that the sophisticated and heavily monied fast food corporations operating today have an excellent understanding of marketing and franchise growth and management. It is similarly difficult to ignore the fact that these extremely large corporations hold an equally large amount of power, and that the key focus of their business is not on the cultural uniqueness of the countries they operate in, but in the profit they make from their ever-expanding business interests. Our globalized economy, as it becomes increasingly interdependent and entwined, also becomes more hegemonized and reliant on the most powerful players in the world economy. And who could be more powerful than the companies that provide the food we eat, particularly if these same companies own much of the commercial land and have significant interests in the farms where we grow our crops and raise our animals? Fast food is successful because it is fast and cheap. It’s fast and cheap because there is very little variation in even the tiniest detail of how it is produced and disseminated. The extremely precise nature of its business affords a level of predictability, and thusly, stabilization and mitigation of the otherwise natural ebb-and-flow of the world market to such an extent that local competition cannot continue. This has the effect of a cultural vacuum, speeding the homogenization of culture, and, of course in the process, increasing the rate at which these companies grow. Though their expansion has happened to include token nods toward cultural inclusivity (such as chicken-oriented meals in Asia, and vegetable dishes in India), I submit that any attempt to fit in is merely superficial, and a factored-in “cost of doing business” to win as many customers as possible. It is a safe bet to assume that, although the menu may change slightly, behind the counter, it is always the same, whether in main land China or Columbus, Ohio.
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Anecdote:
I found out only recently that Boston Market was owned by the McDonald’s Corporation. It initially struck me as odd— why would a restaurant chain want to purchase a competing entity, and keep them running? I’d always assumed that the first thing McDonald’s would do with any restaurant they purchased would be to dismantle and shutter all of the locations, instead turning them into yet more McDonald’s, their yellow arches stretching out in a long and unending line from one coast of this country to the other. I imagined that if you were to look down from space at North America, it might look like the continent was excitedly saying “MMMMMMMMMMMMM!”, as if expressing delight at the thought of two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, etcetera. I suppose, though, that the more crafty side of my mind recognizes the power in a diversified brand— in this manner, should the public suddenly grow tired of Big Mac’s, and suddenly develop an extreme hunger for steam cooked rotisserie chicken, McDonald’s Corporation would be there to provide the meal, and to collect the check.
Cross, Gary S. Encyclopedia of Recreation & Leisure in America Edition 1. (Scribner American Civilization). 2nd ed. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2004. History Resource Center. 13 Mar. 2009
Ordonez, Franco. "Mexico Now the 2nd Fattest Country, After U.S." McClatchy Newspapers 24 Mar. 2008. SIRS Researcher. SIRS Knowledge Source. 13 Mar. 2009
Rosenthal, Elizabeth. "Fast Food Hits Mediterranean; a Diet Succumbs." New York Times 24 Sept. 2008, A1+ sec.: A1+. In Kasteli, Greece, the traditional and widely celebrated Mediterranean diet is disappearing, and with it, the good health of the people who live there. Fast food, once seen as a wholly American fascination has for the last few decades been spreading, now reaching a new and global level of ubiquity and has had unintended side effects. Dr. Stagourakis suggests that the growing popularity of fast foods (also referred to as “convenience foods”) is directly related to the rising statistics of overweight and obese children and adults in Kasteli. Dr. Stagourakis is not alone in his suppositions. Dr. Trichopolou, professor of epidemiology at the University of Athens, and statistics generated and supported by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization also validate his argument. It is hard to argue against the notion that the sophisticated and heavily monied fast food corporations operating today have an excellent understanding of marketing and franchise growth and management. It is similarly difficult to ignore the fact that these extremely large corporations hold an equally large amount of power, and that the key focus of their business is not on the cultural uniqueness of the countries they operate in, but in the profit they make from their ever-expanding business interests. Our globalized economy, as it becomes increasingly interdependent and entwined, also becomes more hegemonized and reliant on the most powerful players in the world economy. And who could be more powerful than the companies that provide the food we eat, particularly if these same companies own much of the commercial land and have significant interests in the farms where we grow our crops and raise our animals? Fast food is successful because it is fast and cheap. It’s fast and cheap because there is very little variation in even the tiniest detail of how it is produced and disseminated. The extremely precise nature of its business affords a level of predictability, and thusly, stabilization and mitigation of the otherwise natural ebb-and-flow of the world market to such an extent that local competition cannot continue. This has the effect of a cultural vacuum, speeding the homogenization of culture, and, of course in the process, increasing the rate at which these companies grow. Though their expansion has happened to include token nods toward cultural inclusivity (such as chicken-oriented meals in Asia, and vegetable dishes in India), I submit that any attempt to fit in is merely superficial, and a factored-in “cost of doing business” to win as many customers as possible. It is a safe bet to assume that, although the menu may change slightly, behind the counter, it is always the same, whether in main land China or Columbus, Ohio.
----
Anecdote:
I found out only recently that Boston Market was owned by the McDonald’s Corporation. It initially struck me as odd— why would a restaurant chain want to purchase a competing entity, and keep them running? I’d always assumed that the first thing McDonald’s would do with any restaurant they purchased would be to dismantle and shutter all of the locations, instead turning them into yet more McDonald’s, their yellow arches stretching out in a long and unending line from one coast of this country to the other. I imagined that if you were to look down from space at North America, it might look like the continent was excitedly saying “MMMMMMMMMMMMM!”, as if expressing delight at the thought of two all beef patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese, etcetera. I suppose, though, that the more crafty side of my mind recognizes the power in a diversified brand— in this manner, should the public suddenly grow tired of Big Mac’s, and suddenly develop an extreme hunger for steam cooked rotisserie chicken, McDonald’s Corporation would be there to provide the meal, and to collect the check.
Annotated & Anecdote
ANNOTATED BIB:
"To Meat or Not to Meat. " Current Events 9 Feb. 2009: 7. Children's Module. ProQuest. CCBC Essex, Baltimore, MD. 14 Mar. 2009
This periodical presents the question of whether or not children should be vegans or vegetarians. It presents both sides of the argument. It is dangerous for children's digestive systems and calorie intake, and the flip side, that it encourages the “go green” movement and conscientious eating habits. I like that this document leaves it up to the reader to decide if being vegan or vegetarian is good or bad, especially for children. For the purposes of this paper, and eventually beyond, I became a vegetarian, with the exception of fish and other seafood. I like how the article makes the differentiation between vegan and vegetarian. Vegan is avoiding all animal products, even eggs and milk. Vegetarian is only avoiding the meat itself. One of the things that the article ignores is the fact that vegetarians come in different forms, like myself. They say, “Vegetarians do not eat meat, fish, or poultry,” but after doing other online research in chat rooms and vegetarian informational sites I found that I can be a vegetarian while eating seafood. I wish the article would have pointed that out. The writer refers to reliable sources that even I have heard of, for the most part. The American Diabetes Association is an advocate of vegetarianism because it has been shown to lower the risk of heart diseases and some cancer. That makes me feel better about my choice. I wanted the article to stress more the importance of finding other sources of protein. My parents made me realize that I have to find foods to substitute in place of the meat I used to eat, which also made me research what is in foods. The article was easy to read, but it presented very black-white, yes-no choices. Being a vegetarian is more than that.
“Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine; Doctors endorse vegan and vegetarian diets for healthy pregnancies." NewsRx Health 22 Mar. 2009: 26. Sciences Module. ProQuest. CCBC Essex, Baltimore, MD. 14 Mar. 2009
The NewsRx article I read is shedding light on the idea of vegetarianism and being vegan during, and even after pregnancy. It was a really easy read, but was full of facts. The talk of vitamin B12 was new to me. I have heard of it, and my aunt is crazy about taking B12 all the time, but I never knew how to get it. Apparently most breakfast cereals and soy milk have a lot of B12, which is extremely healthy, especially for pregnant women and their children. Also, a vegetarian diet, when consumed correctly, has more fiber and antioxidants than a non-vegetarian diet. Something I did not like about the article was all the acronyms it used. I understand that for some people, things are easier to read when they do not have to sound out all the words, but I have trouble reading letters that do not make words. In addition, only good things are said about being a vegetarian and pregnant simultaneously. I have found through additional research that it can be extremely dangerous, more to the child than the mother, to be vegetarian while pregnant. Serious birth defects can result from the slightest B12 deficiency. It is really important for pregnant mothers who read this to take it very seriously. Eating what she considers a balanced diet may not be enough.
Mayer, Heather. "Should You become a Vegan or a Vegetarian?" Scholastic Choices. 1 Oct. 2008: 15,T7. Children's Module. ProQuest. CCBC Essex, Baltimore, MD. 14 Mar. 2009
This document is to help people decide whether or not they should become vegetarian or vegan. It is based on more than just the ethics of eating animal meat, but the ability to obtain necessary vitamins, proteins, and other nutrients. I enjoyed the difference from this article to the other two I read. This one has a miniature questionnaire at the end to help teens and adults decide if they should become a vegetarian. An important aspect is the reasoning behind the decision, and that could have been expanded upon. It was a little bit less than half of the article, but it was a short article, and could have been more. I really like that the article explained how to get the nutrients, and also terms people may not know, like fortified. Apparently that means the food did not originally have it, but that given company added it so to be more nutritious. I agreed with the realistic presentation of everything in the article. They tell what you will be missing if you choose to become vegan or vegetarian, and even why it matters. Most people know that they need protein and B12 and other healthy sounding things, but most people also do not know why, or what the results will be if they do not eat those things. Overall, this document was the most sensible and fair in my eyes.
ANECDOTE:
For the purposes of this paper, and because of how much I was grossed out after reading how cows are killed, I decided to experiment with becoming a vegetarian. I'll still eat seafood, but that comes in limited supply anyway. The fatty acids are good only about once a week. I love chicken. Grilled chicken, fried chicken, broiled chicken. Chicken with salad, on salad, by the pool, as my midnight snack. That kind of makes me sound like a freak, but I love chicken in its various forms. But being a vegetarian is good, right? It will make me more conscious of what I eat, right? Well, maybe. My brothers good friend gave up meat for an entire year. He was fit and healthy. After that year, though, he was fat. No two ways about it, he gained a LOT of weight. Crap. When summer rolls around, and Sarah can't stand staring at the grilled chicken on fresh beds of lettuce any more, she will be a blimp. Maybe not, right? I have to be so careful what I eat now! I don't get protein from meat, obviously. I did some research. Things like nuts and dried berries have protein, so I've been eating them. Until I talked to my vegetarian friend, that is. Everything besides meat with protein also has tons of calories and carbs! I may as well eat nothing but pasta in the morning, afternoon, and night. This is going to be harder than I thought. I'm not living in the world where cows and chickens and pigs everywhere will be saved because I stopped eating them, but for now, I feel good about my decision. My cheese, lettuce, and tomato sandwiches are just as good as they would be with meat... except for that whole protein problem.
Annotated Bibliography 1-3 and Personal Anecdote
Annotated Bibliography:
Matheson, Donna, and Robinson, Thomas. “Effects of Fast Food Branding on Young Children's Taste Preferences.” Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 161.8 (2007): 792-797 Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. 3 March 2007. American Medical Association. 15 March 2009.
This article presents the data collected during a study where children, aged 3 to 5, were asked to compare the taste of two identical pieces of food; the only difference between the foods was the packaging (i.e. one was packaged in McDonald's packing, one in neutral packaging).
I found this article to be informative and interesting to read. The information, while presented in an academic language, was understandable and clearly presented. Unlike the article by Powell, the organization was logical and the text was coherent. Combined with the charts and tables, the text presented a clear and comprehensive overview of the results of this study.
The only weakness of this article is that it does include a significant amount of statistical information, which may be difficult to understand for those who have not taken a basic statistics course. That being said, for those who have taken such a course, the provided statistical information greatly adds to the article.
One of the greatest strengths of this article is that it draws far-reaching conclusions from the data gathered. For example, on page 5, the authors suggest that instituting brand recognition (a child's ability to recognize and desire a familiar brand) geared towards healthy foods might be effective in reducing the number of overweight and obese children in the US.
Powell, Lisa M. “Exposure to Food Advertising on Television Among US Children.” Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 161.6 (2007): 553-560. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. 14 Dec. 2006. American Medical Association. 15 March 2009.
This article examines the amount of advertising that US children are exposed to today, as compare to children's exposure rates over the past 35 years.
While the information presented in this article was interesting, I found the presentation to be confusing, and sometimes contradictory. The graphs and tables were very helpful in understanding the data collected; however, the textual presentation of the data was poorly organized, and presented in a disjointed manner that made following the results difficult. The author's academic background shows clearly in the scientific presentation of the article; while this promotes a feeling of reliability and trustworthiness, it makes reading the article difficult for those outside the field.
One of the strengths of this article was the author's use of previous, related studies as a source of data. These studies are presented and adequately explained in Table 3 (p. 4); once again, however, the textual explanation of the studies was very confusing.
Overall, I found that the poor presentation and organization found in this article significantly detracts from the information presented. If it had been better organized, this article would have been much more useful, and enjoyable to read.
Story, Mary, and French, Simone. “Food Advertising and Marketing Directed at Children and Adolescents in the US.” International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 1.3 (2004) BioMed Central Ltd. 10 Feb. 2004. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. 15 March 2009..
