This was very shocking to her after Howard Lyman said that meat and bone meal made from cattle was routinely fed to other cattle to boost their meat and milk production. Moreover, spokesmen for the beef industry attended and appeared on the “Dangerous Food” episode, but due
Fast Food Nation: Cogs in the Great Machine After reading, the meatpacking industry astonishes me in several ways. Iowa Beef Packers (IBP) is one of the biggest meatpacking industries in the United States and in my opinion, cruel to their animals. Meatpacking industries are competitive and personally believe that the industries are mostly concerned with the money. The old Chicago slaughterhouses were usually brick buildings, four or five stories high. Cattle were herded up wooden ramps to the top floor, where they were struck on the head with a sledgehammer, slaughtered, and then disassembled by skilled workers.
What was shocking to discover from Eric Schlossers “Fast Food Nation” was what may be going on between the time that a cow is beckoned onto a truck, to the time that cow’s meat is being wrapped in printed paper (between two sesame seed buns, of course). The effect on morality of American society through the fast food industry is explored as well as the unsafe production techniques. A quick meal on the way home from a highway trip can now hardly be referred to as “food”. Fast food today is not only unnatural and unhealthy, it may be downright dangerous. It is dangerous for those who eat it and those who are involved in making it.
How is something as simple as food becoming such a cause for concern? The demands for fast disassembling of meat come not only from the authority of the meatpacking industries, but from the substantially large businesses involved. These businesses include our nation’s most popular fast food chains, such as McDonald’s, Burger King, or Wendy’s. Logically speaking, over millions of animals are slaughtered each day for the simplicity of these restaurant’s menus; initiating the necessity for expeditious dispensation lines in the factories. “Cattle intestines often carry dangerous pathogens such as E. coli and are supposed to be kept away from the meat, but faster lines can lead to more intestinal spillage onto the meat” (Working Conditions 3).
This was probably due to the fact that cattle at CAFO’s spend all their time held up in concentrated pens standing in their own feces. If the cattle are not cleaned properly during the slaughter process, these feces will end up in the beef produces and lead to health
The first obvious problem effecting the quality of life is the smell that permeates these rural communities of meatpacking houses According to Schlosser, when IBP opened its slaughter house in Lexington Nebraska the crime rate in the state was the highest ever, and serious crimes doubled; Lexington became a major distribution center for illegal drugs; there were gangs in town and several drive by shootings. Consequently the white citizens moved elsewhere. (Fast Food Nation P. 55) According to Schossler Lexington became a new American town, “one that has been transfigured to meet the needs of a modern slaughter house”(Fast Food Nation P. 165) As IBP mislead the immigrant worker in its advertising and recruitment, similarly IBP mislead the rural community of Lexington Nebraska, when they announced the opening of their Lexington packinghouse, IBP told the community that there labor force would already primarily come from those in the community. (The Nation) However, as the new migrate Latino workers arrived in the hundreds the local saw the reality of IBP being in Lexington. In Lexington, and similar other rural communities with new workers flooding the area, homelessness became a problem.
Fast Food Nation Summary In his best-selling book Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser makes you feel like you might be a whole lot better off avoiding the drive-through and just going home to cook your own meal. Schlosser covers everything from how McDonald’s got started to how the hamburger giant has affected cultures all around the world. Along the way, Schlosser exposes the cockroaches and rats found in fast food kitchens, the overworked and underpaid employees behind the cash registers, the mauled laborers trying to keep up with an accident-prone speed rate in meatpacking houses, and then, of course, the corporate greed driving the entire industry. Fast Food Nation will open your eyes and possibly make you lose your appetite. As obesity
Today the top Four companies (Tyson, Cargrill, JBS and National Beef) control more than 80% of the worlds meat market. With such high demands on these companies to produce so much, there are compromises that are made. These companies treat their livestock, and employees in a horrific and sickening manner. The animals are fed mostly corn products and given antibiotics daily. Most animals stand knee high in their own feces all of the time.
Food Inc. Review After you see the unsanitary habitats cattle are in, the horrible way Tyson treats the chickens, and the way our farmers are cutting corners and are basically being forced to work. You seriously may not pick up a fork for days after watching! I advise you to stop eating and stuff your face BEFORE watching the stunning, HEART- WRENCHING, stomach-turning documentary by Robert Kenner called Food Inc. You will be amazed at how blind and helpless we are as a people when it comes to the food we eat every day… well every 20 minutes if you are like me. The documentary starts us off in the aisles of grocery stores, but very quickly shifts to the slaughterhouses and seeds that make a large portion of our foods. This is when the film very strongly establishes its side and position in this argument.
Process of Being Consumed by the Processed Every day Americans deal with the sabotage of the grocery stores and fast food restaurants where all the shelves, freezers, and menus are presented that leave the choice between unhealthy and unhealthier. These unhealthy foods are most often processed foods that contain chemically altered ingredients that lead to overeating and ultimately diet related diseases. These processed foods have typically been stripped of most, if not all, of their nutritional value. In the process of processing foods, manufacturers add various levels of sodium, additives, colorings, sugar, and fat for longevity, looks, and taste. The more a certain food is processed, the more mal nourished it becomes and, in turn, the more unhealthy it is.