I. Introduction
A. Carl Katcher, Ray Kroc- these may be familiar names to some of us, but most likely these two men’s names do not mean much to most of us.
B. Should they? Carl Katcher and Ray Kroc are considered to be the two founding fathers of America’s fast food industry- the industry under the microscope in Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation.
C. Schlosser argues that the culture fast food corporations, such as those Kroc and Katcher helped to develop, is dragging down the quality and integrity of not only American life, but life throughout the world.
D. Transition: During my last speech, I spoke about the general arguments Schlosser proposes in his book and why to many, those are considered to be important.
1. Today, I hope that you will be provided with enough information on the in-depth content of Schlosser’s work to form your own decisions of his findings and opinions and determine what his message means to you.
II. Topic #1
A. As I mentioned, the broad theme of Fast Food Nation is to express Schlosser’s opinion that the fast food industry is damaging our culture.
1. The New York Observer, a leading periodical, has this to say about Fast Food Nation: "In his new, fine and very vivid piece of muckraking, Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser asks how it is possible that a convenience food -- what started out as an occasional treat for the kids -- has ended up defining a way of life.” (Metcalf, 2001)
2. Schlosser’s stance is a complex one, yes- so, to convince his audience of the severity of his findings, Schlosser needed to break down his argument into several areas.
B. One of the first ways he makes this perceived problem seem like our problem, too, is by establishing a comfortable, trusting relationship with his readers.
1. He uses a conversational tone and colorful language to do so throughout his work, but perhaps it is most effective in that it appears immediately when you open the book’s cover.
2. Schlosser shows you this picture before he begins his work- immediately making you wonder what importance it has.
3. He then describes that this mountain is in fact a top secret military base, one which he visited and whose workers have an apparent affinity for Domino’s pizza.
4. Schlosser tells the reader that upon his visit, there were so many empty cardboard Domino’s pizza boxes scattered around, that if by some unfortunate chance a disaster took place and the base became entombed, archaeologists years later using the mountain to analyze human existence would observe that two things seemed to be important to our kind: Military hardware and fast food.
C. Transition: This story immediately forces the reader to think introspectively, and that’s Schlosser’s goal.
1. He’s made an observation, displayed it in an ironic comedic light and has made the reader interested and willing to listen. (Picture- the meat?)
III. Topic #2
A. Next, Schlosser delivers the “meat” of his research.
1. By providing startling statistics and detailing their accuracy, he successfully drives his point home and in the process, scares the daylight out of anyone still reading.
B. Schlosser appeals to every imaginable audience, relating how fast food culture applies to you, whether you think so or not.
C. I asked last time how many of you in this class eat meat or are otherwise not vegetarians and most of you raised your hands.
1. Have any of you ever been to a meat packing plant?
2. Well, Schlosser has and he’s not afraid to tell you exactly what he found- and what you’ve been eating.
D. Unskilled and exploited immigrant labor are hallmarks of corporate meat processing plants.
1. A corporation’s ideology is to manufacture and distribute goods as quickly as possible, which makes it no surprise that low-ranking employees like all those working directly in the plants, are considered to be cheap labor.
E. Are unskilled workers alone not enough to worry you about the quality of your meat?
1. Wondering how that affects you directly?
2. Well, unskilled labor means accidents- and with large, powerful machinery and hardware, accidents more accurately mean disasters.
a. "In 1998, more restaurant workers were murdered on the job in the United States than police officers," he writes
3. Workers are expected to kill, dismember and package animals, and when they are unskilled, they make mistakes.
a. Not only do these mistakes result in animal suffering, but a mistake like accidentally rupturing a cow’s intestinal tract while processing it means almost certainly contaminating meat with deadly E Coli.
b. In a similar vein, the New York times said this of Schlosser’s investigation: "Fast Food Nation provides the reader with a vivid sense of how fast food has permeated contemporary life and a fascinating (and sometimes grisly) account of the process whereby cattle and potatoes are transformed into the burgers and fries served up by local fast food franchises." (Kakutani, 2001)
F. Not only is that enough to make you think twice about eating meat from a processing plant, the only meat fast food industries buy, but then Schlosser goes on to tell you what the cow you soon will be eating was eating during its lifetime.
1. Upon investigation, Schlosser made public a practice relatively unknown to consumers- the use of other dead animals, such as chickens and horses, as feed for beef cows.
G. Transition: Now that I have officially grossed out a majority of you with Schlosser’s findings as to “what’s in the meat,” (picture) I will progress into how Schlosser believes these findings directly affect our culture.
IV. Topic #3
A. Along with his use of language, images and factual observations, Schlosser provides his audience with a broad array of scholarly statistics which he correlates to the American obsession with fast food.
1. For instance, obesity is a growing epidemic in our society which, in Schlosser’s mind, can be attributed to the decrease in patience and increase in need for instant gratification.
2. He explains how the quality of food offered at fast food restaurants is directly related to basic corporate mentality- spend less, make more.
B. Providing inexpensive, moderately filling food, high in fat and in innutritious high fructose corn syrup, the expansion of the fast food venue goes hand in hand with the expansion of people’s waistlines.
C. Schlosser explains to the reader how the industry truly disguises the quality of the foods they serve, by in many cases, actually injecting artificial “burger flavoring” into the products.
1. Scary.
D. Other startling facts Schlosser uses to effectively maintain his audience’s attention include that Americans spend more annually on fast food, $110 billion, than higher education, personal computers, or new cars- and that statistics show that more Americans are more familiar with the golden arches of McDonalds than the Christian cross.
1. Consider this: Fast food has become so ingrained in our lives and culture that Ronald McDonald, known to 96 percent of American kids, ranks second only behind Santa Claus as the most recognizable fictional character.
V. Conclusion
A. Sometimes strong, out-spoken opinions can scare us away from truly listening to someone’s ideas.
1. However, when an opinion is delivered with logic and with reviewed, factual statistics such as Schlosser’s in fast food nation, speech can prove to be a very effective means of communicating and unifying the population.
2. The New York Times agrees, saying: "Fast Food Nation isn't an airy deconstruction but an avalanche of facts and observations (.....) (T)he book manages to avoid shrillness. This is a fine piece of muckraking, alarming without being alarmist." (Walker, 2001)
B. Should the individuals who founded one of the industries with the highest annual profits be regarded with admiration or disgust?
1. Are Ray Kroc and Carl Katcher role models for the American Dream or do they signify the growing rates of innutrition, obesity and loss of integrity Schlosser associates with the fast food industry?
2. That is up to you to decide. Thank you.
Bibliography:
Kakutani, Michiko. “Books of the Times; Hold the Pickles, Hold the Lettuce.” The New York Times. 30 January 2001.
Metcalf, Stephen. “Fast Food Nation.” The New York Observer. 23 January 2001.
Walker, Rob. “No Accounting for Mouthfeel.” The New York Times. 21 January 2001.
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