This article examines the various forms of food advertising and marketing aimed at children, including television advertising, in-school marketing (both direct and indirect), product placements, kids' clubs, the Internet, toys and products with brand logos, and youth-targeted promotions.
I found this article to be very informative. The information is presented clearly and concisely, and is drawn from a number of reliable sources, such as the World Health Organization and the US General Accounting Office. It paints a comprehensive picture of the various forms of advertising, the possible effects of advertising directed at children, and recommendations to reduce said effects. The authors' use of international and local data provide a thorough coverage of the topic, and highlight many of the ineffective practices used in the US to regulate child-directed advertising.
The only weakness that I noted in this article is the placement of tables. They were often placed in such a way that they were out of context, and interrupted the flow of the article. They would have been far more effective if they had been better positioned. However, the tables included in the article did provide useful information that would otherwise have overburdened the actual text.
Personal Anecdote:
One of my first memories of fast food is from early in my childhood. My father wanted to go to Burger King that day, instead of our usual McDonald's. I made my objections known by throwing a screaming fit; after all, if it wasn't McDonald's, it couldn't be good! I can still remember how mad I was, both at the proposed change in eating venue, and at the grounding I got for my temper tantrum. My belief at this young age that McDonald's had the best food can be attributed to something called “branding.” “Branding” is discussed by Robinson and Matheson in their article “Effects of Fast Food Branding on Young Children's Taste Preferences”; they found that “By two years of age, children may have beliefs about specific brands, and 2- to 6-year-olds can recognize familiar brand names, packaging, logos, and characters and associate them with products... awareness and recognition translate into product requests, begging and nagging for specific product names and brands.” (Matheson and Robinson, p. 1). “Branding” is a powerful influence on children's food preferences.
Works Cited:
Matheson, Donna, and Robinson, Thomas. “Effects of Fast Food Branding on Young Children's Taste Preferences.” Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 161.8 (2007): 792-797 Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. 3 March 2007. American Medical Association. 15 March 2009.
Matheson, Donna, and Robinson, Thomas. “Effects of Fast Food Branding on Young Children's Taste Preferences.” Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 161.8 (2007): 792-797 Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. 3 March 2007. American Medical Association. 15 March 2009
This article presents the data collected during a study where children, aged 3 to 5, were asked to compare the taste of two identical pieces of food; the only difference between the foods was the packaging (i.e. one was packaged in McDonald's packing, one in neutral packaging).
I found this article to be informative and interesting to read. The information, while presented in an academic language, was understandable and clearly presented. Unlike the article by Powell, the organization was logical and the text was coherent. Combined with the charts and tables, the text presented a clear and comprehensive overview of the results of this study.
The only weakness of this article is that it does include a significant amount of statistical information, which may be difficult to understand for those who have not taken a basic statistics course. That being said, for those who have taken such a course, the provided statistical information greatly adds to the article.
One of the greatest strengths of this article is that it draws far-reaching conclusions from the data gathered. For example, on page 5, the authors suggest that instituting brand recognition (a child's ability to recognize and desire a familiar brand) geared towards healthy foods might be effective in reducing the number of overweight and obese children in the US.
Powell, Lisa M. “Exposure to Food Advertising on Television Among US Children.” Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 161.6 (2007): 553-560. Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. 14 Dec. 2006. American Medical Association. 15 March 2009
While the information presented in this article was interesting, I found the presentation to be confusing, and sometimes contradictory. The graphs and tables were very helpful in understanding the data collected; however, the textual presentation of the data was poorly organized, and presented in a disjointed manner that made following the results difficult. The author's academic background shows clearly in the scientific presentation of the article; while this promotes a feeling of reliability and trustworthiness, it makes reading the article difficult for those outside the field.
One of the strengths of this article was the author's use of previous, related studies as a source of data. These studies are presented and adequately explained in Table 3 (p. 4); once again, however, the textual explanation of the studies was very confusing.
Overall, I found that the poor presentation and organization found in this article significantly detracts from the information presented. If it had been better organized, this article would have been much more useful, and enjoyable to read.
Story, Mary, and French, Simone. “Food Advertising and Marketing Directed at Children and Adolescents in the US.” International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity 1.3 (2004) BioMed Central Ltd. 10 Feb. 2004. International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. 15 March 2009.
I found this article to be very informative. The information is presented clearly and concisely, and is drawn from a number of reliable sources, such as the World Health Organization and the US General Accounting Office. It paints a comprehensive picture of the various forms of advertising, the possible effects of advertising directed at children, and recommendations to reduce said effects. The authors' use of international and local data provide a thorough coverage of the topic, and highlight many of the ineffective practices used in the US to regulate child-directed advertising.
The only weakness that I noted in this article is the placement of tables. They were often placed in such a way that they were out of context, and interrupted the flow of the article. They would have been far more effective if they had been better positioned. However, the tables included in the article did provide useful information that would otherwise have overburdened the actual text.
Personal Anecdote:
One of my first memories of fast food is from early in my childhood. My father wanted to go to Burger King that day, instead of our usual McDonald's. I made my objections known by throwing a screaming fit; after all, if it wasn't McDonald's, it couldn't be good! I can still remember how mad I was, both at the proposed change in eating venue, and at the grounding I got for my temper tantrum. My belief at this young age that McDonald's had the best food can be attributed to something called “branding.” “Branding” is discussed by Robinson and Matheson in their article “Effects of Fast Food Branding on Young Children's Taste Preferences”; they found that “By two years of age, children may have beliefs about specific brands, and 2- to 6-year-olds can recognize familiar brand names, packaging, logos, and characters and associate them with products... awareness and recognition translate into product requests, begging and nagging for specific product names and brands.” (Matheson and Robinson, p. 1). “Branding” is a powerful influence on children's food preferences.
Works Cited:
Matheson, Donna, and Robinson, Thomas. “Effects of Fast Food Branding on Young Children's Taste Preferences.” Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine 161.8 (2007): 792-797 Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine. 3 March 2007. American Medical Association. 15 March 2009
Personal Anecdote
Some today choose to follow a nutrition plan rather than eat whatever their taste buds tell them to. There seems to be a trend of Americans consuming more and more unhealthy foods due only to the fact that it tastes good to them. When I found out that I would have to watch what I eat I was a little uncertain as to where to start. Americans really are not trained to look at what is in our food or determine whether or not it is healthy for us. We put things into our body everyday just because we see others doing the same or we see advertisements on television. It really concerns me that as a Nation we are ignorant in the ways of nutrition and actual “food.” Sure the food we eat today keeps us going, but it’s been genetically altered and modified to enrich our diets with “good” and “bad” ingredients. We tend to follow advice of those who conduct very specific studies instead of learn and analyze ourselves how we can best maintain our bodies through our diet. After being forced into a crash course on carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and the deceptiveness of “low-fat and “unsaturated sugars” I was able to make a more health conscious decision every time I have a meal. I feel better and have more energy ever since this step in my life and I find it odd that Americans are not taught the basics and even if they are, hardly retain the knowledge. I guess the government is even today trying to protect the interests of those who sponsor their campaigns.
