FFN

My first fast food experience was at McDonalds. I remember that it was far away from my house, maybe on the way to visiting relatives or something, and I didn't care about the food. I cared about the play place-even though it made me feel claustrophobic-and the toys you'd get with the happy meals. I remember envisioning McDonald's as a place for "cool" kids whose parents took them all the time. For me, however, it was more of a special occasion type deal. The only other thing I remember is being afraid that someone would steal my shoes from the shoeholder in the play place. Weird.

Facts from the intro:
Americans spend more money on fast food than on higher education, personal computers, software, or new cars; more than on movies, books, magazines, newspapers, videos, and recorded music combined.

On an average day about a quarter of the adult population visits a fast food restaurant.

McDonald's golden arches are more recognized than the Christian cross.

Areas of broader research:
-The effects of Fast food chains' advertising strategies on children
-Fast food restaurants' strategies for new restaurant location
-Child phobias-specifically, that their shoes will get stoled

Schlosser seems to have an infinite number of facts and statistics to present throughout the book-stats that may shock and disgust us-but the only way what he's saying can sink in, and the only way we can relate to it on a deeper level is to include anecdotes about people. When reading anything, unless there is someone we can relate to or feel empathy or sympathy for, we have no stake in the material. In chapter three Schlosser tells us about Elisa Zamot, a young girl employed at a McDonalds. He goes on to describe the ways of daily operation and the manner in which McDonalds is run. He says,"the need to retain any individual worker is greatly reduced by the ease with which she can be replaced." This makes us wonder about Elisa, the young girl who was described and the fact that she is defined as a disposable sort of human machine by her work place. In chapter seven Schlosser tells the story of Greeley, Colorado, a town devastated by the effects of the meatpacking industry. He says that, "the effects of this new meatpacking regime have become as inescapable as the odors that drift from its feedlots." The rates of crime and poverty have even risen in the town as a direct effect of the IBP revolution and the number of slaughterhouses. By talking about the residents of the town-the mexican immigrants living in trailer parks and illegals who are paid poverty wages-Schlosser allows us to feel something about what is going on, rather than simply think about it.