Fast Food Nation research paper
The fast food industry, which has been around for three decades, focuses n feeding the growing economy instead of the quality that they should put into the food that they make. “The quality of the food has decreased and yet the industry is still booming with more and more people eating their food. ” (Levity 42). Instead of worrying about the quality that their food has, fast food industries are more focused on making enough to meet the number of people in the economy. Fast food places strives for quality over quantity, but now it seems that quantity is a whole lot better than spending time to make freshly made food.
The productions of these industries used to be slow and teddy because workers would take their time to hand make everything; however, human hands were replaced with machines to hurry the production of food and reduce the time spent on the production. This takes a toll on workers because less people are employed because the work is easy enough for one person to do the same thing for hours. ‘”When a machine replaces a production worker, both the firm and consumers as a group benefit. The loss falls mainly on the worker who is displaced. ” (Stutter 2).
People are losing their jobs because something that would take a lot of time and quality is just Ewing thrown together in a matter of seconds by one or two set of hands. Although people can take shifts and rotate what they have to do in the fast food industry, it still cuts back on a lot of checks that someone could have used to help feed their family. Machines also decreased the amount of skill that an employer, who works in the fast food industry, needs. Someone who is unskilled or even barely qualifies can work at fast food places because they just have to do the same task repeatedly. … Instead of paying high-priced, skilled workers to do a job from start to finish, employers could split the job not its constituent parts and assign each task to minimally qualified workers… ” (Lieder 1). Fast food industries are taking advantage of workers and put them in separate stations to do a specific thing. Workers are not getting much from the job and if they are it is only about how to make a burger or fries that may or may not be ordered. Simple jobs, such as the fast food industry, receive low wages because Of the low skill level of their employers.
Not only has the fast food industry affected the American culture historically, but it has also affected it economically. When fast food industries were created they started off as small businesses, which were meant to please the people and keep them full with good food. Businesses, such as McDonald’s and Burger King, became profitable in the end. Something that started off small became something that took the economy by surprise and continued to grow and expand in American culture. “In the U. S. Alone there are over 200,000 restaurant locations. Revenue has grown from $6 billion in 1970 to $1 60 billion last year, an 8. % annulled rate. ” (Fast Food Industry Analysis… ). As the fast food industry continues to make more McDonald’s, Wendy, Burger King, and other fast food places, they use various methods to stay successful in the producer scene. Franchises of the fast food industry began using the method, throughput. Throughput was the rate at which the business achieved their goal. Through throughput a business tries to serve as many consumers as they can and make sure that they have a nice time at their restaurant in order for them to come back for more of that business’ food. Throughput and speed of service are somewhat related, but wrought is enabling the restaurant to put as many customers through as possible in a Way that provides a quality experience for the customer and doesn’t make them feel rushed. ” (Bronx). Businesses try hard to please the customers because they want to show them that they are a good business. They want to try and show their customers that they are worth coming back to, but that is not always the case when the industry tries to serve as many happy customers as they can. Again, the production of food is made before the customer may even walk into the restaurant.
This brings up quantity over laity again because the customer is not being given freshly made food. As well as using throughput to further make money from their consumers, producers have relied on government subsidies to further their money making business. Fast food industries rely on subsidies because they can create loopholes to obtain more money from their business as well as get paid more than their typical employees. It is known that Coos of fast food industries are usually paid a lot more than an employee that works an eight hour shift and maybe it is due to the subsidies of taxes. … CEO pay is being subsidized through a tax loophole that is actually the result of a backfired effort to limit executive pay, according PIPS’ Anderson. ” (Barman). Through these subsidies the company itself is able to get away with reducing cuts on their own tax bills that they have to pay off. “… A loophole in place that lets companies deduct unlimited amounts of performance-based pay, like stock options and certain types of bonuses, from their tax bill. ” (Barman). Employees who work for fast food industries are not being paid fairly while their Coos get paid more than enough.
The loopholes that are created by these subsidies are hurting Americans because they are allowing companies, such as the fast food industries, to get away with lowered tax prices. People have to pay more money for their food because companies and their Coos just care about the money factor that is involved in the business. The most noticeable effect that fast food industry has on American culture is the health aspect, which is only getting worse. Fast food industries get their meat from factories that store and cut up the meat before it is delivered to them.
In Hess factories are a lot of workers who may or may not be authorized to be working here in America. As these workers are working in the harsh conditions of the factory, it is very likely that they will get injured or become ill because of the environment in which they work. “A growing body of international research points to an association between precarious employment or contingent work arrangements and a higher incidence of injury, disease and psychological distress as well as inferior knowledge/ compliance with occupational health and safety (JOSH) standards. (Mayhem and Quintal). Workers who are not allowed to work in America cannot get any treatment for their injuries because they will get in trouble with the police. Companies know that these kinds forsakes are easy to replace so they continue to recruit more and resume producing more products in their factories. Factories that manufacture meat aim for illegal workers or those who are inexperienced and/or young. “A number Of these studies identify problems with inexperience and inadequate training but most fail to assess the effect of employment status… (Mayhem and Quintal). Those who are not legal and show a clear sign that they got injured while on the job can bring it to court, but factories usually try and prolong the case to the point where it is practically useless to even file against them. People injured on the job have to deal with the injuries that they received on the job. Not only are humans being treated poorly, but the animals that are being butchered and stored in factories are treated poorly as well. Animals are cooped up together in small, dirty places.
They barely have room to move and many animals are walking all over the feces of their own or even other’s feces. On today’s factory farms, animals are crammed by the thousands into filthy, windowless sheds and confined to wire cages, gestation crates, barren dirt lots, and other cruel confinement systems. ” (Factory Farming: Cruelty… ). Farmers do not take into consideration the animal’s health because they are just going to get killed and sent to factories. Not only do they not consider the health of the animals, but they are willing to “clean” these dead animals and serve it to people.
People are oblivious to how their food is treated before it enters their body and even f there are some people that know the process, they just do not mind at all. Animals are completely disregarded even though they are alive and running about. Some have families, but workers do not care as long as they are making enough money with every animal they are able to put on the table. “The giant corporations that run most factory farms have found that they can make more money by cramming animals into tiny spaces, even though many Of the animals get sick and some die. (Factory Farming: Cruelty… ). Animals who manage to live and make it out of that cramped space is taken to a actors where the only process is being killed off and served to consumers. As more animals are being butchered and served to people in fast food places, such as McDonald’s or Wend’s, people are faced with a growing threat, obesity. People continue to consume unhealthy food that fast food industries create and they never think about the consequences. The number of children and adolescents who are obese is only skyrocketing because of the high demand of unhealthy fast food. By 2007-2008, 33% of children and 41 % of adolescents consumed foods or beverages from fast food restaurants… Sat food is the key contributor to the rising prevalence of obesity because of fast food’s poor nutritional quality… ” (Pot, Duffel, Pocking 162). Parents are not regulating the things that their children eat and they put their children through health risks. Obesity is an issue that continues to grow in the American culture because of all the fast food restaurants that people can go to get food. People need to realize that there are healthier options out there and that obesity will just shorten their lives.