Annotated Blog
FOOD FIGHT:
Brownell, Kelly D. Food Fight. McGraw-Hill: Chicago Il, 2006.
Food Fight is a very factual account of the American food crisis. Divided into three sections beginning with Biology Mismatched With The Modern World, followed by The Toxic Environment, and closing with the simply titled Changing Things, Food Fight addresses many angles of the food industry, and their effects on the global community. While it points out the industry’s shortcomings, it also discusses in-depth, possible solutions to this colossal problem. My favorite aspect of Food Fight is the highlighting of key facts. Since the book contains so much information the highlighting enhances the accessibility of the various statistics. If there is an inherent downfall within Food Fight it may be that at times the presentation seems too steeped in facts. Unlike Eric Schlosser’s approach in the culinary classic Fast Food Nation, Dr. Brownell does not blend real life examples with the numbers and hard evidence. This makes the book a very dry read, and a challenge to focus on for an extended length of time. When it’s all said and done, I think the merits of Food Fight far outweigh any deficiency. Dr. Kelly D. Brownell clearly addresses the problem, discusses its major issues inside and out, and even provides recommendations to the public and possible answers for this enormous issue.
IN DEFENSE OF FOOD:
Pollan, Michael. In Defense Of Food. Penguin Press: New York NY, 2008.
Unlike the other books I have chosen, Michael Pollan’s In Defense Of Food takes a different approach in the quest to find a way out of our modern food quandary. Where books such as Eric Scholsser’s Chew On This and Dr. Kelly Brownell’s Food Fight concentrate largely on Fast Food, Pollan moves beyond the Fast Food industry to focus on another movement that has also played a large role in today’s food crisis. Dubbed “Nutritionism” by the Australian sociologist Gyorgy Scrinis, this movement is defined as a belief that it is necessary to engage foods exclusively on their nutritional and chemical constitutes. Pollan later describes the movement’s hallmark in simpler terms stating that the nutrients found in food should be divided into groups of good and bad. Although there seems to be nothing wrong with this outlook Pollan suggests that we take another route. After covering the various problems of Neutritionism including that it is based on questionable science, he suggests a solution that is radically simple: “Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly Plants”. By carefully looking at ingredients on packages and having a basic understanding of natural ingredients, Pollan says we can eat food that is far more beneficial to us then anything created in a lab. His simple guideline is that we “shouldn’t eat anything our great grandmothers wouldn’t recognize as food”. Food Fight is a breath of fresh air. It addresses the same problems that other works cover but provides a new perspective. It challenges much of what we have been taught and because of this it added a unique element to my research.
CHEW ON THIS:
Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson. Chew On This. Houton Mifflin: Boston 2006.
Eric Schlosser once again tackles the never ending Fast Food issue. In his first work Fast Food Nation Schlosser puts a great amount of emphasis on the Fast Food Industry itself. He concentrated most of his chapters on what the business has done its employees, our natural resources, and economy. In his second round attack on Fast Food, Scholosser and partner Charles Wilson place more of their focus on the food. It tells the tale of the animals we eat, uncovers the secret ingredients used to make our favorite dishes, and talks about the industry’s founders. It reveals how a few restaurants grew to a few thousand, and how a clown named Ronald became an American icon. What makes Chew On This a good source is that much like its predecessor, the information is interwoven with the personal stories of real people. This gives the book a good mixture of statistics, hard facts, history and storytelling which makes both the reading more pleasant and the significance of the information evident to all readers. However, at times Chew On this came off as a watered down version of Schlosser’s pervious work. Some of the same information covered in Fast Food Nation was rehashed in Chew On This. Aside from a few interesting points I found Fast Food Nation to be a superior source.
PERSONAL ANECDOTE:
While serving in the military I had my first experience in the food service field. When most people think of the Coast Guard they think of it as a division of our nation’s military focused primarily on lifesaving. Rarely do people consider the operational logistics and roles each member of the service actually performs. In between launching helicopters for counterdrug operations, and doing armed searches of dhows in the Middle East, I was cooking and preparing meals on ships. It was as important to me to provide healthy meals as it was to justly enforce wartime laws in Iraqi territory. I would estimate that I spent a little more then $110,000 supplying the crewmembers of my unit with provisions during my thirteen months deployed in the Middle East. Some meals served were obviously more popular than others. Without a doubt two of the most popular dishes served were actually side dishes. I couldn’t keep enough French fries or chicken nuggets onboard our small ship. So it came as no surprise to me that a fourth of all vegetables consumed in the United States are the infamous deep fried delicacy made popular by our nation’s Fast Food chains. Also in my travels around the globe I can honestly say there are few countries that I went to that were out of the reach of our nation’s largest Fast Food conglomerates. While on one of my armed transits in the Middle East I passed the legendary McDonalds of Kuwait City that once had a line of 15,000 customers on its opening day. I couldn’t name the amount of times I walked past the plethora of Fast Food establishments while in the Kingdom Of Bahrain’s American Alley. Just down the road from Camp America and Camp Delta, where some of the most dangerous terrorists in the world are confined, our solders, sailors, airmen, and marines enjoy their favorite items off the Guantanamo Bay McDonalds’ menu in a restaurant that looks just like the one in your neighborhood. So it came as no surprise to me that the McDonalds Corporation is the largest holder of commercial real estate in the world. All this puts the providers of food in an interesting position. I was required within limited resources, to supply and prepare meals that were both nutritious and delicious. However, like the rest of America, our nation’s soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines have a taste for fast food. It is showing now more than ever. Everyday each branch of the military turns down potential recruits because of their unhealthy weight. Regularly, service members are placed on report and even discharged for not maintaining their respective weight standards. Finally, our veterans are being treated for conditions that result from the high fat diet they have become accustomed to consuming at their favorite burger joints. If the protectors of the free world are not safe from the grips of Fast Food then who is?
Brownell, Kelly D. Food Fight. McGraw-Hill: Chicago Il, 2006.
