hw 11

I decided to do two experiments. 1 being trying different types of tofu and not eating no meat for 2 meals, and the 2nd being an activist.

I went to this Japanese market called JAZ mart and tried different types of tofu. I started with normal tofu which my mother makes ever so often and I enjoyed the taste. I then found tofu that supposedly tasted like shrimp. I made it and shrimp is one of the many things I didn't taste. I found the shrimp tofu to be very bland and have more of a chemical taste then anything. That chemical taste could have simple been me cooking the tofu wrong. I was on a hunt to find tofu that tasted like chicken, I made my way to west 4th and found another JAZ mart and to my surprise the famous tofu chicken was found. This time I asked my mother to cook it and when i tasted it the chemical taste did not exists, but neither did a chicken taste. Although it didn't hold the full taste and consistency of chicken it wasn't that horrible.

On Thursday i tried to have a meat free lunch and dinner, and without even thinking about it my mother asked if I would like a sandwich and i said yes. It shocked me how even after finding out about all the qualities of how certain meat is taken care of I was so easy to say yes to a ham and cheese sandwich without even thinking about asking my mom where the meat was from. Friday was more productive, I had pizza for lunch and pasta for dinner. Although I was still hungry after I ate, (both meals) it felt nice to know I didn't eat another animal. I'd like to change my eating habits and have less meat but still maintain all the nutrients I need.

Ally gave me and a few others a brilliant idea one day in the computer lab, she said we should get flyer's and put pictures of slaughter houses on them, then write quotes on them informing our community of how fast food meat is taken care of. Although we didn't do this as a group I decided to print a few photos out and write sayings across the meat, such as E Coil, death, and feces. I hung them up on the sliding glass doors of the Gristides by my house and in my elevators. I was surprised when I saw the flyer's stayed up a whole night in my elevators before people started complaining about the disgusting images. I was unable to go back and visit the Gristedes but I'm pretty sure management ripped them down right away.

This project changed my views completely, I respect people who go out of there way to advocate for things they believe in, I would like to start paying them more attention and contributing to my community more.

Hw 12 Outline

Thesis:

The corporations profiting from dominant social practices in the U.S. hide the industrial atrocities involved in production from the consumer.

Supporting claim 1: Truth behind the counters of fast food franchises

Evidence 1: Slaughter houses and there affects on the meat and the way the chickens are raised and killed. A statement made from the movie we watched in class is going to be used as the evidence.

Evidence 2: The risk slaughter house workers take in order to satisfy customers "Indeed, the rate of these cumulative trauma injuries in the meatpacking industry is far higher than the rate in any other American industry." Page 173 "They used me to the point where i had no more body parts left to give." Page 190

Evidence 3: The kids who died because of infected meat "She was admitted to the hospital on Christmas Eve, suffered terrible pain, had three heart attacks, and died in her mother's arms on December 28, 1992. She was six years old." Page 199

Supporting claim 2: Icons are used to distract customers from the truth

Evidence 1: Ronald McDonald is used to attract the kids http://marketingtransformationforum.com/mtf/marketing-news/ronald-mcdonald-time-call-it-day

Evidence 2: Happy meals and the toys that come with them A "Happy Meal" is a meal specifically marketed for children, sold at the fast-food chain McDonald's since June 1979. A toyis typically included with the food, both of which are usually contained in a small box or paper bag with the McDonald's logo

Evidence 3: Associating eating Burger King with being/ feeling like a king afterwards (totally not true) My evidence for this will be one of the burger king commercials.

Works cited:

Fast Food Nation

Wikipedia

Marketing transformation forum

Hw 10 Food, inc

Corporations such as fast food franchises don't respect rules, they make there own and don't respect how the animals or employers are treated.

The movie offered more visuals (obviously) but also gave me the visuals I needed to get the full affect of what I had read. Reading Fast Food Nation got into deep details about the history of the founders and other historical things that I found was not needed to understand the full meaning behind how the food was made and taken care of. The movie got right to the point and showed both the good and the bad side of slaughter houses and seeing actual people talking about there experience in the slaughter house and seeing how they handled the animals hit me a lot harder then when i just read the book.

