Consuming and the American Dream?

Bear Shock!

I grew up going on camping trips a couple of times a year, now we always went to places with bathrooms with running water, at my mom request; but none the less we would camp in tents and build fires. Camping was always fun when I was younger, and I try to go camping at least once a year now. I have never just plopped down in the middle of the woods with just a tent and sleeping bag and I do not know how inclined I am to do so, but if I did  so in bear country I would definitely bring this along. It is the Bear Shock Electric Fence.

I found this portable electric bear fence. It is made to keep bears out of your site while you sleep. This fence could possibly save your life if you are out in bear country. The Bear Shock comes with one energizer, 4 durable corner posts, three electrical poly wires (100ft long), one hot wire, one ground wire, one ground stake, one role of flagging tape, one water resistant storage bag. 

The Bear Shock can be purchased online at its site, http://www.udap.com/. It is sold online at $249.95. If you are in avid camper or hunter or hiker and venture into bear country then this is definitely something to invest in.

The downside to this product is the fact that you would have to carry it with you and all of your other camping gear.

Now many of the testimonials say that it does in fact work and keeps bears out, one such testimonial was very convincing. The man who purchased it said he felt it was safe enough that he was not afraid to take his elementary school aged son camping with him in heavy bear country in Pennsylvania. Now I must question this because a man is taking his son to an area well populated in black bears where in the last year there were five bear attacks and where many of the bears are over six hundred pounds. I must say I do doubt that a couple of wires could stop an aggressive 600lb black bear. Now this testimonial is a heartwarming father son story and ends with the son thanking his dad for putting the fence up and that the two of them slept more sound because of it. Another testimonial states how it worked wonders in all weather conditions and all types of terrain.

On the site they do sell other items that can be used to protect you from bears and other unwanted critters.

I personally feel that this item may be helpful but I must say my preferred method is prevention, and not camping in the open in bear country. But I do want to hike the Appalachian Trail one day, or at least part of it, and I must say the few extra pounds might be worth it. I judged this product pretty quickly once hearing about it and even after reading information about it but my love of nature and love of safety while being in nature has convinced me otherwise.

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Fast food is an inescapable part of American culture. You might simply be trying to take a picture of your friend while you wait in a long line for a Red Box movie rental. Then you really look at the photo and there it is. The golden arches make their appearance, as they tend to do the world over these days. Eric Schlosser’s bestseller addresses where fast food came from, how the nation emerged and where the culture is quickly leading us (read: obesity and death).

“A nation’s diet can be more revealing than its art or literature,” writes Schlosser in his introduction. “On any given day in the United States about one-quarter of the adult population visits a fast food restaurant” (3). He includes a variety, a seemingly endless list, of statistics to grab the reader off the bat and prove for those who cannot just look around at Walmart or any highway in the United States or the television or hear the incessant demands of small children across the nation how permeating fast food really is. It is, at once, “the best and the worst of American capitalism at the start of the 21st Century– its constant stream of new products and innovations, its widening gulf between rich and poor” (6). It is cheap, convenient, fast food– but it comes at a cost much greater than the low prices consumers pay. If the emergence of the fast food industry was a triumph of modernity, an innovation for its creators to be proud of given the technology and business ushered in, its recension would signify a new consciousness in this post-modern age: bigger is not better. Not physically and not figuratively– that gap Schlosser mentions is not doing America any favors. That is, it is not doing most people favors.

Schlosser pinpoints the first and major problem with fast food is its rising appeal to children. Parents are pitted against Ronald McDonald and happy meal toys. Middle and high school news channels run off of fast food commercials. Coupons to these places are used as incentive. McDonalds has become something worth earning for schoolkids. McDonalds today is the manifestation of Disney’s “tomorrowland”– I feel he would be severely disappointed (38). The future is producing food with the same technique as is used in automobile plants, but only until we can find something faster (67). For many low-wage workers, the magic that one might expect from a corporation that models advertising and service after the successful Disney model simply is not there. This is because their low wages are crucial for the business plan put in place to insure forever low prices and high profit (73). “Team Spirit” is not surprisingly missing from payrolls of over fifty people at a single location, as the store is forever cycling employees in and out in an endless “Now Hiring” state of affairs (78). Many of those coming through are youth workers, for whom the injury rate sits at twice as high as that of adult workers (83).