Food Fight is a very factual account of the American food crisis. Divided into three sections beginning with Biology Mismatched With The Modern World, followed by The Toxic Environment, and closing with the simply titled Changing Things, Food Fight addresses many angles of the food industry, and their effects on the global community. While it points out the industry’s shortcomings, it also discusses in-depth, possible solutions to this colossal problem. My favorite aspect of Food Fight is the highlighting of key facts. Since the book contains so much information the highlighting enhances the accessibility of the various statistics. If there is an inherent downfall within Food Fight it may be that at times the presentation seems too steeped in facts. Unlike Eric Schlosser’s approach in the culinary classic Fast Food Nation, Dr. Brownell does not blend real life examples with the numbers and hard evidence. This makes the book a very dry read, and a challenge to focus on for an extended length of time. When it’s all said and done, I think the merits of Food Fight far outweigh any deficiency. Dr. Kelly D. Brownell clearly addresses the problem, discusses its major issues inside and out, and even provides recommendations to the public and possible answers for this enormous issue.
IN DEFENSE OF FOOD:
Pollan, Michael. In Defense Of Food. Penguin Press: New York NY, 2008.
Unlike the other books I have chosen, Michael Pollan’s In Defense Of Food takes a different approach in the quest to find a way out of our modern food quandary. Where books such as Eric Scholsser’s Chew On This and Dr. Kelly Brownell’s Food Fight concentrate largely on Fast Food, Pollan moves beyond the Fast Food industry to focus on another movement that has also played a large role in today’s food crisis. Dubbed “Nutritionism” by the Australian sociologist Gyorgy Scrinis, this movement is defined as a belief that it is necessary to engage foods exclusively on their nutritional and chemical constitutes. Pollan later describes the movement’s hallmark in simpler terms stating that the nutrients found in food should be divided into groups of good and bad. Although there seems to be nothing wrong with this outlook Pollan suggests that we take another route. After covering the various problems of Neutritionism including that it is based on questionable science, he suggests a solution that is radically simple: “Eat Food. Not too much. Mostly Plants”. By carefully looking at ingredients on packages and having a basic understanding of natural ingredients, Pollan says we can eat food that is far more beneficial to us then anything created in a lab. His simple guideline is that we “shouldn’t eat anything our great grandmothers wouldn’t recognize as food”. Food Fight is a breath of fresh air. It addresses the same problems that other works cover but provides a new perspective. It challenges much of what we have been taught and because of this it added a unique element to my research.
CHEW ON THIS:
Eric Schlosser and Charles Wilson. Chew On This. Houton Mifflin: Boston 2006.
Eric Schlosser once again tackles the never ending Fast Food issue. In his first work Fast Food Nation Schlosser puts a great amount of emphasis on the Fast Food Industry itself. He concentrated most of his chapters on what the business has done its employees, our natural resources, and economy. In his second round attack on Fast Food, Scholosser and partner Charles Wilson place more of their focus on the food. It tells the tale of the animals we eat, uncovers the secret ingredients used to make our favorite dishes, and talks about the industry’s founders. It reveals how a few restaurants grew to a few thousand, and how a clown named Ronald became an American icon. What makes Chew On This a good source is that much like its predecessor, the information is interwoven with the personal stories of real people. This gives the book a good mixture of statistics, hard facts, history and storytelling which makes both the reading more pleasant and the significance of the information evident to all readers. However, at times Chew On this came off as a watered down version of Schlosser’s pervious work. Some of the same information covered in Fast Food Nation was rehashed in Chew On This. Aside from a few interesting points I found Fast Food Nation to be a superior source.
PERSONAL ANECDOTE:
While serving in the military I had my first experience in the food service field. When most people think of the Coast Guard they think of it as a division of our nation’s military focused primarily on lifesaving. Rarely do people consider the operational logistics and roles each member of the service actually performs. In between launching helicopters for counterdrug operations, and doing armed searches of dhows in the Middle East, I was cooking and preparing meals on ships. It was as important to me to provide healthy meals as it was to justly enforce wartime laws in Iraqi territory. I would estimate that I spent a little more then $110,000 supplying the crewmembers of my unit with provisions during my thirteen months deployed in the Middle East. Some meals served were obviously more popular than others. Without a doubt two of the most popular dishes served were actually side dishes. I couldn’t keep enough French fries or chicken nuggets onboard our small ship. So it came as no surprise to me that a fourth of all vegetables consumed in the United States are the infamous deep fried delicacy made popular by our nation’s Fast Food chains. Also in my travels around the globe I can honestly say there are few countries that I went to that were out of the reach of our nation’s largest Fast Food conglomerates. While on one of my armed transits in the Middle East I passed the legendary McDonalds of Kuwait City that once had a line of 15,000 customers on its opening day. I couldn’t name the amount of times I walked past the plethora of Fast Food establishments while in the Kingdom Of Bahrain’s American Alley. Just down the road from Camp America and Camp Delta, where some of the most dangerous terrorists in the world are confined, our solders, sailors, airmen, and marines enjoy their favorite items off the Guantanamo Bay McDonalds’ menu in a restaurant that looks just like the one in your neighborhood. So it came as no surprise to me that the McDonalds Corporation is the largest holder of commercial real estate in the world. All this puts the providers of food in an interesting position. I was required within limited resources, to supply and prepare meals that were both nutritious and delicious. However, like the rest of America, our nation’s soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines have a taste for fast food. It is showing now more than ever. Everyday each branch of the military turns down potential recruits because of their unhealthy weight. Regularly, service members are placed on report and even discharged for not maintaining their respective weight standards. Finally, our veterans are being treated for conditions that result from the high fat diet they have become accustomed to consuming at their favorite burger joints. If the protectors of the free world are not safe from the grips of Fast Food then who is?
Saturday, March 14, 2009
3/16 Annotated Part1
Elizabeth Austin. "Advertising Is Not Harmful to Children." Opposing Viewpoints: Advertising. Ed. Laura K. Egendorf. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Community College Of Baltimore County. 15Mar.2009http://0find.galegroup.com.library.ccbcmd.edu:80/ovrc/infomark.do?&content Set=GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID=T010&prodId=OVRC&docId=EJ3010388214& source=gale&srcprod=OVRC&userGroupName=balt47855&version=1.0.
This article does present an opposing view unlike the first source that I used. I do like how this article points out the parent’s responsibility to monitor what their children watch. I do not believe that advertising to children should be the fault of an advertising company. Parents should take an active role in monitoring and general parenting instead of actively voting for advertising bans in regard to their own children. Austin points a lot of good points to refute the statements made by Alissa Quart. Quart states that the generation of teens should be labeled “branded for life” because teens wear name brand clothing and are consumed by advertisements displaying popularity over morals. Austin refutes this statement by using the background of the popular cartoon-show “Daria.” Quart’s pessimistic views were no match for Austin because Austin easily used Quart’s very own tactics against her.
Radley Balko. "Banning Fast-Food Advertising Would Not Reduce Childhood Obesity." Current Controversies: Food. Ed. Jan Grover. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Community College Of Baltimore County.