What still blows my mind is why do people still buy from fast food franchises after knowing the dirty truth and if people know fast food franchises and corporations bend so many rules why aren't they being sued and being held responsible for the illnesses caused by there products?

I'm glad my mind was open up because I really am against eating meat from fast food franchises knowing how poorly everyone there is treated and especially how the meat is cared for. I don't plan on being a vegetarian but I do plan on buying my meat in a healthier fashion.

Chapters 9, 10, epilogue

Chapter 9: What's in the meat

Precis: With out the right sterilization of the meat, it is very easy for meats to have outbreaks of E.Coli. Fast food restaurants are very prone to getting disease.

Gems:

"She was admitted to the hospital on Christmas Eve, suffered terrible pain, had three heart attacks, and died in her mother's arms on December 28, 1992. She was six years old." Page 199

"But the recent changes in how cattle are raised,slaughtered, and processed have created an ideal means for the pathogen to spread" Page 201

"Stomach and intestines are still pulled out of cattle by hand; if the job is not performed carefully, the contents of the digestive system may spill everywhere" page 203

Thoughts:

There are defiantly ways this could have been prevented, if only workers and corporations weren't lazy and actually cared about the consumers.

Why didn't all the parents of the children who died (because of this disease) rebel and protest against this and make sure something was done to fix this outrageous outbreak.

If workers no that if the meat isn't cleaned properly it can have many bad side affects, why are they being so lazy and careless?

Chapter 10: Global realization

Precis: Americans tend to try and follow the American way but that might not always be the way to follow if our ways lead to obesity and disease that are caused by laziness and carelessness.

Gems:

"Global realization" Page 229

" A decade ago, McDonald's had about three thousand restaurants in more than 120 countries. If currently opens about five new restaurants every day, and at least four of them are over seas." Page 229

"The high unemployment rate in Plauen has created social and political instability." page 251

Thoughts:

After almost finishing the book its obvious that McDonald's has more cons then pros, so why do people put so much money,time and effort into it?

Although i totally disagree with the way McDonald's runs and operates, there way of selling there products to consumers is very brilliant.

Epilogue: Have it your way

Precis:

Eating from fast food restaurants is a choice, if customers choose healthier ways to consume their meat many things can be avoided, such as E. coli, diabetes. United States was claimed to have the safest food but soon later the real evidence came out and we no longer hold that claim.

Gems:

"Their philosophy of cattle ranching is based upon a simple talent: "Nature is smart as hell" (Pg. 256).

"He has come to believe that our industrialized system of cattle production cannot be sustained" Page 257

"There is nothing inevitable about the fast food nation that surrounds us- about its marketing strategies, labor policies, and agricultural techniques, about its relentless drive for conformity and cheapness." Page 260

Thoughts:

Reading Fast Food Nation really opened my eyes, and finding out the complete truth about how the meat is handled and how the employees in slaughter houses are treated blew my mind. Although I would rather not know the exact details i found it really important to find out at a young age so i can warn others about the risk in all fast food meats.

Ally asked "How can we avoid eating this food." I believe an easy way is finding out exactly where your food comes from and changing the places you buy your meat from. There is also the vegetarian idea but personally I'd rather shop at a market.

Knowing the truth about fast food franchises is highly important and everyone should be warned, simple things like diabetes is only one of the many side effects that can be caused by fast food reasturants. This topic should be taken more seriously.

FFN chapter 6,7, and 8

Chapter 6

Precis: Corporations such as fast food chains such as McDonald's, gain control over meat industries.

Gems:

"Ranchers and cowboys have long been the central icons of the American West." Page 136

"The chicken grower provides the land, the labor, the poultry houses, and the fuel." Page 141

"Most chicken growers can not obtain a bank loan without already having a signed contract from a major processor." Page 141

" The suicide rate among ranchers and farmers in the United States is now above three times higher than the national average" Page 147

Thoughts:

If the suicide rate is up for farmers and ranchers why aren't corporations trying harder to lower the rate instead of possibly raising it by stressing out the ranchers with all the demand for these franchises.