Yet to the consumer, argues Schlosser, the consumption of fast food remains as attractive as ever. The amount of options means driving down the street resembles strolling through the mall. That this fuzzy shopping feeling intrigues us into drive-thrus every week is no mistake. We are supposed to love ourselves, and from this we should not feel guilty or even the least bit apprehensive about giving our body what it “loves.” The mentality for the consumer here is a direct reflection of the mentality of the businessmen– “You are the elite of America,” says author Brian Tracy to a crowd of salespeople and managers. “Say to yourself: I like me! I like me! I like me!” (105) Just like that we have an entire culture bent on “having it our way.”

The problem is in defining “our way,” since the FDA “does not require flavor companies to disclose the ingredients of their additives” (125) and taste is created by “flavorists”– the scientific elite (127). “Our way” is 90% of chicken being cut into bit size pieces or nuggets. Increases in the industry it requires to process this volume of food mean life-altering changes for farmers who cannot keep up and are forced to sell out to large private business corporations. But even the industry cannot keep up, as turnover rates increase in meatpacking due to injury and low wages (163). Chain mail is what it takes to even begin to feel protected in the meatpacking environment (170). Speed is the emphasis above all else as safety takes a backseat even to profit. Workers themselves know that they simply cannot afford workers’ comp claims, since meatpacking firms are allowed to delay payments on injury charges (185).

Since we are doing that well at home, America has taken fast food elsewhere– global realization. McDonald’s has become the face of imperialism to many different nations, whose protests to having the fast food chain in their country stem from the unimpressive record in the United States– here, obesity has climbed to the second leading cause of death. A country be wary of the health hazards, sure, but it is the excessive corporate power that is making life difficult for thousands of people. Those protesting countries have the right idea– not allowing conglomerates’ unchecked power over their own nation’s land. According to Schlosser, the real change in America is going to happen when workers refuse to offer unchecked power to their employers (265). As long as workers feel threatened by high expendability, though, the change is unlikely to come from the work force.

In class we discussed our own roles in creating as well as how to diminish the “monster” that is McDonalds. I have to admit that I went the next day and got a grilled chicken wrap that was amazing, because while Schlosser is convincing in his argument that nothing was inevitable about how fast food came about (260), there is the undeniable convenience. The McDonalds culture is deeply engrained and easy. I do not think that a boycott is the way to go about reforming it, though. First of all because it just won’t work. It may keep a McDonalds out of Denmark, but it wont run the thousands of McDonalds out of the United States. I personally think we have to stop getting so grossed out over the horror stories like the fried chicken head and the roaches and focus on the issues that occur more regularly– stricter sanitation guidelines for restaurants and protection for workers in the meatpacking industry, who are literally worked to death. To me, having a burger at McDonalds is not what is wrong with America. The obsession is. The cost of the obsession is.

Take a look around you. Notice your surroundings. Know what you are eating. These are all suggestions of Eric Schlosser’s, because more than anything he wants his readers to see that we are the 21st Century, McDonalds is not. We are ushering in the future, that set of golden arches that has found its way into seemingly every aspect of our lives simply should not be ushering us.

By Peter H. Smeallie IV

Last Thursday, March 11, 2010, from around 9:30 A.M. to 10:45 A.M., our class ventured over to the Spotsylvania Mall nearby Fredericksburg, VA and studied the environment, the patterns, and the different nuances of buyers and sellers there. Since the weather was quite cloudy/grey and cool (sweatshirt weather) and we’d arrived at around the time the mall was opening, there weren’t that many people there.

At the time we arrived, the only stores that were open were Starbucks, Dick’s, and Chick Filet, as well as play areas for little kids. Starbucks, which sells coffees, hot chocolates, and other hot beverages, iced drinks such as frappacinos, pastries such as a donuts and cookies, bags of coffee beans, and some non-edible items such as new age musical CDs, advertise their goods by putting them behind glass displays, in baskets, and on separate shelves. In the back of the store was a lounge area with soft couches and chairs for customers to rest, check their email, and wait for their orders to be called out. When we entered Starbucks, most of the shoppers were a mix of different-aged people—some in their early 20s, and others in their late 30s or early 40s. Some of the older people (in their late 30s/early 40s) were there with their young, toddler-aged children. The one demographic aspect of the Starbucks crowd that I observed was uniform was that they all appeared to be mostly upper-middle class white consumers. Given the time of the day and the tired state most people were in when we arrived, it didn’t surprise me that most of the customers ordered their drinks, etc. very quietly. I noticed that the older people, who were most likely 30+ years old, tended to order more coffees and mocha lattes than the younger, 20s some aged people, who tended to order mostly cold, iced, and/or whipped drinks.