15 Mar. 2009
I felt that this article is relevant to the book (Fast Food Nation) because it talks about the opposing views of banning fast food. This article states that there is “no correlation between ad exposure and childhood obesity.” I agree with this statement because children learn how and what to eat based on their environment. If a child experiences a surrounding where there is nothing but unhealthy foods/habits (not necessarily fast food), most likely that child will grow-up with a higher chance of childhood obesity, than a child that grew up with healthy foods/habits. This ad talks about how children watch less TV when compared to what children watched 15 years ago because of new technologies such as a remote control and TiVo. This article argues that banning food ads targeted towards children would not solve the problem because the children that are prone to obesity are more likely to watch adult shows. This whole scenario of unsupervised children goes back to the root of parents not parenting.
Roy F. Fox. "Advertising Is Harmful to Children." Opposing Viewpoints: Advertising. Ed. Laura K. Egendorf. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Community College Of Baltimore County. 14 Mar. 2009http://0-find.galegroup.com.library.ccbcmd.edu:80/ovrc/infomark.do?&contentSet =GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID=T010&prodId=OVRC&docId=EJ3010388213&source=gale&srcprod=OVRC&userGroupName=balt47855&version=1.0.
This is a very informational source, even though I felt that it was a little biased. Roy Fox is an education professor at a university and he wrote a whole book about how harmful advertising is to children. Right from the beginning, I knew that this article would have the bulk of it’s content on refuting the ideas of advertising to children. Some of the interesting points were how the schools made deals with advertising and soda companies, with the full knowledge of it’s effects on children. One of the solutions to limiting the amount of advertising viewed by children, was to have “ad-free zones” during school hours. I also liked the analogy this article used to compare materialism to a religion. It talked about how the “Temple of a Nike ad” was the “place of worship” and how different sports’ balls would act as “halos for the corresponding sports God.”
I have experienced schools where soda and junk food were readily available to students at school. I came from an elementary school that did not allow children to drink sodas or eat junk food during the day. The rule was to eat it before or after school, but while you were in school you had to eat/drink what was on the lunch menu. Then I graduated to a middle school where you could basically do what you wanted to do. What a child ate or drank really wasn't the school's concern. My school was more focused on summer reading and test scores. I think I would've fallen into the junk food trap right along with my peers, nut they had one thing that I did not have, money. I am aware of schools making deals with a Coca Cola company to recieve some funding for school programs, books, supplies, etc. I don't really agree with the one source that I have because it talks about how it's not ethical for a school to allow an advertising agency to control/manipulate the minds of children. For a prinicpal of a school, it quickly boils down to dollars and cents when trying to generate funding for the school. Although it may not seem like a very wise option to constantly advertise to children, I am pretty confident in saying that children aren't as convincing as they may seem. Another thing is that it is not the schools or advertising companys' that are responsible for what a child consumes. Where the schools end in responsibility is where the parents are suppose to pick up. Instead of rearing in those morals and values, they would rather blame it on a scapegoat so that they won't have to take responsibility.
This article does present an opposing view unlike the first source that I used. I do like how this article points out the parent’s responsibility to monitor what their children watch. I do not believe that advertising to children should be the fault of an advertising company. Parents should take an active role in monitoring and general parenting instead of actively voting for advertising bans in regard to their own children. Austin points a lot of good points to refute the statements made by Alissa Quart. Quart states that the generation of teens should be labeled “branded for life” because teens wear name brand clothing and are consumed by advertisements displaying popularity over morals. Austin refutes this statement by using the background of the popular cartoon-show “Daria.” Quart’s pessimistic views were no match for Austin because Austin easily used Quart’s very own tactics against her.
Radley Balko. "Banning Fast-Food Advertising Would Not Reduce Childhood Obesity." Current Controversies: Food. Ed. Jan Grover. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2008. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Community College Of Baltimore County.
15 Mar. 2009
I felt that this article is relevant to the book (Fast Food Nation) because it talks about the opposing views of banning fast food. This article states that there is “no correlation between ad exposure and childhood obesity.” I agree with this statement because children learn how and what to eat based on their environment. If a child experiences a surrounding where there is nothing but unhealthy foods/habits (not necessarily fast food), most likely that child will grow-up with a higher chance of childhood obesity, than a child that grew up with healthy foods/habits. This ad talks about how children watch less TV when compared to what children watched 15 years ago because of new technologies such as a remote control and TiVo. This article argues that banning food ads targeted towards children would not solve the problem because the children that are prone to obesity are more likely to watch adult shows. This whole scenario of unsupervised children goes back to the root of parents not parenting.
Roy F. Fox. "Advertising Is Harmful to Children." Opposing Viewpoints: Advertising. Ed. Laura K. Egendorf. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2006. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Gale. Community College Of Baltimore County. 14 Mar. 2009http://0-find.galegroup.com.library.ccbcmd.edu:80/ovrc/infomark.do?&contentSet =GSRC&type=retrieve&tabID=T010&prodId=OVRC&docId=EJ3010388213&source=gale&srcprod=OVRC&userGroupName=balt47855&version=1.0.
This is a very informational source, even though I felt that it was a little biased. Roy Fox is an education professor at a university and he wrote a whole book about how harmful advertising is to children. Right from the beginning, I knew that this article would have the bulk of it’s content on refuting the ideas of advertising to children. Some of the interesting points were how the schools made deals with advertising and soda companies, with the full knowledge of it’s effects on children. One of the solutions to limiting the amount of advertising viewed by children, was to have “ad-free zones” during school hours. I also liked the analogy this article used to compare materialism to a religion. It talked about how the “Temple of a Nike ad” was the “place of worship” and how different sports’ balls would act as “halos for the corresponding sports God.”
I have experienced schools where soda and junk food were readily available to students at school. I came from an elementary school that did not allow children to drink sodas or eat junk food during the day. The rule was to eat it before or after school, but while you were in school you had to eat/drink what was on the lunch menu. Then I graduated to a middle school where you could basically do what you wanted to do. What a child ate or drank really wasn't the school's concern. My school was more focused on summer reading and test scores. I think I would've fallen into the junk food trap right along with my peers, nut they had one thing that I did not have, money. I am aware of schools making deals with a Coca Cola company to recieve some funding for school programs, books, supplies, etc. I don't really agree with the one source that I have because it talks about how it's not ethical for a school to allow an advertising agency to control/manipulate the minds of children. For a prinicpal of a school, it quickly boils down to dollars and cents when trying to generate funding for the school. Although it may not seem like a very wise option to constantly advertise to children, I am pretty confident in saying that children aren't as convincing as they may seem. Another thing is that it is not the schools or advertising companys' that are responsible for what a child consumes. Where the schools end in responsibility is where the parents are suppose to pick up. Instead of rearing in those morals and values, they would rather blame it on a scapegoat so that they won't have to take responsibility.
