Response to Lit. Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser

Carissa Parkins
October 17, 2007
Response to Literature



Fast Food Nation
The Dark Side of the All-American Meal

In Eric Schlosser’s non-fiction, Fast Food Nation the following quote was said, “The dirtiest meat was to be shipped out- but NOT with and IBP (Iowa Beef Packers) label on it.” Ever wonder where the meat from the Big Mac your eating comes from, or why the fries taste so good, or even, what’s in the meat?
Why when you walk into a McDonalds, Burger King, or Wendy’s are there teenage kids working behind the counters. First off, the teenagers work there because mainly it is one of the only places they can work at 16 years old. Sometimes they are working from 3:00 PM to Midnight and the labor rules are that if, you are under 18 years of age, you cannot work more that eight hours. The teens are also allowed to do jobs that they are not supposed to do until they are 18 and older, one teenager said this about a tomato dicer, a machine that he should not have been using, “I’m like an expert at using the damn thing, cause I am the only one who knows how to use it.” That same boy also uses the deep fryer, another thing that should have been off-limits. That is why the injury rate is going up so high in the fast food restaurants. The teenagers are using machines that should be off-limits to them, but the restaurants are breaking the labor laws. Every year about 200,000 plus teenagers are injured. Not only are they injured by the machinery and equipment, robberies are becoming more popular. A few of these instances are, May 2000, the murder of five Wendy’s employee’s, the murderer, a former employee, a nine year old girl was killed in a shootout between a off-duty police officer and the robber, while standing in line at a McDonalds, a former employee of Chuck E. Cheeses was convicted for first degree murder, after killing three teenage workers, and a female manager. Some of the teenage girls are sexually harassed by the manager or other coworkers in these Fast Food restaurant’s. The teenagers are being injured, and sometimes murdered, but they still work there. Why? They want the money, for new gadgets like cell phones, iPod’s and the designer clothes, that they just have to have, so most don’t mind working a little bit late for a few extra dollars. The most dangerous job overall is working at the slaughterhouse. What these people do is, first they put on a big suit. The cows are on a conveyor belt and the slaughterer lifts his chainsaw up and kills the cow, even spewing guts on himself. That’s not the worse part of it all, the men and woman who do this, are even getting injured while doing this. In some cases they are hurting their shoulders, arms, legs, sometimes they get sick, the list goes on and on. The workers are in these conditions, because they need to make the money to support their families. Both these characters develop the theme because it shows what goes on in these Fast Food restaurant’s and what is being hidden under a blanket.
The theme has really influenced my thinking because, now I really don’t want to work in a fast food restaurant for my first job. I don’t want to get hurt, or be sexually harassed. Some of the examples in the book really opened my eyes to how bad things are or can get in places like that. Being only 16 I would not want to get stuck with the bad job of closing up, where a robbery could happen. I also would not want to have to wake up that early and open up, and have to juggle school, sports, and a job at the same time. I don’t think I’d be able to do it. I also don’t think I would be able to work there and look and see what’s going on in those fast food restaurants.
The author, Eric Shlosser wrote a very informing book. I think his purpose was to write an informing book. He did a very good job explaining what goes on, what work is done, how McDonalds breaks labor laws, and informing us about what hard work has to be done there. All the characters were realistic. All the information is very real, and very disturbing. He really brings out the theme when he tells about what goes on ‘Behind the Counter.’ He gives very good examples about how and what happens to the meat. Overall the book was very informative.
In the book Fast Food Nation, the author Eric Schlosser gives many examples about what goes on in fast food restaurants. Throughout the story I was very shocked at what I was reading, it was very disturbing material. If you read this book it will make you never want to eat Fast Food again. Finally, “Don’t always judge a book by it’s cover.”