Chick Filet, which sells chicken sandwiches, biscuits, fries, shakes, nuggets, sandwiches, and oddly-shaped fries, was very well-lit and spacious, and had balloons, colorful displays, and advertisement posters with cartoon cows urging people to “eat more chicken” hanging everywhere. The Chick Filet clerks took customers’ orders very quickly and delivered them their food (most likely flash-fried) very quickly. Small wooden tables and counters holding straws, ketchup, mustard, and barbeque sauce were set up around the area, and despite how vacant the tables were the line up to the cash register was quite long. Many of the customers, young teenagers and college-aged people (unlike Starbucks, a fair mix of different races and economic classes), tended to order small, bagged breakfasts—biscuits and orange juice, and many appeared to use cash instead of credit cards. Near the Chick Filet, a group of about eight elderly people (many of them retired, most likely) sat around a table at Wendy’s eating small breakfast meals, and were the only customers there.

Afterwards, our group toured the upscale, outdoor “Village” outside the mall. It was an area most likely geared to attract young college students from Mary Washington and other surrounding schools, because the Village included a clock tower like the one found in the patio area outside the Nest, and the area itself resembled a campus quad/courtyard. Around the corner, was a rustic, European-like pub/tavern designed to possibly look like it was part of downtown Fredericksburg.

Our group then went into Charmin Charlies, a store completely catered to women. All around the milieu of the store were neat displays of hanging jewelry, silky dresses, boots, other articles of bright, mostly pink, red, green, and black colored clothing, shimmering silver necklaces, sporty sunglasses, and necklaces.  In addition, several shiny chandeliers hung from the roof to give the store the appearance of elegance and charm. Many of the goods (such as necklaces, bracelets, leather purses, and watches) that were manufactured green were put on display in the front of the store where shoppers would initially arrive, presumably catering to the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day crowd. The radio played a slight mixture of muzak, soft rock, and jazz throughout the store, and the clothes, as well as necklaces and the like, were strategically places near mannequins, helpers, and mirrors. The employees were young, hip women dressed in new, stylish clothes. Some wore all black, and one employee not only wore a black fedora, but also sported a tattoo on her right arm. The employees didn’t steadily approach customers, but rather let them saunter through the place and carefully study each and every article of merchandise that caught their attention. In addition, many of the shoppers, who were a mix of young and old women, mainstream, eclectic, and tough “rock star” girls, took their time and slowly “grazed” the area, purchasing very few, but nevertheless expensive items.

Our group also walked through Macy’s, which was similarly populated by mostly young women, and included many of the same displays as Charmin Charlie’s: silky dresses, shiny jewelry, and mannequins showing off different brands of underwear. The one difference between Charmin Charlie’s and Macy’s was that Macy’s had a camera/I-Phone machine set up in one of the corners, probably catered to the young, impulsive buyers (who may either be girls or boys who get “dragged along” to these types of stores).

We finished up our field work by observing that on one side of the mall was a Victoria’s Secret store right next to a “Life is Pink” store. Inside the Victoria’s Secret store were bawdy mannequins wearing lingerie (right in the front, center of the shop), silky dresses, shiny jewelry, bright coats, shirts, shoes, purses, boots, and jackets. In addition, there was a large, framed advertisement in the middle of the store depicting a woman in just a bikini top and bottom, sexily posed, screaming out “Hello Bombshell.” Although no one was in either Victoria’s Secret or “Life is Pink,” the Victoria’s Secret shop was most likely designed as the more sexual, “adult” store, whereas “Life is Pink,” which included bright, colorful attire was most likely geared towards the young, adolescent crowd of girls (who are most likely escorted by their parents to such stores).

I had never been to the Spotsylvania Mall before, and so I was virtually unfamiliar with where certain stores were or what stores were located in this mall. However, it didn’t surprise me that many of the stores were commercial, “chain” stores (such as Starbucks, Wendy’s, Macy’s, and Chick Filet).