Friday, March 13, 2009
part 1..bibliography.
DeBolt, Don. “Layoffs, slower economy focus attention on franchised businesses as career alternative.” Nation’s Restaurant News. January 14, 2002: 23+
Since the beginning of the 21st century, according to DeBolt, Americans believe that the US economy is in recession and that the number of unemployed continues to increase. He thinks that given this situation, resorting to running a franchised business is a very sensible. The first reason he gave is that franchises allow individuals to take charge of their careers, their financial destinies, and their lives. The second is that consumers are very careful about spending their money so they’d rather buy from well-known, value-consistent brands – the franchised businesses. On the year the article was written, he says that about $1 trillion will be spent by consumers on franchised businesses; a good news for franchisees. Most jobs people who get lay-off are from the management and sales marketing positions. Franchised businesses could most definitely use these unemployed people with a background in management and such. So basically, they all work hand-in-hand. Throughout the article, DeBolt points out that there is still one practical way that Americans can survive the economic crisis: franchising businesses. He probably was successful in showing how one can make money out of franchising but he did not look at the other side of the issue. At a snap of a finger, one’s life savings invested in a franchised business which turns out to be unproductive will be gone. But then again, it is not the only solution and on the title he mentioned that franchised businesses act as a career alternative.
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. NY: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.
Eric Schlosser mentioned in the Introduction of his book how the success of the fast food industry inspired other businesses to apply the same principle the said industry abides with which is uniformity. Not long after, franchised businesses started popping up in different areas of the country. Almost the same stores in one state could be found in the other states. The same products are being sold.
How has uniformity aided in the success of these businesses? According to Schlosser, customers are drawn to familiar brands by an instinct to avoid the unknown. Consumers basically feel that the brand they know of have been proven and tested in terms of quality. Moving to a different place, a person would seek first familiar things. Psychologically speaking, this is the Proximity or Closeness Effect wherein individuals develop preferences to those familiar to them.
Schlosser made good points and not only that; he gave concrete examples of the franchised businesses swarming the country. Upon reading the brands, I was still fascinated how these have reached the other side of the globe. The same brands play a big role in the economy of the country where I came from which is in the Far East. I think that homogenization and franchising affects the American way of life by not being very open to innovative and creative ideas because franchised businesses are controlled; by making Americans believe that all franchised businesses’ products are of good quality because they have already made a name for themselves; and by gradually stepping over independent businesses.
Millett, Frederick. “Americanization.” Fred’s College Years. 2000. 12 March 2009
Years ago, countries from all over the world look up to America. They saw America as a great model of democracy. This resulted to embracing America. American trends were followed, American products were preferred, and American businesses were equated to success and fortune. Thus Americanization was given much attention.
Frederick Millett wrote that Americanization not only changes the world, but it also causes misconceptions about Americans and their way of life. Many people now see Americans as shallow, spoiled, and shortsighted. Also, governments of some countries now see America as a threat by overturning cultures and traditions wherever Americans go.
At some point, Millett could have been right in such a way that some countries try to minimize the influence of America: the Israeli government now requires their radio stations to devote half their airtime to Hebrew songs, and France and Germany raised taxes and tariffs on foreign companies and investors. I don’t think this is the case though with all countries. In every corner of the world, McDonald’s and Coca-cola are sold. American products are still preferred over local products due to their affordability – mass production makes this possible. All other local businesses trying to compete with the American businesses followed the “uniformity” principle. These local businesses are also franchised and they sell the same products the American franchised businesses sell because for them, it is more or less a guarantee of success. People still are hopeful and are believers of The American Dream.
In the end, there is not only one answer as to what homogenization and franchising may mean to countries around the world.
Since the beginning of the 21st century, according to DeBolt, Americans believe that the US economy is in recession and that the number of unemployed continues to increase. He thinks that given this situation, resorting to running a franchised business is a very sensible. The first reason he gave is that franchises allow individuals to take charge of their careers, their financial destinies, and their lives. The second is that consumers are very careful about spending their money so they’d rather buy from well-known, value-consistent brands – the franchised businesses. On the year the article was written, he says that about $1 trillion will be spent by consumers on franchised businesses; a good news for franchisees. Most jobs people who get lay-off are from the management and sales marketing positions. Franchised businesses could most definitely use these unemployed people with a background in management and such. So basically, they all work hand-in-hand. Throughout the article, DeBolt points out that there is still one practical way that Americans can survive the economic crisis: franchising businesses. He probably was successful in showing how one can make money out of franchising but he did not look at the other side of the issue. At a snap of a finger, one’s life savings invested in a franchised business which turns out to be unproductive will be gone. But then again, it is not the only solution and on the title he mentioned that franchised businesses act as a career alternative.
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. NY: Houghton Mifflin, 2001.
Eric Schlosser mentioned in the Introduction of his book how the success of the fast food industry inspired other businesses to apply the same principle the said industry abides with which is uniformity. Not long after, franchised businesses started popping up in different areas of the country. Almost the same stores in one state could be found in the other states. The same products are being sold.
How has uniformity aided in the success of these businesses? According to Schlosser, customers are drawn to familiar brands by an instinct to avoid the unknown. Consumers basically feel that the brand they know of have been proven and tested in terms of quality. Moving to a different place, a person would seek first familiar things. Psychologically speaking, this is the Proximity or Closeness Effect wherein individuals develop preferences to those familiar to them.
Schlosser made good points and not only that; he gave concrete examples of the franchised businesses swarming the country. Upon reading the brands, I was still fascinated how these have reached the other side of the globe. The same brands play a big role in the economy of the country where I came from which is in the Far East. I think that homogenization and franchising affects the American way of life by not being very open to innovative and creative ideas because franchised businesses are controlled; by making Americans believe that all franchised businesses’ products are of good quality because they have already made a name for themselves; and by gradually stepping over independent businesses.
Millett, Frederick. “Americanization.” Fred’s College Years. 2000. 12 March 2009
Years ago, countries from all over the world look up to America. They saw America as a great model of democracy. This resulted to embracing America. American trends were followed, American products were preferred, and American businesses were equated to success and fortune. Thus Americanization was given much attention.
Frederick Millett wrote that Americanization not only changes the world, but it also causes misconceptions about Americans and their way of life. Many people now see Americans as shallow, spoiled, and shortsighted. Also, governments of some countries now see America as a threat by overturning cultures and traditions wherever Americans go.
