Fast Food Nation Entry 8

The mistreatment of workers happens all too often in fast food chains, therefore they should form unions. Unions are necessary to make sure workers are being treated fairly and also to ensure that their pay stays current with the economy. Unions may not benefit the employer but it will most certainly make for a better working environment for the employee and possibly transcend into a more positive experience for the customers. In the book Fast Food Nation Eric Schlosser helps expose the horrors of being part of the working poor to the public.

            I used to work a job that I considered to be a dead end job, raises were almost impossible to get and the pay was not great to begin with. This effected my mindset greatly, I tended not to give my full effort and just did bare minimum to avoid being fired. When it comes to fast food chains this lack of motivation is going to reflect directly on the product that is being served. If a union were to be implemented it would allow for raises to be given out along with benefits. A worker that sees more money in their future may come to work with a different attitude, I know I would have. I feel this will translate to an enhanced customer experience with more helpful workers that produce a better product. 
Employees go to work sick all the time because they do not have sick days and can’t afford to call out. Sick workers lead to the contamination of food and can lead to other employees getting sick. If employees are getting benefits and sick days, the burden of expensive medical bills will be taken away along with possible contamination that could happen with a sick employee being present.

            In today’s economy unions are necessary because our country is currently in a recession. When these fast food industries first started most of the employees were teenagers who didn’t rely on wages to get by. At the end of their shift most likely workers were going home to their parents’ house where they lived rent free and using the money that they earned to buy things that weren’t necessities. Now with jobs becoming harder to find, some employees rely on their recently raised minimum wage of eight dollars an hour(current minimum in New York) to pay their bills and support a family. That is clearly not enough to support a family. If the fast food workers cannot do so who will help? The government now has to step in and provide assistance. So now we the tax payers are spending our money because unions are not there to regulate a fair wage. The general public pays once again for fast food company’s obsession with getting the most profit out of every dollar.

            Current working conditions are unfair; most of the teenagers that work in these establishments are untrained. “Every year, about 200,000 are injured on the job.” (P.99) Another big issue is that fast food establishments are a target for robberies. Making them in convenient locations makes for an easy get away. The worst part is that most of these robberies are committed by current and former employees. If workers were making a decent amount of money they may not resort to violent crimes that hurt their own demographic which is described as “the young and the poor.” (P.99)

                In conclusion Unions would benefit not only the workers inside but the people who go to these fast food chains. Pay rates would be increased, benefits would be provided and that would trickle down to a better consumer product served by someone who is smiling because they are happy to work there not because they are told they have to by the employer.

Fast Food Nation Entry 7

       The Meatrix has exposed many issues in the meat industry that I have never really thought about before.  Some people may say that the issues don't concern them because they choose not to eat meat.  So the issue I choose to look into more thoroughly is air pollution because everyone breaths air!  So this issue concerns everyone.

       There are two main things on factory farms that cause air pollution.  Manure and animal feed.  The manure is stored in large tanks or lagoons.  As it sits there hundreds of different harmful gases are being let out into the atmosphere.  The problem is that these storage areas are often kept close to the animals and workers exposing them to these harmful gases.  A significant amount of pollution also happens when the manure is sprayed onto the fields to fertilize it.  You wouldn't think that animal feed has anything to do with air pollution but it also plays a significant factor.  The feed that is used for cows is the cheapest stuff they can find that makes the cows as fat as possible as quickly as possible.  This is great for the "farm" but the cows digestive system is not made to process the cheap feed.  This causes the cows to have chronic indigestion which results in higher methane levels.  The feed is also grown with synthetic fertilizers with release harmful nitrous oxide into the atmosphere.

       The effects all these pollutants have on workers can range from acute bronchitis to chronic.  Some have even died while in these manure pits from lack of oxygen.  The communities surrounding these facilities are also effected.  Respiratory problems are pretty much a given when living close to one of these but studies have also shown that fatigue, depression, and changes in mood occur in higher rates near these factory farms especially hog farms.  At a hospital in Utah there was a 4x increase diarrhea related hospitalizations along with a 3x increase in respiratory related ones over the course of the first 5 years a hog farm started operating in the area!  So if you are house shopping and you come across a cheap house close to a hog farm you better make sure it has many bathrooms!  Another study showed that an elementary school near a factory farm had a significant number more of cases of children with asthma then another elementary school that was in the same state but no where near a factory farm.
       Not only do factory farms hurt humans directly they also take a large toll on the environment.  Factory farms are a large contributor of methane and nitrous oxide gases that are making global warming worst every year.  "As a report from the National Academy of Sciences explains, atmospheric ammonia and nitric oxide—both produced on farms—contribute to what is known as the “nitrogen cascade,” in which each ammonia molecule “can, in sequence, impact atmospheric visibility, soil acidity, forest productivity, terrestrial ecosystem biodiversity, stream acidity, and coastal productivity.” (National Research Council of the National Academies, Division on Earth and Life Studies. 2003)
       In reality the impact that one person can have to change the ways of factory farms polluting is not very substantial.  It is really up to the government to tighten up regulations.  Most of the negatives aspects of factory farming are contributed to the feed that animals are feed.  Letting the animals graze naturally would cut down a lot on the harmful gases.  Not only would the animals no longer make them in large amounts the pollution from various ways that the feed gets to the farms would no longer be happening if they were grazing naturally like nature intended.

Source:
http://www.sustainabletable.org/266/air-quality
Picture:
http://electrictreehouse.com/dirty-air-at-factory-farms/

Fast Food Nation Entry 6

     When you are young and going through grade school there are always trends.  They are constantly changing but when you are growing up sometimes you don't have control of the cloths you wear.  You have no job and your parents may now want to spend money on certain things that are cool or they may not know.  You may get pants that only have two stripes instead of three or your sneakers may not be a name brand.  This can really mess you up in grade school and you can become a target for bullies.  Back then I was more concerned by what was popular and fitting in.  Now I try to buy brands that are quality, comfortable, and somewhat affordable.  I hate brands that are overpriced for no reason other then their name such as Prada or Gucci and I don't like my clothing to display the brand name in giant letters across the whole thing.

     I have had a job since the age of sixteen so ever since then I have been buying the cloths and shoes that I have wanted.  When you walk into my apartment you will notice right away that there are sneakers and shoes all over the place.  When it comes to them my two favorite brands are Nike and Sperry Top-Sider.  I like these brands first and foremost because the way that they look.  If they were ugly but comfortable then I wouldn't buy them.  The reason I buy these brands over and over is that they are comfortable as well.  Another factor is that they are made out of quality materials that last long amounts of time and take much abuse.  Although these brands can be somewhat expensive, I try to purchase them at outlets or online when they are on sale.  I rarely spend over a hundred dollars on a pair of shoes and think that is unnecessary.  When I get a new pair of shoes it makes me feel good and even better if I got them at a good price.  My girlfriend say's I have too many shoes.  She's going to have to deal with it.