What was unusual was that in the front of the mall was a giant, blown-up Easter egg, holstered to the floor with long ropes and cables. Also, one store, Lids (a baseball caps store) advertised a sign in front that read “Free Embroidery. ”

So I must confess that up until last year I was very much a mall rat, the Spotsylvania Towne Center Mall is my old stomping ground and I figured since it was home turf it would be easy to do fieldwork there. However, I had never been to the mall before noon and the environment at 9:30 in the morning (March 11th) was very different from the active hustle and bustle of the evening crowd. It was overcast and cool outside and most people were bundled up in at least a light jacket. Many more people were at the mall than I expected upon entering.
My first thought on entering the mall was that if any place were opened it would be Stabucks, so I headed there first. Sure enough the place was booming, there were two women sipping coffee while their children played in their strollers, a middle-aged women was eating a bagel and reading the paper. Everyone was drinking coffee and most had either a bagel or croissant. Most people appeared to be meeting up here to socialize. Most people coming in and out appeared to be working class and middle aged or elderly. The other hot spot was Chick-fill-a; here was where I found most of my classmates and many others purchasing their breakfast to go along with their cup of Starbucks. Both of these places had large sitting areas that allowed people to linger as long as they wanted.
As time went on the area that became very busy was the B101.5 Buzzy’s Play Park. There were at least twenty kids romping and tumbling about, while their mother’s all sat around the edges chatting and sipping their morning coffee (each women in their had a cup of Starbucks). I found the most interesting thing on my visit to the mall was how people utilized the mall in nontraditional ways.
While observing the play area all the lights in the mall burst on, signifying that the mall was now officially open for business. Most of the stores knew who their clientele was and acted accordingly. The guy in Hot Topic was shocked that we were walking in there right after the cage over the door opened up. I found him social and he joined in the conversation we had as we walked around browsing. This store was laid out in a way to suggest you walk around and look quickly (this is due to the large amounts of people that crowd into the area at once). It was enjoyable to be able to have the store empty for a change. The visit really perked up when our friendly cashier who was joining in our discussion about the HBO show TrueBlood showed us that they were carrying TrueBlood in a four case for $24.99. The price was crazy but the excitement of seeing the drink was awesome. He also pointed out the dried cheddar cheese and bacon crickets being sold, I would have never spotted out this oddity had the store been filled.
Many older couples were lounging on the couch sitting area reading various newspapers enjoying the peacefulness the early mall had to give. In Spencer’s the lady attempted to sell my boyfriend a St. Patty’s belt buckle saying they were only five dollars and had been knocked down from fifteen, she kept up her sales pitch until a fifty year old man came browsing in and she turned her attention to him. The mall was very different at such an early hour, in both how the shoppers used the mall and how the employees themselves acted. On nearing the end of my hour at the mall more and more people were filing in and the atmosphere had started to shift back to what I was more accustomed and with that I left to rush back to UMW for my next class.

So I must confess that up until last year I was very much a mall rat, the Spotsylvania Towne Center Mall is my old stomping ground and I figured since it was home turf it would be easy to do fieldwork there. However, I had never been to the mall before noon and the environment at 9:30 in the morning (March 11th) was very different from the active hustle and bustle of the evening crowd. It was overcast and cool outside and most people were bundled up in at least a light jacket. Many more people were at the mall than I expected upon entering.
My first thought on entering the mall was that if any place were opened it would be Stabucks, so I headed there first. Sure enough the place was booming, there were two women sipping coffee while their children played in their strollers, a middle-aged women was eating a bagel and reading the paper. Everyone was drinking coffee and most had either a bagel or croissant. Most people appeared to be meeting up here to socialize. Most people coming in and out appeared to be working class and middle aged or elderly. The other hot spot was Chick-fill-a; here was where I found most of my classmates and many others purchasing their breakfast to go along with their cup of Starbucks. Both of these places had large sitting areas that allowed people to linger as long as they wanted.
As time went on the area that became very busy was the B101.5 Buzzy’s Play Park. There were at least twenty kids romping and tumbling about, while their mother’s all sat around the edges chatting and sipping their morning coffee (each women in their had a cup of Starbucks). I found the most interesting thing on my visit to the mall was how people utilized the mall in nontraditional ways.
While observing the play area all the lights in the mall burst on, signifying that the mall was now officially open for business. Most of the stores knew who their clientele was and acted accordingly. The guy in Hot Topic was shocked that we were walking in there right after the cage over the door opened up. I found him social and he joined in the conversation we had as we walked around browsing. This store was laid out in a way to suggest you walk around and look quickly (this is due to the large amounts of people that crowd into the area at once). It was enjoyable to be able to have the store empty for a change. The visit really perked up when our friendly cashier who was joining in our discussion about the HBO show TrueBlood showed us that they were carrying TrueBlood in a four case for $24.99. The price was crazy but the excitement of seeing the drink was awesome. He also pointed out the dried cheddar cheese and bacon crickets being sold, I would have never spotted out this oddity had the store been filled.
Many older couples were lounging on the couch sitting area reading various newspapers enjoying the peacefulness the early mall had to give. In Spencer’s the lady attempted to sell my boyfriend a St. Patty’s belt buckle saying they were only five dollars and had been knocked down from fifteen, she kept up her sales pitch until a fifty year old man came browsing in and she turned her attention to him. The mall was very different at such an early hour, in both how the shoppers used the mall and how the employees themselves acted. On nearing the end of my hour at the mall more and more people were filing in and the atmosphere had started to shift back to what I was more accustomed and with that I left to rush back to UMW for my next class.

