Typically, when an individual hears the term “farm fresh” they picture wide open spaces, with happy cattle and poultry, and hardworking farmers. A few decades ago this image would be true, nowadays this is no longer the case. In Schlosser’s book Fast Food Nation he lifts the veil from what is really happening behind fast food corporations such as McDonalds and the meat franchises which supply them their meat. American citizens need to be more informed on what is going on behind closed doors, and the USDA need to be more closely monitored.
Ranchers who typically had their ranches passed down from generation to generation ran into financial hardships. The average farmer now borrows around $500, 000 and earns around $18,000. Farmers could not …show more content…
For example, in Lexington, Nebraska, where an IBP slaughterhouse resides, approximately twelve years ago, there was “as much as a ton of hydrogen sulfide being released into the air everyday” (165); the smells came from the slaughterhouse wastewater lagoons. The chemicals had a foul smell that permeated everything; it smelled of “burning hair and blood, a greasy smell, and the odor of rotten eggs” (165). Besides the horrendous smell, the toxins were also deadly to the public, it could cause respiratory problems, headaches and if exposed to too much of the hydrogen sulfide, there could be permanent damage to the nervous system. In two decades the amount of production needed to keep …show more content…
It may not be the worst country; though it definitely has its downfalls. Considering that it is America and there is the infamous “American Dream” and it may seem ideal to those overseas, it is not. In oversea countries the McDonalds restaurant has grown and spread tremendously in the past years. “A decade ago, McDonalds had about three thousand restaurants outside of the United States; today it has about seventeen thousand restaurants, in more than 120 foreign countries” (229), two decades from now the amount of McDonalds restaurants overseas will be nearly the same amount of restaurants that are located in the US today. The rapid growth of McDonalds will lead to many changes in other countries; changes in obesity rates and on the popular culture. In chapter ten of “Fast Food Nation”, Eric Schlosser speaks about the influence McDonalds has on other cultures. For example, the people of Beijing see McDonalds as a “promise for modernization” (230), as do most consumers outside of the US. A lot of people have a positive outlook on the McDonalds Corporation and do not see the effects fast food has on them. There are numerous health risks that would spread over seas and the same inhumane working conditions people in America face would be duplicated. Some countries already have their own agriculture production sites. For example, in India, McDonalds had their company establish their own