Persuasive Essay On Fast Food Nation

{draw:rect} {draw:g} Fast Food Nation Persuasive Essay “Have it your way”, A slogan that I saw one Friday afternoon. I was relaxing, watching television one day when I saw that commercial of one fast food company named Jack in the Box. Upon watching the commercial and knowing all the truths behind these fast food companies, I questioned couple of things that they advertise. After reading the book Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser, I became fully aware that Jack and the Box and any other fast food chains are merely business owners and what do they really have it the consumers way is really a bold and brainwashing statement, but behind what they really wanted is to have it their way – its business and its first agenda is to earn money.
I am not surprised. One of my closest friends even called McDonalds her place of nourishment. She said that eating fast food is better than an empty stomach. I say it is true but there is more to eating fast food than just the unhealthy aspect of it. The book Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser opened and widens my eyes towards a complete turnaround concept on fast foods. It is an analytical book that offers a broad revelation and critiquing of fast food industries. He voices his concern about where the fast food industry is taking the American culture. With all this disgusting information that he gave us in his book, he is calling us to do one thing: stop buying fast food. He closes the book by saying that we can have it our way. We are the consumers and we have the right to what we buy. He is saying that if we do not buy from them, they will make their product better if we demand from them. He suggested this thing after revealing these facts in his book which is why he suggests that we stop eating fast food. Do you know that whenever you buy fast food, you indirectly tolerate anomalies, discrimination and many other bad things that go along within this industry and that you keep these things going on by patronizing their product? It is a cultural demise that is happening and we let it happen. After reading the book, I am fully convinced that we should stop buying fast food and I will let you know why. The author also researched of how unfair these companies are to the teenagers.
The majority of the fast food work force is particularly comprised of teen ager employees who are unskilled so they don’t have to pay them above minimum wage salaries. Nowadays, fast food industry relies on operating systems and machineries that eliminate skilled workers. These teen agers are also willing to work part time and they don’t have to pay for overtime. Also they are making use of these teen agers because they can work swiftly in the company. Fast food restaurants also have strict rules that do not allow their employees, thus, simple mistakes can lead to them being fired, in their mind maybe, they can easily replace their employees. Besides teenagers, the fast-food industry workforce is comprised of elderly, disabled, and immigrant individuals; also giving them minimum wages. While employees’ wages have declined, restaurant executives’ salaries have increased substantially. According to him, this industry is the most frequently robbed by its employees even with increase security. Do you realize that these teen agers can be our children and the immigrants may be our family? Are we going to let these happen? I hope
not. Encroachment is a term that means to trespass upon the property, domain, or rights of another, especially stealthily or by gradual advances, according to onlinedictionary.com. In this case, encroachment is when a new franchise opens near another franchise of the same chain, like having 2 or more Starbucks in the same block or street. If I am a franchisee of Starbucks, I wouldn’t want to compete with another Starbucks across the street. Numerous conflicts like these have arisen between franchisors and franchisees. Franchisees, of course, will get angry when new franchises move close by; while, franchisors do not care because its royalties are based on total sales, according to the author. Meatpacking has become the most dangerous job in America, one of the arguments Eric Schlosser made in his book. This is because most of the works in slaughterhouses are done manually and this is when it becomes dangerous. Mostly, people working here are undocumented or newly arrived immigrants. True that this type of job maybe their choice but still, they have the right to be treated fairly. The hazards in this job include injuries that occur from various machine and knives, employees getting sick because of the fumes from the cleaning supplies, as well as body strains because of poor working conditions. This may be acceptable since every kind of job has its own threat and other safety issues, but knowing that this industry does not do anything to take its responsibility on precautionary measures for its employees, is not a very good thing. In addition to the high-injury rate in slaughterhouses, it has become more difficult to obtain workers’ compensation when injured. Can you imagine working for someone who doesn’t care? This could be you. In conclusion, the fact that all these things are happening and we let it happen.
It being a part of our norm and we see it as acceptable. Is it really? These companies don’t care and if we let things to keep on happening, it will ruin our children and the next generation they will become. If you have listened to the radio, or have read the paper, or have watched the news on your television, you may have heard of Iran’s nuclear site, news on terrorism, the anguish of people fighting for healthcare, you may just ask yourself and say, “What can I do to make this world a better place to live?” Sure that everyone can do their part. He is recommending these solutions as a first step to a meaningful change. The congress can ban TV ads that promote unhealthy foods which aim directly at children on children’s networks; He urges Congress to eliminate tax breaks for chains which have high turnover rates and do not teach their employees any skills. Minimum wage and child labor laws should be enforced. OSHA should implement regulations on workplace violence. The USDA should insist on the highest standards for food served in school cafeterias. Congress should create a single food safety agency. State and federal authorities must consider looking at the meatpacking industry’s injury rate from a new perspective. OSHA should greatly increase its fines, in addition to mandatory plant closures and criminal charges for negligence when meatpacking employees are injured or killed. Also the
consumer must become involved to ensure change. The consumer must stop buying fast food. You may not be hearing about the anomalies that have been going on in these fast food restaurants on the news. You may not hear about how fast food advertisement wants to get our kids, how the fast food workers are treated, how dangerous and unsafe is the meatpacking, and how all of these put together just to feed us – the people who patronize the fast food products, with unhealthy meal with a possibility of disease causing bacteria E coli. Yes, It may be fast and fast is generally good. It is also convenient and convenience is what people always look for in this world. But what we see as fast and convenient may be good for this reasons. We are paying for these products. We are the consumers. We are the costumers. We have the rights. We can do something. Stop buying fast food. We cannot accept this as a part of a normal society. I can imagine a better world we will make the first step. Stop buying fast food. Works Cited