In Fast Food Nation, Eric Schlosser details the implications of American eating habits on our health, agriculture, environment, economic status of fast food workers and other aspects of the fast food industry are carefully detailed.
On page 83, Schlosser states that “None of the fast food workers I met in Colorado Springs spoke of organizing a union. The thought probably never occurred to them.” Why wouldn’t the thought of forming or joining a union occur to fast food workers? We discussed that the workers are forced to feel guilt through manipulation. By making workers feel guilt and making them feel they let “the team” down, they let go of ideas of organization.
Teenagers are perfect to work at fast food joints. By hiring teenagers the fast food companies are able to hold more power and influence over their workers, for these workers are easily replaced and do not plan on working at these fast food places for the rest of their lives. Schlosser states that about 2/3 of the nation’s fast food workers are under the age of twenty. They just want some extra spending money and they accept low pay. However, the most interesting fact I found was that the Fair Labor Standards Act prohibits the employment of kids under the age of 16 for more than 3 hours on a school day or later than 7pm. Also, the Act prohibits the employment of kids under the age of 18 for more than 8 hours a day. This was surprising considering how many places break this law constantly. Working at a fast food restaurant is thought of as the bottom of ladder, and workers are constantly treated with disrespect by customers, only because it feels expected.
Schlosser writes about the town of Plauen, Germany and how McDonald’s built a restaurant there despite a call for an official ban on fast food chains in the town. I asked why McDonald’s was able to get away with this. It all comes down to money. McDonald’s has enough money to pay off anyone, even in foreign countries.
On page 280, Schlosser states that “The year 2000 may someday be regarded as a milestone for the fast food industry. It may be remembered as the year that the leading chains began to unravel.” We agreed in class that it was it the growing movement towards promoting healthier eating habits and recent studies showing the health consequences of fast food, such as heart disease and obesity. Schlosser notes that smaller regional companies are enjoying growth in the United States while big corporate fast food restaurants such as McDonald’s, Burger King, and Wendy’s are not getting new customers. I noted one place called “Elevation Burger”, that I ate at in Baltimore. It’s one of the many new fast food places emerging as competition for McDonald’s and others. http://www.elevationburger.com/
At the end of class, I asked everyone which fast food join was their favorite. I heard McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Chick-fil-A, Chipotle, and even Taco Bell. No Burger King, which I was surprised at because all the Burger King commercials on TV now are advertising to the young adult audience, especially young adult males.
This book has been turned into a feature film, and has thus reached a huge audience and is slowly turning us  into advocates eager to change the current food system into one that is better for our economy and better for our health. I conclude this post with a picture of a t-shirt I found at Kohl’s.

By Peter H. Smeallie IV

Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation is the ultimate commentary on the consumerism culture of America. As present in many of our other readings, one of the main themes in this book is how the coldhearted, unsentimental, and greed/profit-driven nature of large, lucrative multinational conglomerates devastates the welfare of human (as well as animal) life and nature. In the case of this book, Schlosser demonstrates not only how fast food culture has become a part of us (citing in his introduction that it literally is in us) and, as the expression goes, how “we are what we eat,” but he also shows us how horrifyingly unhealthy our food is, how nightmarish the food process is (both towards workers and animals), and how shamelessly indifferent corporations have become towards both.

