In chapters 5-10, Eric Schlosser addresses a range of important issues that surround the development of the food industry in the United States of America. The first central idea revolves around the intense industrialization of the food industry that has led to the creation of large corporations holding the majority of the market. Schlosser explains this situation through the prism of regular people from the perspectives of farmers engaged in the production of meat. He recalls the original anti-trust initiatives of the American government that aimed at preventing such a development. However, since the 1980s, corporations have resumed their conquest of the industry, leaving little or no space for regular farmers. He mentions that “the patterns of land ownership in the American West resemble those of rural England” (Schlosser 46). This idea implies that farmers are left in the position of serving the corporations that wield actual power with littler personal gains. This is a strong and thought-provoking message regarding the present issue.
In fact, the struggle of the regular people in the face of the new age of corporate fast-food domination is another key theme of the author’s discussion. Schlosser devotes much attention to the struggle of meat-farming workers who endure serious physical and mental challenges in their line of duty. The psychological aspect of the job receives sufficient coverage, as Schlosser talks about the people whose daily tasks include killing a high number of living beings. Furthermore, those whose physical and mental health take a hit are discouraged from contacting the officials in order to keep matters outside of the public’s attention. As a result, society sees the embellished façade of the fast-food industry, which is built non only on the corpses of the animals but also with the blood and sweat of regular people who work for the profits of corporations. Or, as Schlosser calls them, “cogs in the great packing machines” (57). This line perfectly summarizes the role to which regular workers’ efforts have been reduced by the new age of the food industry.
Work Cited
Schlosser, Eric. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal. Mariner Books, 2012.