Ranchers are actually in more control because if they start demanding more pay for there poultry then franchises and corporations will have to work harder and charge customers more, which might push customers away.

Why do all popular franchises rely on icons to help make them more popular? All they want is as much money as possible

There has to be a solution to all this madness, customers should try and take charge so they get more "bang" for their buck.

Chapter 7: Cogs in the great machine

Precis: Meat industries are being dominated over by illegal immigrants, they work for little pay and have no health insurance.

Gems:

"Mexington"- as it is now called, affectionately by some, disparagingly by others-is an entirely new kind of American town, one that has been transfigured to meet the needs of a modern slaughterhouse" (Pg. 165).

Thoughts:

If workers complain it is easy to assume that they will be fired because it is so easy to find an illegal immigrant who will work for cheaper.

If employees do get fired why don't they ever go to the government and tell them about all the horrible things that occur in the slaughter house's?

A television show should be made and it should be based around the secret life of a slaughter house employee, so we can all really understand the conditions in which the employers have to work.

How doe having a job at a slaughter house affect the house holds of each employer?

Chapter 8: The Most Dangerous Job

Precis: Little cuts and bruises are supported by the IBP so these little things don't have to be reported to the OSHA, but just like the animals in the slaughter houses, employee's aren't taken care of and many work until they no longer can stand, or handle the pain of their injuries.

Gems:

"Indeed, the rate of these cumulative trauma injuries in the meatpacking industry is far higher than the rate in any other American industry." Page 173

"Many women told me stories about being fondled and grabbed on the production line, and the behavior of supervisors sets the tone for the other male workers." Page 176

"The system now leaves countless unskilled and uneducated manual workers poorly compensated for injuries that will forever hamper their ability to earn a living." Page 185

"They used me to the point where i had no more body parts left to give." Page 190

Thoughts:

Why do women put themselves in a working community where they are not respected?

After receiving 2 or more injuries why don't workers find a safer job in the slaughter house, where they are less likely to injury themselves?

Workers in the slaughter house end up being treated like the animals that get killed and mistreated .

What about a slaughter house attract people to work there and stay?

Why don't slaughter house workers, work in the franchise restaurants instead of risking there health and well being? The benefits are probably the same or better.

Freakonomics HW 9

Through out the movie the sources used/ relied on where statistics and surveys taken by researchers. One main survey was taken in the streets an researchers asked random pedestrians what they thought about certain topics such as the typical white and typical black names and how that affected some one's future.

Another tool that was used was bribery, researchers when to a high school and told a group of 900 9Th graders that if they maintained a c or higher they would receive 50 dollars a month. At the end of this "experiment" it was found that only 5- 7% of 9Th graders accomplished what was being asked of them. Another tool used was explaining and examine the data in order to find patterns. Such as when they were explaining sumo wrestling people started noticingcheating and in order to figure out how the cheating was occurring they checked the data of the wrestlers. After checking and evaluating the data of the wrestlers researchers found that sumo wrestlers who where already in the final rounds would let a wrestler who only needed one win, to make it into the finals, win the match in order to move on.

Statement: I agree that freakonomics serves as an inspiration and good example to our attempt to explore the hidden in plain sight weirdness in our society. Freakonmics used experiments and bribes such as giving a 3 yr old m and m's every time she used the toilet and giving students 50$ a month to keep there grades up. These experiments/ bribes where a great way to help explore the hidden secrets of business and teenagers. With business and corporations if the outcome results in a good income everyone is willing to work and put their part in, and they soon find ways around the outcome to get a better income such as the 3 yr old did in the movie.

This applies to our food unit because franchises such as McDonald's bribes everyone to like them by having a popular mascot that blinds customers from wondering why the food taste so good, and how the food is made.

It'd be interesting to see if researchers paid a group of people not to eat McDonald's for a month how many people would actually do it, and if having a break from McDonald's would change anyones food habits in the future.