Schlosser starts the book with a metaphor of how fast food culture in our society can be viewed. Using the example of a 4 ½ acre, underground complex that sits below the Cheyenne Mountains in Colorado and houses various top secret government organizations (including the Aerospace, Air Force Space, and U.S. Space Command), Schlosser makes the analogy of the image of fast food being a lot like the Cheyenne Mountain setting: from the outside it seems like a beautiful, idyllic, pristine setting, but beneath the surface is a cold, unnatural world that can often be described as ugly or soulless. Schlosser describes the “good old days” (around the turn of the 20^th century) before large fast food corporations took over and industrialized/centralized the food industry. He talks about the “modest,” small businesses of hot dog and hamburger stands in early 20^th century California (also, how California, at that time, was a more pristine setting than it is now– rich with many organic farms, ranches, and vineyards that produced citrus fruits such as oranges, etc.), the rise of Carl N. Karcher, a diligent, perseverant fast food pioneer who lived and worked in Anaheim, California, as well as the two McDonald brothers, who started up their business in 1948 and employed such assembly-line business tactics as division of labor, increased speed, lower prices, and higher volumes of sales (which were once reserved to automobile and other manufacturing industries) inside their kitchens, and how conglomerates such as ConAgra, Cargill, IBP, and Excel eventually took over.  Although in the past most beef, chicken, and other food products were grown/produced on small, independent farms and served in local restaurants, nowadays, food production takes place in large processing plants, slaughterhouses, and on ranchlands in New Jersey, Colorado Springs, the High Plains, and Idaho, and the finished products are then frozen, canned, dehydrated, or freeze-dried and sent hundreds/thousands of miles away to individual chain restaurants. As Schlosser puts it on page 8 of his book, “The hardy independent farmers whom Thomas Jefferson considered the bedrock of American democracy are truly a vanishing breed,” and are now being replaced with uniform, identical chain restaurants spread out across the country and world. The food is all the same, and the methods by which food is produced are all the same. In addition to that, Schlosser asserts the unsettling truth that the McDonalds arches are more easily recognizable than the Christian cross.

In his next few chapters, Schlosser discusses how McDonalds, as well as many other giant corporations and advertisers, try to manipulate and/or influence young children. To make them desire their goods, they cement logo images into their heads from the day they’re born, they put fast food stations in schools, and they set up McDonalds Playlands around the country. He talks about the introduction of the iconic Ronald McDonald clown in 1963, when a man named Willard Scott invented him as a restaurant mascot and business motivator, District 11 in Colorado Springs, home of the first high school to sport Burger King advertisements (in its hallways and on the sides of buses), the pervasiveness of soda drinking by young kids, and the ways in which fast food employers view and treat their workers. On the latter, many fast food restaurants push for faster, more technologically advanced, “throughput” kitchen equipment that will reduce the need for training employees—a tactic that the McDonalds brothers used when they created the Speedee System in the 1960s. The employees, the majority of whom are young people in their teens or early twenties, are mostly unskilled, low-paid workers, and the restaurant employers “stroke” them (give them encouragement or make them feel valued) in order to distract them from seeking higher wages.

In the chapter after that, Schlosser discusses “why the fries taste so good,” referencing the coal mine/steel-factory like production of potatoes, the “hour glass” metaphor for millions of consumers and a few producers, the IFF Snack and Savory lab and other plants where scientists/“flavorists” create various tastes through biochemical engineering (using such obscure ingredients as methyl anthranilate and titanium dioxide in everyday foods/drinks like Kool-Aid and candies), and the beef tallow which fast food companies discreetly dump their fries in. Schlosser talks about how the FDA doesn’t require flavor companies to disclose the ingredients of their additives as long as they’re GRA (“Generally Regarded As Safe”), the illusions of tastes (and subsequent “consumer likeability”) that flavorists create through the use of various chemicals (including gums, starches, emulsifiers, and stabilizers), and how flavorists gear their production of different additives on “mouthfeel,” the unique combination of textures/chemical interactions that affect the perception of flavor.

