Last night, I attended the lecture by Eric Schlosser (sorry if the spelling is wrong) about the problems with American's consumption of fast food and the problems with the fast food industry. He informed the audience of the horrors of fast food that all must be aware of. The number one objective of these industries are to make money, at any cost. However, the price we as Americans pay for their food is more hazardous to our health than our pockets.
McDonald's got its start by the McDonald's brothers in California. The idea was to create a restaurant built under unifromity, conformity and cheapness. The workers would be paid minimally, dress alike and do the monotonous job of flipping burgers, making fries and milkshakes. Because these jobs did not require any skill, workers were of the poor and working class, thus prompting minimum wage. Afterwards, the same customs were adopted by other fast food owners and McDonald's restaurants were appearing off every busy highway and populous areas all over the country (33,000 today).
Furthermore, the way in which the food was made was also applied in other restaurants. McDonald's obtained their meat from over 300 slaughterhouses in the 1970s. However, there are only 25 slaughterhouses where meat is brought, today. Meaning thousands of "pieces" of animal are being consumed in 1 patty per burger! Also....the way in which animals are treated is inhumane and disgusting. 1.) llegal steroids are being injected into animals to make them grow faster. 2.) Hunderds of cows and chickens are being kept in small spaces where there feces are slept in. 3.) Animals eat the grass, take a dump, then gra grows over their wastes and they eat that same grass again, then are killed and packaged and consumed by us! Chickens are tortured by having their necks twirled until dead, pile of wastes are as high as 8 feet in factories. The working conditions are unbelievably disgusting. Yet, we pay $3 for those meals!
By these facts, toxic discourse is greatly effecting our health and future. People are being poisoned by these parasites and sickened by diseases, salmonella, etc. It is a cycle that continues ecause we support it. Though I am not going to become a vegetarian or vegan after all this info, I do agree that this is wrong and there should be something done about it and it starts with those responsible for producing the products that we consume. This toxicity is comparable to the cycle of violence whereas it is a continuum of harm that has been yet to be addressed in a way in which people can have some piece of mind.
I do agree that McDonalds is not treating the animals right and that they are creating unhealthy food for the American public. However, we must be careful how we criticize the way owners operate their stores. Myself, and the majority of the American public do not see a problem with McDonalds hiring multiple people to make the food. That creates jobs. Although we are in an age of technology, there are still millions of unskilled people who need to feed their families and pay their bills. If McDonalds only hired two people to make the burgers, they may taste better, but it would not give people jobs. Thanks to McDonalds, millions of people across the country can wake up and know that they will be able to make money to pay for their lifestyle. I am not saying that everything McDonalds does his perfect, but in the weak economy we are in now, McDonalds gives Americans work that they truly need.
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