Hw 8

I didn't grow my own seeds, but i did help my friends and watch the process that happened when taking care of the seeds. Every day the seeds had to be watered twice, and by the third or fourth day i saw progress in every one's seeds. Little white stems (i don't know if that's what they would be called) started to grow and it looked like arugula. I wouldn't have minded the whole process because i enjoy trying new things and experimenting, farming little things such as these seeds seems like a great way to make an easy profit. I tasted the seeds and I didn't like the taste at all, there wasn't much flavor and felt like grass in my mouth. I should have taken your advice of putting it in a sandwich but i was unable to make one. In the future id like to try and grow something bigger such as tomatoes or mushrooms and see how they differ from the ones in a grocery store or food market.

Fast food nation

Chapter 4: Sucess

Precis: Fast Food chains attract people and people with more money can escape most fast food and franchises such as fast food places get so popular because so many people invest in them.

Gems:

"At the heart of a franchise agreement is the desire by two parties to make money while avoiding risk" Page 94

When becoming a franchise with a restaurant it only cost a third of what it would cost if one wished to become a franchise with McDonald's.

"Tell me friends, in your lifetime, have you ever been on a diet?" page 107

Thoughts:

Fast food franchises are great ideas as long as new and more popular franchise doesn't take over

People who work in these franchises get the short end of the stick because most of the workers are minorities, and teens.

If McDonald's changed there appearance and the there setting but kept the menu and the service the same maybe they would attract different people. Instead of a fast food "look" they could look like a Red Lobster

Chapter 5: Why the fries taste so good

Precis: If we all follows trends such as franchise's it will be harder to make money and be successful.

Gems:

"The fast food companies purchase frozen french fries for about 30 cents a pound, reheat them in oil, then sell them for about 6$ a pound" Page 117

"The fallacy of composition" is a logical error page 119

"If potato farmers don't band together they'll wind up sharecroppers" (Pg.119)

Thoughts:

All costumers of McDonald's are being ripped off in price

Why don't people pay this much attention to bagel shops or donut shops?

What would it take for the farmers supplying the potatoes to boycott McDonald's?

Fast food nation by Eric Schlosser Introduction, chapter one and two.

Introduction: Since fast food has become such a big thing in American i want to dig deeper into the pros and the cons, and how fast food effects our community.

"Almost every facet of American life has now been franchised or chained" page 5

"Fat food is now so commonplace that it has acquired an air of inevitability" Page 7

"Elitists have always looked down at fast food, criticizing how it taste and regarding it as another tacky manifestation of American popular culture" Page 9

Thoughts:

How could the progression of food been more healthier when fast food restaurants/ chains started happening?

I hope this book gets interesting and more to the point.

How is it that the beginning of the book doesn't even pull me in, it was really dull and boring.

Chapter one: McDonald started a trend for fast food and many of those trend followers became huge in the fast food Enterprise.

chapter two: McDonald's employees are taught to act a certain way so they carry the image of McDonald's. Our main source of marketing are children.

Gems:

McDonald's is as common as blue jeans.

"The fifty white stars have been replaced by a pair of golden arches" page 32 chapter 2

"His company inspired more imitations, wielded more power over the American economy- and spawned a mascot even more famous than Mickey Mouse." Page 33 chapter 2

"If you believe in it, and believe in it hard... It's imposable to fail" page 34 chapter 2

Thoughts:

How can something so bad for us be so good?

If Carl would have stayed Ohio, could he have been just as successful or more? If so how?

If the progression of cars and trolleys didn't improve/increase how would that have effected the profit of all the fast food restaurants being built? Besides the obvious fact of the drive through.

How could changing the McDonald's mascot ( Ronald McDonald) change McDonald's profits?

Chapter 3: behind the counter

Fast food became popular after world war two and because of such the popularity of fast food restaurants workers have certain patterns they must follower.

Gems:

"Despite more than three decades of failure, every now and then another group of teenagers tries to unionize a McDonald's." Page 77

"The injury rate of teenage workers in the United States is about twice as high as that of adult workers" Page 83

Thoughts:

If there are so many problems with the employers how come McDonald's doesn't work harder on making McDonald's more comfortable for workers and safer?

It's interesting how when people say they work at McDonald's or any fast food place they are usually looked down upon, but fast food restaurants are very popular amongst Americans and serve as a good job.

Do people's ethnic or financial background have a lot to do with the position u get when you work with McDonald's.