Schlosser continues on in his next chapter about the rapid disappearance of independent ranchers (often romanticized as free, self-reliant “cowboys” of the Old West) to corporations such as ConAgra, IBP, National Beef, and Excel, and how the latter four corporations slaughter 84% of the nation’s cattle. He talks about the “captive supplies” of cattle that the major conglomerates hold, how McNuggets are, just like French fries, cooked in beef tallow, and how much of the chicken produced today (by corporations such as Tyson) contains twice as much fat as hamburger meat. Following that, Schlosser describes the Hellish, nightmarish atmosphere of dark, airless, and windowless slaughterhouses and the condition/welfare of the animals and workers within them. The interior is inundated with animal blood and gore, is comprised of many giant, loud factory line machines (including conveyer belts, vats, etc.), and harbors over 100,000 cattle from feedlots which are systematically slaughtered. Workers, who are for the most part poor, unskilled, illiterate, and illegal immigrants, end up with many serious injuries, including back problems, lacerations, carpel tunnel syndrome, “trigger finger,” and even accidental limb amputations, and, disturbingly, are viewed almost as insignificantly and disposable/expendable as the cattle which are slaughtered there. When a worker is injured, they’re seen as a simple “wrench in the works,” and are then immediately fired and replaced. One such example in the book was Kenny Dobbins, a perseverant, loyal, and hardworking employee who suffered several terrible injuries (including a herniated disk in his back and burnt lungs due to chlorine exposure), worked the most dangerous, unpleasant jobs (such as cleaning out blood vats), and saved the life of an employee, but was then passively fired by the company Monfort after 16 years of service. Schlosser also discusses the incredibly foul odors and filthiness of slaughterhouses, including the large amounts of waste that are simply shoveled into “lagoons.”

In the final few chapters, Schlosser talks about E Coli 0157:H7, and how over the past few decades, various foods/meats, especially beef, have ended up tainted. Although other types of parasites/diseases, including Salmonella, Listeria Monocytogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, and clostridium perfringens, have ended up in food, E Coli, which is most dangerous to children and attacks their kidney’s and intestines, has been the most pervasive. Schlosser talks about how FDA regulations allow dead pigs, poultry and horses to be rendered into cattle feed (which cows are fed in addition to grass, grain, and steroids), how excrement ends up in meat, how the government cannot recall potentially lethal, contaminated meat (despite the fact that they’re able to recall non-edible, manufactured goods), the presence of the Mad Cow Disease, and, overall, how Americans should view the production of food, the treatment of workers, animals, and the environment, and the unhealthiness of what we eat in this country (and, subsequently, how we can make a change for the better).

In class on Tuesday, we not only discussed the book Fast Food Nation, but also saw a clip of the author, Eric Schlosser, being interviewed about a fictional, cinematic production of it. One of the striking things about his interview was that he talked about people hired by McDonalds to sit in on screenings of the movie Fast Food Nation and discourage people from watching and/or agreeing with it. The blatant childishness and manipulation present in their actions perfectly coincides with our talk on why so much of the food in this country is so unhealthy for us—it’s produced by callous and greedy multinational corporations who don’t care about anything but profit. They do not care if some food ends up tainted, if their method of slaughtering cattle is inhumane, or about the welfare of workers who produce the food or work in slaughterhouses. They view the latter as expendable, or as simple “cogs in a machine,” and are willing to go to extreme measures of luring in “loyal” customers. In the case of McDonalds, they often target and prey on impressionable young children, swamping them with toys, bright and flashy logos, and covering their schools with advertisements. In the case of flavorists, they often put artificial/synthetic chemicals into food to give them certain distinct, recognizable tastes, and in the case of French fries, they dip the food in beef tallow. Earlier in the class, I passed out a Pop Tart to one student in the class. After eating it, we talked about what unknown ingredients were actually in those types of foods, and then discussed why so many people eat fast food even when they know it’s bad for them. The main reasons that students came up with were that fast food is more convenient and cheaper to buy than most other food (a plus for those who are poor and have very few options), brands such as McDonalds and Wendy’s symbolize “nostalgia” and “comfort,” and people are so seduced by the flavors of fast foods they’ve been accustomed to their whole lives, they’re usually hesitant to give those foods up.  I think one of the most alarming things someone mentioned in class was that they knew someone who once thought meat came from the deli counter at Safeway.