At some point, Millett could have been right in such a way that some countries try to minimize the influence of America: the Israeli government now requires their radio stations to devote half their airtime to Hebrew songs, and France and Germany raised taxes and tariffs on foreign companies and investors. I don’t think this is the case though with all countries. In every corner of the world, McDonald’s and Coca-cola are sold. American products are still preferred over local products due to their affordability – mass production makes this possible. All other local businesses trying to compete with the American businesses followed the “uniformity” principle. These local businesses are also franchised and they sell the same products the American franchised businesses sell because for them, it is more or less a guarantee of success. People still are hopeful and are believers of The American Dream.
In the end, there is not only one answer as to what homogenization and franchising may mean to countries around the world.
Monday, March 9, 2009
1.
a.)
I remember the set of big metal doors. The outer doors led to sort of foyee before the second set of doors. It reminded me of a depressurization chamber from a sci-fi movie I'd watched with my father. I remember the first thing I did was run over to the display showing the newest happy meal toys. I'd tell my dad my order, yelling it as I raced my brother to the ball pit. Shortly thereafter my father would fetch us from the pit bearing a tray full of french fries and chicken McNuggets. My father always took a booth seat leaving my brother and I to battle for the remaining booth seat. The loser would be stuck sitting in the rock-hard, bar stool-type swivel chair. I then proceded to inhale my food as quick as I could to ensure that I would have the maximum amount of ball pit time before my father finished his mound of food and deemed it time for departure.
b.)
"McDonald's operates more playgrounds than any other private entity in the United States."
pg. 4
"What we eat has changed more in the last forty years than in the previous forty thousand."
pg. 7
"Indeed the corporate culture of McDonald's seems inextricably linked to that of the Disney empire..."
pg. 6
c.)
How greatly is a fast food restaurant affected by the number of booths it has relative to the number of tables?
How much does a ball pit/fun gym add to the yearly revenues of a given fast food restaurant?
What is it about chicken McNuggets that appeals to children?
2.
When Schlosser uses scientific information, like when he refers to failure rate of chained restaurants on pg. 77 as 300 to 1, he gives his reader a sense of the scale of his argument. Sometimes you need to see the numbers to understand how extreme a point being made is. Other times he uses personal accounts, like his experience visiting the Union Stockyards in Chicago on pg. 157, and these accounts help paint a picture in a readers mind that numbers could never create. Using his experiences he can put all sorts of sensory details into his description to help readers feel closer to his story and his point of view.
I think I'm going to do the behind the counter topic for my research and I can definately use both scientific and personal information to better my project. I can use turnover rates and revenue information as well as my personal experiences as a fast food/dine in restaurant employee.
a.)
I remember the set of big metal doors. The outer doors led to sort of foyee before the second set of doors. It reminded me of a depressurization chamber from a sci-fi movie I'd watched with my father. I remember the first thing I did was run over to the display showing the newest happy meal toys. I'd tell my dad my order, yelling it as I raced my brother to the ball pit. Shortly thereafter my father would fetch us from the pit bearing a tray full of french fries and chicken McNuggets. My father always took a booth seat leaving my brother and I to battle for the remaining booth seat. The loser would be stuck sitting in the rock-hard, bar stool-type swivel chair. I then proceded to inhale my food as quick as I could to ensure that I would have the maximum amount of ball pit time before my father finished his mound of food and deemed it time for departure.
b.)
"McDonald's operates more playgrounds than any other private entity in the United States."
pg. 4
"What we eat has changed more in the last forty years than in the previous forty thousand."
pg. 7
"Indeed the corporate culture of McDonald's seems inextricably linked to that of the Disney empire..."
pg. 6
c.)
How greatly is a fast food restaurant affected by the number of booths it has relative to the number of tables?
How much does a ball pit/fun gym add to the yearly revenues of a given fast food restaurant?
What is it about chicken McNuggets that appeals to children?
2.
When Schlosser uses scientific information, like when he refers to failure rate of chained restaurants on pg. 77 as 300 to 1, he gives his reader a sense of the scale of his argument. Sometimes you need to see the numbers to understand how extreme a point being made is. Other times he uses personal accounts, like his experience visiting the Union Stockyards in Chicago on pg. 157, and these accounts help paint a picture in a readers mind that numbers could never create. Using his experiences he can put all sorts of sensory details into his description to help readers feel closer to his story and his point of view.
I think I'm going to do the behind the counter topic for my research and I can definately use both scientific and personal information to better my project. I can use turnover rates and revenue information as well as my personal experiences as a fast food/dine in restaurant employee.
Sunday, March 8, 2009
FFN 3/8 Blog
1a. The very first fast food experience what I can remember was actually at McDonalds, or maybe Burger King. The reason that I don’t remember is because I wasn’t there to eat; I was there to play. I remember that one time, while driving somewhere with my parents, a huge play place caught my attention. I probably didn’t even know what It was at that point, but the colors and engineering of the play land is something that is impossible to miss for a child. After screaming and yelling for the car to stop, my dad promised we could come back the next day. This was the very first time I went to a play place, and because I was so excited, I don’t really remember what I ate as my very first fast food, or even if I ate anything. What I do remember though is crawling through tunnels, jumping into a pool of balls and waving at my parents from the highest place I could climb to. I also remember that this experience ended with an ice cream because I can still picture myself look back out the window of the car licking my ice cream and thinking to myself that this is the best day ever.
1b.
1. In 1970, American spent about $6 billion on fast food; in 2000, they spent over $110 billion.
2. McDonald’s operates more playground than any other private entity in the United States. It is one of the nation’s largest distributors of toys.
3. A survey of American school children found that 96 percent could identify Ronald McDonald. The only fictional character with a higher degree of recognition was Santa Clause.
1c.
1. Fast food Marketing toward children
2. What laws are in place against fast food restaurants to what they can and cannot advertise
3. How has fast food affected the life of an average American in the last few years.
2. Schlosser uses an extremely clever technique in this novel. He combines facts and stories to keep the reader entertained and alert throughout the book. If Schlosser decided to use only facts, the book would be extremely dull, and we would not be reading it now. But at the same time, if Schlosser only told story in this book, there would be no evidence to support his case; there would be no “meat”. Instead Schlosser uses a combination of facts and stories to convey his message and assure that this book is read by many people and give them a way to somehow connect with the stories that are written. For example, in chapter 3, we see that Schlosser tells us many different facts about Colorado Spring and how the fast food industry has grown there. But later on in the chapter, he inserts a story about Elisa Zamot, who is a worker at a fast food restaurant. This gives readers a chance to not only know the facts, but relate them to a real life situation. The same strategy is used in Chapter 7; in this chapter, Schlosser talks bout the meat packing industry and how this industry is controlling so much with the use of unions in Greely. Then he states his stories about the people living there and how they felt about the situation, giving the facts an added punch.
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