Our class hit the mall at around 9:40am and for me, it was the first time being at the mall at such an hour. I myself could never shop at such an early hour and I expected us not to see very many people. However, as soon as I walked in, a woman in her sweats and tennis shoes walked briskly by. She was what I have to be told to be a ‘mall walker’. I went to the Chick-fil-A to get some breakfast, and ordered some chicken strips. They were only selling breakfast food, so I instead ordered the chicken nuggets (???) and orange juice. A man peered over his glasses at me, as he took his bagged food away. He was dressed in a suit, so I guessed he worked in one of the shops in the mall.  I would follow a nurse into the JCPenney and found the same man there. He’s an employee there and he recognized me. He didn’t look to happy to see me.
As I was eating my breakfast, I pointed out some elderly people sitting over at the Wendy’s. We had discussed in class how elderly people would go to their favorite fast food restaurant every morning to get their cup of coffee.
As I walked around, I took note of the kind of people walking around.
I had forgotten my camera, so I apologize for the poor quality of these cell phone pics.

There was a lot of women with their children in strollers walking around. They seem to just drift by the shops, and often paired with another mother and stroller. There were also a lot of middle aged men sitting on the benches, just sitting their watching the people go by. The man pictured above was just sitting there reading. None of them were actually going in the shops.  I went pass the play area in the center of the mall, and it was already covered in kids and mothers watching them play.
Some classmates and I decided to go into the “As seen on TV” store.  We walked in just as the employee was turning on three TVs that played nothing but commercials for products in the store.
The closer it got to 10:30, the more a variety of people showed up. It was still a majority of mothers and the elderly, but I saw more young couples and teenagers show up. The presence of teenagers was a bit troubling, considering this was a weekday, and they were obviously skipping school. I also saw a mother with her ten year old daughter.
Before walking out, I got a shot of the sign informing mall visitors of the schedule of the Spotsylvania Mall Easter Bunny. Apparently it costs $5.00 per child to sit on the lap of the Easter Bunny. I remember as a child I would always look forward to sitting on the lap of the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus at the mall. It’s a great way to get people into the mall at even the earliest hours.

Who: Agent Charles

Where: Spotsy Mall

Weather: 50 ish degrees, overcast

When: Thursday March 11, 2010

My car arrived at the mall around 9:40am and immediately ran into Prof. Moon inside. When she mentioned Chick-Fil-A our ears perked up and we rushed to get some Chicken Minis. The food was surprisingly delicious after this week’s Fast Food Nation. While we ate I watched people ordering food. None of them were mall walkers, and instead seemed to be simply waiting around for the stores to be open, maybe some of them were store employees themselves.

The store’s demographic was interesting. There were the 9 or so of us sitting and taking notes on our surroundings, and then there were mostly middle-aged men and women in the store, with a few young adults around 20. Almost all of the over 60 crowd were either walking around the mall or eating at the Wendy’s across the hall. Because kids were in school, this was an interesting change of pace from when I’m usually at malls on weekends. There weren’t any large groups of kids making noise or loitering. Instead, everyone seemed to have a purpose, even if that purpose was social.

It seemed to me that most of the people at the mall early in the morning were there to see other people. The older crowd at Wendy’s was there to see each other, mall walkers tended to walk in twos or threes. Because there weren’t many stores open, this seemed to be the obvious reason to be under the roof of the mall.

The only stores that were open when we got there were Wendy’s, Chick-Fil-A and Starbucks. Starbucks was interesting, too, because inside were my classmates and a few elderly folks. Because of the location of the store (inside a mall) there weren’t any businessmen in suits or people just trying to grab some caffeine on their way to class or work. Instead the crowd looked to be men retired from work and nothing to do but read the paper and sip on coffee. Maybe their wives were mall walking or waiting for stores to open, but there weren’t any women when I poked my head in.

There were a lot of toddlers with their moms, which nicely fits the stereotype of men working at a paying job while women work to run a house and feed kids. The kids that I saw were quietly in strollers while their moms browsed the racks of the few stores that were open. Interestingly, most of the stores that were open were stores that had products geared towards families. Abercrombie wasn’t open, but Belk was. There was also a kid’s clothing store that actually had two sales clerks inside. They must get a lot of early morning traffic from moms who need to shop while their kids are at school.

All in all, it was definitely an interesting experience to be at the mall at 10am. The demographic was different from what I usually observe, which made it to be a completely different experience.